The week of October 13th, 1958, "It's All In the Game" was in its third week of its six week stint as the #1 record. It has the distinction of being the only hit record written by a Vice President -- Charles Dawes wrote the music in 1912. Carl Sigman added lyrics in 1951 and it was released by a number of artists, including Tommy Edwards, whose version was the most successful, peaking at #18. In 1958, Edwards' contract with MGM was about to expire when he was asked to re-record "It's All In the Game" with a new more rock and roll ballad arrangement -- the result was Edwards' most successful record.
While Edwards' ballad was #1, several other records in the October 13th top twenty reached their peak position, most notably "Rockin' Robin." Edwards would keep Bobby Day's rock and roll classic out of the top spot, but it did spend 13 weeks in the top twenty. Also peaking that week was another familiar song from the doo-wop era, "Tears On My Pillow." Originally credited to just "The Imperials," Alan Freed referred to the group as "Little Anthony & The Imperials" when playing the record and the name stuck. "Susie Darlin'," "You Cheated," and "Firefly" were also in their highest position on the chart.
Three former number ones were still in the top twenty: "Bird Dog," "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu," and "Little Star." Two were on their way to #1: "Tom Dooley" and "It's Only Make Believe," the latter being the one that would replace "It's All In the Game."
While rock and roll clearly was dominating the pop music charts by the end of 1958, there were still some throwback successes. Two instrumentals, "Tea For Two Cha Cha" and "Near You" would have been right at home in 1952. The successful crooner from the early 1950's who continued to have chart success, Tony Bennett made a one week appearance with "Firefly." |
