1955 The Johnson Brothers: Hernando's Hideaway

Taken from the 1954 musical 'The Pajama Game', 'Hernando's Hideaway' has proved a phenomenally popular tune worldwide (Wikipedia lists at least fifteen different Finnish versions) and even this very month in 1955, The Johnson Brothers were slugging it out with a version by Johnnie Ray. Ray stalled at number 11 and so maybe it was a sense of patriotism that sent the Brit Brothers to the top because there's not a lot to choose between the versions.

Truth be told, there's not much variation between any of the versions of 'Hernando's Hideaway' that I've heard (and I ran through a few more online before starting this). Being a show tune, it's fairly set in stone and that stone is a tale of a hush hush drinking hole where the cool people go set to a fruity tango rytythm. This Latin vibe is permeates throughout with cries of 'Ole!' and a click track of clattering castanets to light the mock drama of secret knocks and match flares. "All you see are silhouettes, and all you hear are castanets and no one cares how late it gets" - 'Hernando's Hideaway' is the kind of bar I'd love to frequent but probably wouldn't get past the bouncer on the door. And to that end, 'Hernando's Hideaway' is a kissing cousin to 'Mambo Italiano' - fun escapism with a wry sense of humour and ultimately too short a ride to irritate.