Thursday, March 10, 2022

THURSDAY BACKTRACK: Music and news from 60 years ago - week ending 10 March 1962

 At #2 is Cliff Richard with 'Wonderful Land':



Giles cartoon for this week: RCP reports on links between smoking and diseases

(see 7 March, below)

Some memorable events (via Wikipedia):

4 March: 'The Eighteen Nation Disarmament Conference, which included non-nuclear powers in addition to the U.S., the U.S.S.R., the U.K. and France, opened in Geneva.'

5 March: 'A B-58 Hustler jet, piloted by U.S. Air Force Captain Robert Sowers, and a crew of two, set three new records by flying from Los Angeles to New York in 2 hours, 01:15, then back again in 2 hours, 15:02. The sonic boom, from the jet's speed of more than 1,000 mph, broke windows in Riverside, California and Chillicothe, Missouri when it accelerated at 30,000 feet and during a refuelling, and emergency calls were made in cities beneath the flight path. The USAF received more than 10,000 complaints as a result of the flight.'

6 March: 'Rated by the U.S. Geological Survey as "The most destructive storm ever to hit the mid-Atlantic states" of the US, and as one of the ten worst U.S. storms in the 20th century, the Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 began forming off of the coast of North Carolina and continued for three days as it moved up the Eastern seaboard as far as New York. Heavy winds and rain coincided with a perigean spring tide, when a new Moon occurred when the Moon was making its closest approach to the Earth. The combined tugging of Moon and Sun made the tides higher than normal. Forty people were killed and $500,000,000 of damage was incurred.'

    'In a joint statement issued by U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk and Thailand's Foreign Minister Thanat Khoman, the United States pledged to go to war to defend any attack on Thailand by Communist guerrillas.'

7 March: 'In London, the Royal College of Physicians issued its report, "Smoking and Health", declaring that "Cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer. It also causes bronchitis and probably contributes to the development of coronary heart disease and various other less common diseases. It delays healing of gastric and duodenal ulcers." Sir Robert Platt, the president of the organization, led a committee of nine physicians to compile the research. A panel led by the U.S. Surgeon General would draw a similar conclusion nearly two years later on January 11, 1964.'

    'OSO I, the first of nine Orbiting Solar Observatory satellites, launched by the United States, was launched from Cape Canaveral put into orbit around the Earth, to measure radiation from the Sun.'

8 March: 'American drug manufacturer Richardson-Merrell Pharmaceuticals withdrew its request for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the prescription of thalidomide, which the company had developed under the name Kelvadon. On the same day, the company withdrew the drug from sale in Canada. American marketing of the medicine, which had caused severe birth defects in 15,000 babies, primarily in West Germany, had been blocked by FDA reviewer Frances Oldham Kelsey, who was later given an award by President Kennedy.'

    'The Beatles made their radio debut, with a three-song session, recorded the day before, and broadcast on the BBC Manchester programme Teenager's Turn (Here We Go). They performed the songs "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)", "Please Mr. Postman", and "Memphis, Tennessee."' 

10 March: 'Newly independent from France, the Kingdom of Morocco adopted its first constitution.'

    'Scottish football club Kilmarnock's home attendance record was broken when a crowd of 35,995 turned out to see them play Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Cup, at the Rugby Park stadium.'


UK chart hits, week ending 10 March 1962 (tracks in italics have been featured previously)
Htp: Clint's labour-of love compilation https://www.sixtiescity.net/charts/61chart.htm

1

Rock-A-Hula Baby / Can't Help Falling In Love

Elvis Presley

RCA

2

Wonderful Land

The Shadows

Columbia

3

The Young Ones

Cliff Richard and The Shadows

Columbia

4

Let's Twist Again

Chubby Checker

Columbia

5

March Of The Siamese Children

Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen

Pye

6

Tell Me What He Said

Helen Shapiro

Columbia

7

Wimoweh

Karl Denver

Decca

8

Forget Me Not

Eden Kane

Decca

9

Crying In The Rain

The Everly Brothers

Warner Brothers

10

The Wanderer

Dion

HMV

11

Stranger On The Shore

Acker Bilk

Columbia

12

Walk On By

Leroy Vandyke

Mercury

13

Softly As I Leave You

Matt Monro

Parlophone

14

Little Bitty Tear

Burl Ives

Brunswick

15

Hole In The Ground

Bernard Cribbins

Parlophone

16

Lesson No 1

Russ Conway

Columbia

17

Don't Stop, Twist

Frankie Vaughan

Philips

18

Theme From Z Cars

Johnny Keating Orchestra

Piccadilly

19

I'll See You In My Dreams

Pat Boone

London

20

Frankie And Johnny

Acker Bilk

Columbia




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