VA - British Hit Parade 1956-58 (2018)

The music business was transformed in the middle years of the 1950s by the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll as not only a powerful and increasingly evident element in the record sales charts, but a catalyst for huge social change as the teenage baby-boomers asserted themselves as an economic force. Acrobat has a long-established, popular and successful series called The British Hit Parade which, for the years 1956, 1957 and 1958 comprise two 4-CD sets for each year featuring every record which appeared in the UK Top 30 during those years – a total of around 600 records across the three years. This great-value 40-track set comprises a distillation of some of the biggest hits across those three cataclysmic years as American rock ‘n’ roll legends made inroads into the established order of middle-of-the-road 50s pop, and then Britain started to develop teen stars of its own. Every single one of the records in this collection was either a No.1 or No. 2 in the charts, so these are hits that many people who were growing up through those years will remember as key landmarks in a teenage rite of passage, from skiffle to novelty hits, big ballads to out-and-out rock ‘n’ roll. It makes for evocative and hugely entertaining listening.

TRACKLIST

01. Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
02. The Dreamweavers - It's Almost Tomorrow
03. Winifred Atwell - Poor People Of Paris
04. Pat Boone - I'll Be Home
05. Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
06. Frankie Lymon - Why Do Fools Fall In love
07. Anne Shelton - Lay Down Your Arms
08. Guy Mitchell - Singing The Blues
09. Nat King Cole - When I Fall In Love
10. Andy Williams - Butterfly
11. Johnnie Ray - Yes Tonight Josephine
12. Lonnie Donegan - Puttin' On The Style
13. Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls Of Fire
14. Paul Anka - Diana
15. Perry Como - Magic Moments
16. Connie Francis - Who’s Sorry Now
17. Four Preps - Big Man
18. The Kalin Twins - When
19. Conway Twitty - It’s Only Make Believe
20. Shirley Bassey - As I Love You
21. Dean Martin - Memories Are Made Of This
22. Kay Starr - Rock And Roll Waltz
23. Ronnie Hilton - No Other Love
24. Doris Day - Whatever Will Be Will Be
25. Johnnie Ray - Just Walking In The Rain
26. Frankie Vaughan - Garden Of Eden
27. Tab Hunter - Young Love
28. Guy Mitchell - Rock A Billy
29. Elvis Presley - All Shook Up
30. Pat Boone - Love Letters In The Sand
31. Michael Holliday - The Story Of My Life
32. Marvin Rainwater - Whole Lotta Woman
33. Elias And His Zig Zag Jive Flutes - Tom Hark
34. Vic Damone - On The Street Where You Live
35. The Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream
36. Dean Martin - Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)
37. Cliff Richard - Move It
38. Tommy Edwards - It’s All In The Game
39. Lord Rockingham’s X1 - Hoots Mon
40. Jane Morgan - The Day The Rains Came