Number of Weeks? In total, 18, but the three seperate reigns lasted for 9 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 weeks respectively
What else was going on? Cambodia receives independence, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climb everest, Queen Elizabeth II is crowned, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed, The Korean War ends
Download I Believe
from amazon.com
from amazon.com
This is, without a doubt the, biggest hit in the history of the UK number 1 in terms of sheer longevity. If, the next time you're at a pub quiz, you get asked which song had the most weeks at the UK number 1, here is your answer (Bryan Adams, of course, has the highest number of consecutive weeks at the top). It really isn't difficult to see why this song refused to let go of the top spot. Laine's record-breaking/setting performance is indebted to a certain Jane Froman, a singer and actress who, in the early 50s had her own TV show across the Atlantic. Froman commissioned "I Believe" to be written amidst the tumult of the Korean war in order to try and still a note of optimism in her audience. "I Believe" therefore is the very first song to have been introduced via television. What happened from that point on, is, as they say history. "I Believe" never reached the top spot in the USA, stalling at number 2, but in the UK, it absolutely dominated the charts in 1953 and is our chart's first true megahit.
And, I have to say, deservedly so. The later version by Robson and Jerome (number 1 #730) should not be allowed to taint the memory of this fantastic performance. Yes, the lyrics are perhaps a little twee, but they're not without their power. Something so simple as "I believe that every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows" has a real gravitas when Laine delivers it. And I know that it's becoming a real cliche in this blog to praise the singer's voice, but Laine's vocal is absolutely captivating. His voice has a really rick texture to it and its technical flaws add to, rather than detract from, the emotional resonance of his delivery. Add that to the fact that this is very much a paradigmatic power ballad which absolutely nails the art of building a crescendo, you've got the recipe for an incredible song. One thing which also struck me about Laine's performance: the very end of the song, when he delivers the powerful final note, he seems to cut it short, almost like his voice "cuts out" and it gives the impression that he's actually choked up by the words he's singing. It's a small point, but it really helps hammer home the song.
I'd urge anyone to try and listen to this song without prejudice as far as they can. For a modern listener, we've grown up with the power ballad; there's very little which we haven't heard before. For my money, this is at the pinacle of that genre, and it's an absolutely phenomenal record. I'd definitely urge people to give this a listen. After all, the entire British record-buying public can't be wrong for eighteen weeks, can they?
What happened next? Frankie is another early chart-superstar, as he would amass 26 top twenty hits which span the decade. As for this blog, we'll encounter Frankie another three times, and twice more this year!
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