Who had a UK top twenty hit in 1956 with 'Shifting Whispering Sands'?

'Shifting Whispering Sands' is a Western song and poem written by Vivian Clark Gilbert and his wife Mary Margaret Hadler. It has been widely recorded, and was one of the top songs in the U.S. in 1955 and again in 1962.

The song/poem begins with a narration by an unnamed man who is prospecting for gold in the Western U.S. He wanders into the deserted 'valley of the shifting, whispering sands', and describes its desolate, frightening environment. After wandering there for 'days and weeks' and using all his food and water, he escapes in some unknown way. He 'pays his final debt' for being spared by telling what he learned out in the desert.

On 20 January 1956, Eamonn Andrews reached No 18 on the UK 'Singles Chart' with a 'spoken narrative' recording named 'Shifting Whispering Sands (Parts 1 & 2)', which was produced by George Martin with musical backing by the Ron Goodwin Orchestra. The song later reappeared on Kenny Everett's compilation album 'The World's Worst Record Show', released in June 1978.

Eamonn Andrews (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ Authority), which oversaw the introduction of a state television service in the Republic of Ireland. He is perhaps best remembered as the UK host of 'This Is Your Life' from its inception in 1955 until his death in 1987.