“Cry Me a River”, Julie London, 1955, Arthur Hamilton. Gold record.

I always like this jazzy loungey kind of stuff. (Unless I don’t.*) We’ll get to rock’n’roll pretty soon, I promise.

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*Let me spoil one thing about this countdown right now. There’s no Frank Sinatra in it. Frank Sinatra gives me the pip. I’m not fond of his style and I don’t like his persona at all. Could I make an exception? For the sake of a better countdown, theoretically? Of course. But here’s the thing.

I am consciously trying to include women and people of colour in this countdown. I don’t have quotas in mind; I’m just paying attention. Because I promise you if I didn’t pay attention I would produce a very white male list, and I don’t want it to be that way. (The ’50s part of the countdown is going to be pretty male anyway. Too much so. I can’t help it.) So, while I might stretch a point to get somebody into this countdown, I’m not going to do it for a Sinatra or a Crosby.