Lucky Starr was everywhere, man, in May 1962

Reaching number one in Australia in May 1962 was Lucky Starr (born Leslie Morrison) with an all-time Aussie favourite ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’. Starr was a founder member of the Australian pop music industry and was a regular on TV in Bandstand, Six o’clock Rock, The Mavis Branston Revue, In Melbourne Tonight and Sing, sing, sing.

Lucky Starr was also one of the first singers to entertain the Aussie troops in Vietnam, and with many young men from the United States also fighting in Vietnam, the song was adapted for American audiences and recorded by country legend Hank Snow.

Another Australian light-hearted song moving up the charts in May ’62 was Frankie Davidson’s ‘Have You Ever Been To See Kings Cross’.

For the first time Bobby Vinton entered the Billboard charts in the US and headed for the number one spot where he stayed for several weeks, with ‘Roses Are Red’, the first of 30 top 40 entries for Vinton over the next decade. In the United Kingdom Ronnie Carroll covered the song and reached number three, the original peaking at number 15.

Also entering the charts is Brian Hyland’s ‘Sealed With A Kiss’, a sentimental song similar to ‘Roses Are Red’ but with an original arrangement that blended perfectly with Hyland’s voice making it one of the great teen ballads of all time. ‘Sealed With A Kiss’ was written by Peter Udell and Gary Geld who wrote most of Brian Hyland’s material. The first recording was in 1960 by The Four Voices and did not sell very well but following Brian Hyland’s version it was a hit for Gary Lewis and The Playboys in 1968, Bobby Vinton in 1972, and Australia’s Jason Donovan in 1989. Other cover versions were by Shelly Fabares and Bobby Vee.

Gene Pitney enters the charts with ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’, a song written for the movie starring John Wayne and James Stewart. It was to have been the theme tune for the John Ford movie but was not completed in time for the premiere, and soundtrack inclusion.

Brian Jones decided to form his own band and put an ad in the paper and his first applicant was piano player Ian Stewart. Meantime Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were part of Little Boy Blue and The Blue Boys playing with Blues Incorporated, when they quit and joined the new band.

The top 10 in Australia in May 1962

1. ‘Good Luck Charm / Anything That’s Part Of You’, Elvis Presley
2. ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’, Lucky Starr
3. ‘Wonderful Land / Stars Fell On Stockton’, The Shadows
4. ‘Dream Baby’, Roy Orbison
5. ‘Stranger On The Shore’, Acker Bilk
6. ‘Moon River’, Henry Mancini
7. ‘Chip Chip’, Gene McDaniels
8. ‘Wimoweh’, The Karl Denver Trio
9. ‘Dear One’, Larry Finnegan
10. ‘Love Letters’, Ketty Lester

The Australian charts were dominated by instrumentals apart from the above ‘Wonderful Land’, ‘Stranger On The Shore’, ‘Moon River’ we also had ‘Nut Rocker’ by B. Bumble and The Stingers, ‘Si Senor’ by Rob E. G., ‘Midnight In Moscow’ and ‘The March Of The Siamese Children’ by The Kenny Ball Jazzmen, and ‘Percolator Twist’ by Billy Joe and The Checkmates.

The number ones in Australia in May 1962

5th, 12th: ‘Good Luck Charm’, Elvis Presley
19th, 26th: ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’, Lucky Starr

The number ones in the UK for May 1962

5th, 12th: ‘Wonderful Land’, The Shadows
19th: ‘Nutrocker’, B. Bumble and The Stingers
26th: ‘Good Luck Charm’,Elvis Presley

The number ones in the US for May 1962

5th, 12th, 19th: ‘Soldier Boy’, The Shirelles
26th: ‘Stranger On The Shore’, Acker Bilk

Do you remember these hits from 1962? What was your favourite song from that year?

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