Posts Tagged ‘Billboard Hot 100’
A young Mother…
The March 27, 1963 edition of The Steve Allen Show featured a 22-year-old musician playing the bicycle… an inventive young man named Frank Zappa.
(Parts 2, 3, and 4 linked to the right on the YouTube page)
As we remark that the young Frank actually looks a little like today’s most famous singing cyclist, David Byrne, we might recall that it was on this date in 1962 that Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Loving You” reached the top of Billboard‘s Hot 100. Arguing that “there’s only two kinds of music as far as I’m concerned: good and bad,” Charles had overcome his label’s reservations (“you’ll alienate your fans”) and recorded Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music; “I Can’t Stop Loving You” was the first single from the album. It held the #1 spot on the singles chart for five weeks (the biggest pop hit of Charles’s monumental career); Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music went on to become the best-selling album of the year. Speaking just before Charles’ death in 2004, his friend and collaborator Willie Nelson said that “The Genius” “did more for country music than any other living human being.”
Downward-Facing Drunk…
More posing pointers at Russian Drunk Yoga Poses.
As we limber up, we might recall that it was on this date in 1965 that the Righteous Brothers’ recording of Cynthia Weil/Barry Mann/Phil Spector’s “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (it also reached #1 in the UK and #2 on the U.S. R&B chart).
Centered on the vocals of “Brothers” Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, with instrumental work by “The Wrecking Crew” and a background contribution from a very young Cher, the record is a classic example of Spector’s “Wall of Sound” approach. Landing as it did in the midst the the “British Invasion,” Spector and the boys were concerned that the tune was too slow and (at 3:45) too long for DJs increasingly looking pick up the pace of their shows. There was nothing to do about the tempo; but they printed the record label to indicate a running time of 3:05… and tricked enough spinners to launch the hit. In this version and many covers, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” had more radio and television play in the United States than any other song during the 20th century (according to performing-rights organization BMI).
(Probably NSFW) Oh, my God, Becky, look…
18 years ago last summer, a rap artist named Sir Mix-a-Lot hit the top of the pop charts with “Baby Got Back.” The single finished the year at #2 on the annual chart, won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance, and has been ranked by VH-1 as the sixth-greatest song of the 1990s and one of the 20 best hip hop songs of all time…
It should come as no surprise that a tune so impactful has spawned any number of covers. Now, thanks to the good folks at 10 Zen Monkeys, readers can take a quick tour of the mash-ups, re-mixes, and “alternative treatments” that have kept the dream alive. Your correspondent’s personal favorite: this rendition by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine…
See the others at 10 Zen Monkeys… Baby Got Legs.
As we gently tap our tuning forks, we might recall that it was on this date in 1972 that the Temptations scored their fourth and final #1 hit when “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. In the course of their storied career, the Temptations had 38 Top 40 hits (not just more than any other Motown Records artist/act, but more than any American pop group ever), won three Grammys, and sold tens of millions of records.
The Temptations during their psychedelic period of the late 1960s/early 1970s. Left to right: Eddie Kendricks, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Paul Williams, and Dennis Edwards
But after all that tryptophan, who feels up to the treadmill?…
From Smooth Fitness, a timely infographic:
to enlarge, click the image above, or here
As we prepare to loosen our belts, we might recall that it was on this date in 1975 that KC and the Sunshine Band hit #1 the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “That’s The Way (I Like It),” the follow-up to their breakthrough single “Get Down Tonight” (also a chart-topper), thus the second of the five times they would reach that peak.
This is the way– uh-huh, uh-huh (source)
Who ya gonna call?…
…From whoiseyevan (Ivan Guerrero), who has also graced Youtube with retro trailers for Raiders of the Lost Arc and Forest Gump, with more “pre-makes” to come…
As we realize that William Bendix was the pre-incarnation of Jerry Seinfeld, we might recall Chubby Checker’s useful advice: “Try stubbing out cigarettes with both feet while rubbing your back with a towel”– his classic, “The Twist,” reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on this date in 1960.
(In fact, Chubby’s version was a cover of a song written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side (to “Teardrops on Your Letter”); it scratched the charts in early 1960– but it was the Mr. Checker [Ernest to his parents, Mr. and Mrs Evans of Spring Gulley, S.C.] who created the craze.)
source: RateYourMusic.com
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