Plinky-plonk
Continuing my trip back through the 1961 album charts.
05/02/61 : Party Time - Russ Conway
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I recognise the name, but I've got no idea what I'm going to get here - from his name he sounds like he'll be crooning in a cabaret style but, as this year has shown, it could be absolutely anything.
Well, there's no crooning - it's all piano instrumentals played on a real pub joanna which is barely tuned with absolutely no tone to it. It all sounds very like the sort of thing you hear when you get put on hold at the call centre - I can appreciate the skill involved, but that doesn't mean I like it and my ears soon started to bleed as my brain turned to mush. Did people really like this stuff back then? Or, in fact, ever?!?
We're at #15 in the charts this week on his ninth week of a wholly undeserved eleven week run, with it having peaked at #7 for three consecutive weeks. The top five this week were Elvis, South Pacific, George, Frank and the Oklahoma! soundtrack and we have three new entries in the chart including TWO women - Connie Francis (#16), Eartha Kitt (#17) and Adam Faith (#18).
Wikipedia doesn't have anything on any of his THIRTY-FIVE albums, but there are some great titles in there - Songs To Sing In Your Bath, Roll Up The Carpet and Something For Mum being my faves. His entry is much more interesting, telling us he left school at 14 but then got caught stealing and was sentenced to three years in Borstal (how much would you have to nick to get three years nowadays?) where he learned to play the piano. He was then conscripted into the Royal Navy where he lost the tip of one of his fingers - obviously because of an incident with a bread slicer. He never learned to read music but between '57 and '63 had twenty UK chart singles, including two #1s - and the high point of his career was obviously appearing on the French & Saunders Xmas Special in '94, which feels like a very jarring combination of talent.
"Customers also listened to" Winifred Atwell, Mrs Mills, Joe Loss and Joe Fingers O'Shay - I'm vaguely aware of Mrs Mills and can confirm she's disturbing similar, so I will be giving the rest of them a wide swerve. Because this really is, and I can't emphasis this enough, godawful.
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