Ray Peterson from Texas (U.S.A), with his four-octave vocal range, formed his own record label in 1960 and released 6 singles from the catalogue on local London. The best seller was Corinna, Corinna which followed 9 earlier RCA singles including The Wonder of You and Tell Laura I Love Her. He switched to MGM records in 1964 and two singles, Oh No! followed by Across the Street were issued. You Thrill Me made No.21 on Sydney's chart for 2 weeks in Sep/Oct 1961.

Warren Williams began as a boy soprano and in 1958 formed a rock and roll group, "The Squares". After one single release, he went solo and recorded for Festival, HMV and CBS. His most succesful years were with Leedon (1961-1965), charting with A Star Fell From Heaven, Girls Were Made to Love and Kiss and Just Like a Child. Lovely, Lovely Habit was his only HMV release and he was backed by the popular Sydney vocal quartet "The Delltones".

Mike Douglas was born in Chicago and was a vocalist with Kay Kyser's band from 1945 until its demise in 1950. In the sixties and seventies, he hosted his own TV program The Mike Douglas Show. His recording of The Men in My Little Girl's Life was his only solo hit but there was a follow-up late in 1966 on Epic, Cabaret. His voice was heard on Kay Kyser hits including Ole Buttermilk Sky, Coffee Time and The Old Lamplighter. Mike Douglas died on his 81st birthday in 2006.

Leroy Pullins was born in Kentucky but moved to Nashville in the sixties to follow a career in country music. He intended to be a Roger Miller sound-alike and recorded a novelty hit I'm a Nut for Kapp Records. Two albums and four more singles were released shortly after but there were no other hits. Before his death at age 44 he returned to Kentucky and became a fireman. I'm a Nut was subsequently used in the soundtrack of the 1998 film Pecker.

Popular Sydney instrumental group, The Joy Boys, recorded this John Chapman composition for Christmas 1962 after their successful singles Smoky Mokes and Southern 'Rora. It was No. 19 on the 2UE Top 40 chart on 22 December, after 4 appearances and the only Christmas hit that year. Xmas Guitar was released on an extended play the following year and re-issued on a single in 1974.

Recorded by Decca on 19 Oct 1958 and first released in USA 25 Nov 1958, then each year until it became a hit in 1960. The record made No. 37 on the local 2UE Top 40 chart (24 Dec 1960). Johnny Marks, a New York Jew with a penchant for writing Christmas songs, wrote this and many others, including Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1949).

The original female vocal trio was known as "The Four Pennies" after the inclusion of Sylvia Peterson, but they recorded their first hit He's So Fine as "The Chiffons". The song was written by their manager, Ronald Mack and produced by the Tokens, who also provided the instrumental backing. Other popular releases were One Fine Day, Sweet Talking Guy and Out of This World. In 1975 they recorded the contentious My Sweet Lord, based on their original hit.

The 4 Seasons' first single release for Vee Jay records was written by Bob Gaudio in 15 minutes and named after the daughter of a New York disc-jockey. The recording failed to make the local Top 40 but was followed by a number of successful singles including Big Girls Don't Cry, Walk Like a Man, Dawn (Go Away), Stay and Rag Doll. The Four Seasons re-appeared on the Top 40 in the mid seventies with two hits, Who Loves You and December 1963 (Oh, What a Night).

An English composition by orchestra leader Mantovani (Tulio Trapani), who had the original hit in 1954, with vocalist David Whitfield. This revival by the New York group, Jay and the Americans, made No.5 on our Top 40 for three weeks in July and August 1965. Their first local release was She Cried in 1962 and was followed by the chart successes Come a Little Bit Closer and Some Enchanted Evening. By 1972 they had released 24 singles on the local United Artists label.

Andy Williams began his career with his brothers, augmenting the trio The Williams Brothers. Andy pursued a solo career from 1953 and signed with Archie Bleyer's Cadence label. His first U.S. hit was a vocal version of Canadian Sunset, followed by Butterfly in which he purposely copied the vocal style of Elvis Presley. The song was written by Bernie Lowe and Kal Mann under the pseudonym Anthony September and made No.2 on some Sydney Hit Parades in May and June 1957.

New Zealand's first major rock and roll artist and first gold disc recipient, Johnny Devlin toured Australia to perform on a Lee Gordon Big Show in 1959 and recorded cover versions Tiger/Lonely Boy for his own label, Teen Records of York Street, Sydney. He backed the Beatles on their 1964 Australian tour, tried to crack the UK market the following year and later settled in Sydney. His biggest hits were Turn the Lights Out Johnny and Got a Zack in the Back of Me Pocket.

Frank Gallop began as a session announcer for the CBS radio network. In 1955, he was selected as the voice to introduce the Perry Como television shows and later appeared on screen. He cut a pop record in 1958, Got a Match (W&G) and eight years later, for Kapp Records, The Ballad of Irving, a parody of Lorne Greene's Ringo with musical elements from Big Bad John. Later that year, The Ballad of Irving was followed by Son of Irving (CBS).

Gus Backus, a New Yorker and one time member of the doo wop group The Dell-Vikings, served as a U.S. Army soldier in West Germany from 1957 and later became a popular schlager singer, recording for Polydor. Already well-known in Europe for his hits Sauerkraut Polka and a German version of A Pub With No Beer, he recorded Big Willie Broke Jail Tonight in 1963. The recording made No.7 on the 2UE Top 40 prediction list in August 1964 but failed to make the main chart.

As a teenage jazz vocalist in the late forties, Irene Reid was hired by the Savoy Ballroom on Lenox Avenue New York, as lead singer with jazz trumpeter and arranger, Dick Vance. She later toured and recorded with Count Basie's band and appeared on Broadway in the cast of The Wiz. In 1962-3 a Brazilian music style, Bossa Nova, swept the world and she recorded a single in that style, My Heart Said (The Bossa Nova). It made No.27 on the 2UE Top 40 in June 1963 and was listed for 9 weeks.

Craig Douglas, a native of the Isle of Wight, was working as a milkman when he secured a contract with Decca Records on winning a talent contest. His first two releases flopped but he scored a No.1 with Sam Cooke's Only Sixteen for the Top Rank label. This started a string of hit parade successes in England, mainly cover versions of American hits. Our Favourite Melodies was one of his seven UK Top 10 hits and made No.37 on the local 2UE Top 40 in October 1962.

Tommy Britt was a teenager in 1957 when his London release Lonesome Heart made the Montreal hit charts. He began as a five year old on breakfast radio and sang in operettas at high school. His singing teacher encouraged him to make a sample disc which she played for London Records executives. Afterwards, he moved to the U.S.A. and released Fabulous, Fantastic and Fifteen (Unison) and Ella, A Fella, and a Striped Umbrella (Arc).

Ray Peterson signed a contract with RCA records in 1958. His first local release was Fever (1958) but his first hit was The Wonder of You in 1959. Other hits followed including Missing You and I Could Have Loved You So Well for his own label, Dunes and the Gene Pitney composition Across the Street for M.G.M. which made No.16 on the 2UE Top 40 (24 Feb 1965) and was listed for 9 weeks. Before he died of cancer in 2005, Ray was married with 7 children and became a minister of religion.

The first of two local Chancellor releases for Johnny Burnette, I Wanna Thank Your Folks was written by Barry Mann. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Johnny began as a singer in a trio formed in 1952 with his brother, Dorsey and friend Paul Burlison. After the trio disbanded, the brothers continued performing together but gradually moved to solo careers. Before his untimely death from a boating accident on Clear Lake, California in 1964 Johnny, aged 30 had four local Top 20 hits.

Freddy Cannon was born in the North Shore area of Massachusetts in 1939 and made his recording debut in 1955 as a backing vocalist and guitarist. His first release here was Tallahassee Lassie a Swan recording on the London label in 1959. Jump Over was his biggest local hit making No.12 on Sydney's 2UE Top 40 (18th Jun 1960). It was the second of nine Top Rank releases but Freddy had more than 20 single releases in the 1960's on Festival, Top Rank, HMV, Stateside and Warner Brothers.

Peanuts was written by Joe Cook of Little Joe and the Thrillers who had the original hit in 1957. Rick and the Keens were based in Dallas, Texas where they recorded the song for Smash Records in 1961. It was a hit in New York, Los Angeles and particularly in Chicago. The disc was released locally on the Mercury label but failed to make our Top 40 charts. In the U.S. they followed up with Popcorn (Smash 1961), Your Turn to Cry (Jamie 1962) and Darla (Tollie 1964).

English actor and comedian, Lance Percival was born in Kent in 1933. He appeared in many films and television programmes and recorded several discs for the Parlophone label. Two singles were released here in 1963, Riviera Cayf and The Beetroot Song (from the film It's All Over Town), neither making our Top 40 charts. His version of the forties calypso song Shame and Scandal (In the Family) was popular in England in 1965.

The first Roulette release in this country and Jimmie Rodgers' third hit single. Hugo and Luigi, A&R men with the parent U.S. company discovered Jimmie Rodgers and signed him in 1957 although he was heard on Arthur Godfrey's radio talent show earlier. His first two hits were Honeycomb and Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, both released here on Columbia (EMI). Jimmie continued his hits on Roulette and through the sixties on London, Dot and A&M.

Based on an early 18th century English song A Knave Is a Knave, the words became more and more bawdy when sung by soldiers in successive wars until its ultimate sanitation after World War II. It became a hit parade success in July 1952 with Ella Fitzgerald's version on local Decca. Diana Trask was a popular Australian singer from Warburton, Victoria. She moved to the U.S. in 1959 and recorded this side with Glenn Osser's Orchestra for Columbia Records.

Mike Sarne was a student of Russian when his first hit Come Outside was released in 1962. He went on to appear in television series and films, and later as a writer, producer and director. He also created a number of television commercials and hosted a children's television quiz show. Code of Love with the accompaniment of the composer, Charles Blackwell was his fourth local Parlophone release after Will I What and Just for Kicks.

A British cover version of an American song written by Lee Pockriss and Fred Tobias, originally recorded by Bob Halley in 1961. Col James was from Birkenhead, Merseyside but at age 19 he moved to London and teamed with Pete Morgan in the Morgan-James Duo. They recorded Rodgers and Hammerstein's Happy Talk in 1964 and in 1966 they had hits in the U.K. with Sweet Pussy Cat and Put Your Tears Away.

Released as a London label 78 rpm single (HL-1083) in August 1956, it topped many local radio hit parades. After re-issue in America, EMI (Aust.) released a 45 rpm single, to coincide with the fifth anniversary of its original release. Gogi Grant was born in Philadelphia and her first hit record was Suddenly There's a Valley. Locally, four London 78 rpm and five RCA 45 rpm singles were released before her last recording The Sea was issued in 1967.

The Kingston Trio began performing in the San Francisco area and signed a 7 year contract with Capitol Records in 1957. Nineteen singles were released on local Capitol, Tom Dooley being the first. After a disagreement, Dave Guard was replaced with John Stewart in 1961. Reverend Mr. Black with a chorus adapted from the traditional gospel tune Lonesome Valley, was listed on the weekly 2UE Top 40 five times and peaked at No.29 on 15th Jun 1963.

Phil McLean was a popular disc jockey on AM radio in Clevelend, Ohio. He was inspired by Jimmy Dean's hit Big Bad John and recorded a parodied version. Small Sad Sam was written by Eddie V. Deane with the help of Sunny Skyler, a veteran composer who specialised in setting alternate lyrics to popular songs. In this version, an overweight antihero Sam saves only himself from an elevator crash.