The other day we were having lunch at the 66 Diner (yep, like Route 66) and listening to oldies. It was a very blustery day, complete with blowing debris and dust so thick we couldn't see the mountains on the east side of Albuquerque. It made me recall that one of the top songs the year I was born (1956) was "Westward Wind" by Gogi Grant. And in Albuquerque, that's generally the direction the wind comes from.
I looked up "top songs in 1956" and found Billboard's list. Holy cow, Elvis was really big that year. His songs were #1 ("Don't be cruel"), #2 ("Hound Dog"), #5 ("Heartbreak Hotel"), #9 ("Love me tender"), and #17 ("I want you, I need you, I love you"). Most performers are pretty happy these days even to have one song on the top 20 list for a year.
There are some other songs on the list that I remember, mostly because I lived in an area where they still played a lot of "oldies," which these songs were by the time I was in my early teenage years. "Singing the Blues" by Guy Mitchell, "Lisbon Antigua" by Nelson Riddle (also famous for the "Route 66" TV show theme song), "The Great Pretender" by the Platters... any of these sound familiar to you? Then you're either an oldies buff or somewhere around my age.
I'm not really an Elvis Presley fan so much, but he did put out some great songs. Back in our younger years when we were square dancers, one of the best sets we ever danced to was when a caller put together a very long medley of Elvis Presley songs. That's when I realized what a great beat they had, which is critical in square dancing. The place was really rocking! You haven't lived until you've square danced to "Hound Dog!"
Go ahead--give it a try. Bring up your search window and type in "top songs" for the year you were born. What did you get?
