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Billboard's #1 Pop Singles


Max

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Carl, given that I know so little about folk music, I never knew this.

Alphanguy, the only person I know who shares a name with somebody famous was a former co-worked named James Buchanan (our 15th president and the one who immediately preceded Lincoln). Going a bit off-topic, what was it like working at a garden center? (I'm just curious because I have an interest in retail.)

For those who have been keeping track, it's been 15 months since a song ("Tammy" by Debbie Reynolds) that featured a female lead vocalist reached number one. This male-dominated streak finally ended when "To Know Him Is to Love Him" by The Teddy Bears spent three weeks at the peak position: the weeks ended 12/1/58, 12/8/58, & 12/15/58.

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The Teddy Bears were a vocal group from Los Angeles that consisted of lead singer Annette Kleinbard, as well as back-up singers Phil Spector (yes, the same Phil Spector who would become a huge name in rock and roll) and Marshall Leib. One of the most romantic songs of the late-50's, "To Know Him Is To Love Him" was inspired by an inscription on the tombstone of Spector's father that read "To Know Him Was to Love Him." Young Phil, just 17 years old at the time, not only wrote the song but produced it as well.

Like several other artists that had chart-toppers in 1958, the Teddy Bears wound up a one-hit wonder. Perhaps the group might have made the top 40 again, but the trio disbanded in 1959 because (1) Spector did not like performing and (2) Kleinbard got into a serious car accident. Fortunately, both individuals made comebacks: Anenette (after changing her name to Carol Connors) would write (or co-write) several big hits: "Hey Little Cobra" by The Rip Chords (#4 in 1964), "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from 'Rocky')" by Bill Conti (#1 in 1977), and "With You I'm Born Again" by Billy Preston & Syreeta (#4 in 1980). And as I alluded to earlier, Phil would become one of the most influential producers in the history of rock. After "To Know Him Is to Love Him," Phil would produce three songs that made the top 10 in 1961: Ray Peterson's "Corrina, Corrina;" Curtis Lee's "Pretty Little Angel Eyes;" and the Paris Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me." Late that year, he and partner Lester Sill would start their own label, Philles Records; shortly thereafter, Spector would focus his energies on the Crystals, who scored a number one hit of their own in 1962.

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Max... working at a Garden Center was nice... the best job i'd ever had working for someone else LOL, I was assistant manager, though. You got to be tough and work out in the heat and whatever, one time I had to unload a truck full of bushes in a hailstorm. "To Know Him Is to Love Him" is my favorite song of the 50's, just gorgeous in every way. Too bad that Phil Spector turned out to be a psychopath, he was so talented as a writer. the bridge of that song is the most beautiful bridge in pop music history, IMO. I had heard that Phil's parents were first cousins, something he was ashamed of and tried to hide, some think his craziness is a result of inbreeding, who knows. Annete has a lovely voice, and during that bridge we see she really has some POWER as well. Here is the song sung live,nobody seems to know what show this is from, however:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RVGmiBdhWA

Peter and Gordon also did a cover version of this song which was released as a single both in the United States and the UK in June of 1965. Peter Asher (who went on to be president of A&R at Apple Records 3 years later) had an unpleasant run-in with Phil Spector at a Los Angeles Party, so as revenge, he decided to record one of his songs, and to "Out-Spector Spector" in his words. It topped out in the US at #24, I can't find the chart position for the UK, though it's most likely higher. The intro is triple-tracked... meaning six voices singing, but just the two of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8edok_DPZo

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Carl, thanks for explaining to me the story with Dylan. By the way, he never had a #1 hit, but scored a pair of #2s: "Like a Rolling Stone" (1965) & "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" (1966). (Although the Byrds hit #1 with a cover of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1965.)

Alphanguy, I really appreciate you telling me about your experiences at the garden center. Though almost every single job in retail is hard, the job you had sounds especially grueling. Regarding "To Know Him Is To Love Him," I agree that the song's bridge is its very best part.

Given the popularity of novelty songs in 1958, it's fitting that the final number one song of the year--"The Chipmunk Song" by David Seville & the Chipmunks--was also of this variety. "The Chipmunk Song" (sometimes referred to as "Christmas Don't Be Late") spent four weeks at the peak position: the weeks ended 12/22/58, 12/29/58, 1/5/59, & 1/12/59.

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David Seville (the stage name for Ross Bagdasarian) already had a #1 hit in 1958 with "Witch Doctor," and also had a follow up single ("The Bird on My Head") that barely made the top 40. After these two songs, however, Seville decided to exploit the recording techniques first used in those tunes by creating a cartoon character for each "different" voice. Thus, the Chipmunks--Alvin, Simon, and Theodore--were born, and subsequent recordings were billed as being performed by David Seville & the Chipmunks.

"The Chipmunk Song" was the first record credited to both Seville & the Chipmunks, and it was both a critical and commercial smash. The song won three Grammys: Best Comedy Performance, Best Recording for Children, and Best Engineered Record. The commercial success of the song is quite remarkable, given that Christmas tunes (or those about any other holiday) seldom do well on the chart. In fact, no Christmas recording has since gone to #1; perhaps the only Christmas song to be more popular was Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," which spent eleven weeks at #1 (from October 1942 to January 1943) and remains the best selling single of all-time.

Although David Seville & the Chipmunks only managed one more top 10 hit--"Alvin's Harmonica" (which peaked at #3 in 1959)--the furry creatures remained in the public eye due to "The Alvin Show," a prime-time cartoon that aired on CBS from 1961-62 (and was later re-run on syndication). Once the Chipmunks seemed to be a thing of the past, Seville focused his musical energies on other things until he died of a heart attack in 1972 (at age 52). Seville's son, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., had always wanted to be a lawyer, and had little interest in cartoons and novelty recordings. However, as a result of his father's untimely death, he felt an obligation to continue the Chipmunk franchise. Ross Jr. and his wife, Janice Karman, managed to convince NBC to give the Chipmunks new life, and a new Saturday Morning cartoon--called "Alvin and the Chipmunks"--ran from 1983-91 and was a huge success. (In this cartoon, Ross Jr. provided the voices of Alvin, Simon, and the fictional David Seville, while Janice served as the voices for Theodore and the Chipettes.) In 2007, the first Alvin & the Chipmunks live-action film hit theaters, and it too was a big success.

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Carl, I agree that "The Chipmunk Song" seems to get played so often every single Christmas. However, the song really is not that dated, other than the fact that Alvin wanted a hula hoop (which was the biggest fad of 1958).

My personal favorite "Chipmunk" song is "We're the Chipmunks" (which is the intro to the NBC Saturday Morning "Alvin and the Chipmunks" cartoon.) A line in that song--"It's been awhile, but we're back in style"--alluded to the fact the cartoon was a revival.

I am not going to post another number one hit today. Rather, I am going to take the time to clear up something that may be a source of confusion for some. As I mentioned previously, the Hot 100 did not debut until August 4, 1958. Prior to that time, "Billboard" Magazine had several different pop charts. According to Fred Bronson, author of "The 'Billboard' Book of Number One Hits," the Best Sellers in Stores chart was the most accurate, so that is the chart I referenced when posting the pre-August 1958 #1 hits. However, if you read another reference book, "The 'Billboard' Book of Top 40 Hits" by Joel Whitburn, that author assigns the highest chart performance to any single, regardless of which of Billboard's pop charts it came from. Thus, you may sometimes see/hear oldies classified as #1 hits even though they were not profiled in this thread. Below is a listing of every song that went to #1 on (at least) one of the other "Billboard" pop charts, as well as its peak position on the Best Sellers in Stores chart.

1955:

"Dance With Me Henry" by Georgia Gibbs (#2)

"Unchained Melody" by Les Baxter, His Chorus, & His Orchestra (#2)

"Learnin' the Blues" by Frank Sinatra (#2)

"Ain't That a Shame" by Pat Boone (#2)

1956:

"The Great Pretender" by The Platters (#2)

"Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)" by Perry Como (#2)

"Moonglow and Theme from 'Picnic'" by Morris Stoloff & the Columbia Pictures Orchestra (#2)

"I Almost Lost My Mind" by Pat Boone (#2)

"The Green Door" by Jim Lowe (#2)

1957:

"Don't Forbid Me" by Pat Boone (#3)

"Young Love" by Sonny James (#2)

"Butterfly" by Andy Williams (#4)

"Butterfly" by Charlie Gracie (#3)

"Chances Are" by Johnny Mathis (#4)

1958:

"Sugartime" by The McGuire Sisters (#7)

"Get a Job" by The Silhouettes (#2)

"Catch a Falling Star" by Perry Como (#3)

"He's Got the Whole World (In His Hands)" by Laurie London (#2)

"Yakety Yak" by The Coasters (#2)

"Patricia" by Perez Prado & His Orchestra (#2)

Furthermore, I mentioned that even though the Hot 100 debuted on 8/4/58, the Best Sellers in Stores chart still appeared through 10/13/58. During that time, one single that was not profiled in this thread--"Bird Dog" by the Everly Brothers--reached #1 on the Best Sellers in Stores chart but only peaked at #2 on the Hot 100.

Though this may complicate matters even further, note that Whitburn (in his book) lists the weeks spent at #1 based upon which chart a song had its best performance, whereas Bronson (as well as myself) states only the weeks a single held the top spot on the Best Sellers in Stores chart (for the pre-August 1958 records). For instance, I previously stated that "All Shook Up" spent eight weeks at #1, but it actually held the peak position for nine weeks on one of the other charts.

Thankfully, there will be just one Billboard pop chart going forward.

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The first of fifteen "new" #1 singles of 1959 was "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" by The Platters, which spent three weeks at the top: the weeks ended 1/19/59, 1/26/59, & 2/2/59.

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If you exclude "The Great Pretender" (which did not reach #1 on the Best Sellers in Stores chart), "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" was the Platters' third chart-topper. The origins of this classic song date to well before the advent of rock and roll, as it was written in 1933 by Otto Harbach and Jerome Kern for the musical "Roberta."

Despite the fact that "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" became the group's most popular song, the chart fortunes of the Platters would soon take a turn for the worse. Two events caused this about-face: First, in August 1959, all four male members of the Platters were arrested in Cincinnati for using drugs and hiring prostitutes. Secondly, lead singer Tony Williams (who died on 8/14/92) left the group for an unsuccessful solo career in 1960. (Williams was replaced by Sonny Turner, and more personnel changes would come later in the decade.)

Before Williams left the group, The Platters scored one final top ten hit, "Harbor Lights" (#8 in 1960). The group disappeared from the top 40 after 1961, only to briefly re-emerge with two relatively minor hits that were sung in a post-doo-wop, soul style: "I Love You 1,000 Times" (#31 in 1966) and "With This Ring" (#14 in 1967). In 1990, the Platters were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Fred and Ginger were so talented.

It's beyond sad how much our morals have decayed over the past couple of decades.

Lloyd Price was one of the most prominent names to come out of the early New Orleans R&B scene. His biggest hit was the marvelous "Stagger Lee," which was #1 for four weeks: the weeks ended 2/9/59, 2/16/59, 2/23/59, & 3/2/59.

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Though "Stagger Lee" is a very cheerful sounding and danceable record, the song is actually about the December 24, 1895 murder of William Lyons by Stagger Lee Shelton. Prior to World War II, this tune was actually known as "Stack O'Lee," and was a folk song that was first published by John Lomax in 1910. The most prominent pre-Lloyd Price recording of "Stack O'Lee" was made by Herb Wiedoeft and his band in 1924. And even after Price took "Stagger Lee" to number one, Wilson Pickett and Tommy Roe each scored a top 30 hit with the tune as well (in 1967 and 1971, respectively).

Lloyd Price first came unto the music scene when he scored a #1 R&B hit with "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" in 1952. While he scored four more top 10 R&B hits over the next 24 months, his career stalled when he spent two years in the Armed Forces. In 1957, he had a comeback single called "Just Because," which peaked at #3 on the R&B chart. (The song also peaked at #29 on one of the pre-Hot 100 pop charts, but failed to make the Best Sellers in Stores chart.) Price's most successful year by far was 1959, when--in addition to "Stagger Lee"--he had two other smash hits on the pop chart: "Personality" (#2) and "I'm Gonna Get Married" (#3). Sadly, he never again had a top 10 hit, and his last appearance on the top 40 was in 1963.

Price is currently 78 years old, and has long been nicknamed "Mr. Personality" after his second biggest hit. In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (I personally have mixed feelings about his induction, given that more deserving artists such as Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, and Connie Francis have yet to get in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Certainly, Price would be a slam dunk if one was talking about induction into an R&B Hall of Fame.)

As a side note, "Stagger Lee" has a "feature" that I think is really cool: it starts out slowly, and then really picks up its tempo. Quite a few songs were/are like this, especially in the early years of rock and roll.

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I just love the heck out of Lloyd Price's music. All of his hits are really good. "Personality" only topped out at #2, but I think it deserved to be #1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBiJAxgZFFI

And as a side note, the best cover of a Lloyd Price song IMO, came from a very unexpected place, just really packs a punch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYjL-0WPV4Y

Lloyd also had some mid level hits on the R&B charts as late as the 70's that were really good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufBjiDDW8w8

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Steve is assigned to the defense, Carrie to the prosecution. She promises Julian she'll be objective even though she holds an almost murderous hatred for the men who killed Greg. Carrie and Jill find their apartment has been rifled and are unaware that it also has been bugged. When Carrie finds a dead bird in her desk drawer, it gives credence to Steve’s contention that Carrie, a prosecution witness to Gammidge’s deathbed confession, may be in danger. He feels Carrie may have evidence pointing to the syndicate’s “Mr. Big,” even if she doesn’t realize she has it. She assures him that Greg’s papers offer no clue. When Carrie is subpenaed to testify, she’s warned that she’s the only prosecution witness left and must keep quiet about this. Soon after, Carrie receives a threatening phone call, and when Jill mentions clicking sounds on the phone, David finds the bugs. When Steve goes to collect Greg’s papers for safekeeping, he is attacked, and they are stolen. The tape and Carrie are now the whole case for the prosecution. The DA forms a Committee for Public Safety,composed of prominent citizens and police, to try to determine  the extent of infiltration  by the criminal element. This committee learns that Carrie is to be a witness. When Carrie is almost run down in a hit and run,Steve and Julian ask for police protection for her. An explosion in the D.A.’s office destroys the tape, and now Carrie is the whole case. And the harassment is increasing. Then, when Steve is shot at, and a lead he’s following is killed, and he finds a hit man in Carrie’s hallway despite surveillance outside, he persuades her to “disappear” with him. He later calls Julian to say they’ re all right, but refuses to tell him where they are.    Television coverage of the trial has brought beautiful Avis Ryan to Somerset, and she’s intrigued with Julian. Vickie knows competition when she sees it and prepares for the challenge. Avis glowingly informs Julian that the network execs liked her tape with Julian and are considering offering him a job as her teammate.    Heather, visiting Carrie, is found unconscious at the foot of the stairs. Despite an emergency Caesarean, the baby dies. Heather, who has a subdural hematoma, is in a coma. Tom Conway, horrified, calls “him” and protests he was assured there would be no foul play. He’s told Heather was an accident—the wrong girl. Tom want  out but is threatened with disbarment (they have incriminating papers) if he doesn’t locate Carrie for them. Heather remains comatose until Jerry, desolate,calls to her, telling her of his love. She finally opens her eyes. Later, learning of the loss of her baby, Heather comes to terms with it, and she and Jerry plan to have another child soon. In their hideout apartment, Steve questions Carrie, trying to determine what she might subconsciously know about “Mr. Big.” A noise at the door precipitates their quick exit. Later, Lieutenant Price and Julian follow up a shooting report—the lock has been shot off the door of the secret apartment. Steve then |shows up alone, claiming that someone shouting at them caused. Carrie to run away from him. Price implies that Steve turned her over to the syndicate, Julian fires him.   Nurse Fellowes is. found murdered, and Carrie’s shoe is found in the lake. Price has Steve arrested as an accessory in Carrie’s disappearance. Steve, ironically, hires Tom, who arranges bail. When Vickie presses Julian on his seeing Avis, he tells her-he’s tired of her jealousy and tantrums. Vickie decides to get away from Somerset. Julian asks her to reconsider; she refuses. Dan learns that Avis lied about the -job offer to Julian. She admits it, but assures Dan that she wants Julian, and with her contract renewal pending, the other networks would like to have her and she can arrange it for Julian. She pledges Dan to secrecy.   But suddenly Vickie has a very important reason to stay in Somerset after all. Since he’s now cut off from contact with Julian or Carrie’s friends, Steve visits her secretly, explaining that Julian’s firing him was part of his own plan to allow him fo infiltrate — the Organization and flush them out from the inside. Vickie senses that Steve is telling her the truth and agrees to be his intermediary with Julian. Vickie also realizes that if Julian is a partner in this scheme with Steve, he too is in danger. After a‘ painful scene with Carrie’s grandmother Lena at the Hayloft’ Restaurant, Steve realizes he has to put Lena’s mind to rest. He visits her after dark, promising her that everything will be all right and Carrie will come through this safely. Lena, reassured by him, informs him that she has Greg’s notebooks, which now everybody is looking for. Steve convinces her to let him have them on Julian’s say-so. To ease Lena’s heart, Steven has Julian drive her to a convent out in the country, and there they find Steve with Lieutenant Price. They take Lena inside, where she finds her granddaughter, safe and sound. Julian and, Lena are quickly filled in on what happened at the apartment. Realizing that they were only moments ahead of the hit men hired to eliminate Carrie, they created evidence that she had been either captured or drowned, and Steve hustled her into a taxi with orders that she go to Lieutenant Price’s home. She was then taken secretly to the convent, where she will stay until the trial. Meanwhile, Tom is becoming badly frightened of his own deepening involvement with the Organization, and finally decides to go to Lieutenant Price and confess now, before he’s in even further. But Price is unavailable, and Tom is beaten up on his way home from police headquarters. Getting the message, Tom, when asked the next day by Price what he’d wanted, makes an excuse and passes off his bruises and swellings as a traffic accident. Price finds Tom’s story unconvincing somehow.   When Julian instructs Steve to hand Greg’ s notebooks over to the police, Steve refuses; he’s sure of Price’s loyalty, but explains that they don’t know if the Organization has already infiltrated the department or not. When Julian finds that his car has been bugged,Lieutenant Price assumes the bug was installed after their visit to the convent. Despite warnings from Dan, his publisher, and Fred Harrington that he’s putting his life on the line, Julian has been making repeated statements about his determination to put the big man in the Organization away, once and for all. Tom is frightened when his contact man from the organization hints that unles Julian shuts up, he will be shut up for good. Steve now embarks on his plan to be recruited by the Organization. Picking a truck stop as a likely starting point, he returns regularly to advertise his need for. a job and his desire to get back at his former friends, making it clear that he doesn’t care what kind of work he gets. Finally, on the night before the trial,Joe Castor approaches him, saying that he has to be tested—you don’t just walk into the Organization.When Steve finds that he’s going along to pick up Carrie, and that the bug in Julian’s car was there before they visited the convent, he leaves all the lights in his place on when he leaves. Seeing this prearranged signal that something is wrong, Lieutenant Price has Carrie warned immediately. When Steve arrives with Castor they're informed that Carrie went with the police. Only after a complete search does Castor believe this: As Steve leaves with Castor, he winks at one of the assembled nuns: Carrie in disguise. More to come....     Quote
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    • The ones that exist are 10x shittier than the casino they exit in and have wood paneling from the 60’s?
    • So today on The Young in the Restaurants, Nick arrives at GCAC for a workout at the never seen gym when who should be at the table oddly placed in front of the entrance but Phyllis. Nick joins her and Stafford begins acting. Hand gestures, weird line readings, repeating phrases and odd facial expressions-just her normal shtick- but for script reasons Nick finds her manner unusual. Meanwhile Kyle  and Audra meet up at the empty CL and begin bantering. Audra boasts the Vibrator has a great range of products that will disrupt the marketplace-yes in a matter of weeks,Ms Charles has set up a complete company-staff,R&D, product approval, marketing, distribution, w./o ever leaving a restaurant. And more incredibly,Kyle is worried about the threat to Jabot. They need to put a laught track with these scenes.
    • I hated Mick, his mama and their whole raggedy ass family so I’m glad Dyer keeps yapping, hopefully the character remains gone. I never commented on Sonia and Bianca’s exit but I thought it was well done, never been a Sonia fan but it was touching seeing her Bianca ride off with Bex and the new baby. The episodes with Martin’s funeral and Sonia comforting Stacey then Stacey and Ruby finally coming to an understanding were great as well. Nicola held it down for a few weeks with this killed Harry’s girlfriend story and the actor playing Harry has improved quite a bit, I like him and Gina together and his friendship with Kojo. I was hoping for a bigger renovation for The Vic but I do like the refurbished look. The episode where they first opened back up was really good too, great use of Nigel, Billy and the history of East London I really love the stuff they’ve done with Avani and the actress has realy shined but I hate nuVicki’s perv step son and weirdo husband. I really wanted Ravi to whoop both their asses. I’m so happy Cindy is back, I thought she’d be gone longer. Loved her helping Lauren give birth, I felt bad they still kicked her out at the end. Her blackmailing Kathy and Ian was well deserved and I like that she snagged The Albert and still exposed Kathy’s affair with Harvey. Not a fan at all of Harvey and Jean but I did enjoy all the fallout, especially Kat dragging Harvey, Freddie hugging Jean and making her cry. Ive really enjoyed the Clenshaw era so I’m sad to see him go but I’m willing to give the new show-runner a chance. I wonder how many more exits and new additions we’ll see.  
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