Not vastly different follow-up to ‘Side Saddle’, which passes the time in the same sweet way. This is the superior tune, in fact, because its teetering scales make for a better hook, but even so you feel he’s taking the mickey a bit[…]

An enticingly louche guitar line is sabotaged at once by Elvis, whose absurd baritone makes one thing very clear: from now on, he’s playing for laughs. People who nod approvingly at Presley’s record tally of British #1s tend not to mentio[…]

The twang of his first No.1 survives in the voice alone, a touch of reassuring gawk in amongst the frothy orchestration, hiccups dropped in like winks to the fans. The suddenly grieving fans ‘ this is the first chart-topper to be driven and hau[…]

If you look at the top TV hits of the late 50s the lists seem to be dominated by cowboy shows. I could try on some spiel about the stark contrast between good and evil in these shows reflecting the political situation of the time, but probably the pl[…]

The combination here of opulent arrangement and howling vocal is effectively uncomfortable ‘ like a magnificent old gin palace full of ragged, embittered drunks. The lead singer sticks to a polite, precise croon and then suddenly lunges at you,[…]

I always find with ballads there’s a minimum tempo below which the song cannot hold together, like a certain amount of speed translated into centrifugal force is needed to keep a plate spinning I suppose.
(That bit may be cobblers ‘ sorry[…]

Elvis acts the teenybop star while a hand-picked band of groovers play musical statues behind him. ‘I Got Stung’ is lighthearted and goofy, all jerking elbows and dipping knees and none of that inbetweeny stuff Presley had traded on befor[…]

And because the pop charts aren’t a nice smooth story what happened next was this! A stern and hearty pop ballad which starts off on a nature tip – ‘The day that the rains came down / Mother Earth smiled again’. This is a good[…]

Every track on popular gets a mark out of 10. Here’s your opportunity to give ticks to any track from 1958 you would have given more than 6 to.

Number Ones Of 1958: Which would you have given 6 or more to?
Jerry Lee Lewis – “Gr[…]

‘It’s Only Make Believe’ takes a male pop archetype ‘ booming, stirring, strident ‘ and flips it, so that each verse builds up not to a confident declaration but to a shattered, lonely howl. Twitty was a country singer b[…]