popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
song that was written by John Jerome and Bernhard Grun.
The most successful version of the song was produced by
Dick Rowe
Richard Paul Brutton Rowe (9 June 1921 – 6 June 1986) was a British music executive and record producer. He was head of A&R (Singles) at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1970s, and produced many top-selling records during that period.
H ...
and recorded in the UK by vocal group The Stargazers in 1953. It was the first record by any UK act to reach
number one
Number One most commonly refers to:
* 1 (number)
Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song
* ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song
* ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC
* ''n.1 ...
in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
(all previous number one singles were by American artists), and was the first of two number-one UK hits for the
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
, the other being "
I See the Moon
"I See the Moon (Over the Mountain)" is a popular song, written by Meredith Willson in 1953.
Recordings
The Mariners, in the United States, and The Stargazers, in the United Kingdom, had the best-known versions. The Stargazers' recording, r ...
", a year later.
Background
Most contemporary hit songs came from America in the early 1950s; however, "Broken Wings" originated in the UK, having been first published by the John Fields Music Company in London on 26 February 1952.Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. United States: n.p., 1952. p.107. John Jerome was a collaborative pseudonym for Harold Cornelius Fields, Howard Ellington Barnes and Joseph Dominic Roncoroni. Grun was a German emigrant who used the first name Bernard in England, and had previously composed film music.
Recordings and chart performance
The Stargazers recorded their version in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on 6 January 1953, produced by
Dick Rowe
Richard Paul Brutton Rowe (9 June 1921 – 6 June 1986) was a British music executive and record producer. He was head of A&R (Singles) at Decca Records from the 1950s to the 1970s, and produced many top-selling records during that period.
H ...
, with uncredited accompaniment directed by
Nat Temple
Nat Temple (18 July 1913 – 30 May 2008) - accessed May 2011 was an English
''New Musical Express'' listings on 7 February 1953. It dropped out of the chart on 14 February, before returning the week after for a run which would see the single reach number one on 10 April for a single week (its eighth week on chart). The Stargazers were consequently the first group to reach number one in the UK singles chart.
Two other recordings of the song also entered the UK chart in February 1953: the original American recording by Art and Dotty Todd (peaking at number 6), and the other by
Dickie Valentine
Richard Bryce ( Maxwell; 4 November 1929 – 6 May 1971), known professionally as Dickie Valentine, was a British pop singer who enjoyed great popularity in Britain during the 1950s. In addition to several other Top Ten hit singles, Valentine ha ...
(reaching number 12). No versions of the song charted in America.
Valentine's version was, in fact, the first to be released in the UK by some months, in July 1952. The majority of the song's recordings were issued in early 1953, starting with Art and Dotty Todd in January that year. On 10 January, "Broken Wings" entered the UK's
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
chart for a week, before dropping out. It then returned a fortnight later, and remained on the chart to reach number one on 14 February, where it stayed for six weeks. The same month, The Stargazers' recording was released, but "Broken Wings" had already vacated the top spot on the sheet music charts by the time the group made number one on the record chart with the song. Other recorded versions available in the UK were by British artists: Gerry Brereton, David Carey,
Victor Silvester
Victor Marlborough Silvester OBE (25 February 190014 August 1978) was an English dancer, writer, musician and bandleader from the British dance band era. He was a significant figure in the development of ballroom dance during the first hal ...
and his Ballroom Orchestra, The
Sam Browne
General Sir Samuel James Browne, (3 October 1824 – 14 March 1901) was a British Indian Army cavalry officer, known best as the creator of the Sam Browne belt. He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the most prestigious award for gallantry ...
Singers, and Beryl Templeman. The song was on the sheet music charts for 20 weeks in total.
See also
*
List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1950s
The UK Singles Chart is the official record chart in the United Kingdom. Record charts in the UK began life in 1952 when Percy Dickins from ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') imitated an idea started in American ''Billboard'' magazine and began ...