192 Fun Facts About 50s Music

Who sang 'Poor Little Fool', the first song ever to top the Billboard Hot 100?

Ricky Nelson opposed pulling the song off his EP as a single, so he used his contractual veto over cover art and it shipped without a picture sleeve.

Which future Sire Records founder, who later signed Madonna, helped create Billboard's Hot 100 as a teenager?

Seymour Stein was 16: on late review nights Billboard put him up in a nearby hotel so he could take the subway to his Brooklyn high school the next morning.

Until 1957, Billboard ran a pop chart counting plays in what?

Jukeboxes mattered because many radio stations resisted rock and roll, so coin-in-the-slot plays showed what young listeners really chose; the chart ended in 1957.

Which song won Record of the Year at the very first Grammy Awards, held in May 1959?

'Volare' had finished only third at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, yet Domenico Modugno's record went on to top the US chart for five weeks.

Music from which TV detective series won Henry Mancini the first-ever Album of the Year Grammy?

Peter Gunn's theme owed more to rock and roll than to jazz, Mancini said: one chord throughout, with guitar and piano pounding out the same riff in unison.

Which instrumental by the Champs won the first Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance?

'Tequila' was a throwaway, the last tune jammed at the session and tucked on a B-side, until a disc jockey flipped the record and it shot to number one.

Berry Gordy founded the label that became Motown in January 1959 under what original name?

Tamla Records was Gordy's second choice: he wanted to name the label after a hit film song of the day, but found that name was already taken.

How much did Berry Gordy borrow from a family savings cooperative to start his label in 1959?

$800 from the Gordy family's savings club was all it took, and it was Smokey Robinson, leader of the Miracles, who encouraged him to start a label of his own.

What was Berry Gordy's 1959 Detroit recording studio on West Grand Boulevard nicknamed?

Hitsville U.S.A. was a converted photography studio: the Gordys lived upstairs, and the studio below stayed open 22 hours a day.

Before founding Motown, Berry Gordy co-wrote 'Reet Petite' and 'Lonely Teardrops' for which Detroit singer?

Jackie Wilson's manager fell out with Gordy over royalties in 1958, so Gordy stopped writing for him and put his song earnings into producing records himself.

Bandstand was broadcast from which city from its 1952 debut until it moved to Los Angeles in 1964?

Philadelphia's own Cameo-Parkway label rode the show's exposure to a run of hits, and its influence faded once Bandstand left for California.

Which slow line dance, popularized by teenagers on American Bandstand, shares its name with a Diamonds hit?

The Stroll came first as a dance: Dick Clark watched couples file between two facing lines on his show and suggested someone write a song to fit it.

Pop singer Annette Funicello found fame on which 1950s children's TV show?

The Mickey Mouse Club found her at a dance recital: Walt Disney, scouting for his new show, saw the 12-year-old dance the lead in Swan Lake, and her hit records followed.

In which city did Alan Freed stage the 1952 Moondog Coronation Ball, the first major rock and roll concert?

Cleveland's fire authorities shut the show down after the opening act's first song, fearing a riot: more tickets had been printed than the arena had room for.

Alan Freed was fired by WABC in 1959 after refusing to deny he had taken what?

Payola, record-company money paid for airplay, finished Freed's career, while Dick Clark sold his shares in music companies and kept his show.

Which vocal group recorded the 1954 original of 'Sh-Boom'?

The Chords' label only reluctantly let them put it on a B-side; it reached the pop top ten, and then the Crew-Cuts, a white Canadian quartet, took a cover to number one.

Which Los Angeles group recorded the 1954 doo-wop hit 'Earth Angel'?

The Penguins named themselves after Willie the Penguin, the Kool cigarettes mascot, and cut 'Earth Angel' as a rough demo in a Los Angeles garage.

Which doo-wop group turned the 1934 ballad 'Blue Moon' into a 1961 number one with a nonsense-syllable bass intro?

The Marcels, named after the marcel-wave hairstyle, cut it in just two takes, with an intro their producer lifted from another song to give the old ballad a kick.

Elvis Presley was born in 1935 in which Mississippi town?

Tupelo is where his father Vernon was jailed for altering a check, which cost the family their home; they moved on to Memphis when Elvis was 13.

Which manager brokered Elvis Presley's $40,000 move from Sun to RCA Victor?

Colonel Tom Parker struck the deal, and because Elvis was still legally a minor at 20, his father had to sign the contract for him.

Which song was Elvis Presley's first RCA Victor single and, in 1956, his first pop number one?

'Heartbreak Hotel' came with a deal: co-writer Mae Boren Axton offered Elvis a third of the royalties if he made it his first single for his new label.

Which actor hosted Elvis Presley's first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1956 while Sullivan recovered from a car crash?

Charles Laughton filled in for a host who had vowed never to have Elvis on his show, then paid an unprecedented $50,000 for three appearances.

On The Steve Allen Show in 1956, Elvis Presley was made to sing to what animal dressed in a top hat?

A basset hound got 'Hound Dog' sung to it because Allen, no fan of rock and roll, wanted a tamer Elvis; Presley called it the most ridiculous performance of his career.

Which TV host persuaded Elvis Presley to leave his guitar backstage for a June 1956 performance, freeing his hips?

Milton Berle's advice set Elvis's hips loose on 'Hound Dog', and the ratings and notoriety that followed got him booked on Steve Allen's show within weeks.

On Elvis Presley's final Ed Sullivan Show appearance, in January 1957, the cameras famously did what?

Shot him only from the waist up is true of that final visit alone; the legend that Elvis was always filmed from the waist up is false.

After being drafted in 1958, Elvis Presley served with the 3rd Armored Division in which country?

West Germany is where he served as a regular soldier, having turned down the easier Special Services on his manager's advice, and where he met Priscilla Beaulieu.

Elvis Presley bought which Memphis mansion in March 1957?

Graceland was the answer to the fans crowding his previous Memphis house; the estate already had its name, from Grace Toof, daughter of an earlier owner.

Which song became Elvis Presley's first single after he started fooling around with it late in a 1954 Sun session?

'That's All Right' was an Arthur Crudup blues that Elvis sped up for fun; days later a Memphis DJ played the acetate over and over and hauled him in for an interview.

What nickname did a Memphis newspaper give Elvis Presley and fellow Sun stars after an impromptu 1956 jam session?

The Million Dollar Quartet was a Press-Scimitar headline for a fluke: Elvis dropped in on an old labelmate's session at Sun, and the engineer let the tape roll.

Which Elvis Presley ballad of 1956 set new words to the Civil War tune 'Aura Lea'?

'Love Me Tender' drew more than a million advance orders, so the studio dropped its planned title, The Reno Brothers, and renamed the whole film after the song.

In which country did reporters expose Jerry Lee Lewis's marriage to his 13-year-old cousin, sinking his 1958 tour there?

England's press pounced after a reporter at London's airport learned who the girl with him was; the tour was cancelled after three concerts, and a boycott of his records followed at home.

What was Jerry Lee Lewis's nickname?

The Killer lived up to the name on stage, pounding the keys with his fists and feet and playing standing up; whether he ever set a piano alight is told both ways.

Which future televangelist was Jerry Lee Lewis's cousin and childhood piano-playing partner?

Jimmy Swaggart was later offered a contract by his cousin's label, which wanted a gospel artist, and turned the money down, saying he was called to preach.

Which 1956 Sun single became Johnny Cash's first number one on the country chart?

'I Walk the Line' changes key from verse to verse, which is why Cash hums before each one: he said it was to find his pitch.

Johnny Cash, born with only the initials 'J. R.', became 'John R.' when he enlisted in which service in 1950?

The Air Force would not take initials as a first name; while serving he saw the film Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison and wrote 'Folsom Prison Blues'.

What was Johnny Cash's Sun-era backing band, featuring guitarist Luther Perkins, known as?

The Tennessee Two were car mechanics who worked with Cash's older brother in Memphis, and their plain, steady backing became his 'boom-chicka-boom' sound.

Johnny Cash left Sun in 1958 to sign a more lucrative deal with which label?

Columbia let him make the gospel album Sun had refused him, and paid better too: Sun had held him to a 3% royalty when 5% was standard.

Which Chuck Berry song is the only rock and roll track on the 1977 Voyager Golden Record?

'Johnny B. Goode' was a contested choice: folklorist Alan Lomax called rock music adolescent, and Carl Sagan replied that there are a lot of adolescents on the planet.

In Chuck Berry's 1955 hit 'Maybellene', the singer's V8 Ford chases his girl in what make of car?

A Cadillac Coupe de Ville: the song began as the country fiddle tune 'Ida Red', which Leonard Chess liked better than the blues Berry expected him to pick.

Which blues star told Chuck Berry to contact Leonard Chess when he visited Chicago in May 1955?

Muddy Waters pointed him to Chess Records, and within weeks Berry was back with a recording that won him a contract on the spot.

Little Richard was born in 1932 in which Georgia city?

Macon is where a disillusioned Little Richard went home in 1954 and washed dishes at the Greyhound bus station, a year before 'Tutti Frutti' made him a star.

What did Little Richard take as a sign from God to quit rock and roll during a 1957 Australian tour?

The Sputnik 1 satellite crossed the sky over his Sydney show as a bright red fireball; shaken, he walked away from rock and roll to study for the ministry.

Which clean-cut white singer's cover of 'Tutti Frutti' charted higher than Little Richard's original?

Pat Boone did not want to record it, saying the song made no sense to him, but his producers talked him round and the tamer cover out-charted the original.

Which 1949 debut single by a New Orleans pianist is often cited as one of the first rock and roll records?

'The Fat Man' was Fats Domino's cleaned-up rewrite of 'Junker Blues', a song about a drug user, and is sometimes called the first rock and roll record to sell a million.

Fats Domino's 'Blueberry Hill' revived a 1940 hit for which big-band leader?

Glenn Miller had the big 1940 hit, but it was Louis Armstrong's 1949 version that inspired Domino, whose revival became the highest-charting record of his career.

Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" became a phenomenon in 1955 after opening which film?

Blackboard Jungle's makers found the song, a year-old B-side, in the record collection of star Glenn Ford's young son Peter.

What was Bill Haley's western-swing group called before it became the Comets in 1952?

The Saddlemen became the Comets after a friend pointed out that most people pronounced Halley's Comet to rhyme with Haley.

Whose band actually played on 'Rocket 88' (1951), credited to Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats?

Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm cut it with their saxophonist Jackie Brenston singing; legend has it the fuzzy guitar came from an amp damaged on the drive and stuffed with newspaper.

Buddy Holly was born in 1936 in which Texas city?

Lubbock's Charles Hardin Holley became 'Holly' by accident: his first recording contract misspelled the surname, and he kept the shorter version.

Because Buddy Holly was still under contract to Decca, 'That'll Be the Day' was released under which band name?

The Crickets nearly called themselves the Beetles, and a few years later the Beatles picked their own insect name partly as a tribute to them.

Buddy Holly recorded 'That'll Be the Day' and most of his hits with producer Norman Petty in which town?

Clovis, New Mexico, drew Holly after he chafed under his Nashville producer; Petty charged a flat fee per recording rather than by the hour.

Which venue hosted the final show of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper on February 2, 1959?

The Surf Ballroom was a last-minute booking on what should have been a day off; fed up with the freezing tour buses, Holly chartered a plane from there to the next stop.

What type of aircraft crashed on February 3, 1959, killing Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and their pilot?

A Beechcraft Bonanza had room for just three passengers at $36 each; investigators blamed the pilot's decision to fly by instruments he was not certified to use.

Which member of Buddy Holly's touring band gave his seat on the doomed flight to the Big Bopper?

Waylon Jennings gave his seat to the flu-stricken Big Bopper; teased by Holly about the freezing bus, he joked that he hoped the plane would crash, a line that haunted him for decades.

Which 1971 song coined the phrase 'the day the music died' for the 1959 crash?

Don McLean's 'American Pie' opens with his memory of delivering newspapers carrying news of the crash; the single topped the Hot 100 for four weeks from January 15, 1972.

Which hit did Ritchie Valens write for his high-school girlfriend?

'Donna' was written for his sweetheart Donna Ludwig; its flip side, 'La Bamba', peaked twenty places lower yet became the song he is best remembered for.

How did Ritchie Valens, who spoke little Spanish, manage the all-Spanish lyrics of 'La Bamba'?

He learned the words phonetically, with an aunt helping him remember the traditional Veracruz lyrics, then set the old folk song to a rock and roll beat.

Which Everly Brothers hit was reportedly rejected by 30 acts before they recorded it?

'Bye Bye Love' got its famous guitar intro late: it was a riff Don Everly had come up with separately, tacked onto the front of the song.

After their 1950s hits on Cadence, the Everly Brothers signed with which Hollywood studio's young record label in 1960?

Warner Bros. got an instant return: the brothers' first single for the label, 'Cathy's Clown', spent five weeks at number one and sold in the millions.

Frank Sinatra's 1950s comeback began with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in which 1953 film?

From Here to Eternity rescued a singer whose record label and talent agency had both dropped him the year before; he won the Oscar as the doomed Private Maggio.

Which arranger, who also worked with Nat King Cole, shaped Frank Sinatra's In the Wee Small Hours?

Nelson Riddle said it was losing Ava Gardner that let Sinatra sing these songs of lost love the way he did; the record has been called one of the first concept albums.

Frank Sinatra's 1958 concept album with Billy May, designed as a musical world tour, was titled what?

Come Fly with Me had a title song written at Sinatra's request, but he hated the cover, complaining that it looked like an advertisement for TWA.

Patsy Cline scored her first hit, 'Walkin' After Midnight', after performing it on which TV show in 1957?

Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts nearly got a different song: Cline had picked 'A Poor Man's Roses' and at first refused the producer's choice, then won the contest with it.

Which Nashville hall, built as a gospel tabernacle, was home to the Grand Ole Opry throughout the 1950s?

Ryman Auditorium was built by riverboat owner Thomas Ryman, who went to heckle a revival preacher, was converted instead, and vowed to build him a tabernacle.

Which Platters hit did Freddie Mercury revive in 1987?

'The Great Pretender' was dashed off in a Las Vegas hotel washroom, by the account of its writer, the group's manager Buck Ram, who needed a follow-up to 'Only You'.

Which singer led the Drifters on their 1959 hit 'There Goes My Baby'?

Ben E. King became a Drifter by a sacking: the manager, who owned the name, fired the entire group and hired King's outfit, the Five Crowns, to replace it.

Which songwriting duo wrote most of the Coasters' hits, including 'Yakety Yak'?

Leiber and Stoller had a group made for their comic songs in teenage slang: the Coasters formed when two singers left the Robins in 1955 and signed to Atlantic.

Frankie Lymon was the boy-soprano lead singer of which doo-wop group?

The Teenagers' original lead singer could not take the part at their big audition, so 13-year-old Lymon stepped up and sang it himself.

Which 1956 Frankie Lymon hit grew from a line in a neighbor's romantic letters?

'Why Do Fools Fall in Love' began as 'Why Do Birds Sing So Gay?', a line from letters a neighbor's girlfriend had written him, until the label had some of the lyrics changed.

Dion and the Belmonts took their name from a street in which New York borough?

The Bronx's Belmont Avenue named the group; by Dion's own account, he passed up a seat on Buddy Holly's fatal flight because the $36 fare matched his parents' monthly rent.

Which 1957 song was the Del-Vikings' first and biggest hit?

'Come Go with Me' was taped in a Pittsburgh disc jockey's basement; months later John Lennon was singing it, making up the words, when Paul McCartney first saw him play.

The Flamingos are best known for their 1959 cover of which song?

'I Only Have Eyes for You' got its dreamy sound overnight: the arrangement came to the group's Terry Johnson in his sleep, and he woke the others at nearly 4 a.m. to rehearse it.

Which doo-wop classic did the Five Satins record in a church basement?

'In the Still of the Night' was taped at St. Bernadette's in New Haven; its writer and lead singer, Fred Parris, was soon away on Army service, so a reshuffled group carried the hit on without him.

Which 1958 chart-topper by the Silhouettes gave the revival band Sha Na Na its name?

'Get a Job' opens with the 'sha na na' chant; its lyricist said the idea came from his mother telling him to find work when he came home from the service.

Crooner Perry Como had his own shop at 14 in which trade, before he sang for a living?

Barber: Como had his own chair by 13, standing on a box to reach his customers, and took on a shop at 14 to help support the family when his father fell ill.

Which 1951 Nat King Cole ballad became a 1991 duet with his daughter Natalie?

'Unforgettable' was first called 'Uncomparable' until the publisher asked for a change; forty years on, Natalie Cole sang it as a duet with her late father's recording.

Which Nat King Cole chart-topper won the Best Song Oscar for the film Captain Carey, U.S.A.?

'Mona Lisa' was released as a B-side, the flip of 'The Greatest Inventor of Them All', yet it was the side that went to number one.

Which Italian-flavoured Dean Martin hit of 1953 was introduced in the Martin and Lewis comedy The Caddy?

'That's Amore' was made to order: by Jerry Lewis's account, he secretly paid the songwriters $30,000 of his own money to give his partner a hit.

Doris Day introduced 'Que Sera, Sera' in which Alfred Hitchcock film?

In The Man Who Knew Too Much she belts the song out at an embassy so that her kidnapped son, held somewhere in the building, will hear her.

Which blues singer recorded the original 'Hound Dog' in 1952, four years before Elvis Presley's version?

Big Mama Thornton's original topped the R&B chart for seven weeks, but she held no publishing rights and saw little of the money later versions made.

Which 1950 Patti Page record became her biggest seller?

'Tennessee Waltz' was meant as an obscure B-side to a Christmas novelty, 'Boogie Woogie Santa Claus'; it outsold everything she made and became an official state song.

Which culture's folk melody did William Saroyan and Ross Bagdasarian adapt for the Rosemary Clooney hit 'Come On-a My House'?

Armenian hospitality is what the two cousins' lyric celebrates; Clooney later confessed she hated the song and recorded it only because Mitch Miller threatened to fire her.

Which emotional 1950s singer had a 1951 number one with 'Cry'?

Johnnie Ray, partly deaf since a boyhood accident, tore at his hair, fell to the floor and wept on stage, earning nicknames such as 'the Prince of Wails' and 'the Nabob of Sob'.

Which 'Rags to Riches' crooner later founded a Queens arts high school named for Frank Sinatra?

Tony Bennett grew up poor in Astoria, Queens, and with his wife Susan founded a public arts high school there, naming it for his friend Frank Sinatra rather than for himself.

Which 1950s crooner was married to both Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor?

Eddie Fisher left Debbie Reynolds in 1959 for Elizabeth Taylor, the widow of his best friend, producer Mike Todd; the scandal came to overshadow his run of million-selling records.

Which 1956 song topped charts for Marty Robbins and Guy Mitchell?

'Singing the Blues' was recorded first by Marty Robbins, who topped the country chart for 13 weeks but stalled at number 17 pop; Guy Mitchell's cover then took the pop number one.

Debbie Reynolds scored a 1957 number one with the title song of which film?

Tammy and the Bachelor opens with the Ames Brothers singing 'Tammy' over the titles, but it was Debbie Reynolds's own version, sung midway through the film, that spent five weeks at number one.

Bobby Darin's breakthrough hit, co-written in 1958 with DJ Murray the K, was which song?

'Splish Splash' sprang from a title suggested by the mother of DJ Murray 'the K' Kaufman; in the best-known telling, Murray bet Bobby Darin he couldn't write a song around the phrase.

Bobby Darin's hit 'Mack the Knife' comes from which Kurt Weill work?

The Threepenny Opera flopped on Broadway in 1933, closing within days; a 1954 off-Broadway revival with Marc Blitzstein's English lyrics ran for years and gave Bobby Darin the song he took to number one.

Which teen idol wrote his 1957 breakthrough hit 'Diana' about an older girl he knew from church?

Paul Anka wrote 'Diana' about Diana Ayoub, an older girl from his Ottawa church; a New York audition with it won him a record deal, and it topped the chart when he was 16.

Connie Francis broke through in 1958 with her version of which 1923 song?

'Who's Sorry Now?' was a song Connie Francis disliked and cut only at her father's urging, in the last minutes of a session; Dick Clark's plays on American Bandstand then made it a million-seller.

Frankie Avalon's 1959 number one hit pleaded with which Roman goddess?

'Venus', written by Ed Marshall and first offered to Al Martino, gave Frankie Avalon five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959.

Which teen idol, signed more for his looks than his voice, had his biggest hit with 1959's 'Tiger'?

Fabian was a schoolboy whose policeman father had just had a heart attack when manager Bob Marcucci talked him into recording; 'Tiger' became his biggest hit and went gold.

Which Little Richard hit closed the Beatles' final concert in 1966?

'Long Tall Sally' was the last song the Beatles played for a paying crowd; their press officer taped the show at the band's request, and his cassette ran out partway through it.

Which 1956 Chuck Berry hit did the Beatles record with George Harrison singing lead?

'Roll Over Beethoven' began as Chuck Berry's rib at his sister Lucy, who tied up the family piano with classical pieces when he wanted to play popular music; ELO later covered it too.

Which rock and roll pioneer's 1955 debut single introduced the beat that bears his name?

Bo Diddley's self-titled 1955 debut introduced the 'Bo Diddley beat', a cousin of the Afro-Cuban clave and the old 'shave and a haircut' rhythm; Buddy Holly borrowed it two years later for 'Not Fade Away'.

Which rockabilly pioneer wrote and first recorded 'Blue Suede Shoes' in 1955?

Carl Perkins was driving to New York to sing it on national television in March 1956 when a car crash put him in hospital; his record kept climbing the charts while he recovered.

Gene Vincent's 1956 top-ten hit with his Blue Caps was which rockabilly classic?

'Be-Bop-a-Lula' came out as the B-side of 'Woman Love' until radio shunned that song and the record was flipped; Capitol had signed Gene Vincent in its hunt for an Elvis Presley of its own.

Which Eddie Cochran hit did the Who cover on Live at Leeds?

'Summertime Blues' was written by Eddie Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart and planned as the B-side of 'Love Again'; it became the hit instead, reaching number eight in 1958.

Which Ray Charles hit began as an improvisation to fill the last minutes of a late-1958 dance?

'What'd I Say' was made up on stage when Ray Charles had played his whole set with about 12 minutes left and told his singers to follow him; the crowd's response persuaded him to record it.

Which 1954 Ray Charles hit, reworked from a gospel tune, was later sampled on Kanye West's 'Gold Digger'?

'I Got a Woman' grew from a gospel record Ray Charles heard on the radio while touring, usually identified as the Southern Tones' 'It Must Be Jesus'; it became his first number one on the R&B chart.

Which 1957 Sam Cooke single was his only pop number one?

'You Send Me', Cooke's first release under his own name after his Soul Stirrers years, topped both the Billboard pop and R&B charts in December 1957 and was his only pop number one.

Lloyd Price's 1959 number one 'Stagger Lee' retells an 1895 saloon shooting in which Missouri city?

St. Louis was where 'Stag' Lee Shelton shot Billy Lyons on Christmas night in a row over his Stetson hat; to sing it on American Bandstand, Lloyd Price had to cut a tamer version with no killing.

Which blues shouter first recorded 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' in 1954?

Big Joe Turner cut 'Shake, Rattle and Roll' for Atlantic in February 1954; when Bill Haley covered it months later he rewrote its bawdiest lines for radio and took it into the pop top ten.

Which singer topped the 1953 R&B chart with '(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean'?

Ruth Brown's run of hits made Atlantic 'the house that Ruth built', a pun on Yankee Stadium; decades later her fight for musicians' unpaid royalties led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.

Which R&B singer had 1950s hits with 'Tweedle Dee' and 'Jim Dandy'?

LaVern Baker saw Georgia Gibbs's note-for-note copy of 'Tweedle Dee' outsell her own, tried in vain to sue, and petitioned Congress to treat such carbon-copy covers as theft.

Which future 'At Last' singer was a teenager when her 1955 debut 'The Wallflower' topped the R&B chart?

Etta James was 17 when 'The Wallflower', her cheeky answer to the hit 'Work with Me, Annie', topped the R&B chart; a cleaned-up pop copy, 'Dance with Me, Henry', then went to number one without her.

Who first recorded 'The Twist', as a B-side, before Chubby Checker's chart-topping 1960 cover?

Hank Ballard thought 'The Twist' was a hit, but his label pushed the ballad on the other side, 'Teardrops on Your Letter'; Chubby Checker's soundalike cover then became the worldwide smash.

Which singer rose from a coffin to perform his 1956 record 'I Put a Spell on You'?

Screamin' Jay Hawkins meant 'I Put a Spell on You' as a refined ballad, but the producer got the band drunk and it came out as grunts and screams; banned by many stations, it became his signature.

Where was country star Hank Williams found dead on New Year's Day 1953?

In the back seat of a car, Hank Williams died aged 29 as a hired college student drove him through the night to a show in Canton, Ohio; the driver found him lifeless near Oak Hill, West Virginia.

Which singer became the first solo woman to top the US country chart, with a 1952 answer song?

Kitty Wells cut her retort to Hank Thompson's 'The Wild Side of Life' mainly for the $125 session fee, expecting no hit; 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels' then held number one for six weeks.

Which Marty Robbins gunfighter ballad ran over four minutes yet became the first number one of the 1960s?

'El Paso' ran about four and a half minutes, far longer than other singles of its day, yet DJs and buyers wanted the whole story; it topped the Hot 100 in the first week of 1960 and won a Grammy.

Johnny Horton's 1959 hit 'The Battle of New Orleans' describes a battle from which war?

The War of 1812's last major battle inspired Arkansas schoolteacher Jimmy Driftwood, who set its story to an old fiddle tune to get his pupils interested in history; Johnny Horton's cover topped the Hot 100 in 1959.

Which velvet-voiced country singer of 'Four Walls' kept topping charts for years after dying in a 1964 plane crash?

Jim Reeves, 'Gentleman Jim', was piloting his own small plane when it flew into a storm near Nashville; his label kept issuing unreleased tapes, and 'Distant Drums' topped the UK chart in 1966.

Duane Eddy was famous for a guitar sound described as what?

Twangy was the word for the low, echoing leads Duane Eddy picked on his guitar's bass strings; producer Lee Hazlewood deepened the sound by piping it through a water tank used as an echo chamber.

Why did some radio stations refuse to play Link Wray's wordless 1958 hit 'Rumble'?

Its gang-fight title did it: 'rumble' was slang for a street brawl, and amid fears about juvenile delinquency some stations dropped a record that has no words at all.

Santo & Johnny's 1959 instrumental number one 'Sleep Walk' is carried by which instrument?

Steel guitar was the instrument the Farina brothers' father had urged them to learn; Santo plays the melody on 'Sleep Walk', the last instrumental to top the chart in the 1950s.

Which jazz pianist's quartet scored a surprise pop hit with 'Take Five'?

Dave Brubeck's quartet recorded 'Take Five', written by its saxophonist Paul Desmond over drummer Joe Morello's 5/4 beat; reissued in 1961, it climbed to number 25 on the Hot 100, rare ground for a jazz instrumental.

Which 1959 Miles Davis album was built almost entirely on modal scales?

Kind of Blue swapped chord changes for a handful of scales; Miles Davis gave his sextet only brief sketches at the two 1959 sessions, leaving the players to improvise almost everything else.

Which Cuban bandleader topped the US chart for ten weeks in 1955 with 'Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White'?

Pérez Prado, billed as the 'King of the Mambo', also wrote 'Mambo No. 5'; in 1999 Lou Bega built an international hit of the same name on a sample of it.

Harry Belafonte's 1956 album Calypso is credited as the first LP by a solo artist to do what?

Calypso is widely credited as the first LP by one artist to sell a million copies; it held number one for 31 weeks, helped above all by its opening track, 'Day-O', which became his signature song.

Which 1958 Kingston Trio number one retells the hanging of a Confederate veteran for an 1866 murder?

'Tom Dooley' tells of Tom Dula, hanged in 1868 for killing Laura Foster in North Carolina; the Grammys had no folk category yet, so the hit won as a country record, and a folk award was added the next year.

Which cowboy actor wrote and performed the 1958 novelty number one 'The Purple People Eater'?

Sheb Wooley, later scout Pete Nolan on TV's Rawhide, built the song on a riddle told by a friend's child and finished it within an hour; it held number one for six weeks.

The sped-up-tape technique on 'Witch Doctor' led Ross Bagdasarian to create which act?

Alvin and the Chipmunks gave the sped-up voice three characters; Ross Bagdasarian, performing as David Seville, named Alvin, Simon and Theodore after three men at his label, Liberty Records.

Which 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical, based on Shaw's Pygmalion, set a Broadway run record?

My Fair Lady ran a then-record 2,717 performances with Julie Andrews as Eliza; passed over for the 1964 film in favour of Audrey Hepburn, Andrews won that year's Best Actress Oscar for Mary Poppins instead.

West Side Story marked the Broadway debut of which lyricist in 1957?

Stephen Sondheim learned his craft from Oscar Hammerstein, a boyhood neighbour who became a surrogate father to him; at 27 he wrote West Side Story's lyrics to Leonard Bernstein's music.

Meredith Willson's The Music Man is set in which US state?

Iowa's Mason City, Meredith Willson's boyhood home, was the model for the show's River City; at the Tony Awards it took Best Musical in the year West Side Story was also nominated.

Which actor originated the role of the King in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I?

Yul Brynner shaved his head for the 1951 Broadway role and kept the look for life; he won a Tony, then an Oscar for the 1956 film, and played the King more than 4,600 times on stage.

Which singing cowboy sang 'Do Not Forsake Me' over the opening of the 1952 western High Noon?

Tex Ritter sang 'High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)' on the 1952 film's soundtrack and at the Academy Awards, where it won Best Original Song; Frankie Laine's cover was the bigger chart hit.

The LP and RCA Victor's rival single fought a format war named for what?

Speeds were the battleground: the LP turned at 33⅓ rpm and RCA Victor's single at 45, and buyers did not know which to back; in the end albums took one and singles the other.

The Regency TR-1, launched in 1954, was the first commercially made what?

Transistor radio was the product Texas Instruments picked to show the public what its new transistors could do; built with the Regency firm, the pocket-sized TR-1 went on sale in late 1954 at $49.95.

Which company launched the Les Paul solid-body electric guitar in 1952 as its answer to Fender?

Gibson had rejected Les Paul's home-made solid-body prototype, 'the Log', in the mid-1940s; once Fender's solid-bodies caught on, it came back to him and put his name on its own gold-finished model.

The Newport Jazz Festival was established in 1954 in which state?

Rhode Island's resort town of Newport got its festival when socialite Elaine Lorillard and her husband Louis hired George Wein to stage it; Duke Ellington's 1956 set there revived his flagging career.

The Louisiana Hayride radio show, which helped launch Elvis Presley, broadcast from which city?

Shreveport station KWKH aired the Hayride, where announcer Horace Logan first said 'Elvis has left the building' in December 1956, to quiet the fans so the remaining acts could play.

Which Liverpool venue, later the Beatles' home stage, opened as a jazz club?

The Cavern Club was modelled by founder Alan Sytner on a Paris jazz cellar, Le Caveau de la Huchette; within a few years beat groups had taken it over and it was the hub of the Liverpool scene.

John Lennon formed which skiffle band in 1956 that evolved into the Beatles?

Lennon formed the Quarrymen in 1956 at Quarry Bank High School, whose school song mentions 'quarrymen'; Paul McCartney joined in 1957 and George Harrison in 1958.

Which British singer, the 'King of Skiffle', rose to prominence with a hit version of the American folk song 'Rock Island Line'?

Lonnie Donegan's 1956 version of Lead Belly's 'Rock Island Line' reached the top ten in both Britain and the US, launching the skiffle craze that put guitars in the hands of the Beatles' generation.

Which 1958 Cliff Richard song is often called Britain's first authentic rock and roll record?

'Move It', written by Ian Samwell, was the flip side of Cliff Richard's 1958 debut 'Schoolboy Crush' but became the hit, reaching number two in Britain backed by the Drifters, soon renamed the Shadows.

Which former merchant seaman, discovered at Soho's 2i's Coffee Bar in 1956, is regarded as Britain's first teen idol?

Tommy Steele was singing in Soho coffee bars between voyages when a publicist spotted him at the 2i's; he had a record deal within two weeks and, a year later, a film of his own life story.

Which jazz saxophonist, nicknamed 'Bird', was a leading figure of bebop before dying in 1955?

Charlie Parker died at 34 so worn down by heroin and drink that the coroner took his body for that of a man over 50; months earlier he had been barred from Birdland, the club named after him.

Which singer's 1956 Cole Porter Song Book was the first album on Verve, the label her manager built around her?

Ella Fitzgerald's manager Norman Granz created Verve to record her and opened with the Cole Porter set to win her a wider audience; by 1964 she had also covered Gershwin, Ellington, Berlin and more.

Which trumpeter, who also sang 'My Funny Valentine', was the 'Prince of Cool'?

Chet Baker's hushed tone and film-star looks had fans tipping him for the movies; heroin addiction, arrests and prison terms then derailed his career for years.

The Ed Sullivan Show, which hosted Elvis Presley and later the Beatles, ran from 1948 to 1971 on which network?

CBS aired it from its Studio 50 on Broadway, renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater in 1967; the same stage later housed David Letterman's and Stephen Colbert's Late Show.

Which enduring holiday hit did Brenda Lee record in 1958, aged 13?

'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree', written by Johnny Marks, missed the charts when a 13-year-old Brenda Lee released it in 1958; it finally topped the Hot 100 in December 2023, 65 years on.

Tennessee Ernie Ford scored a 1955 number one with which song about a coal miner?

'Sixteen Tons' was Merle Travis's 1946 song about his family's Kentucky coal-mining life; Tennessee Ernie Ford cut it as a B-side when pressed to record something, and it sold a million within a month.

Which Everly Brothers hit was banned by Boston radio for suggestive lyrics?

'Wake Up Little Susie', written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, was banned by some Boston stations because the couple fall asleep together at a drive-in; it still topped the Billboard chart in 1957.

Which Big Bopper song reached number 6 on the Hot 100 in 1958?

'Chantilly Lace' came out as the flip side of a novelty parody until DJs turned the record over; the Big Bopper also wrote 'Running Bear', a later hit for Johnny Preston.

Who wrote Jerry Lee Lewis's 1957 hit 'Great Balls of Fire'?

Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer wrote it, but Jerry Lee Lewis, raised in a strict church, balked at singing it and argued with his producer, tape rolling, that it was sinful before cutting the hit.

Who first recorded 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' before Jerry Lee Lewis's famous 1957 version?

Big Maybelle recorded it for Okeh in 1955 with a young Quincy Jones in charge; Jerry Lee Lewis's wilder remake two years later was shunned by many radio stations as too suggestive, then became his breakthrough.

Cuban violinist Enrique Jorrín created which dance rhythm in the early 1950s?

Cha-cha-chá came about when Enrique Jorrín, seeing dancers struggle with the syncopation of the danzón-mambo, wrote simpler melodies; the name is said to echo the scrape of their feet.

Which future producer wrote the Teddy Bears' 1958 number one 'To Know Him Is to Love Him' as a teenager?

Phil Spector took the title from the epitaph on his father's gravestone, changing its tense; the record topped the Hot 100 for three weeks and launched the career that produced the 'Wall of Sound'.

Which song was Roy Orbison's first single for Sun Records, in 1956?

'Ooby Dooby' was reportedly dashed off on a fraternity-house roof by Wade Moore and Dick Penner; Roy Orbison's Sun version was a modest hit, years before his dramatic ballads made him a star.

Which 'Queen of Rockabilly' briefly dated Elvis Presley while touring with him in 1955?

Wanda Jackson toured with Elvis Presley in 1955-56 and briefly dated him; he pushed her toward rockabilly, and 'Fujiyama Mama' (1957) and the top-40 hit 'Let's Have a Party' (1960) followed.

Which 'Chances Are' singer skipped the 1956 US Olympic high-jump trials to make his first recordings?

Johnny Mathis, a college high-jump record holder, was invited to the Olympic trials just as a record label summoned him to New York; on his father's advice he chose the studio.

Which singer, Les Paul's wife, shared his multitracked 1950s hits?

Mary Ford harmonised with herself on the records, her voice overdubbed again and again by Les Paul at home; 'How High the Moon' held number one for nine weeks.

Perry Como's 'Catch a Falling Star' holds what place in record-industry history?

First RIAA gold single: the award was presented on March 14, 1958; before that, labels handed gold discs to their own stars, with no outside body to certify the sales.

Johnny and the Hurricanes' biggest hit, a 1959 organ-led instrumental, reworked which cowboy folk song?

'Red River Valley' became 'Red River Rock', a million-seller driven by Paul Tesluk's organ; Johnny and the Hurricanes then repeated the trick on other old tunes with 'Reveille Rock' and 'Beatnik Fly'.

Which soft-voiced trio taped their 1959 number one 'Come Softly to Me' with jingling car keys as percussion?

The Fleetwoods, three high-school friends from Olympia, Washington, sang it a cappella over Gary Troxel's shaken car keys; its title was lengthened from 'Come Softly' in case radio found that too suggestive.

On his 1959 number one, Wilbert Harrison sings of heading where to find some 'crazy little women'?

Kansas City was the song's destination from the start, but Little Willie Littlefield's 1952 original was retitled 'K. C. Loving' and missed the national charts; Wilbert Harrison's remake seven years later reached number one.

Which label owner heard Little Richard's 1955 demo tape and set up the 'Tutti Frutti' session?

Art Rupe of Specialty Records got the demo in early 1955 and months later sent producer Bumps Blackwell to record Little Richard in New Orleans, where writer Dorothy LaBostrie cleaned up the song's bawdy lyrics.

Which real Detroit mob is name-checked among the characters in Elvis's 'Jailhouse Rock'?

The Purple Gang, Detroit's Prohibition-era bootlegging mob, turn up as the 'whole rhythm section'; the writers meant the song as a tongue-in-cheek goof, but Elvis sang it as straight rock and roll.

Which Platters chart-topper was a Jerome Kern tune from 1933's Roberta?

'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes' reused a melody Jerome Kern had first written as a tap number for Show Boat; slowed to a ballad with Otto Harbach's lyric, it became the hit of Roberta in 1933.

Which TV host, nicknamed 'America's oldest teenager', fronted American Bandstand from 1956 until 1989?

Dick Clark took over a local dance programme in July 1956 and had it on the ABC network nationwide by the following summer.

Which signature stage move did Chuck Berry say he first tried as a child, fetching a ball from under a table?

The duck walk got its name, by Berry's account, from a journalist who watched him do it at his first New York show.

Which Memphis producer founded Sun Records, the label that launched Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis?

Sam Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA in 1955 and became one of the first investors in the Holiday Inn motel chain, a stake that helped make his fortune.

Which British punk band copied the pink and green lettering of Elvis Presley's debut album for London Calling?

The Clash had designer Ray Lowry echo the Presley sleeve as a homage, setting the letters around a photo of bassist Paul Simonon smashing his bass.

Which actor recorded the songs live and earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination as the lead in The Buddy Holly Story?

Gary Busey was 33 when he played the singer from age 20 to 22, and he lost a considerable amount of weight to look the part.

Which Little Richard hit, a number one on the R&B chart, shares its title with the name B.B. King gave his guitars?

Lucille was the name B.B. King gave every guitar he owned, after two men fighting over a woman called that started a dance-hall fire.

Which Elvis Presley hit shared a 1956 single with 'Hound Dog', the pair holding number one for 11 weeks?

Don't Be Cruel overtook its own flip side to reach number one on the pop, country and R&B charts alike.

Which Fender guitar, the first mass-produced solid-body electric, was first sold as the Broadcaster?

Telecaster was chosen in 1951 to cash in on the arrival of television, after drum maker Gretsch objected to the earlier name.

Which gospel quartet sang backing vocals for Elvis Presley on record, on stage and in films from 1956 to 1970?

The Jordanaires met Presley backstage in Memphis in 1955, when he told them he wanted them behind him if a major label ever signed him.

Which 1956 Jayne Mansfield comedy put Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent on cinema screens together?

The Girl Can't Help It thrilled a teenage John Lennon, and Paul McCartney later impressed him by playing an Eddie Cochran number from it.

Which Bobby Day hit reached number two again in 1972 as a cover by a teenage Michael Jackson?

Rockin' Robin peaked at number two for Bobby Day and stalled at exactly the same spot for Michael Jackson, held off the top by Roberta Flack.

Which Chuck Berry hit supplied the melody for the Beach Boys' 'Surfin' U.S.A.', costing them the song's copyright?

Sweet Little Sixteen was so plainly the source that the Beach Boys' manager signed the new song's copyright over to Berry's publisher.

Which Little Willie John R&B hit became Peggy Lee's signature song, backed only by bass, drums and finger snaps?

Fever became Peggy Lee's own after she rewrote much of its lyric herself, work for which she was never credited.

Which female vocal quartet, already famous for 'Mr. Sandman', reached number two in the US with 'Lollipop'?

The Chordettes owed the song to a late arrival: its co-writer said his daughter had got a lollipop stuck in her hair, and the word stuck too.

Which film did Elvis Presley finish on a 60-day draft deferment before joining the US Army?

King Creole gave Presley the role he later called the favourite of his acting career, a part rewritten from boxer to singer to suit him.

Which Little Richard hit, named for a Southern DJ's catchphrase, did Creedence Clearwater Revival cover in 1969?

Good Golly, Miss Molly was taped in 1956 but stayed in the vault for more than a year before it came out as a single.

Which singer of the number one 'It's Only Make Believe' took his stage name from towns in Arkansas and Texas?

Conway Twitty was born Harold Jenkins, and is said to have picked Conway, Arkansas, and Twitty, Texas, off a map.

The Champs, a studio band formed to cut a single B-side, were named after which singing cowboy's horse?

Gene Autry owned Challenge Records, the label whose executives put the group together; his horse was called Champion.

Tommy Edwards topped the US chart with a song whose 1911 tune was written by a future holder of which office?

US Vice President Charles Dawes, deputy to Calvin Coolidge, wrote the tune of 'It's All in the Game' at one sitting as a Chicago banker, and later won a Nobel Peace Prize.

Which Nashville guitar great played on the Everly Brothers' 'All I Have to Do Is Dream', taped in only two takes?

Chet Atkins played electric guitar on a ballad that went on to top every Billboard singles chart at the same time.

Which Disney animated film of 1950 introduced the Oscar-nominated magic-spell song 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo'?

Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, voiced by Verna Felton, sings it while turning a pumpkin into a carriage and four mice into horses.

Which Christmas character got a hit song in 1950, written to follow the success of 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'?

Frosty the Snowman came from the songwriting pair behind the Easter song 'Here Comes Peter Cottontail', who pitched it as another seasonal hit.

Which 1950 instrumental by a Cuban bandleader did German singer Lou Bega sample for a worldwide 1999 hit?

Mambo No. 5 gave Lou Bega his only US top-ten hit, and the original recording has since been picked for the National Recording Registry.

Which 1950 Broadway musical about New York gamblers, drawn from Damon Runyon stories, features 'Luck Be a Lady'?

Guys and Dolls ran for 1,200 performances on Broadway and won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Which Christmas song, first recorded by Bing Crosby in 1950, was retitled after its composer's wife objected?

Silver Bells began life as Tinkle Bells, until Jay Livingston's wife pointed out the word's double meaning. Carol Richards sang it with Crosby.

Which instrument did Anton Karas play on 'The Third Man Theme', an 11-week US number one in 1950?

Zither music filled a Vienna wine cellar where Karas was playing for tips; director Carol Reed heard it and knew at once he wanted it for his film.

Which folk group featuring Pete Seeger spent 13 weeks at number one in 1950 with Lead Belly's 'Goodnight, Irene'?

The Weavers sold millions, then lost recording and concert work to the Red Scare blacklist, with Seeger called to testify before Congress.

Which bandleader, later the voice of Baloo in The Jungle Book, hit number one in 1950 with the novelty 'The Thing'?

Phil Harris never names what his narrator finds in a box on the beach: each time the word is due, the vocal pauses for three knocks.

Which Canadian-born singer's train song 'I'm Moving On' led the US country chart for 21 weeks in 1950?

Hank Snow said he had proposed the song at an RCA session in 1949, only for his recording director to turn it down.

Under which alias did Hank Williams begin releasing moral recitations in 1950, spoken more often than sung?

Luke the Drifter existed so that honky-tonk customers who picked a Hank Williams record would not get a sermon in place of a song.