THURSDAY BACKTRACK: Music and news from 60 years ago - week ending 14 October 1961

 At #2 this week is John Leyton's 'Wild Wind':

Some memorable events (via Wikipedia):

8 October; the Berlin Wall story continues: 'The first of at least 134 residents of East Berlin escaped to the West through a manhole that led to an underground sewer that ran underneath the Berlin Wall. West German students Dieter Thieme and Detlef Girmann organized the Unternehmen Reisebüro, also called the "Girmann Group". The operation lasted for four nights until East German police learned what was happening and closed off the route.'

10 October: 'The United Kingdom began negotiations with the six-member European Economic Community to seek membership in the Common Market, with an opening speech in Paris by Prime Minister* Edward Heath.' [*Incorrect; at that time he was Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal and Deputy Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Wikipedia misinformation.]

    Text of his speech: https://www.cvce.eu/en/obj/statement_by_edward_heath_paris_10_october_1961-en-d990219a-8ad0-4758-946f-cb2ddd05b3c0.html

    On the same day: 'All 260 residents of the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha were evacuated by two small fishing boats, following a volcanic eruption on destroyed the crayfish canning factory that was the source of many islanders' livelihood. The group then spent the night on Nightingale Island, a 0.75 square mile patch of rock, 13 miles away, to await the arrival of the Dutch liner Tjisadane, which took them to South Africa.'

11 October, Vietnam War: 'The United States presence in South Vietnam was increased as President Kennedy authorized the deployment of an entire U.S. Air Force unit, the 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron, to fly combat missions from the Bien Hoa Air Base.'

13 October: 'Prince Louis Rwagasore, the popular eldest son of King Mwambutasa and who had been selected by the new legislature to be the first Prime Minister of Burundi in advance of the African nation's independence from Belgium, was assassinated. Rwagasaore was dining with his cabinet at a restaurant on Lake Tanganyika, when he was killed by a single shot fired by Jean Kageorgis, a Greek national. "Perhaps no other event has weighed more heavily on the destinies of Burundi," noted one historian, adding that "many believe that if only fate had given him a chance, he might have spared his nation the traumas that would soon tear it apart."'

14 October: 'For twelve hours, all commercial flights in the United States and Canada were grounded in order to conduct the NORAD exercise Operation Sky Shield II. Starting, as scheduled, at 1:00 pm Washington DC time, civilian airline flights were halted and military planes conducted an exercise simulating a foreign bombing attack on North American targets. Commercial flights were allowed to take off again twelve hours later. It was the longest scheduled halt of air traffic in United States history, exceeded only by the emergency grounding following September 11, 2001.'

UK chart hits, week ending 14 October 1961 (tracks in italics have been played in earlier posts)

Htp: Clint's labour-of love compilation https://www.sixtiescity.net/charts/61chart.htm

1	Walkin' Back To Happiness	Helen Shapiro	Columbia
2	Wild Wind	John Leyton	Top Rank
3	Michael Row The Boat	The Highwaymen	HMV
4	Jealousy	Billy Fury	Decca
5	You'll Answer To Me	Cleo Laine	Fontana
6	Wild In The Country / I Feel So Bad	Elvis Presley	RCA
7	Kon*Tiki	The Shadows	Columbia
8	Sucu Sucu	Laurie Johnson	Pye
9	Johnny Remember Me	John Leyton	Top Rank
10	Together	Connie Francis	MGM
11	Get Lost	Eden Kane	Decca
12	You Don't Know	Helen Shapiro	Columbia
13	Granada	Frank Sinatra	Reprise
14	Hats Off To Larry	Del Shannon	London
15	Who Put The Bomp	The Viscounts	Nixa
16	Michael Row The Boat / Lumbered	Lonnie Donegan	Pye
17	Sucu Sucu	Nina and Frederik	Columbia
18	My Boomerang Won't Come Back	Charlie Drake	Parlophone
19	Bless You	Tony Orlando	Fontana
20	Hard Hearted Hannah / Chilli Bom*Bom	The Temperance Seven	Parlophone