[78-L] 1950s big band (was Frosty)

[Kristjan Saag]

David Lennick wrote:

> Nobody's saying they weren't popular, only that there were virtually no 
> big
> band hit singles after 1954. And I think we've listed the two exceptions.
--
There were more exceptions.
Art Mooney reached the no 6 spot in the US 1955 with "Honey-Babe"
Les Baxter no 2 in the US and no 10 in the UK 1955 with "Unchained Melody"
Les Baxter no 10 in the US in 1955 with "Wake The Town And Tell The People"
Perez Prado no 1 in the US and UK 1955 with "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom 
White"
Billy May no 9 in the UK 1956 with theme from "The Man With The Gold Arm"
Nelson Riddle no 1 in the US 1956 with "Lisbon Antigua"
Les Baxter no 1 the US 1956 with "The Poor People Of Paris"
Perez Prado no 2 in the US and no 8 in the UK 1958 with "Patricia"
Ted Heath no 3 in the UK 1958 with "Swingin' Shepherd Blues"
Reg Owen no 10 in the US 1959 with "Manhattan Spiritual"
Ray Anthony no 8 in the US 1959 with "Peter Gunn"

And this was just Top 10.
True: most of these weren't jazz tunes, not even jazz arrangements, but who 
said Big Bands always played jazz music?
Big Band arrangements though, were still commonplace on many, if not most 
vocal hits of the 1950's. Who backed Jo Stafford, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como 
and all the successful vocal quartets? It wasn't Bill Haley's Comets or The 
Kingston Trio. Many of those hits would have been released under the 
orchestra's name in the early 1940's.
Kristjan