Whose Line Was It Anyway? US Number One Hits 1955 Quiz

Answer: Joan Weber

Joan Weber took "Let Me Go Lover" to number one for four weeks on the US pop chart in 1955. It reached number 16 on the UK chart the same year. Joan Weber was 19 when she had her only hit on the US chart. Out of all the big stars that recorded this song relatively unknown Joan Weber had the biggest hit and earned a gold disc. Unfortunately for her, because she was pregnant at the time and then gave birth she could not capitalize on the success. She was later dropped from the record label and never had another hit. She died at the age of 45 in 1981 from heart failure while in a New Jersey mental institution.

The '50s was a time of multi-versions of the same song. In the US with "Let Me Go Lover" Patti Page reached number eight in 1954, Teresa Brewer reached number six in 1955 and Sunny Gale reached number 17 in 1955. In the UK with "Let Me Go Lover" Dean Martin reached number three in 1955, Ruby Murray reached number five in 1955, Teresa Brewer reached number nine in 1955 and Kathy Kirby reached number ten in 1964.

Answer: Bill Hayes

Bill Hayes took "The Ballad Of Davy Crockett" to number one for five weeks on the US pop chart in 1955. It reached number two on the UK chart in 1956. Bill Hayes will be best known in the US for his long standing role as Doug Williams in NBC's "Days Of Our Lives". He first played the part in 1968.

In the US Tennessee Ernie Ford reached number five with the song in 1955, Walter Schumann reached number 14 the same year. Fess Parker who played Davy Crockett in the movie "Davy Crockett, King Of The Wild Frontier" and the TV mini-series reached number five also in 1955. In the UK Tennessee Ernie Ford reached number three with the song in 1956, Dick James reached number 14 the same year and Max Bygraves reached number 20 also in 1956.

Answer: Henry

"Dance With Me Henry (Wallflower)" was a number one for three weeks on the US pop chart in 1955 for Georgia Gibbs. It failed to chart in the UK. It was a revised cover version of the Etta James song "Roll With Me Henry (The Wallflower)" a number one hit on the R&B chart in 1955. The Etta James song was an answer song to "Work With Me Annie" (The FCC tried to ban this because of the sexual nature of the lyrics) by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, a number one on the R&B chart in 1954.

Born Fredda Lipschitz, Georgia Gibbs sang on radio from the '30s. In the '40s on the Jimmy Durante-Garry Moore's radio show she was dubbed "Her Nibbs, Miss Gibbs". She had her first hit as Fredda Gibson (singing with the Artie Shaw band) in 1942 with "Absent Minded Moon". Although other white singers covered black singers' songs and had big hits with them, such as Pat Boone, Gibbs had more flack than most, accused of exploiting black singers by recording their songs for the white market. Gibbs had recorded two LaVern Baker songs, "Tweedle Dee" a number two hit for Gibbs in 1955 and "Jim Dandy". She then received a life insurance policy from Baker making her the beneficiary should Baker's career end.

Answer: (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock

Go to the bottom of the class if you got it wrong. Bill Haley & His Comets took "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" to number one for eight weeks on the US pop chart in 1955. It was back in the US pop chart at number 39 in 1974. It reached number 17 on the UK chart in early 1955 but re-entered later that year and went to number one for 5 weeks. It charted again in the UK reaching number five and later number 24 in 1956, number 25 and later number 22 in 1957, number 20 in 1968 and number 12 in 1974.

A less likely Rock'n'Roll star would be hard to find. Bill Haley was an overweight 30 year old with thinning hair when "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" hit the number one spot in the US in July and in November in the UK in 1955. The song had been released in 1954 but hit the big time when it was featured in the Glenn Ford movie "The Blackboard Jungle". An earlier version of the song in 1954 by Sonny Rae and His Knights was never a hit.

Answer: Learnin' The Blues

"Learnin' The Blues" was at number one for two weeks on the US pop chart for old blue eyes in 1955. It reached number two the same year on the UK chart.

How ironic that he should have a number one hit in the same year as Bill Haley after his comment about Rock and Roll in "Western World" magazine in 1958, "Sung, played and written for the most part by cretinous goons. It manages to be the martial music of every sideburned delinquent on the face of the earth". That's what Frankie felt about Rock and Roll and in particular Elvis, of whom he said in another quote, circa 1956, "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost negative and destructive reactions in young people". It didn't stop old Frank inviting Elvis on to his TV show in 1960 to celebrate Elvis coming home from army service in Germany. Or maybe he just wanted to show the kids that he wasn't a square, daddy-o.

Answer: Mitch Miller

Mitch Miller took "The Yellow Rose Of Texas" to number one for six weeks on the US pop chart in 1955. It reached number two on the UK chart the same year and was his only UK hit.

Despite being the great musical all rounder that he was, Mitch Miller was another person that didn't like Rock and Roll very much. He turned down both Elvis and Buddy Holly. Frank Sinatra was produced by Miller while at Columbia records and blamed him for his demise in the early '50s.

Answer: Pat Boone

All around nice guy Pat Boone hit number one with "Ain't That A Shame" for two weeks on the US pop chart in 1955. It reached number seven on the UK chart the same year and number 22 in 1957. His daughter Debby Boone had a number one hit for ten weeks with "You Light Up My Life" on the US pop chart in 1977. It didn't shed much light in the UK, it only reached number 48. Fats Domino who co-wrote "Ain't That A Shame" with Dave Bartholomew had a number ten hit with the song on the US chart also in 1955. It reached number 23 on the UK chart in 1957.

Little Richard got fed up with Boone having big hits with R&B songs especially his own "Tutti Frutti" even though he earned royalties from it. Richard & Blackwell wrote "Long Tall Sally" which they thought too fast for Pat Boone to sing but he did and had a number eight hit with it on the US pop chart in 1956. It reached number 18 in the UK the same year. Little Richard's own version reached number six on the US pop chart in 1956 and number three in the UK in 1957.

Answer: Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing

The Four Aces had a number one for six weeks on the US pop chart with "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" in 1955. It was pretty splendid in the UK too; it reached number two on the chart.

"Hearts Of Stone" was a number one for three weeks on the US pop chart for The Fontane Sisters in 1955. It failed to chart in the UK. "Sincerely" was a number one hit for ten weeks on the US pop chart for The McGuire Sisters in 1955. It reached number 14 on the UK chart the same year. "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White" was a number one instrumental for ten weeks on the US pop chart for Perez 'Prez' Prado in 1955. It reached number one for two weeks on the UK chart the same year.

Answer: Leaves

Pianist Roger Williams had a number one hit for four weeks with "Autumn Leaves" on the US pop chart in 1955. It failed to chart in the UK, he has never had a single on the UK chart.

Roger Williams has had over 20 Gold & Platinum albums and was the first pianist to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A re-recording of the song made number 92 on the US pop chart in 1965.

Answer: Coal

"Sixteen Tons" of #9 coal was being mined in this song. It gave Tennessee Ernie Ford a number one for eight weeks on the US pop chart in 1955 after having ten weeks at the top of the country chart. It reached number one for four weeks on the UK chart in 1956.

The song was first recorded by Merle Travis in 1946. Johnny Desmond had a number 17 hit with the song on the US pop chart in 1955. It did not chart in the UK. Frankie Laine had a number ten hit with the song on the UK chart in 1956 but it was not released in the US. There have been quite a few later versions by such as The Platters, Bo Diddley, Stevie Wonder, Tom Jones and Johnny Cash to name but a few.