Eddie Fisher

9. Frankie Laine with Paul Weston & His Orchestra – I Believe (1953)

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The Intro

US singer, songwriter and actor Frankie Laine’s cover of I Believe stayed at number 1 for nine weeks, equalling the previous record held by Al Martino’s Here in My Heart. However, following a week at number 1 for I’m Walking Behind You by Eddie Fisher and Sally Sweetland, it returned to the top spot for a further six weeks. Mantovani’s The Song from The Moulin Rouge then topped the charts, but once again, I Believe went back to number 1. A staggering feat, this cover of a religious power ballad notched up 18 weeks as the nation’s bestseller. It still holds the record for most non-concurrent weeks at number 1.

Before

I Believe was written by musicians Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman for Jane Froman. Froman was a big stage, TV and radio star who had suffered chronic injuries in a 1943 plane crash. Troubled by the Korean War in 1952, she asked her songwriters to come up with a tune that would offer hope to the audience of her TV show, Jane Froman’s USA Canteen. It’s fair to say that Drake, Graham, Shirl and Stillman delivered. But back in 1953, such a big song required a big voice, and a big star. So Frankie Laine was a natural choice.

Francesco Paolo LoVecchio arrived in the world on 30 March 1913, the son of Sicilian refugees. The LoVecchios had links to organised crime, and Francesco’s father had even worked as Al Capone’s barber.

Little LoVecchio got his first taste for singing as a member of a church choir, and acquired his astounding vocal prowess through high-school sports. As a teenager in the 20s he found himself performing for thousands at a charity ball. Clearly, a star in the making. But fame didn’t come instantly.

With influences including Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday, Frank LoVecchio spent much of the Great Depression performing at dance marathons. 1937 saw him briefly replace Perry Como in the Freddy Carlone band, and a year later he took on the stage name Frankie Laine.

It wasn’t until World War Two ended that his career really took off. He began recording for Mercury in 1946, and initially listeners thought he was black. Laine’s version of That’s My Desire established him as a force to be reckoned with. Soon he was working with Mitch Miller, and together they were a formidable team. Hit after hit followed, particularly when they jumped ship to Columbia. 1952 saw Laine begin working his magic on film and TV western themes, with High Noon being his first.

Review

While cynical non-believers may balk at the lyrics, I Believe, by comparison to its predecessors at number 1, screams ‘I am a hit and I am important’ at you. For a nation of churchgoers in the 50s, this grandiose ballad was bound to do well. It could partly be that it’s already registered in my mind as a success due to Robson and Jerome’s bland cover (their follow-up to Unchained Melody) from 1995, which cashed in on the elderly’s memories of the song and fans of the duo’s characters in the ITV drama Soldier Soldier. Their cover remains an early warning of Cowell’s evil reign of terror over the charts for years to come.

Beginning with the gentle strum of an acoustic guitar, Laine builds the song into a display of righteous power, bellowing at the end with a performance that is still impressive today.

The Outro

After 18 weeks of chart dominance, Laine still had more to come. 1953 was truly his year.

The Info

Written by

Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl & Al Stillman

Producer

Mitch Miller

Weeks at number 1

18 (24 April-25 June, 3 July-13 August, 21 August-10 September) *BEST-SELLING SINGLE OF THE YEAR*

Trivia

Births

6 May: Prime Minister
15 May: Musician Mike Oldfield
19 May: Comedian Victoria Wood
24 May: Actor Alfred Molina
26 May: Conservative MP Michael Portillo
19 June: Dr Hilary Jones
8 August: Racing driver Nigel Mansell
23 August: Bucks Fizz singer Bobby G

Deaths

1 June: Footballer Alex James

Meanwhile…

24 April: Prime Minister Winston Churchill received a knighthood from the Queen. Recognised officially for his part in leading the nation during World War Two, Churchill would then suffer a stroke on 25 June. It began a period of ill health that would begin the decline of the great wartime leader.

2 May: Blackpool win the first televised FA Cup final with a 4-3 win over Bolton Wanderers.

2 June: Elizabeth II’s Coronation took place. The public holiday inadvertently saw the start of the television revolution in the UK, with many families purchasing one specifically to watch a crown be placed on the head of somebody who’d already been Queen for over a year. Also that morning, news reached the world that Mount Everest had finally been conquered. It actually happened on 29 May, but the news travelled slowly.

25 June: The serial killer John Christie was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife Ethel. However, he should have been sentenced for more. A further seven bodies were uncovered at 10 Rillington Place in Notting Hill. During the trial, Christie confessed to murdering Beryl Evans. Beryl, her husband Timothy and their baby daughter Geraldine had lived at the flat in the 40s, and in 1950, Beryl’s husband Timothy was hanged for murdering Beryl and Geraldine, despite him insisting Christie had been responsible. Christie had even been a witness for the prosecution. He was hanged on 15 July. Yet another instance of tragic errors in the justice system that helped lead to the abolishment of the death penalty. The whole shocking, terrible story was made into a film starring Richard Attenborough in 1971 and a BBC television series starring Tim Roth in 2016.

18 July: Influential sci-fi drama The Quatermass Experiment began on the BBC.

20 July: Nostalgic (yes the BBC loved looking to the past even then) music hall series The Good Old Days began. It would run for 30 years.

4. Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra & Chorus – Outside of Heaven (1953)

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The Intro

In a week hit by not one but two tragedies (see ‘Meanwhile…‘). Outside of Heaven was a suitably gloomy song to rule the singles chart. Sammy Gallop and Chester Conn had written this from the perspective of a spurned lover on the outside looking in at his lost love’s new life.

Before

Ironically, Outside of Heaven was recorded by a man who had no problem with women. Singer and actor Eddie Fisher, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 10 August 1928 to Russian-Jewish immigrants, was one of the biggest heart-throbs of the 50s, and is best know these days for his marriages to Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor, to name two out of five. Carrie Fisher, the much-missed Star Wars star, was his daughter to Reynolds, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

‘Sonny Boy’, as he was known to his family, won several amateur singing contests in his youth. Following his performance on radio (and later TV) show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts, Fisher dropped out of high school to focus on his budding career.

In 1949 he signed with RCA Victor and became a nationwide success, but his success was curtailed when he was drafted into the US Army in 1951 and he served a year in Korea. From 1952-53 he was the official vocal soloist for the United States Army Band. During that time he would make occasional TV appearances, and must have still been recording, as he went to number 1 in the US in 1952 with Wish You Were Here, which became his first UK top 10 hit. Outside of Heaven was released three singles later.

Review

Unable to let go, the ex walks past her house, and is even around on her wedding day, suggesting he is at best a glutton for punishment, or at worse, indulging in a spot of stalking…

‘On your wedding day I stood in the crowd
I could hardly keep from crying out loud
There goes the kiss my lips have known’

Certainly interesting lyrically, but the tune is all too easily forgotten. It’s a very maudlin affair, which I’m sure did so well due to Fisher’s charisma and good looks. Yes, even in the 50s, appearance was often as important as talent. Hugo Winterhalter’s orchestra smothers the recording, but that was par for the course in the pop of the era.

After

1953 would prove to be one of Fisher’s most successful years, as in addition to two number 1s, he began hosting his own variety show in the US, Coke Time with Eddie Fisher. I’m assuming this was blatant sponsorship for a certain soft drink rather than an open confession to a drug habit.

The Info

Written by

Sammy Gallop & Chester Conn

Producer

Hugo Winterhalter

Weeks at number 1

1 (30 January-5 February)

Meanwhile…

31 January : The UK suffered two aquatic disasters. The car ferry MV Princess Victoria was sailing from Stranraer, Scotland, to Larne in Northern Ireland, when it sank in the Irish Sea, killing 133 people, including several high-ranking Northern Irish politicians. Also that night, the North Sea flood began, and hundreds of people on the east coast in England, Scotland and Belgium lost their lives.