The Top Five Best Hit Songs Of 1958
I’ll keep the preamble nice and short this time. While 1958 is still a relatively bad year for Popular Music (as were all pre-Beatles years except maybe 1963), it’s not without its highlights. Like with the Worst Hits, the Best Hits of 1958 are an eclectic mix of what was popular at the time. Let’s get right into the Honorable Mentions!
HM (Honorable Mention) #1: The Everly Brothers – All I Have to Do Is Dream
Peak: #1 Year-End: #2
A common Rule of Thumb for most years in Popular Music is that the biggest hits tend to be the best. This isn’t always the case, but there’s more than a little positive correlation between chart success and song quality. As the second biggest hit song of the first year in our journey, “All I Have to Do Is Dream” is a really nice little love ballad about being so caught up in dreaming about love, that you lose track of your own life. It’s a little cheesy, but The Everly Brothers’ nice singing and the surprisingly compelling melody kept me coming back to it.
HM #2: The Champs – Tequila
Peak: #1 Year-End: #8
Back in the day (aka, up to like the Mid-80s), Instrumentals were much more common on the Hot 100 charts. Most of them are forgotten to time, but if you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard “Tequila”. It’s the song that plays during the infamous chewing tobacco scene from The Sandlot, and has made a myriad of other appearances in media. The horns give it an edge over most of the other instrumentals on the Year-End, and it’s catchy, basic, and iconic all at once. Not bad!
HM #3: Nat King Cole – Looking Back
Peak: #5 Year-End: #31
While Nat King Cole is most well known for “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)”, his contribution to the Holiday Music Canon, his non-Christmas music deserves much more attention. “Looking Back” is a contemplative reflection at a relationship which slowly turned sour over the years (Nat was almost 40 when this song came out). Cole’s voice is very solid, and the production is fittingly melancholic. In a way, it’s kind of like an early version of “Always On My Mind”, which I will be talking about when I get to 1982 on this project. Let’s get into the main list…
The Top Five Best Hits Songs of 1958!!!
5. David Seville – Witch Doctor
Peak: #1 Year-End: #4
Since we’re so early into this project, let me just say right now that you should never assume I don’t have weird takes. In 1958, a former Broadway actor-turned-singer-songwriter named Ross Bagdasarian (stage name David Seville) did the unthinkable…he bought a tape recorder!!! They cost $200 (over 2000$ today), and he hadn’t been particularly successful during this period so spending such a hefty sum was risky.
After he experimented with playback speeds, he came up with a novel idea to record his voice at half-speed then sped it up to a normal speed, creating a high-pitched voice that could act as a second character or perspective within a song. He then turned to an old song idea he had about a witch doctor, and used the high-pitched voice as a way to voice the doctor while singing in his regular voice.
The end product, a novelty song about asking a witch doctor for help to get a girl to like him, was a huge hit in 1958. It inspired a bevy of songs that all utilized voice-alteration tech, like “The Purple People Eater”, and kickstarted the media franchise Alvin and the Chipmunks, who would see chart success the next year.
While the song itself is one of the first notable examples of studio experimentation to create sounds not humanly possible, I think it still holds up over time. It all has to do with that stupidly catchy riff: “ooh-eee, ooh-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla-bing-bang”. That riff hits the sweet spot in my brain and I cannot decipher why. Chances are, you’re more familiar with The Cartoons’ version, and it’s also very solid as well.
4. Tommy Edwards – It’s All in the Game
Peak: #1 Year-End: #9
First, this song has a fascinating backstory. In 1911, a banker named Charles Gates Dawes created a melody spontaneously one day in his home, and showed it to his friend, the violinist Francis MacMillen, who promptly turned it into an actual song. “Melody in A Major”, aka “Dawes’ Melody” became a staple, and followed Dawes as he became a Noble Peace Prize Laureate, and later Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge.
Fast forward to 1951, and Dawes passes away, very sad. Carl Sigman, a songwriter on the up-and-up, decides to rearrange the song, adding lyrics and making it more suitable to be sung. A few people recorded versions of what was now “It’s All in the Game”, as was commonplace for music back then, but it was Tommy Edwards’ rendition that stood out, peaking in the jazz charts’ Top 20. Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong also covered it.
Fast forward again to 1958, and Edwards’ contract with MGM Records is almost up, so he’s asked to record a new, more Pop-oriented rendition of “It’s All in the Game”. This new version is 40 seconds shorter, and was a huge success, netting 6 weeks at Number One (Edwards was the first African-American artist to reach the top of the fledgling Billboard Hot 100). This song is the oldest song on Billboard’s All-Time Hot 100, as well.
All of that backstory can overshadow the fact that, at its core, this is a lovely little tune. The main draw for me is how lush it sounds. Despite almost being 70 years old, the production, singing, and melody feel timeless in a way that only enhances the overall song. I think Edwards’ singing does a lot to really make the song feel warm and inviting in that regard, it’s a shame he didn’t have more hits because he’s such a delightful singer.
3. Cozy Cole – Topsy II
Peak: #3 Year-End: #30
I said in the Honorable Mentions that instrumentals were a much more common occurrence way back in the day. Everything from TV show themes, to novelty instrumentals, to literal Ragtime has made a Year-End at some point. While “Tequila” is undeniably a classic, it’s very basic and simple. Not that it needed to be complex; I’d argue a lot of the charm from that song is how straightforward it is, but it still sounds like a relic from the 1950s.
And so, I’m glad to shout-out “Topsy II”. Originally composed in 1937 by Count Basie, this song would end up as a hit 20 years when Cozy Cole, a jazz drummer who collaborated with the likes of Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong, covered it. Both Part 1 and Part 2 were sent out to radio, with the latter becoming a Top 3 hit. At 3:34, it’s also the second longest song on the entire Year-End behind “Volare”.
It makes great use of that long (for the time) runtime, first with a catchy, ominous organ riff, which devolves into a solo, then a drum solo that lasts a solid minute, backed up with some horns and finally a return to the organ riff, performed on horns as the song closes out. While it may seem a tad quaint, such a large amount of improvisation and creativity over a long run-time renders this song much more compelling than the lion’s share of its cohorts in the 1958 hit parade.
2. The Platters – Twilight Time
Peak: #1 Year-End: #16
I really don’t have too much to say about this one. Similar to both “Looking Back” and “It’s All in the Game”, “Twilight Time” by The Platters is a very pretty song about love sung by African American singers (who carried the Pre-Beatles Era, let’s be clear.) It’s a Doo-Wop number about being with your girl once you get through the day. That Everyman element adds just a little more substance, and the accompaniment is crisp, letting you hear the richness of those strings ever more.
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Alright, before we get to Number One, I’d like to shout-out one or more Special Mention in most future Best Lists as a way to talk about some music which, while failing to make the Year-End, still stands out for one reason or another. The only qualification is that the song must have been released as a single in the United States.
Special Mention: Chuck Berry – Johnny B. Goode
Peak: #8 Year-End: NA
“Johnny B. Goode” is special in that it is possibly the first Rock n Roll song about Rock n Roll. That this song represents the Genesis of Rock n Roll’s meta is more than enough to deserve a mention, but “Johnny B. Goode” is also a really good song, at least for the era. Chuck Berry is not a revolutionary songwriter, but he knew how to make a simple riff or idea work wonders in a song, and he uses the jangling, repetitive motif here to an impressive degree. By the end of the song, I’m swearing my undying loyalty to Johnny, because Dammit Chuck Berry told to! Go Johnny, Go, indeed!
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1. Conway Twitty – It’s Only Make Believe
Peak: #1 Year-End: #11
One thing you should know about me is that I’m a very emotional person. Among other emotions I feel intensely, I tend to cry whenever I feel particularly sad, which is not infrequently. Another thing you should know about me is that, above all else, my number one criteria for these lists is how much a song can mean to me. A song which carries a deep personal meaning for me, or a song which I can relate heavily to, will trump songs that many would consider objectively better. It’s my list, after all, and I can cry if I want to.
And for the first song which carries the illustrious title of Best Hit Song on NicoYaps, I present to you, without further ado, “It’s Only Make Believe” by Conway Twitty.
Admittedly, this song might seem like an odd choice for Number One. It’s not as irresistibly catchy as “Witch Doctor”, not as dynamic and interesting musically as “Topsy II”, nor is it as impeccably produced as “It’s All in the Game” or “Twilight Time”. I’ll admit that, if you don’t really care for the lyrics, if they don’t resonate with you, this song isn’t anything special.
But for me, oh boy… this song hits. It’s about having an unrequited crush that you wish, above all else, felt the same way as you. There are a lot of songs about this topic, many of which I love, and a few of which I’ll be talking about in this project, but few of them can emotionally resonate quite like this one. There are a few reasons why.
First, Conway Twitty himself. The man has a very emotive, tender voice, which works perfectly for a song about intense, desperate yearning. He belts out each line and you can hear it in his soul and in yours, and it’s a sight to behold. Second, the specific lyrics, far from a generic, by-the-numbers attempt at this romantic heartbreak, demonstrate a real knack for getting ahold of one’s heartstrings. Combine these two things together, and you already have a potent composition on your hands, but there’s one more thing.
Lastly, myself. I tend to fall in love with somebody and feel intensely romantically attached to them, whether they, or I for that matter, like it or not. I really try not to, but I’m only human, and when Twitty wails out lines like “My heart I can’t control / You rule my very soul”, and “My only prayer will be / Someday you’ll care for me / But it’s only make-believe”, I feel that, I really do.
I’m not sure what my romantic future holds, but I know that if I’m down on my luck and caught in my feelings, I can sure commiserate with Conway Twitty. For that, “It’s Only Make Believe” is the Best Hit Song of 1958
Okay, with 1958 done, it’s time to move on to 1959. That’ll be out probably in early October. Until then, take care, tell me your thoughts down below, and have a good one :)
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