1952 Pop Standards and Artists

1952 Pop Standards and Artists

Don Howard
Oh Happy Day
This is not the Oh Happy Day that many churchgoers are familiar with. This song written by and performed by Don Howard was originally first performed at a high school dance; the young adults loved it and asked for it to be performed for a total of 13 times. The song was then recorded at a local recording studio the song became an immediate local hit. From there the song was released at the national level and it made it up to number #4 on the Billboard chart. Time magazine would say of the song the “Mystery Hit” and went on to say that the song was the “rarest kind of hit, unplanned and unplugged.”

Frank Sinatra
I Get A Kick Out Of You
This song could be considered one of the first songs that spoke out against drug use as one of its lyrics is “I get no kick from cocaine, I know that if I took even one little sniff, it would bore me incredibly too, but I get a kick out of you.” The song was written for the 1934 musical Anything Goes. Originally sung by Ethel Merman it was one of three songs that would become hits for the time the other two being You’re The Top and the title song, “Anything Goes.”

Gene Kelly
Singin’ in the Rain
Singin’ in the Rain has a legacy that began with one of the very first talking motion pictures. It was sung in an MGM musical with a man playing the Banjo with a line of chorus girls. Judy Garland and others would sing it in other motion pictures or record it. But in 1952 Singin in the Rain became a movie musical and was given the royal treatment. The Film would star Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor. This film would be considered one of the best ever made and Gene Kelly dancing in the rain while singing the title song would be considered one of the film’s greatest moments.

Four Aces
Heart and Soul
Heart and Soul is one song that almost every young pianist is quickly taught as a first piano duet. The song was published in 1938 with music by Hoagie Carmichael and lyrics by Frank Loesser. In 1952 The Four Aces recorded the song and it maxed out on the charts at #11.

Hank Williams
Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a Cajon dish that consists of rice sausage chicken and or shrimp with hot spices. One of the most popular of Cajon foods Jambalaya even has a mix that you can easily make at home.
The song was written and released by Hank Williams and would stay # 1 on the Country Music Charts, but the song wouldn’t stay in the country music category and would be recorded by other artists most notably The Carpenters who would record the song on their Now and Then Album. This version would reach number 12 in the UK.

Karen Chandler
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me
Written by Harry Noble in 1952 the song is considered to be an early hit of the pop-rock era. When Karen Chandler recorded the song it would make it to #7 on the charts and would be the only charted song for her career.

The Mills Brothers
Glow Worm
The original song was titled Das Gluhwurmchen and was part of Paul Linck’s 1902 operetta Lysistrata, when translated into English the song became a standard and was titled Glow Worm. Johnny Mercer would expand the lyrics and this is the song that would become a hit for The Mills Brothers.

Johnny Ray
Walkin’ My Baby Back Home
This song was originally written in 1930 by Roy Turk, lyrics, with music by Fred E. Ahlert and charted in 1931 at #8. Nat King Cole made a hit out of the song in 1951, 52 Johnny Ray also had a hit with the song. In 1953, the song would become the title of a film starring Donald O’Connor.

Top Artists and Songs of 1952