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One of the featured years this year in the podcast is 1956. The rock and roll era had begun, but there was still a lot of the old timers of pop music who were still jitting it big. Not to mention some of the new generation who used hits of the past decades to score it big as well.
Some of the top stars of the year, based on the number of times they had a hit song include Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Perry Como who all had from 5 to 7 songs in this top 40 list.
In no pqrticular order, other than being in alphabetical order… more or less… here’s my playlist.
- How Little It Matters, How Little We Know – Frank Sinatra
- Take Me Back To Toyland – Nat King Cole
- 11th Hour Melody – Al Hibbler
- After The Lights Go Down Low – Al Hibbler
- All At Once You Love Her – Perry Como
- Allegheny Moon – Patti Page
- April In Paris – Count Basie (hit 45 single version)
- Canadian Sunset – Hugo Winterhalter & Eddie Heywood (#1 hit)
- Eddie My Love – Fontane Sisters
- Flowers Mean Forgiveness – Frank Sinatra
- Glendora – Perry Como
- Go On With The Wedding – Patti Page
- Hey Jealous Lover – Frank Sinatra
- Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) – Perry Como (#1 hit)
- I’m In Love Again – Fontane Sisters
- In A Shanty In Old Shanty Town – Somethin’ Smith & the Redheads (45rpm version)
- written in 1932.
- The Johnny Long and His Orchestra had a million seller of the song in 1946,
- In The Middle Of The House – Vaughn Monroe
- Innamorata – Dean Martin
- It’s Almost Tomorrow – Jo Stafford
- I’ve Got You Under My Skin – Frank Sinatra
- Appeared as early as 1946 on his radio show.
- Juke Box Baby – Perry Como –
- Mack The Knife – Louis Armstrong & his All-Stars
- Mama From The Train – Patti Page
- Memories Are Made Of This – Dean Martin (#1 hit)
- Memories Of You – Four Coins
- The song was introduced by singer Minto Cato in the Broadway show Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1930.
- A 1930 version recorded by Louis Armstrong featuring Lionel Hampton is the first known use of the vibraphone in popular music.
- Notable recordings include: Louis Armstrong (1930), Duke Ellington (1930), Ethel Waters (1931), Rosemary Clooney and Benny Goodman (1956), and several others.
- Moonlight Love (Clair de lune) – Perry Como
- More – Perry Como
- Night Lights – Nat King Cole
- Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You – Nat King Cole
- On London Bridge – Jo Stafford
- Please Don’t Leave Me – Fontane Sisters
- Rock And Roll Waltz – Kay Starr (her original #1 version)
- Somebody Up There Likes Me – Perry Como
- Standing On The Corner – Dean Martin
- That’s All There Is To That – Nat King Cole & The Four Knights
- The Tender Trap – Frank Sinatra(from the movie of the same.) name.
- Too Young To Go Steady – Nat King Cole
- True Love – Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly
- Walk Hand In Hand – Tony Martin
- You’re Sensational – Frank Sinatra (45 single version)
- Blueberry Hill – Lois Armstrong.
- Gene Autry (1940) (the original version, from the movie The Singing Hill) (1941)
- The Glenn Miller Orchestra (vocal by Ray Eberle) (1941) (The most famous version in the 1940s.
- Louis Armstrong with Gordon Jenkins’ Orchestra and Choir (1949) (with different lyrics)
- My Blue Heaven – Fats Domino.
- A hit as early as 1927 with Paul Whiteman, vocals by Bing Crosby.
- A hit in 1939 with Sammy Kaye.
- When My Dreamboat Comes Home – Fats Domino
- Earlier hits by: Bing Crosby; Kaye Starr.
