Billboard's #1 Pop Singles

[Max]

Carl, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" also went to #1 (in 1960), unfortunately. However, I actually think "The Purple People Eater" is an even worse song.

Alphanguy, I'm so sorry that your former boss was such a hateful ba$tard (though I am happy that you got even with that a$$hole later).

I did not know that the Cliff & Olivia version of "All I Have to Do Is Dream" was never released as a single. This fact actually allows me to bring up perhaps the biggest flaw of the "Billboard" chart: prior to December 1998, no song was eligible to chart unless it was released as a single. As a result of this rule, the following well-known songs never even charted on the Hot 100:

"Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin (1971)

"Don't Speak" by No Doubt (1996)

"Lovefool" by The Cardigans (1997)

"Iris" by The Goo Goo Dolls (1998)

Elvis Presley's tenth #1 hit (and the first chart-topper he had while in the Army) was "Hard Headed Woman," which spent two weeks at the peak position: the weeks ended 7/21/58 & 7/28/58.

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"Hard Headed Woman" (an OK song, though one I don't particularly care for) was featured in Elvis' fourth movie, "King Creole." Presley himself stated that "King Creole" was his personal favorite (out of all the films he made), and critical reviews were also favorable. Not only was Elvis' acting praised, but so was that of co-stars Walter Matthau and Carolyn Jones.

Although Presley had the option of going into the Special Services to focus his efforts on entertaining other troops, he instead decided to join the regular forces that concentrated on combat. While "Hard Headed Woman" was #1, Elvis was receiving basic training at Fort Hood, TX. Sadly, on 8/14/58 (very shortly after "Hard Headed Woman" fell from the top), Presley's mother, Gladys, died of a heart attack at age 46. (Thankfully, the Army allowed Elvis to be with his mother for the last 36 hours of her life.) Because Elvis and his mother were so very close, it took him such a long time to recover from her death.

Aside from "Don't" and "Hard Headed Woman," Elvis had the following top 10 hits in 1958: "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck" (#2), "One Night" (#4), and "I Got Stung" (#8).

[DRW50]

Hard Headed Woman is one of his harder rocking songs of that era.

Many would say Elvis never recovered from his mother's death.

[Max]

For the first three-plus years of the rock era, several different "Billboard" pop charts existed: the "Best Sellers in Stores" chart, the "Most Played by Jockeys" chart, the "Most Played in Jukeboxes" chart, and the "Top 100." (According to Fred Bronson, author of "The 'Billboard' Book of Number One Hits," the Best Sellers in Stores chart was the most accurate of these charts and thus was used as the basis for all of the chart-toppers profiled previously in this thread.) However, on August 4, 1958, "Billboard" magazine debuted a new pop chart called the "Hot 100." This chart combined record sales and airplay in an attempt to form the most comprehensive measurements of a song's popularity, and still endures to this day. (It shoud be stated that while the other pre-Hot 100 charts mentioned above ceased to exist as of 8/4/58, the Best Sellers in Stores chart was last published on 10/13/58; despite this fact, the Hot 100 will be used as the source for #1 hits from this point forward.)

The very first song to top the Hot 100 was "Poor Little Fool" by Ricky Nelson, which spent two weeks at number one: the weeks ended 8/4/58 & 8/11/58.

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Ricky Nelson (whose real name was Eric Hilliard Nelson) was born on May 8, 1940 in Teaneck, NJ. Ricky's parents started their own radio show--called "The "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet"--in 1944. For a while, actors played the parts of the Nelson children, but in 1949 the decision was made to have Ricky and older brother David portray themselves. Much like GL, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" made a successful transition from radio to television, where the sitcom ran from 1952-66.

On his family's television show in 1957, Ricky sang Fats Domino's classic, "I'm Walking." The response to this performance was so positive that Nelson's own version peaked at #4; the record's flip side--"A Teenager's Romance"--did even better, reaching #2. Soon, three additional top 10 hits followed: "Be-Bop Baby" (#3, 1957), "Stood Up" (#2, 1958), and "Believe What You Say" (#4, 1958). Ricky's sixth top 10 hit was "Poor Little Fool," a "dreamy" recording that is my personal favorite of his.

In 1961, Nelson would score his second number one hit. In the interim, more top ten hits would come:

"Lonesome Town" (#7, 1958)

"I Got a Feeling" (#10, 1958)

"Never Be Anyone Else But You" (#6, 1959)

"It's Late" (#9, 1959)

"Just a Little Too Much" (#9, 1959)

"Sweeter Than You" (#9, 1959)

[DRW50]

Ricky Nelson is so underrated. His songs are timeless, and he is so much more authentic than many of that era.

[alphanguy74]

Ricky Nelson is one gorgeous hunk of man. And unlike many other teen idols of yesterday and today, one that had real talent. I remember the night he died, I was in high school and going out on a date for New Years' eve when we heard about it on the radio. Poor Little Fool has a nice pace to it, one of those song that has an easy going rhythm that's right in the pocket, not too fast, not too slow, with a memorable guitar riff.

[alphanguy74]

Here is a live performance from 1983, just 2 years before he died... being backed up by the Jordanaires:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2dY_SNofys&feature=related

He looks REALLY good for 43, he was aging extremely well.

[DRW50]

It's a shame he didn't get more recognition when he was alive. I have the CD of his greatest hits, and even Bob Dylan was praising him.

His songs are so diverse, and so free of many of the tricks and props of that era. He also has a solid voice, not great but perfectly fine. Today that would be Autotuned to death.

Some of his songs are so ahead of their time. This is so haunting, and stripped to the bone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ14KKKvxdI

[alphanguy74]

I agree, Lonesome Town is one of the best songs of the entire era. the background vocals almost sounds like the voices of the dead or something. when so much in that era was sanitized and plastic wrapped, Lonesome Town was a song that was so real and genuine. I feel it's his best of all his hits.... it also has to be one of the saddest hits in music history, but there is a beauty in the sadness... and that's what makes songs filled with pathos eternally popular.

[Max]

This is one of several major reasons why today's pop music sucks.

Carl, I've heard other people tell me that "Lonesome Town" is their favorite Ricky Nelson song. Given the record's long-term popularity, I was shocked when I first discovered that it only reached #7.

Alphanguy, I had always suspected that the Jordanaires backed-up Nelson on "Poor Little Fool," yet I was not completely sure until just now. (Thank you for confirming this.) To answer a question that you earlier posed (sorry I waited until now to do so), "Tequila" was indeed featured in the 1985 movie "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure."

The very first foreign language recording of the rock era to hit #1 was "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu)" by Domenico Modugno, which spent five weeks at the peak position (not all of which were consecutive): the weeks ended 8/18/58, 9/1/58, 9/8/58, 9/15/58, & 9/22/58.

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"Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu)" is Italian for "To Fly (In the Blue Sky Painted Blue)." This very popular song is about a man's dream whereby he paints his hands blue and then flies way up to the blue skies. There were several different competiting versions of "Volare" back in 1958 (many of which were sung in English); the most successful was Dean Martin's version (parts of which were sung in English, and other parts of which were sung in Italian), which peaked at #15. Two years later, Bobby Rydell (who performed the song almost entirely in English) made "Volare" into a rock and roll tune, and he went to #4 with the record. (Rydell's version--which Qfan earlier posted--is my favorite incarnation of the song, though I concede that Modugno's original version represents a superior musical effort.)

Domenico Modugno was born in Polignano a Mare, Italy, and was touted as that country's musical genius. His recording of "Volare" earned him the first of four victories of his home country's San Remo Festival of Music (a competition to select the best recording of the year). In the United States, "Volare" earned Modugno three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Vocal Performance. Despite all these kudos, Domenico wound up a one-hit wonder in America (though I believe that he would enjoy continued musical success in Europe). In 1994, he died (near Sicily) of a heart attack at age 66.

I want to take this occasion to correct an error that I earlier made. I previously stated that three songs spent the maximum of six weeks at #1 in 1958, when in fact only two songs did so; what happened was that "The 'Billboard' Book of Number One Hits" incorrectly stated that "Volare" spent six weeks at the top when in fact it only spent five. (I was able to confirm this fact by looking at other sources, including "The 'Billboard' Book of Top 40 Hits.") I sincerely apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

[alphanguy74]

Do you know, I have only heard Rydell's version of this song, and none others, not even Dean Martin's. I am kind of surprised this version was so popular, I would ahve never pegged it for hit status, at least not here in america. Not too many foreign Language songs made it to number one, But I remember several that made the top 10.

[I Am A Swede]

"Volare" was also Italy's entry in the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest (the same competition that 16 years later launched ABBA's career) where it finished third. Domenico Modugno entered that competition an additional two times, 1959 ("Piove", more famous as "Ciao, ciao bambina") and 1966 ("Dio come ti amo").

When the Eurovision Song Contest celebrated it's 50th anniversary in 2005, "Volare" was chosen as the second most popular entry of all time by the television audience, only beaten by ABBA and "Waterloo".

[DRW50]

That's fascinating. So much interesting Eurovision stuff I don't know.

What did you think of his other two songs?

I'd never heard his version of Volare.

[alphanguy74]

I didn't realize it was a Eurovision song, either. I guess that makes twice in US history that a foreign language Eurovision entry reached the US top 10, the other being this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYTrZ4SQHVg&feature=related

[I Am A Swede]

"Piove" is very similar to "Volare" but not quite as good. It could only manage 6th place.

"Dio come ti amo" ended up last without any points at all, and frankly even that was more than it deserved......

Actually, there is a third one that reached the top 10, albeit in a slightly different version.

But since it actually went all the way up to number 1, maybe I should wait with that one. Unless you don't mind if I jump ahead a few years in time.

[alphanguy74]

That's ok... tell me what it is, because I don't have a clue, we can talk in depth about the song when it's time comes around. But till then, it will drive me nuts. A third one that's not in English? BTW.... I think i'm gonna starte a thread about Eurovision songs of the past, since i'm enamoured with Eurovision and just started getting into them in the last year or so.