Wonderland by Night

January 1961

Ah, time to kick off a brand new year! Let's see what we have here... aaaaaaaand it's off to a bad start. This clinker apparently sold more records than anything else for three weeks.

It's by Bert Kaempfert, a German musician who both wrote and performed it. I've already expressed my hatred of easy-listening music on this blog, so I won't go into a tirade here, but this kind of song definitely fits into the category. It's both mindless and soulless; it neither requires any effort on the part of the listener, nor does it have anything to offer. There's a word I particularly like that describes this music perfectly: "pap."

But hey, hey, wait a minute. How about this cover version? The always (well, usually) dependable guitarist Leo Kottke gives us a pretty nice rendering of the tune. I dare say, it's a pretty nice melody – not that you'd know it, judging by the hit version. This certainly isn't one of my favorite things by Kottke, but it goes to show how much performance can matter. Of course, you need both things – a good song, and a good performance – and only one or the other doesn't cut it, as demonstrated by our friend Herr Kaempfert.

In fact, Kaempfert himself will come up a couple more times in this blog, but only as a songwriter, not a performer. And that's for the better.

F

Special Secret Bonus Post—1960 Awards

This was the best year so far, I think. We have some great stuff by Elvis, the Everly Brothers, and Ray Charles; a trilogy of teen death sagas; a dance craze that might be the most influential in recent history; and a helping of ridiculous novelty songs. Unfortunately, the song holding the #1 spot for the longest was the theme from A Summer Place, at nine bloody weeks. Anyway, here are my personal picks of the year:

Best Song: This decision is a little tougher than the previous years. "Cathy's Clown," "The Twist," "Save the Last Dance for Me," "Stay," and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" are all great songs, among some other good ones this year. But my personal favorite has got to be "El Paso," which portrays a doomed love with all the grand style of the western cinema.

Worst Song: There were a few clinkers this year as well, but it would be pretty hard to top "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," which is a terrible abomination of the earth.

Most Surprising Song: Nothing too out of the ordinary this year. But if I have to pick one, I guess it'll be "Mr. Custer." It's incredibly stupid, and it's not even catchy or anything – it's hard to see why this was such a success.

All right folks. 1961 lies ahead!

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

November 1960–January 1961

It's always comforting to see Elvis on our list. His songs (or his hits, at least) are some of the most dependable of this era. He has a seemingly effortless charisma in his performances, and I can totally see how this guy would get so popular. Here's the next in a long line of Elvis hits, "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

The song dates back to the 20s, but first became popular in 1950 when it was recorded by some guy called Blue Barron. His version charted in the top 40, but it is totally sappy and not worth your time. A couple other singers covered it during the 50s to moderate success, but it wasn't until 1960 that Elvis gave us the definitive version. For me, this is one Elvis's best performances and one of the best examples of his vocal control – his dynamics, his vibrato, his ability to make every note seem perfectly placed. But wait – it only lasts for one verse! Almost half the song is taken up by the "talking" verse that follows.

To our modern ears, the talking verse is one of the most dated aspects of 50s and 60s music. Elvis used this technique pretty often, and I'm afraid his music suffers a bit for it. He couldn't have just come up with a real second verse? Or had his writers do it? The song would be so much better. As it is, it feels incomplete, with only one "real" verse amongst all the padding. Still, while the actual singing lasts, it's terrific.

But my favorite version of the song has got to be a 1969 live performance, where Elvis goofily changes one of the lyrics, which launches him into a fit of uncontrollable laughter which lasts for the rest of the song, while the backing group plays it totally straight. It's hilarious, mostly because his laughter is so infectious. I've always been a big fan of humor in music, and I think it's important for a musician not to take himself too seriously. Here's a guy that understood that.

A