BEST NUMBER 2 HIT, 1955-1959? (Part 1)

[NightTrain]

Poll question: BEST NUMBER 2 HIT, 1955-1959? (Part 1)

OK folks, you asked for it, so here they are: the hits that came as close to topping the Billboard charts as you can get without actually reaching #1. Happy voting!

[bobthedrummer]

1. Thanx!

"Honky Tonk" is kinda rootsy.

[NightTrain]

2. And here's what kept those songs from reaching #1!

GREAT PRETENDER - "Memories Are Made of This," Dean Martin

HONKY TONK - "Don't Be Cruel," Elvis Presley

GREEN DOOR - "Love Me Tender," Elvis Presley and "Singing The Blues," Guy Mitchell

LITTLE DARLIN' - "Round and Round," Perry Como and "All Shook Up," Elvis Presley

A WHITE SPORT COAT - "Love Letters in the Sand," Pat Boone

BYE BYE LOVE - "Love Letters in the Sand," Pat Boone and "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear," Elvis Presley

RAUNCHY - "Jailhouse Rock," Elvis Presley

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE - "At The Hop," Danny & The Juniors

STOOD UP - "At The Hop," Danny & The Juniors

[amazona]

3. lord help us all

I know a man who thought, "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" was like, his theme song. You wonder about people sometimes! With "love Letters in the Sand" at no. 1 that must have been a scary week to turn on the radio!

[mac56]

14. Big vote for Wild Bill Doggett.

:thumbsup:

[Abe Linkman]

4. "White Sport Coat"

Marty Robbins was an extremely talented man. What a singer, stylist, and good chooser of songs he was.

[elperromagico]

5. Didn't The Great Pretender go on to #1 in Billboard?

If I recall correctly, the Platters had four #1 pop hits:

"The Great Pretender"
"My Prayer"
"Twilight Time"
"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"

[NightTrain]

6. I wasn't going to get into this unless somebody mentioned it...

...but now that somebody has, here we go with the inside story:

Until it began publishing the Hot 100 in August 1958, Billboard compiled four different weekly pop charts: Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played on Jukeboxes, Most Played by Disc Jockeys, and the Top 100, which essentially combined the other three.

I decided to go with the Best Sellers in Stores chart because I figured it was the closest we have to reflecting what the general public was buying at the time. As such, all the songs in this poll reached #2 only on that chart. Some, like "The Great Pretender," reached #1 on other surveys.

Hope that clears it up for ya!

[elperromagico]

7. Well, it seems to me that the Top 100 chart would be the best indicator.

But it's your poll. :)

[NightTrain]

8. I'd have thought so too, but...

...THE BILLBOARD BOOK OF #2 SINGLES uses the Best Sellers in Stores chart for its pre-August 1958 entries. I figured, if it was good enough for Billboard....

[NightTrain]

9. kick

n/t

[SEAburb]

10. Phil and Don were such talented kids

They never got the respect they deserved. They impressed me so much when I saw them perform live material on there TV show.

[elperromagico]

11. You sound like Ed Sullivan there: "Here are some talented youngsters"

[NightTrain]

12. Re: They never got the respect they deserved

Well, they ARE in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! :hi:

[NightTrain]

13. 'nuther kick

n/t

[TahitiNut]

15. That was before teenagers were a mighty economic force ...

... except with whatever we earned. Most of us had part-time jobs and summer jobs, saving for college and/or a car. If we'd had the money teenagers have today, most of those tunes would've hit #1 big time. Indeed, those were the favorites of us teenagers -- and I remember those days quite clearly.

"Little Darlin'" was major with me and my friends and Jerry Lee's "Great Balls of Fire" was enormous. "Raunchy"? What can I say -- it was one big afternoon after-school fun tune.