Bill Justis – Raunchy 01/1958
Marion Ryan – Love Me Forever 01/1958
The Four Esquires – Love Me Forever 02/1958
Louis Prima – Buona Sera 02/1958
Moe Koffman Quartette – Swingin’ Shepherd Blues 04/1958
The Champs – Tequila 04/1958
Elias And His Zigzag Jive Flutes – Tom Hark 05/1958
Sheb Wooley – The Purple People Eater 06/1958
Renato Carosone And His Sextet – Torero-Cha Cha Cha 07/1958
Valerie Carr – When The Boys Talk About The Girls 07/1958
Julius Larosa – Torero 07/1958
Kalin Twins – When 07/1958
Elegants – Little Star 10/1958
Jodie Sands – Someday (You’ll Want Me To Want You) 10/1958
Robin Luke – Susie Darlin’ 10/1958
Tommy Dorsey Orchestra Starring Warren Covington – Tea For Two Cha Cha Cha 10/1958
Bobby Day – Rockin’ Robin 11/1958
Cozy Cole – Topsy (Parts 1 And 2) 12/1958
The Teddy Bears – To Know Him Is To Love Him 12/1958
Listen to: The Champs – Tequila
What a tune. A hook you could start chanting football game and get everyone to join in. The easiest karaoke song there is. And it seems that it was lightening in a bottle too. Just two years later, The Champs released a sequel called “Too Much Tequila” that charted at number 49 for one week. It just doesn’t hit like the original does. Interesting to see Louis Prima here as he would go on to star and perform in Disney’s The Jungle Book but it looks like they didn’t originally put out “I Wan’na Be Like You” as a single. Sheb Wooley might the only person ever to choose Sheb as a shorten version of Shelby but his certain not last person to write a stupid joke song that they hate and accidentally becomes what people know you for. And apologies to Mr Bobby Day, around the time you recorded this, a singer named Michael Jackson was being born. He did a cover of your song and it’s ultimately the only version for me. Sorry.
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