Poor Little Fool

August 1958

What better singer to kick off this project than dreamy, dreamy Ricky Nelson? Here, take a moment to bask in the deep, blue oceans that are his eyes:

Talk about a sign of the times. It's hard to imagine a chart-topping song in this day and age (or even ten years later) where a male singer refers to himself diminutively as "little." The words of "Poor Little Fool" tell a simple story - once upon a time, this guy used to go around breakin' young girls' hearts. Then a girl came along that broke HIS heart, and now, boy howdy, he's learned his lesson! It's totally clean-cut and wholesome, and it's very 1950s.

And for all its corniness, isn't it just a nice little song? I mean, it's not blowing my mind, but it's tuneful, it's got a pretty strong hook in the chorus, and it's well performed by our non-threatening charmer Ricky. After having the 2009 charts topped for a stunning 26 consecutive weeks by the *sigh* Black Eyed Peas, it's pretty refreshing to go back to a time when someone could hit #1 by, you know, actually having a good singing voice. Nelson would have another #1 a few years later, so we're not through with him just yet.

B+

Ground rules

Those that know me know that I have a fondness for the chronicling of pop and rock music through history, and this blog is one result of that. Those same people also might know that I love lists of every kind, and so here's a list for you: every song that ever made it to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, in chronological order, starting from the chart's beginning in August 1958. I'll be blogging about each one individually, just sharing my thoughts and opinions and all that stuff. Of course, the idea of a #1 single has been around for longer than that, but the inception of the BH100 is a nice convenient landmark, and plus, this way I just barely avoid having to post about "The Purple People Eater" (phew).

One inherent problem (or bonus) of this idea is that there will continue to be new #1 singles every week or two or fourteen. Will this be a neverending quest, doomed from the start never to be completed? Will I become like the mythical Sisyphus, who eternally rolls a stone up a mountain, only to have it roll back down again? Well, no. As long as I post reasonably frequently, I'll have this whole thing wrapped up by the time my grandkids are graduating from college. And who knows what crazy music they'll be listening to then? I'm sure it'll be just like the music of the Krell from Forbidden Planet.