Every week we look back at two chart-topping singles from this week in history. This week we have hits by Elvis Presley and A-ha
1968
Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock
This Elvis favourite was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and was released as a 45rpm single on September 24, 1957, to coincide with the release of Presley’s film, Jailhouse Rock.
The song as recorded by Elvis Presley is number 67 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Some of the characters named in the song are real people. Shifty Henry was a well-known LA musician, not a criminal. The Purple Gang was a real mob. Sad Sack was a US Army nickname in World War II for a loser.
The single, with its B-side Treat Me Nice, was a US number one hit for seven weeks in the Autumn of 1957, and a UK number one hit for three weeks early in 1958.
In 2005, the song was re-released in the UK and reached number one for a single week. The song, which is an example of simple verse form, eventually received an additional double-platinum certification from the RIAA in 1992, representing shipments of two million copies of the single.
1986
A-ha - The Sun Always Shines on TV
This song by Norwegian pop band A-ha was released as the third single from the band’s debut album, Hunting High and Low. In many countries the single was not as successful as the band’s previous, Take on Me, which hit number one in the US and several countries around the world. In the UK and Ireland, however, The Sun Always Shines on TV actually improved upon the number two charting of their debut, remaining at the top spot on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in January 1986.
The band’s Paul Waaktaar-Savoy says: “We wrote The Sun Always Shines On TV that (A&R man) Andrew Wickham’s secretary felt was a hit. She convinced him to make room for it. When we recorded it, we were really sick with influenza. Magne and Morten were lying in the studio on camp beds with high fevers.”
