Chart Toppers: Dance Hits of 50's

Chart Toppers (Priority Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 26, 1998)
• Original Release Date: May 26, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Priority Records
• ASIN: B000006OMC
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,374 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #16 in Music > Pop > By Decade > 1950s
  • #27 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Doo Wop
  • #63 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Rockabilly

Track Listings

1. (We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock

2. Great Balls of Fire

3. Tequila

4. Let the Good Times Roll

5. Charlie Brown

6. Queen of the Hop

7. Party Doll

8. Short Shorts

9. The Stroll

10. Witch Doctor

11. Ain't That a Shame

12. The Purple People Eater

13. The Rock & Roll Waltz

14. The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)

15. Rock-A-Billy

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BALLS OF FIRE !!!, February 21, 2008

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chart Toppers: Dance Hits of 50's (Audio CD)

Chart Toppers: Dance Hits of the 50s is a terrific CD that gives us fifteen great dance hits from the 1950s! The quality of the sound is excellent; the remastering job was very well done. The artwork impresses me, too.

The CD track set opens with the Bill Haley And His Comets doing one of my very favorite `50s hits, "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock." Bill never sounded better and this song has an incredible beat! The upbeat melody is very catchy. Jerry Lee Lewis sings `Great Balls Of Fire" very well with a good musical arrangement; and listen for The Champs to perform a spirited "Tequila." "Tequila" doesn't have many lyrics; but the Latin flavor to this number really makes it a hit!

"Let The Good Times Roll" continues the hits; this tune by Shelley & Lee features them handling key and tempo changes effortlessly. The percussion, drums and guitars carry the bulk of the melody; but watch out for that fearless horn solo in the musical interlude!

Bobby Darin's Queen Of The Hop" is infectiously upbeat and catchy; Bobby sings this to perfection and this truly is classic `50s dance music--and great early rock and roll as well. Bobby's excellent diction bolsters his performance even further. "Short Shorts" by The Royal Teens has a rockin' beat that blows me away; the brass is very strong and the hand clapping makes the song go far!

Pat Boone sings a slower tempo dance hit called "Ain't That A Shame;" many people will enjoy this torchy early rock ballad. Pat sings this with great sensitivity, too. In addition, there's also Kay Starr's charming "Rock And Roll Waltz;" this really isn't a rock tune but it's great for slow dancing with your sweetheart! Kay sings very sweetly and her diction is excellent. Kay sings of how her parents tried to dance a waltz to "a rock and roll song!" "Rock And Roll Waltz" is a very cute number.

Harry Belafonte also makes a solid contribution with his "Banana Boat (Day-O)." The drums start this nicely and Harry's voice fades in as he starts to sing this ballad. The backup vocalists do a great job harmonizing; the drums and percussion work very well on this number.

Overall, this is one CD fans of `50s music will want in their collections. Get this today and crank up the volume--you'll be dancing all night long!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Variety of Songs from the 1950's, January 27, 2002

By 

C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chart Toppers: Dance Hits of 50's (Audio CD)

If you enjoy songs from the 1950's this CD should be in your collection. It has a great variety of songs from that time period. What made it especially attractive to me was the inclusion of the song "The Witch Doctor." I have tried very hard to find this song on a CD, and this is the only one that I could find that had it included. I wouldn't have bought the CD if it wasn't for this song, because I already had the "key" songs for me on other CD's, but if you don't have these songs on a CD of your own this would be a great one to have in your collection.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars About 3 seconds of silence between songs, April 28, 2008

By 

Diane loves Amazon (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chart Toppers: Dance Hits of 50's (Audio CD)

The songs are good but I bought the cd for a 50's dance party but cannot use it because of the longgggg silence between each song (about 3 - 4 seconds)...which is an eternity if you think of people standing on the dance floor in complete silence! Not sure why it's a "dance" cd but has pauses...hmmmm. I'm not sure why "Ain't that a shame"(mellow song) and "The Rock and Roll Waltz" (really slow) are on a dance cd...all the rest of the songs are really upbeat and I could think of a hundred other uptempo songs they could have used instead of these two.