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+