Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the television program The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large audience of radio, television, and live-performance fans as "champagne music".
Dámaso Pérez Prado was a Cuban bandleader, pianist, composer and arranger who popularized the mambo in the 1950s. His big band adaptation of the danzón-mambo proved to be a worldwide success with hits such as "Mambo No. 5", earning him the nickname "King of the Mambo". In 1955, Prado and his orchestra topped the charts in the US and UK with a mambo cover of Louiguy's "Cherry Pink ". He frequently made brief appearances in films, primarily of the rumberas genre, and his music was featured in films such as La Dolce Vita.
"Shake, Rattle and Roll" is a twelve bar blues-form song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone. The original recording by Big Joe Turner is ranked number 127 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The Dream Weavers was an American popular music, vocal group, famous in the 1950s, formed at the University of Florida by Gene Adkinson and Wade Buff.
Catherine Laverne Starks, known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr was successful in every field of music she tried, but her roots were in jazz.
"Blue Suede Shoes" is a rock-and-roll standard written and first recorded by Carl Perkins in 1955. It is considered one of the first rockabilly records, incorporating elements of blues, country and pop music of the time. Perkins' original version of the song appeared on the Cashbox Best Selling Singles list for 16 weeks and spent two weeks at the number two position.
"Mystery Train" is a song written and recorded by American blues musician Junior Parker in 1953. Originally performed in the style of a Memphis blues or rhythm and blues tune, it was inspired by earlier songs and later became a popular rockabilly song, as first covered by Elvis Presley, then numerous others.
Elvis Presley is the debut album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released on RCA Victor, catalog number LPM-1254, on March 13, 1956. The recording sessions took place on January 10 and January 11 at the RCA Victor recording studios in Nashville, Tennessee, and on January 30 and January 31 at the RCA Victor studios in New York. Additional material originated from sessions at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 5, August 19 and September 10 of 1954, and on July 11, 1955.
"Three Coins in the Fountain" is a popular song which received the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1955.
"Wheel of Fortune" is a popular song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss and published in 1951. It is best remembered in the 1952 hit version by Kay Starr.
"Don't Be Cruel" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is currently ranked as the 173rd greatest song of all time, as well as the sixth best song of 1956, by Acclaimed Music.
William Randolph "Cozy" Cole was an American jazz drummer who had hits with the songs "Topsy I" and "Topsy II". "Topsy II" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and at No. 1 on the R&B chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. The track peaked at No. 29 in the UK Singles Chart in 1958. The recording contained a long drum solo and was one of the few drum solo recordings to make the charts at Billboard magazine. The single was issued by Love Records, a small record label in Brooklyn, New York. Cole's song "Turvy II" reached No. 36 in 1959.
Elvis is the second studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor on October 19, 1956 in mono. Recording sessions took place on September 1, September 2, and September 3 at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, with one track left over from the sessions for Presley's debut album at the RCA Victor recording studios on January 30 in New York. It spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart that year, making Presley the first recording artist to have both albums go straight to number one in the same year. It would go on to spend 5 weeks at #1 in total. It was certified Gold on February 17, 1960, and Platinum on August 10, 2011, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" is a 1936 popular song written by Billy Mayhew, introduced early that year on records by many dance bands including Dick Robertson on the 78rpm record Champion 40106, and later popularized by Fats Waller on Victor 25342 and re-issued on Victor 20-1595. It was recorded in French by Cajun singer Cléoma Breaux in 1936 or 1937. Four further recordings of the song were made in 1936, namely by Freddy Ellis and His Orchestra (April), Victor Young and His Orchestra (April), Elton Britt (September), Roy Smeck and His Serenaders and Vera Lynn.
Elvis' Golden Records is a compilation album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in March 1958. It compiled his hit singles released in 1956 and 1957, and is widely believed to be the first greatest hits album in rock and roll history. It is the first of five RCA Victor Elvis' Golden/Gold Records compilations, the first four of which were issued during Presley's lifetime. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart and was certified 6× platinum on August 17, 1999, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
For LP Fans Only is a compilation album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in February 1959. It compiled previously released material from an August 1956 recording session at 20th Century Fox Stage One, a September 1956 session at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, sessions on January 10 and 11 at the RCA Victor Studios in Nashville, two more at the RCA Victor Studios in New York, and multiple sessions at Sun Studio. The album reached number 19 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.
"Hoop-Dee-Doo" is a popular song published in 1950 with music by Milton De Lugg and lyrics by Frank Loesser and released as a single by Australian children's band The Wiggles from their 2001 album Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party!.
"Outside of Heaven" is a popular music song written by Sammy Gallop and Chester Conn. A recording by Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter's orchestra and chorus was made at Manhattan Center, New York City, on July 19, 1952. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4953 and by EMI on the His Master's voice label as catalog number B 10362.
David Pell was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and record producer. He was best known for leading a cool jazz octet in the 1950s.
Sunny Gale is a retired American pop singer who was popular in the 1950s. Gale reached the Billboard Hot 100 several times throughout the earlier half of the decade, scoring her biggest R& B hit with "Wheel of Fortune" with the Ed Wilcox Orchestra in 1952, prompting Capitol to cover the recording by Kay Starr for a #1 pop hit the same year.
