1953 in music

See also: 1952 in music, other events of 1953, 1954 in music, 1950s in music and the list of 'years in music'

Contents

1 Events 2 Albums released 3 No. 1 hit singles 4 Top hits on record 5 Top R&B and Country hits on record 6 Published popular music 7 Classical music 8 Opera 9 Musical theater 10 Musical films 11 Births 12 Deaths

Events

• Arthur Bliss replaces Arnold Bax as Master of the Queen's Musick.
• Frank Sinatra begins recording at Capitol
• Elvis Presley records for the first time
• Frankie Laine set the all-time United Kingdom record for weeks at Number One in a given year on the UK Singles Chart, when his hit singles "Answer Me," "Hey Joe!" and "I Believe" held the top slot for 27 weeks: a little over half a year. "I Believe," which was Number One for 18 weeks also holds the all-time record for a single. Over 50 years later, both records still hold.
• Eddie Fisher becomes "The Coca-Cola Kid" on the television show, Coke Time at a salary of one million dollars a year
• The Four Lads have their first solo hit with "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
• James Brown's musical career begins
• Jackie Wilson's musical career begins
• The Four Tops' musical career begins
• The Platters' musical career begins
• Wonderful Town Broadway musical version of My Sister Eileen by Leonard Bernstein with Betty Comden and Adolph Green.

Albums released

• Broadway's Best - Jo Stafford
• By The Light Of The Silvery Moon - Doris Day
• Country Girl - Bing Crosby
• Dinah Shore Sings The Blues - Dinah Shore
• Georgia Gibbs Sings Oldies - Georgia Gibbs
• Kay Starr Style - Kay Starr
• May I Sing To You - Eddie Fisher
• Portrait Of New Orleans - Jo Stafford and Frankie Laine
• Requested By You - Frank Sinatra
• Sinatra Sings His Greatest Hits - Frank Sinatra
• Songs Of Open Spaces - Guy Mitchell
• Starring Jo Stafford - Jo Stafford

No. 1 hit singles

These singles reached the top of Billboard magazine's charts in 1953.

First week	Number of weeks	Title	Artist
January 10, 1953	5	"Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes"	Perry Como
February 14, 1953	5	"Till I Waltz Again With You"	Teresa Brewer
March 21, 1953	8	"The Doggie In The Window"	Patti Page
May 16, 1953	10	"Song From Moulin Rouge"	Percy Faith & his Orchestra
July 25, 1953	2	"I'm Walking Behind You"	Eddie Fisher
August 8, 1953	9	"Vaya Con Dios"	Les Paul & Mary Ford
October 10, 1953	4	"St. George And The Dragonet"	Stan Freberg
November 7, 1953	2	"Vaya Con Dios"	Les Paul & Mary Ford
November 21, 1953	6	"Rags To Riches"	Tony Bennett

Top hits on record

• "Allez-Vous-En" - Kay Starr
• "Answer Me, O Lord" - Frankie Laine
• "Bridge Of Sighs" - Georgia Gibbs
• "Bye Bye Blues" - Les Paul and Mary Ford
• "Changing Partners" - Patti Page
• "The Doggie in the Window" - Patti Page
• "Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes" - Perry Como
• "Dragnet" - Ray Anthony
• "Eh Cumpari" - Julius LaRosa
• "Even Now" - Eddie Fisher
• "Floatin' Down To Cotton Town" - Frankie Laine & Jo Stafford
• "The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart" - The Four Aces featuring Al Alberts
• "Granada" - Frankie Laine
• "Have You Heard" - Joni James
• "Hey Joe!" - Frankie Laine
• "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo" - Leslie Caron & Mel Ferrer
• "Home Lovin' Man" - Georgia Gibbs
• "I Believe" - Frankie Laine
• "I'm Walking Behind You" - Eddie Fisher
• "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" - The Four Lads
• "The Jones Boy" - The Mills Brothers
• "The Kid's Last Fight" - Frankie Laine
• "Make Her Mine" - Nat King Cole
• "Make Love To Me" - Jo Stafford
• "No Other Love" - Perry Como
• "Oh! My Pa-Pa" - Eddie Fisher
• "Pretend" - Nat King Cole
• "Rags To Riches" - Tony Bennett
• "Ricochet (Rick O'Shay)" - Teresa Brewer
• "Same Old Saturday Night" - Frank Sinatra
• "Secret Love" - Doris Day
• "Seven Lonely Days" - Georgia Gibbs
• "Side By Side" - Kay Starr
• "The Song From Moulin Rouge" - Percy Faith (Felicia Sanders vocal)
• "Stranger In Paradise" - Tony Bennett
• "Tell Me A Story" - Frankie Laine & Jimmy Boyd
• "That's Amore" - Dean Martin
• "Three Coins In The Fountain" - Frank Sinatra
• "The Typewriter" - Leroy Anderson & His Orchestra
• "Vaya Con Dios" - Les Paul and Mary Ford
• "Wishing Ring" - Joni James
• "Young At Heart" - Frank Sinatra
• "Your Cheatin' Heart" - Frankie Laine

Top R&B and Country hits on record

• "The Clock" - Johnny Ace with the Beale Streeters
• "Crazy Man Crazy" - Bill Haley & His Comets
• "Crying In The Chapel" - The Orioles
• "Good Lovin' " - The Clovers
• "Mama (He Treats Your Daughter Mean)" - Ruth Brown
• "Please Don't Leave Me" - Fats Domino
• "Shake A Hand" - Faye Adams
• "Your Cheatin' Heart" - Hank Williams

Published popular music

• "And This Is My Beloved"     w. & m. adapted Robert Wright & George Forrest
• "Angel Eyes"     w. Earl Brent m. Matt Dennis
• "Anna"     w.(Eng) William Engvick (Ital) F. Giordano m. R. Vatro
• "Answer Me, My Love"     w. (Eng) Carl Sigman (Ger) & m. Gerhard Winkler & Fred Ravich
• "Baubles, Bangles And Beads"     w. & m. adapt Robert Wright & George Forrest
• "Bell Bottom Blues"     w. Hal David m. Leon Carr
• "Bimbo"     w.m. Rodney Morris
• "Black Hills Of Dakota"     w. Paul Francis Webster m. Sammy Fain
• "The Boy Friend"     w.m. Sandy Wilson
• "Can-Can"     w.m. Cole Porter
• "Caribbean"     w.m. Mitchell Torok
• "C'Est Magnifique"     w.m. Cole Porter
• "Changing Partners"     w. Joe Darion m. Larry Coleman
• "Chicka Boom"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Crying In The Chapel"     w.m. Artie Glenn
• "Dragnet"     m. Walter Schumann
• "Ebb Tide"     w. Carl Sigman m. Robert Maxwell
• "Eh, Cumpari!"     trad Ital w. m. adapt. Julius LaRosa & Archie Bleyer
• "Ev'rybody Loves Saturday Night"     Campbell
• "Fate"     w. & m. adapt Robert Wright & George Forrest from music by Alexander Borodin Adapted from Symphony No. 2 in B Minor.
• "From Here To Eternity"     w. Robert Wells m. Fred Karger
• "Gambler's Guitar"     w.m. Jim Lowe
• "Gee!"     w.m. Viola Watkins, Daniel Norton & William Davis
• "Goodnite Sweetheart, Goodnite"     James Hudson, Calvin Carter
• "The Happy Wanderer"     w.(Ger) Florenz Siegesmund & Edith Möller (Eng) Antonia Ridge m. Friedrich Wilhelm Möller
• "Here's That Rainy Day"     w. Johnny Burke m. James Van Heusen
• "Hold My Hand"     w.m. Jack Lawrence & Richard Myers
• "I Believe"     w.m. Ervin Drake, Jimmy Shirl, Irvin Graham & Al Stillman
• "(Oh Baby Mine) I Get So Lonely"     w.m. Pat Ballard
• "I Love Paris"     w.m. Cole Porter
• "I Really Don't Want To Know"     Howard Barnes, Don Robertson
• "I'm Walking Behind You"     w.m. Billy Reid
• "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"     w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Nat Simon
• "It's All Right With Me"     w.m. Cole Porter
• "Just Walkin' In The Rain"     w.m. Johnny Bragg & Robert S. Riley
• "Little Things Mean A Lot"     w.m. Carl Stutz & Edith Lindeman
• "Make Love To Me"     w. Alan Copeland & Bill Norvas Music from "Tin Roof Blues" 1923.
• "The Man That Got Away"     w. Ira Gershwin m. Harold Arlen
• "The Man With The Banjo"     w. (Eng) Robert Mellin m. Fritz Schulz Reichel
• "Marriage Type Love"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Matilda, Matilda!"     w.m. Harry Thomas
• "Melancholy Serenade"     m. Jackie Gleason
• "Mexican Joe"     w.m. Mitchell Torok
• "Money Burns A Hole In My Pocket"     w. Bob Hilliard m. Jule Styne
• "Money Honey"     w.m. Jesse Stone
• "No Other Love"     w. Oscar Hammerstein II m. Richard Rodgers
• "Non Dimenticar"     w.(Eng) Shelley Dobbins (Ital) Michele Galdieri m. P. G. Redi
• "Not Since Nineveh"     w. & m. adapt Robert Wright & George Forrest From Borodin's "Polovetsian Dances".
• "Oh! My Pa-Pa"     w. John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons (lyricist) m. Paul Burkhard
• "The Olive Tree"     w. & m. adapt Robert Wright & George Forrest from music by Alexander Borodin
• "Rags To Riches"     w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
• "Ricochet"     w.m. Larry Coleman, Joe Darion & Norman Gimbel
• "Rock Around The Clock"     w.m. Jimmy De Knight & Max C. Freedman
• "Santa Baby"     w.m. Joan Javits, Phil Springer & Tony Springer
• "Satin Doll"     m. Billy Strayhorn & Duke Ellington
• "Secret Love"     w. Paul Francis Webster m. Sammy Fain
• "Seven Lonely Days"     w.m. Alden Shuman, Earl Shuman & Marshal Brown
• "Shake A Hand"     w.m. Joe Morris
• "Sippin' Soda"     adapt. P. Campbell
• "The Song From "Moulin Rouge"" (aka "Where Is Your Heart")     w. (Eng) William Engvick (Fr) Jacques Larue m. Georges Auric
• "Stranger In Paradise"     w. & m. adapt Robert Wright & George Forrest
• "Such A Night"     w.m. Lincoln Chase
• "Sway" ("Quien Sera")     w. (Eng) Norman Gimbel (Sp) Pablo Beltran Ruiz m. Pablo Beltran Ruiz
• "Teach Me Tonight"     w. Sammy Cahn m. Gene De Paul
• "Tell Me A Story"     w.m. Terry Gilkyson
• "Tell Us Where The Good Times Are"     w.m. Bob Merrill
• "That's Amore"     w. Jack Brooks m. Harry Warren
• "Vaya Con Dios"     w.m. Larry Russell, Inez James & Buddy Pepper
• "Wanted"     w.m. Jack Fulton & Lois Steele
• "When Love Goes Wrong"      w. Harold Adamson m. Hoagy Carmichael from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
• "You Won't Forget Me" w. Kermit Goell m. Fred Spielman Introduced by India Adams dubbing for Joan Crawford in the film Torch Song
• "You, You, You"     w.(Eng) Robert Mellin (Ger) Walter Rothenberg m. Lotar Olias
• "Young At Heart"     w. Carolyn Leigh m. Johnny Richards

Classical music

• Cristobal Halffter - Piano Concerto
• Karl Amadeus Hartmann - Concerto for piano, wind and percussion
• Xavier Montsalvatge - Poema Concertante
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Ballet Suite No. 4
• Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 10 E minor, Op. 93
• Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kontrapunkte
• Heitor Villa-Lobos - Harp Concerto and Cello Concerto No. 2

Opera

Musical theater

• Airs On A Shoestring     London revue opened at the Royal Court Theatre on April 22 and ran for 772 performances
• At The Lyric     London production
• The Boy Friend (Sandy Wilson) commenced at London's Players Club on April 14 and reopened in an expanded version on October 13 before moving to the West End proper in 1954.
• Braziliana     London production
• The Buccaneer     London production
• Can-Can (Cole Porter) - Broadway production opened at the Shubert Theatre on May 7 and ran for 892 performances
• Hazel Flagg Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on February 11 and ran for 190 performances
• John Brown's Body opened February 14
• John Murray Anderson's Almanac Broadway revue opened at the Imperial Theatre on December 10 and ran for 227 performances
• The King And I (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II) London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on October 8 and ran for 926 performances
• Kismet     Broadway production opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 3 and ran for 583 performances
• Maggie Broadway production opened at the Royal National Theatre on February 18 and ran for 5 performances
• Me And Juliet     Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on May 28 and ran for 358 performances
• Paint Your Wagon (Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe) - London production opened at Her Majesty's Theatre on February 11 and ran for 477 performances
• The Wayward Way
• Wonderful Town (Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green) - Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on February 25 and ran for 559 performances

Musical films

• The Band Wagon
• By The Light Of The Silvery Moon
• Calamity Jane
• The Desert Song
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
• I Love Melvin
• The Jazz Singer
• Kiss Me Kate
• Lili
• Peter Pan
• The Road To Bali
• Singin' In The Rain
• Torch Song released October 23 starring Joan Crawford and Michael Wilding

Births

• January 6 - Malcolm Young, AC/DC
• January 10 - Pat Benatar
• January 15 - Boris Blank, Yello
• January 23 - Robin Zander, Cheap Trick
• January 26 - Lucinda Williams
• January 29 - Luis Perez, Los Lobos
• February 3 - Joëlle (+ 1982)
• February 18 - Robin Bachman, drummer, Bachman-Turner Overdrive
• March 3 - Robyn Hitchcock
• March 23 - Chaka Khan
• March 31 - Sean Hopper, Huey Lewis & the News
• May 8 - Billy Burnette, Fleetwood Mac
• May 14 - David Byrne
• May 15 - Mike Oldfield
• May 16 - Richard Page, Mr. Mister
• May 17 - George Johnson, The Brothers Johnson
• June 8 - Bonnie Tyler
• June 12 - Rocky Burnette
• June 19 - Larry Dunn, Earth Wind & Fire
• June 20 - Cyndi Lauper
• June 20 - Alan Longmuir, The Bay City Rollers
• June 26 - Mick Jones, The Clash
• June 29 - Colin Hay, Men At Work
• July 6 - Nanci Griffith
• July 29 - Geddy Lee, Rush
• July 31 - Hugh MacDowell, Electric Light Orchestra
• August 1 - Robert Cray
• August 8 - Mona Shinn
• August 16 - J.T. Taylor, Kool & the Gang
• August 17 - Kevin Rowland, Dexy's Midnight Runners
• August 27 - Alex Lifeson, Rush
• August 29 - Rick Downey, Blue Öyster Cult
• September 7 - Benmont Tench, keyboardist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and others
• September 11 - Tommy Shaw, Styx
• October 10 - Midge Ure
• October 14 - Kazumi Watanabe, jazz performer
• October 15 - Tito Jackson, The Jackson 5
• October 16 - Tony Carey, Rainbow
• October 20 - Tom Petty
• October 21 - Charlotte Caffey, The Go-Go's
• October 26 - Keith Strickland, The B-52's
• October 31 - Johnny Clegg
• November 11 - Andy Partridge, XTC
• November 13 - Andrew Rankin, The Pogues
• November 30 - June Pointer, The Pointer Sisters
• Keith Green

Deaths

• January 1 - Hank Williams, country musician
• March 5 - Sergei Prokofiev, composer
• April 23 - Peter De Rose, US composer
• September 1 - Jacques Thibaud, violinist
• October 3 - Arnold Bax, composer
• October 8 - Kathleen Ferrier, English contralto
• November 18 - Ruth Crawford-Seeger, composer
• November 21 - Larry Shields, jazz musician
• Kiki, The Queen of Montparnassesv:Musikåret 1953