PART 2 1956-1963
Lonnie Donegan was one of the first rock-oriented acts to score Stateside; he and fellow newcomer Elvis Presley were simultaneously in the Top 10 in 1956. British vocalists also only managed one Top 10 single in both 1957 and 1958. Interestingly, the former, ‘Rainbow’, which made a pot of gold for the first transatlantically successful Liverpool singer/songwriter Russ Hamilton, was the overlooked b-side of his No.2 hit ‘We Will Make Love’ in his homeland.
The UK’s 1958 winner, 13 year old Laurie London’s ‘He’s Got The Whole World’ In His Hands’, which topped the US Cash Box chart, stalled outside the UK Top 10. The last year of the decade was also the best for British records Stateside, with three singles sitting simultaneously in the US Top 20 in February. However, yet again they were all by instrumental outfits.
In 1961 three British vocal singles reached the US Top 20, two of which (Hayley Mills and Lonnie Donegan) could be categorised as novelties. The following year, two of Britain’s leading trad jazz acts Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball had huge hits there – but they did not herald the start of any similar craze in the land where that style of music had originated from. 1962 also saw the first Top 20 hit by a UK vocal group, The Springfields, and the first No.1 by a group, The Tornadoes (another instrumental). In the year leading up to the British Invasion eight UK singles cracked the US Top 100 but only one of them reached the Top 20, ‘You Don’t Have To Be A Baby To Cry’ by girl duo The Caravelles, which exited the Top 20 as ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ by The Beatles rocketed onto the Top 100 on Jan 18 1964.
Statistically speaking, in the first nine years of rock music (1955-1963) of the 1187 singles that reached the US Top 20 only 1.25% originated in Britain (a figure that increased to 26% in 1964!). In truth, British acts did not seriously consider the possibility that they may have a US hit when they recorded, as a British entry in the Top 100 was so rare at that time that the UK music media handed out plaudits to any act that could even managed to reach the lower rungs. Among the acts who achieved that lesser feat were Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde, Anthony Newley, Helen Shapiro and comic turned chartmaker Charlie Drake. Interestingly Frankie Vaughan, The Beverley Sisters, Bob Sharples, Ron Goodwin, Lord Rockingham’s XI, Mike Preston, Betty Smith and Knightsbridge Strings all managed Top 100 placings with songs that failed to click in the UK!
Anyone under 45 will find it hard to imagine a time when British singles had little or no chance of charting in the USA. Forty years ago, it was by no means a forgone conclusion that The Beatles, or any of the British “beat boom” brigade, would be successful Stateside – if anything, history showed quite the opposite. Merseybeat (a term which encompassed all the groups coming out of the lively Liverpool music scene) was a huge musical craze in the UK, as had trad jazz and skiffle been previously – and there was no reason to think that it’s impact overseas would be any stronger. UK acts may have had the odd hit in the USA, but a long-term career there was considered completely out of the question.
Among the British records that fell by the wayside in America in 1963 were three singles and an album by The Beatles. ‘Please Please Me’ had received some radio support but sales there were minimal, and The Beatles’ UK chart topper ‘From Me To You’ came a poor second in the US to a cover version by Del Shannon, the two reaching positions 116 and 77 respectively.
US TOP 20 ENTRIES 56-63
07/04/56 8 ROCK ISLAND LINE-Lonnie Donegan
12/08/57 7 RAINBOW-Russ Hamilton
31/03/58 2 HE'S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD (IN HIS HANDS)-Laurie London
HOT 100 (launched August 1958)
12/01/59 10 MANHATTAN SPIRITUAL-Reg Owen
02/02/59 13 THE CHILDREN'S MARCHING SONG (NICK NACK PADDY WACK)-Cyril Stapleton
16/02/59 5 PETITE FLEUR (LITTLE FLOWER)-Chris Barber Jazz Band
31/07/61 18 MY KIND OF GIRL-Matt Monro
28/08/61 5 DOES YOUR CHEWING GUM LOSE ITS FLAVOR (ON THE BEDPOST OVER NIGHT)-Lonnie Donegan
02/10/61 8 LET'S GET TOGETHER-Hayley Mills
24/02/62 2 MIDNIGHT IN MOSCOW-Kenny Ball
14/04/62 1 STRANGER ON THE SHORE-Acker Bilk
22/09/62 20 SILVER THREADS AND GOLDEN NEEDLES-Springfields
29/09/62 5 I REMEMBER YOU-Frank Ifield
24/11/62 1 TELSTAR-Tornados
30/11/63 3 YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A BABY TO CRY-Caravelles
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