Billboard's #1 Pop Singles

[DRW50]

I'd never heard that. Did she still have her voice by this time?

[alphanguy74]

Yes... her voice didn't start to go until 1988/89. She died in 1992.

[DRW50]

It's a really good song. She does a good job with the rap breakdown too. It's kind of funny how some artists in that era did this and got zero credit.

[I Am A Swede]

Just like with a previous #1, "I Will Follow Him", I can't hear "My Guy" anymore without thinking of the movie "Sister Act". Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is up for debate.....

[MissLlanviewPA]

Okay, I just have to say it:

Even though "Sweet Child O'Mine" is GNR's only number one hit, I can see why some of the band (mainly Slash) hates it. Their main reason is that it was meant as a joke song and/or filler song, but eventually you can hear a number one song enough that it gets old (and this can go for just about anyone).

And even though I still haven't heard every song on either album(s) yet (I've heard them mainly on YouTube/buy them on iTunes), I actually like the Use Your Illusion albums (and many of their songs) better than Appetite for Destruction and some of their songs. So much so that my screen name on TWOP is UseYourIllusion.

This probably explains why I consider songs like "I'll Wait" and "Love Walks In" more my favorites by Van Halen than "Jump" (even though I LOVE their live version from their Right Here, Right Now album), and like "Walk of Life" and "Your Latest Trick" by Dire Straits better than "Money for Nothing." Although those number ones mentioned are still great songs.

I do still have a lot of fondness for John Mellencamp's lone number one, "Jack & Diane" (from American Fool), but there are so many great songs on Scarecrow a few years later (and on albums before and after that), that I love more (including "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A," which hit number two).

Speaking of which, I'm more of a Mellencamp fan than a Springsteen fan, but it's CRAZY sometimes to think that Springsteen's never had a number one song (although "Dancing in the Dark" DID hit number two).

[Max]

MissLlanviewPA, you knowledge of #1 hits is very impressive. Honestly, it is not all that uncommon for folks to prefer an artist's lesser hits over tunes that went to number one.

It's funny: I can hear "I Will Follow Him" without thinking about "Sister Act," but I always think of that movie whenever I hear "My Guy."

"My Guy" was succeeded at number one by "Love Me Do" by The Beatles, which spent one week at the chart summit: the week ended 5/30/64.

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There were actually three different versions of "Love Me Do" that were recorded. (Regardless, "Love Me Do" was the first British single to be released exclusively by the Beatles, though the Fab Four did earlier perform with Tony Sheridan.) Initially, it was recorded on 6/6/62, while Pete Best was still in the group. Then, a version was recorded on 9/4/62 that featured Ringo Starr on drums. However, because George Martin was (at first) less than enthused about Starr's talent, a third and final version was made on 9/11/62; Ringo was "demoted" to tambourine player and session musician Andy White played drums.

In Britain, the second incarnation of "Love Me Do" was released on 10/5/62 and peaked at #17 on that nation's pop chart. On the other hand, the final version of "Love Me Do" (featuring Andy White on drums) was chosen for release across the Atlantic. (This is the version I posted above, because it was only on the 9/11/62 recording that a tambourine was used.) It should be noted that the song's harmonica solo was inspired as a result of "Hey! Baby" by Bruce Channel. (Musician Delbert McClinton played harmonica on that 1962 American chart-topper.)

The group's British follow-up to "Love Me Do" was, "Please Please Me," which soared to #2. (Honestly, "Love Me Do" never deserved to go to #1 in America, either; #17 seems to be what it deserved here. By contrast, "Please Please Me" is one of the finest early Beatles songs and should have been #1.) In their home country, "From Me to You" was the quartet's first number one.

Aside from four chart-toppers, the Fab Four accumulated seven top 40 hits in the first half of 1964, as listed below:

"I Saw Her Standing There" (#14) [This was the B-side to "I Want to Hold Your Hand."]

"Please Please Me" (#3)

"My Bonnie (Lies Over the Ocean)" (#26) [This was a song performed with Tony Sheridan.]

"Twist and Shout" (#2)

"Do You Want to Know a Secret" (#2)

"Thank You Girl" (#35)

"P.S. I Love You" (#10) [This was the B-side to "Love Me Do."]

[alphanguy74]

"Love Me Do" is a real stinker in my book. Actually... the B-side, is the better song, IMO. But it still has those production issues that bug me, unimaginative background vocals, sparse instrumentation.

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[DRW50]

I enjoy PS I Love You.

Love Me Do and Please Please Me (especially the latter) are just too fast and forgettable.

[MissLlanviewPA]

I kind of cheated, actually: I used to have The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (up to 1997 songs), and the one on Number Two songs as well (up to 1999 songs). I used to love reading both, to the point where the former book fell apart! But it certainly came in handy, didn't it? Wikipedia certainly helps, too, though .

Speaking of which:

The Mamas & The Papas:

It's so strange sometimes to think that "Monday, Monday" hit number one while "California Dreamin'" only went to number four.

[Max]

I also was shocked when I first learned about that. However, it is interesting to note that "California Dreamin'" spent 13 weeks on the top 40 whereas "Monday, Monday" was only there for 10.

I love both of those books so much.

My personal favorite chart-topper of 1964--"Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups--was a throwback to the early-60s. This beloved wedding tune was number one for three weeks: the weeks ended 6/6/64, 6/13/64, & 6/20/64.

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In 1964, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (with the help of George Goldner) started a new label, Red Bird Records. During its brief two year existence, it became a haven for the girl group sound, housing not only the Dixie Cups, but also the Shangri-Las and the Jelly Beans. (The Ad-Libs were on the company's Blue Cat subsidiary.) The very first record released on Red Bird was "Chapel of Love," a tune written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector.

The performers of this iconic song were the Dixie Cups, a New Orleans trio that consisted of sisters Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee Hawkins, and their cousin, Joan Marie Johnson. This act--managed by one-hit wonder Joe Jones (who scored in 1960 with the #3 "You Talk Too Much")--was originally going to be called Little Miss & the Muffets. Despite having the distinction of being the only American singing group to have a #1 hit in the first half of 1964, the success of the Dixie Cups was very short-lived. The trio only made three additional appearances on the top forty, as listed below:

"People Say" (#12, 1964)

"You Should Have Seen the Way He Looked at Me" (#39, 1964)

"Iko Iko" (#20, 1965)

[DRW50]

You can't go wrong with that song. It's a wonderful, wonderful song (although it sounds a little flat there - doesn't it go faster?) and will always be around, as it's in so many movies and TV shows.

Iko Iko is also fairly well known, although likely more for the cover version which closed out the 80's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1voj6H8CHY

[Max]

Carl, the previous version certainly does sound flat. (Thank you for pointing that out.) I posted it because (1) it said it was the original recording (though--of course--that claim may be false) and (2) just about every version that I could find on YouTube sounded like that.

Here's the faster recording of "Chapel of Love" that I am so familiar with (the only one of its kind I could find on YouTube, so please excuse the scratches):

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[alphanguy74]

Max, both versions you posted are original. The first one is the stereo album version, and the second one you posted is the mono single version. This was a time when the mono single version is the one that really got the time and attention from producers, and the stereo was just thrown together, because it was such a new novelty. By the end of the 60's the situation would reverse itself. Ellie Greenwich said the moment she wrote "Chapel Of Love" she knew it was going to be a number one record. She considers that song her masterpiece. Here is a clip of the Dixie Cups singing "Iko Iko":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6rDdWPYdgg

they also recorded this fascinating version of "The Alphabet Song":

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[alphanguy74]

That song is so good, with such a great groove when you hear it in good quality sound:

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There was a bit of a mini- trend with girl groups in the mid sixties doing songs that were based on either classical or children's songs. The Toys' "Lover's Concerto" was based on Bach's Minuet in G Major... and this unusual gem based on Brahm's Lullaby:

[quartermainefan]

Max, I actually like the scratches and pops in that video. That's how music used to sound and you need the cracks to really evoke the mood. Chapel Of Love is the ultimate girl group song probably. If you had to select just one, I bet more people would select that one than any other.