# Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 1955-56 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 21, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098 "2014-08-21T15:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/21 "2014-08-22T06:05:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The Platters, hands down. A great R&B group with a gifted lead singer in Tony Williams, whose gorgeous vocals in songs like _[Only You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FygIKsnkCw)_ and _[Smoke Gets In Your Eyes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2di83WAOhU)_ stand the test of time. The ‘Chef’ is cookin’ with gas! +1 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/22 "2014-08-22T15:01:29Z")
Even though I bit the bullet and went with _Heartbreak Hotel_ I really loved about half of those records. I was in my mid-teens at the time and got almost all of my music from the radio. _Your Hit Parade_ was about to fold up because their people couldn’t do creditable work with Elvis’s songs and Elvis was taking over music! Even so, it would be another few years before _American Bandstand_ brought in all those Elvis knock-offs and music began losing its appeal to me and I switched over to jazz. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/23 "2014-08-22T15:15:34Z")
Some great tunes but Heartbreak Hotel is a seismic song in terms of its impact and it’s still sounds scary and sexy even today. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/24 "2014-08-22T15:32:01Z")
The Great Pretender, by the Platters. I didn’t even have to think about it. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/25 "2014-08-22T16:16:31Z")
Les Baxter is underrated. Check out not only [The Poor People of Paris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYWXAN_W5g) but also [Lisbon Antigua](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpa-P2qbbo) and “Quiet Village”… hmm, can’t find a non-cover version of Quiet Village by itself but it starts at 3:00 in [this composite](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj2xM-URgKo). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/26 "2014-08-22T16:27:07Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Les Baxter is underrated. Check out not only [The Poor People of Paris](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkYWXAN_W5g) but also [Lisbon Antigua](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpa-P2qbbo) and “Quiet Village”… hmm, can’t find a non-cover version of Quiet Village by itself but it starts at 3:00 in [this composite](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj2xM-URgKo). Not just [Les Baxter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Baxter) but the dozens of imitators/followers from that period and years to come: Martin Denny Arthur Lyman Esquivel and many whose names and music are mentioned in [Space Age Pop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_age_pop) and/or [What IS Space Age Pop?](http://www.spaceagepop.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/27 "2014-08-22T17:01:47Z")
To be fair, there are a few on here I don’t know, at least not by name. John Lennon was blown away by “Heartbreak Hotel,” that’s good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/28 "2014-08-22T17:07:40Z")
Most of the non-rock ‘n’ roll ones were easy to ignore, though “16 Tons” is certainly a fine record in its own right. I’m also a fan of “Memories Are Made of This,” just 'cause I like Dean Martin’s style and the backing is so simple and folky as opposed to big-band bombast. In the end, despite the other two Elvis songs being good too, “Heartbreak Hotel” is the obvious choice. It really did land like a bombshell in 1956, and was a clear signal that things would never quite be the same. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/29 "2014-08-22T17:12:44Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Not a single vote yet for Guy Mitchell… He’ll never get mine. “Singin’ the Blues” is a great song, but Mitchell’s version of it is wretched. Seek out [the original by Marty Robbins](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6RcQafNpxM) if you want to hear what it’s really supposed to sound like. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/30 "2014-08-23T02:02:09Z")
I picked “Heartbreak Hotel,” but it was a very tight decision over “Don’t Be Cruel.” ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/31 "2014-08-23T03:13:14Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I picked “Heartbreak Hotel,” but it was a very tight decision over “Don’t Be Cruel.” Yes. Not on the list – #2 pop, #1 R&B – is Bill Doggett’s [Honky Tonk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fa2ZKzfIP0). ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/32 "2014-08-23T03:36:44Z")
And “Honky Tonk” was #2, behind “Don’t Be Cruel”, per [The Weekly Top 40 1955-2000](http://weeklytop40.wordpress.com/1956-all-charts/), for the week ending: 3rd October, 1956. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/33 "2014-10-24T17:09:02Z")
Love Me Tender deserves more love. Too bad I voted for 16 tons. Again, I agree with the other contenders. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098/34 "2014-10-25T02:31:39Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m using the Hot 100 because it’s the oldest and best recognized of the various music charts published in the US, and if it was good enough for Casey Kasem, it’s good enough for the Dope. “Good enough for Casey Kasem” meant facing the loathsome truth that Pat Boone and Guy Mitchell were still hot stuff in 1955-56. I vote for Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene”, even though it was far from his best song and was #1 on the Billboard R&B chart, not the Hot 100. Also noted: 1956 was the year Chuck released “Roll Over Beethoven”, “You Can’t Catch Me” and “Too Much Monkey Business”, all much better songs than most anything appearing on the OP’s ballot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-1-single-of-the-year-retrospective-1955-56/696098.md?page=1)