09 Nov 2001
helen shapiro, by courtesy of RPM
RECORDS
Some UK Hits: Nov 1961
| 1 |
His Latest Flame |
| Elvis Presley |
| 2 |
Walkin' Back To Happiness |
| Helen Shapiro |
| 3 |
Take Good Care Of My Baby |
| Bobby Vee |
| 4 |
Big Bad John |
| Jimmy Dean |
| 5 |
When The Girl in Your Arms is the Girl In
Your Heart |
| Cliff Richard |
| 6 |
Take Five |
| Dave Brubeck Quartet |
| 7 |
Hit The Road Jack |
| Ray Charles |
| 8 |
The Time Has Come |
| Adam Faith |
| 9 |
Sucu-Sucu |
| Laurie Johnson |
| 10 |
Mexicali Rose |
| Karl Denver |
| 11 |
Tower of Strength |
| Frankie Vaughan |
| 12 |
Moon River |
| Danny Williams |
| 13 |
Bless You |
| Tony Orlando |
| 14 |
You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby |
| Bobby Darin |
| 15 |
Wild Wind |
| John Leyton |
| 16 |
Runaround Sue |
| Dion |
| 17 |
The Savage |
| Shadows |
| 18 |
Let's Get Together |
| Hayley Mills |
| 19 |
Midnight in Moscow |
| Kenny Ball |
| 20 |
You'll Answer To Me |
| Cleo Laine |
|
**********
 We
have been refused permission to reproduce charts from this
era, so please note that the list of singles on this page does
not represent any one UK chart; compiled from many different
sources, the list is a general guide to the most popular singles of
the month, ordered loosely by sales and peak chart position.
|
|
Helen Shapiro was born
on 28 Sep 1946. Walkin' Back To Happiness, released
shortly after her 15th birthday, was her third hit and her second No
1. Helen recorded 11 singles as a teenager, later maturing
into a successful jazz and gospel
singer. Still performing today, and still
looking gorgeous.
|
|
Avoiding
the Sickbag Scene at No. 5, we find Dave Brubeck at No 6. Take
Five - composed by the quartet's Alto Sax Paul Desmond - was written in
5/4 time, and became a true classic of popular jazz.
|
|
The
"Sixties" - in a style sense - didn't really begin until
1963, and this is very much a Fifties chart. Song and Dance maestro Frankie
Vaughan always looked as if he would soon be yesterday's
news; but he was a man of formidable talent, and in fact had
his last hit in 1968. Frankie - who once refused Marilyn
Monroe - remained a popular live entertainer for many years after
that. He died in 1999 at the age of 71.
|
|
All-time classic at No. 12 is Moon River, composed by Henry
Mancini. Mancini also made himself a buck or two with The
Pink Panther, among dozens of other compositions.
|
|
John
Leyton had three hits in 1961, including a debut No. 1, Johnny
Remember Me. In 1964, with his popularity fading, he moved
to Hollywood and had quite a successful film career, before
returning home and going into the restaurant trade.
He made a modest musical comeback in 1992.
|
|
Helen
Shapiro at No. 2, and another
15-year-old at No. 18. Hayley
Mills was born on 18 Apr 1946, and was Britain's leading child
actor in the early 1960's. After a few personal ups and downs,
she now lives in New York with actor Firdous Bamji, and still
appears in theatre.
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