THIS WEEK IN 1962
1 Can’t Help Falling In Love/Rock-A-Hula Baby Elvis
Presley 2 The Young Ones Cliff Richard 3 Let’s Twist Again Chubby Checker 4 Forget Me Not Elen Kane 5 Walk On By Leroy Van Dyke 6 Run To Him Bobby Vee 7 Cryin’ In The Rain The Everly Brothers 8 Wimoweh Karl Denver 9 Little Bitty Tear Burl Ives 10 I’d Never Find Another You Billy Fury
Classic love song ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ was recorded by Elvis Presley for the soundtrack of his 1961 movie ‘Blue Hawaii’. It was released in the UK in 1962 as a double-A side single with ‘Rock-AHula-Baby’ but ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ was the impetus for the drive to number one and the subsequent four weeks at the top of the UK chart.
Even though it sold more than a million in the US, ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ failed to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number two behind Joey Dee and the Starliters’ ‘Peppermint Twist’.
By the time ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ reached the top of the UK charts, the ‘Blue Hawaii’ soundtrack was already a top selling album. It spent 20 consecutive weeks at the top of the US album charts, a record not broken until 1977 by Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’.
The melody to ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ was based on French song ‘Plaisir D’Amour’, penned by German Jean-Paul Egide-Martini in 1784. ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ co-writer George Weiss, a one time president of the Songwriters Guild of America, also wrote Louis Armstrong’s ‘What A Wonderful World’ and ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’, a No. 1 hit for The Tokens which was based on 1939 song ‘Mbube’ by South African musician Solomon Linda.
‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ was one of 21 Elvis Presley number one hits in the UK. The total, which includes three singles from his Noughties reissues campaign, makes Elvis the artist with most UK chart-topping singles, four ahead of The Beatles, and seven ahead of Cliff Richard and Westlife.
‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ finally reached No.1 in the US in 1993 courtesy of a cover version from UB40 that also topped the UK charts.