Backstreet's insane project, 1 out of 6. (50s.)

It started out as a funny birthday gift for my father's 60th Birthday on the 25th December, but it turned rather quickly into a massive project.

At first I decided to do some compilations with the most "important" song from each year since 1950 but rather quickly it turned into a 10 song per year thing. Then it just kept snow balling and I am doing a sort of book out of it now.

I will do 60 cds with 10 songs from each year. Besides that I will compile the lists in a book in which I thought I would write a couple of sentences about each song.
I have not yet decided if I should include all lyrics in some sort of appendix. It depends on the time...
Apart from this I have a friend who is a painter and she will do the layout of the book with a front page for each decade as well.

Anyway.. I don't know how it turned into this but I have enjoyed it massively reading and listening to A TON of great music the past couple of months.
I started this thing in April (had the idea a year ago) and I have just finished the lists.
And now I thought what better way to get some feedback than the Soapbox.
So here they are. I'll post each decade in seperate threads.
Comment on anything, artists/songs missing etc. Everything is appreciated.

And for those of you who have Spotify I'll also add the playlist for each. Some songs are missing as they are not present on Spotify. (31 in total out of 600)

I tried to stick to some guidelines while compiling the lists, trying to making at least one of the points below fit for each song:

1) The song should have had an impact on the music climate in one way or another
2) The artist/band should have had an impact on the music climate in one way or another
3) If an album was more important than a song, take the song that my father would enjoy most
4) Considering there's only 10 songs per year some tweaking is acceptable. For example one band might have had a bigger impact with one song/album in a different year than the song that is present on the list.

Let the feedback, or thrashing, commence.

And it might sound incredibly scientific for music which I hate. Music is about emotions and what you feel. But it was just so much fun to do this that I needed to setup some rules or it would have been a book thicker than the Bible

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The 50s

Apart from the 2000s it was the hardest decade to finish.
Enjoyed re-discovering and discover "new" blues music. There's so much good stuff.



1950

Teresa Brewer – Music! Music! Music!
Nat King Cole – Mona Lisa
The Mills Brothers - Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)
Patti Page – The Tennessee Waltz
Ruth Brown - Teardrops From My Eyes
Edith Piaf – L'Hymne A L'Amour
Roy Brown – Hard Luck Blues
Percy Mayfield – Please Send Me Someone To Love
Red Foley – Chatanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
The Weavers – Goodnight Irene

1951

Charles Brown – Black Night
The Five Keys - The Glory Of Love
The Swallows - Will You Be Mine
Roy Hawkins – The Thrill Is Gone
Les Paul And Mary Ford - How High The Moon
Jackie Brenston - Rocket 88
Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land
Bill Monroe – Travelin' Blues
Johnnie Ray & The Four Lads – Cry
Thelonious Monk – Straight, No Chaser

1952

Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine
Hank Williams - Jambalaya (On The Bayou)
Johnny Ace - My Song
Little Willie Littlefield - Kansas City
Little Walter – Juke
Dinah Washington – Mad About The Boy
Lightnin' Hopkins – Coffee Blues
Rosco Gordon - No More Doggin'
Vera Lynn – Auf Wiedersehn, Sweetheart
Jo Stafford – You Belong To Me

1953

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog
The Crows - Gee
Eartha Kitt - C'est Si Bon
Percy Faith – The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)
Tony Bennett – Rags To Riches
Dean Martin – That's Amore
The Prisonaires – Just Walkin' In The Rain
The Four Knights – I Get So Lonely (When I Dream About You)
Charlie Parker – All The Things You Are
Floyd Dixon – Hard Living Alone

1954

Muddy Waters – Hoochie Coochie Man
Big Joe Turner – Shake, Rattle And Roll
Bill Haley & His Comets – Rock Around The Clock
The Penguins – Earth Angel
The Chords - Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)
Sarah Vaughan – Lullaby Of Birdland
Sammy Davis Jr - Hey There
Kitty Kallen – Little Things Mean A Lot
The Moonglows - Sincerely
Rosemary Clooney - Mambo Italiano

1955

Frank Sinatra – I Get Along Without You Very Well
Little Richard – Tutti Frutti
Johnny Cash – Folsom Prison Blues
Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley
Chuck Berry – Maybelline
The Platters – Only You
The Cadillacs – Speedo
Fats Domino – Ain't That A Shame
Tenneesee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
Little Willie John – Need Your Love So Bad

1956

Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You
Carl Perkins – Blue Suede Shoes
Howlin' Wolf – Smokestack Lightnin'
Julie TCOTU - Cry Me A River
Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel
LaVern Baker – Jim Dandy
The Coasters - Down In Mexico
Gene Vincent - Be-Bop-A-Lula
Harry Belafonte - Jamaica Farewell
B.B King – Sweet Little Angel

1957

Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls Of Fire
Buddy Holly – Not Fade Away
Doris Day – Dream A Little Dream Of Me
The Chantels - Maybe
Richard Berry - Louie, Louie
Patsy Cline – Walkin' After Midnight
Dizzy Gillespie – On The Sunny Side Of The Street
Danny And The Juniors – At The Hop
Buddy Knox – Party Doll
The "5" Royales - Say It

1958

Ritchie Valens – La Bamba
Eddie Cochran – Summertime Blues
The Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream
Cliff Richard And The Shadows - Move It
Peggy Lee – Fever
Connie Francis – Stupid Cupid
Tito Puente - El Cayuco
The Crests – 16 Candles
Jimmy Smith – The Sermon
The Chordettes – Lollipop

1959

Professor Longhair – Go To The Mardi Gras
Ray Charles – What'd I Say
Chet Atkins – Let It Be Me
Miles Davis – So What
Bobby Darin - Dream Lover
T-Bone Walker – T-Bone Blues
Pete Seeger - Turn, Turn, Turn
The Swan Silvertones - Mary Don't You Weep
Jimmy Reed – Baby What You Want Me To Do
Lloyd Price – Stagger Lee