Sunday, August 31, 2008

This Day In Music History: Debbie Reynolds and Tammy

I can't believe I almost forgot this #1 song. I had been looking forward to posting it but kept putting it off. Only today did I remember it. Thankfully the song was #1 for 3 weeks. It was from August 26, 1957 to September 8, 1957 and returned for another week on September 16, 1957.
The song of course I am talking about is "Tammy" by Debbie Reynolds. It was the #1 song in the country on this day in music history.
The song broke a long run of male domination for the #1 spot on the Billboard charts. Gogi Grant was the last woman to have a #1 song on that chart. That was in July of 1956.
The song was helped to the top of the pops with it being the title track to the movie "Tammy and the Bachelor." It starred Debbie and Leslie Nielsen. Debbie sang the song in the movie and it was nominated for an Oscar. She sang it on the Academy Awards on March 26, 1958.
Debbie sang the song only accompanied by a piano. Not satisfied with that they added more before putting it into the film and added a Henry Mancini arrangement. Coral Records didn't have much faith in the song but released it anyway. When the song hit #1 it helped to boost the movie and a film franchise was born.
Debbie has had a professional and personal life that has been fodder for the tabloids ever since. In 1966 she became the first and so far only #1 artist to play the life of another #1 artist. She had the title role in the movie "The Singing Nun." It was about the life of Sister Luc-Gabrielle who had the #1 hit "Dominique" on December 7, 1963.

No comments: