Throwback Thursday: Top Of The Charts

I have had this idea for a post for quite some time. Here is the source of the information soon to be presented.

 

 

I am going to list all of the songs that were Number One on the Billboard chart on my birthday from the time I was born through the last year in which I had any remaining interest in Popular/Top 40 music. Early in my teens I discovered jazz and left the other music behind. I have written that I think, at present, the phrase “American music” is an oxymoron. Without further ado:

 

Theme From ‘A Summer Place,’ Percy Faith

This remains the most successful instrumental of the “Rock and Roll” era (1955 to the present, allegedly) and was the number one song of the year.

Surrender, Elvis Presley

I must admit that I am not a fan of Presley in any way.

Hey! Baby, Bruce Channel

Our Day Will Come, Ruby and the Romantics

The Romantics, the four male singers who backed up lead female vocalist Ruby Nash, were originally called…The Supremes.

She Loves You, The Beatles

This was the second Beatles song to reach the top of the charts. The first week the next Beatles single (Can’t Buy Me Love) reached the number one position, the group had all of the top FIVE songs on the chart. The following week, they had 14 songs in the top 100.

When Beatlemania struck in early 1964, other record companies besides EMI/Capitol Records realized their Beatles catalogs had suddenly become very valuable. That is how the Beatles were able to have so many songs on the charts at the same time.

Eight Days A Week, The Beatles

The Ballad of the Green Berets, S/Sgt. Barry Sadler

In September of 1988, Sadler was shot in the head while entering a taxi in Guatemala, where he was–allegedly–training anti-communist Contra fighters. He died in December of 1989 in a Tennessee hospital.

Happy Together, The Turtles

(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding

Of course, many of you know that Redding died in a plane crash three days after he recorded this song. This was the first posthumous number one single on the Billboard chart.

Dizzy, Tommy Roe

Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon And Garfunkel

We have reached the 1970s. During the recording of the album of which this was the title cut, Simon and Garfunkel realized that they could no longer record together. This was the last studio album of new material from them.

Me and Bobby McGee, Janis Joplin

This was the second posthumous number one single on the Billboard chart. Joplin died of a drug overdose in October of 1970, 16 days after Jimi Hendrix died from, basically, a drug overdose.

A Horse With No Name, America

This is easily my favorite of all the songs that were Number One on my birthday. Just one more…

Love Train, The O’Jays

I still own a couple of 45s recorded by The O’Jays, but this is not one of them.

 

I hope you have enjoyed looking at this list. Thanks for indulging me.

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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that May is Jewish American Heritage Month. I suspect the Mainstream Media is not reporting much about this. I mean, Jews don’t count, anymore. Jews Don’t Count is the name of a book by David Baddiel, in which the author attacks the ignorance of antisemitism by modern-day progressives compared to other forms of discrimination. He also argues that Jews are not seen as a proper minority group, and he also argues that there exists a hierarchy of racisms, which excludes antisemitism.

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Before my blood pressure goes through the roof, I present some calming photographs.

 

 

#ThrowbackThursday

#TopOfTheCharts

#somanyCARSjustonelife

#disaffectedmusings

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