Domenico Modugno's "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare") was to simmer on top for some time, but not consistently. Only a week after achieving the number one spot it was briefly knocked down by a blatant unoriginal knock off.
America had spoken, the next number one hit was to be The Elegants "Little Star".
The Elegants were formed in Staten Island, NY. Formed in 1956 and lead by Vito Picone, the Doo-Wop group gained large and momentary success in 1958. Despite being only teens at the time, they began to tour as often as possible. Though their "legacy" had long since faded, they still perform under the name of Vito Picone & The Elegants and Vito has even tried his hand as an actor. For a good laugh check out their website that, surprisingly is still updated...sorta.
Lets talk about the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". The lyrics to this song were written by British poet Jane Taylor under the name of "The Star". The Poem was first published in an 1806 book titled "Rhymes for the Nursery". The tune accompanied with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" is actually a 1781 french melody by the title of "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman". In English, the title translates to "Oh! Shall I Tell You Mommy" and tells the story, from a child's perspective, of daddy telling them to grow up and stop eating so much candy (?). The words to the original tune were apparently a parody of an anonymous french love poem. The tune had been ripped of many times, most notably in an arrangement by Mozart. The first publication to mesh the poem "The Star" and the tune of "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" was an 1838 song book titled "The Singing Master: First Class Tune Book". Since then, the song has slept its way around the nursery rhyme block spreading its tune to other favorites such as "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" and the "Alphabet song". With all that being said, "Little Star" is a new variation on a song that had been rattling around in our skulls for over a century before 1958. The lyrics were switched up a little to make it more of a longing for love song and some classic Doo-Wop Skat was added. Jumble it around in the Hit Machine....presto!