It's All in the Game

September–November 1958

A pretty massive hit here - this ballad by Tommy Edwards was #1 for a whopping six weeks. It seems the fall season of 1958 was practically defined by this song and "Volare."

I like how the title of the song wouldn't be at all out of place in 2009, albeit with an entirely different context. But seriously, what I actually do like about the song is that it doesn't rely on a gimmicky hook ("Twinkle twinkle little star...") to be a successful pop song. The more I listen to it, the more I like it - it has a fine melody which gets a solid treatment from Edwards. The lyrics are not your usual pop fare, either. Sure, your man treats you kinda bad sometimes, but hey, he loves you sometimes too, so stick with the guy. The thing is, the singer isn't that guy - it seems to be advice to a woman about another man.

The song has a pretty interesting history, actually. The wordless melody was written way back in 1911, by one Charles Dawes - history buffs may recognize him as the man who would become vice president of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. Wikipedia states, somewhat hilariously, that "It is the only #1 pop single to have been cowritten by a U.S. Vice President." Words were added in 1951 by some boring, non-presidential nobody, and the song became a minor hit for a few different artists, most notably Edwards himself in a strings-laden early version of the song. The later, more famous, 1958 version apparently was given a "rock and roll" arrangement, which is clearly a relative definition.

All right, so next we'll be looking at a few lesser hits, followed by the *shudder* Christmas season.

B+