Hits of 54: Little Things Mean a Lot

Hardly "Incomplete" And Also Containing One Extremely Hard To Find Hit

To give this excellent compilation of some of the biggest hits of 1954 just 3 stars because it did not contain a favorite selection is hardly keeping with the spirit and intent of the rating system.

First of all, the Living Era series comes from the U.K.-based Sanctuary Records Group Limited outlet which, like fellow British distributors Ace, Jasmine and Acrobat, always offer up excellence, whether in content, liner notes or overall sound quality. In this case you get three pages of background information written in 2005 by Peter Dempsey, together with a complete discography of the contents showing chart performances in both the U.K. and North America. Secondly, this IS a British release and so it's understandable that the selections would concentrate more or less on those that were major hits in that part of the world.

For example, the rendition of The Happy Wanderer (track 9) by The Obernkirchen Children's Choir was a # 2 hit in the U.K. for the Parlophone label, while over here the hits belonged to Frank Weir with His Saxophone, Chorus & Orchestra (# 4 on London) and Henri Rene And His Musette Orchestra (# 8 on RCA Victor). Oh! My Pa-Pa (O Mein Papa) may have been a # 1 here for Eddie Fisher, but in the U.K. the # 1 version was by Eddie Calvert & His Golden Trumpet (track 5) on Columbia, although the Calvert instrumental rendition also scored here at # 6 on the Essex label. Another such was Frank Sinatra's version of Three Coins In The Fountain (track 20), also a # 1 in the U.K. on Capitol, but second here at # 4 to that by The Four Aces (# 1).

But when all is said and done, there were 156 songs in 1954 that ranked anywhere from # 1 to # 30 on the Billboard Pop Hits charts and here you get 26 of them. So, it stands to reason that something had to be left out! For the record, Judy Garland's The Man That Got Away from A Star Is Born finished at a modest # 22 late in the summer of 1954 with about 142 songs ranked ahead. So, in terms of "The Hits Of '54" this does a pretty decent job.

I grabbed it for one selection in particular, Skokiaan (named for a South African Zulu tribal drink). In 1954 there were six hit versions and five of them have been made available on numerous compilations, i.e., those by Ralph Marterie & His Orchestra (# 3 instrumental on Mercury), The Four Lads with the Neal Hefti orchestra (# 7 vocal version on Columbia), Ray Anthony & His Orchestra (# 18 instrumental on Capitol), Perez Prado & His Orchestra (# 26 instrumental on RCA Victor), and Louis Armstrong with the Sy Oliver orchestra (# 29 vocal version on Decca).

But this is the ONLY place I have ever seen the one by the South African group The Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band, whose original instrumental version made it to # 17 on the London label and, considering that the main focus of this release was chart results in Britain, this can be considered a real bonus for North American collectors because it did not chart in the U.K. Thank you Living Era. November 17, 2007

incomplete

Where is Judy Garland's "The Man That Got Away" It was a hit, also nominated for an oscar. October 26, 2007

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