Pat Boone has had one of the most amazing careers of anyone from the Rock and Roll era. Here's a few stats for you: he is the artist with the longest chart career of anyone - he had songs on the chart from 1955 to 2003. He is the #2 male artist of the rock era, right behind Elvis Presley (who said in an interview that Pat Boone was his favourite singer), he's the #10 artist with the most charted hits; of all recording artists, he is #6 with the most Top Ten hits, he even had 21 double-sided hits. What a career!Some people have criticized Pat Boone for 'stealing' hits from artists such as Little Richard, Fats Domino, Ivory Joe Hunter, and others. The fact is that these R&B artists recorded at the time for small regioinal labels with very limited distribution and airplay, certainly not on a national basis. Were it not for white artists such as Pat Boone, there is a good chance the rock and roll era would have turned out completely different. By recording these R&B hits, the white listening audience was exposed to some exceptional music, which opened the door to the black R&B artists getting the opportunity to have their own hit records from coast to coast. There is no denying the success and impact Pat Boone has had on the Rock and Roll era.
This week on Treasure Island Oldies, Voice Your Choice spotlights two of Pat Boone's biggest hit songs: Don't Forbid Me and Love Letters In The Sand. Come to the website and click on the Voice Your Choice button, then make your selection. The song with the most votes will get played in Hour 3 of this week's show.
