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allthemusic · 29 days

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Week ending: 31 March

Oh my word, four songs! What a treat! Some familiar names here, but one very exciting new one, too - and only one familiar song. 1955 has hit its stride, apparently.

(I'm Always Hearing) Wedding Bells - Eddie Fisher (peaked at Number 5)

I'm going to go out on a pre-emptive limb, from what I know about Eddie Fisher, and guess that the gist of this song will be that everyone around Eddie is getting married, and he's left looking on. A sort of I'm Walking Behind You situation, if you will. Just a hunch.

But then we start with some rather ghostly backing singers, and I begin to think I've misjudged this. It's pretty, in a much happier way than I expected. Is it just about Eddie wanting to get married?

Apparently so! We start laying it out clearly enough: I don't think I'm crazy / My feet are on the ground / But I'm always hearing wedding bells / Whenever you're around. Which is sweet, if a little intense. But I like it. Admirably straightforward.

Even sweeter, he sings about how he didn't think he'd fall in love, but did, quicker than he believed possible. Which plays into the "I won't fall in love" denial trope that I do kind of love. We learn how your kiss rang a wedding bell, and it's all very cute.

There's something a bit old-fashioned about the focus on marriage as the goal of a relationship - a reminder that we're in the 1950s, I guess. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, it's just a bit unusual. Certainly, we have songs about being or getting married now, but it's maybe less of a lyrical priority.

And we end up with a trumpet solo, too, which is nifty. I like a trumpet solo, and this one has a lazy sort of style that I do really like - more of these in modern music, please!

Tomorrow - Johnny Brandon & The Phantoms (8)

And the prize for the coolest name of the week goes to this group. Seriously, it doesn't get much cooler than "Johnny and the Phantoms". And the song title gives me nothing to work off, so I've no idea if they live up to their awesome name.

We start with gentle old-timey guitar and then a chill sort of clarinet, and you know what, it's a combination I can really get behind!

When the voice comes in, though it's not at all what I expected - less rock and roll, more lounge-y. And British, but the accent is decidedly weird, it's not the RP clarity you seem to typically get in the 1950s from British artists, but it's not fully regional or accented. There are just some words that sound... odd. It's a voice I'd normally find annoying, and there's a definite touch of smugness to it that would usually rankle.

Usually, I say, except I can't really bring myself to dislike this song. The voice feels like a relic of the 1950s, but the song itself turns out to be just super endearing? It's got a cheery sort of tune, and it's all about having an optimistic outlook on things. From the first line, reassuring you that Things will turn out fine tomorrow, to the insistence that Though it's cloudy everywhere / Don't despair / There's happiness for all to share / Tomorrow.

I particularly appreciate that it doesn't try and pretend everything is fine today. We still have skies that are dark and grey, things aren't automatically perfect, but it's going to get better - and perhaps I'm tipping my hand a bit too much here, but this song came along at just the right time for me to hear that message.

I also like the fact that it's not very clear on what's making the world seem difficult. Sure, there's one line about how You will fall in love tomorrow. But generally it keeps it vague, which lets it work as a song about almost anything that's getting you down, rather than being, say, a song about loneliness, or heartbreak, or unrequited love.

Then we get a lovely little shift in the vibe, as we go from cheery lyrics about how tomorrow's going to be fine, to slower, softer lyrics describing a sudden sleepiness. It's deft scene-setting. Suddenly the listener's not just down in the dumps - they're having a sleepless night, and Johnny's encouraging them to just give in and sleep so that tomorrow can actually come: Without a word of warning / You're yawning / And then / The night will fade / And morning / Is dawning / Again. It's good, practical advice - sleep that knits up the ravelled sleeve of care etc.

And more relevantly, it just came along at the right point for me to hear it, after a particularly rubbish day. Lyrics like Yesterday's a mystery / Tomorrow will soon be history / But what a day it's gonna be / Tomorrow may be cliché and cheesy, but I can confirm that when you need them, they hit the spot. So again, I can't hold much against this song, period.

We get a nice wind-up towards the end, too, as backing singers come in and some brass. It gives the end of the song a renewed bit of energy and vigour, arming you to face tomorrow. I appreciate it, you know?

A Blossom Fell - Dickie Valentine (9)

Well, it's another version of this song. Like most cover songs in the 1950s, this isn't a massive improvement or hit-job on the original. Instead, it hews pretty close to Nat King Cole's original - and yes, even without checking I could have guessed it was Nat's song. Something in the melancholy softness of it - it's something that Dickie can't quite sell here.

Not that he doesn't give it a game go. He's definitely leaning into those big long notes, and I can tell he's deliberately trying to keep it soft and gentle. There's no belting, no real welly - and yet, something in the enunciated words and carefully held notes still feels a little less natural than Nat's version.

In good news, we have more old-timey electric guitar - the sound of 1955? We've certainly heard enough of it lately, and I, for one, am not complaining.

I enjoyed the original song's choice to eschew a Big Old Ending, and this verison keeps that, too, ending instead on a quieter note and a fun little piano glissando.

Overall, I think this sounds maybe a little lower in term of production quality than Nat's version. Which might be a cover version issue, or might be a British vs. American production issue. It's not a huge problem, or anything, though - I can still appreciate and even enjoy this version.

If Anyone Finds This, I Love You - Ruby Murray & Anne Warren (4)

Well, the title is interesting. Who is this writing desert-island-style missives, declaring their love desperately to a complete unknown stranger? I have questions, which is usually a good way to start a song.

And the song starts promising, building intrigue by telling a story about how As I walked along in the country one day / At my feet there fluttered a note. And can you guess what it said?

Yup, it's our title! Except as soon as it comes in, we get a weird echoey, slowed-down effect. It's still clearly Ruby singing, but her voice has gone all quavery, like Snow White is singing to you from the bottom of a well that she's fallen down (hence having to throw notes out to strangers, perhaps?)

Unfortunately, the effect, combined with an angelic harp, and the repetition of I love you, I love you, I love you, honest and truly I do, is pretty sickening. My skin is already beginning to crawl, at this point.

This is not helped by the next verse's solid horror movie vibes, as Ruby throws the note aside, only to find that it haunted me day and night. Possessed by this madness, she goes back to pick up the note. At this point, I have a genuine sense of foreboding. Don't do it, Ruby!

When she arrives, she turns, only to see that Nearby was a house with a sign on the door / And there 'Home for orphans' I read. A small face is looking down from a window, and suddenly she realises that it must have been that orphan looking out at her. Which I guess is supposed to be heartwarming?

Except it really raises so many more questions for me. Like, what exactly is up in this orphanage that the kid is resorting to throwing out desperate "I love you, please rescue me" notes?? Also, that kid does not love you. That kid does not know you. That kid is just desperate, because apparently they are stuck in a cartoon orphanage from a Charles Dickens novel.

And then something even worse happens: Anne Warren arrives to the party. Turns out Anne was a child singer, and if you have read much of this blog, you will know that I dislike child singers. Not as a general concept, I hasten to add - I'm all for kids singing - but in songs, they rarely add anything good. And this one certainly doesn't. It just feels like it's trying to go for "cutesy" in a vaguely manipulative way that I strongly dislike.

Actually, the ending as a whole feels pretty manipulative. I mean "throw some sad orphans in" is textbook audience manipulation. How can you not love this song? It's got cute orphans? You hate cute orphans? You monster!

The only redeeming thing about the song's ending is that it doesn't hang around. Actually, it's almost disconcertingly abrupt - not many narrative songs end on a cliffhanger, but this one kind of manages it, as we hear about how And then toward that window my heart seemed to soar / I walked up the path and knocked at the door. Ruby knocks, there's a huge timpani roll and crescendo and trumpet fanfare and BAM! SONG DONE!

Did she adopt the orphan? Did she learn why they were so sad? did they live happily ever after? What did the orphanage have to say about this all? The song certianly doesn't say.

Grrr I dislike this one.

Well, those were four songs I sure felt a few different ways about. I think overall I liked this batch of songs, though. I feel like we're settling into a sort of transitional period - I'm hearing much less of the super enunciated voices and operatic, overblown stylings I used to hear, and we're getting a lot more electric guitar. All welcome changes, even if we're still mostly not shaking, rattling or rolling.

Favourite song of the bunch: Tomorrow

#uk charts #1955 #eddie fisher #johnny brandon and the phantoms #dickie valentine #ruby murray #anne warren

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