Billboard's #1 Pop Singles

[Max]

Duplicate post; this should be deleted.

[alphanguy74]

"Sherry" is one of those songs I never cared for. Once again, it comes from my dislike of falsetto signing for the most part. When Frankie Valli sings in his regular voice, I like him perfectly fine. I hear that pay "Jersey boys" has been pretty successful the last several years, and I'm glad to hear that. The last time I saw Frankie Valli onstage, he looked awfully frail.

[DRW50]

I like the Four Seasons songs, although "Sherry" is a touch too shrill for me. It's still a great song though. And another song with a Twist reference.

[Max]

Carl, I love how "Sherry" gave a reference to the Twist.

Alphanguy, that's very sad that Valli looked so frail. While I have never seen the "Jersey Boys" musical, I am thankful for it because it went a long way towards giving the Four Seasons the public appreciation they deserve. (Prior to that show, I thought the Four Seasons were severly underrated. Even now, I still think that they are not as acclaimed as they should be. The Beach Boys, on the other hand, have always been overrated, at least in my opinion.)

The most popular novelty record of 1962 was "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers. This song spent two weeks at number one: the weeks ended 10/20/62 & 10/27/62.

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Bobby Pickett (2/11/38-4/25/07) was born and raised in Somerville, MA and was a big fan of horror movies as a child (especially those films that starred his favorite actor, Boris Karloff). Shortly after his stint in the armed forces ended, Pickett moved to Hollywood, where he had hoped to pursue an acting career.

Due to the limited success Bobby experienced as an actor, he began to sing as well. In 1962, he collaborated with the Crypt-Kickers (a vocal group that included Gary Paxton of Hollywood Argyles fame) and recorded the Halloween classic, "Monster Mash." As indicated by the title, this song was not only a novelty tune, but a dance record as well. Prior to settling on the title of "Monster Mash," other names were considered: "Monster Twist," "Monster Mashed Potato," and "Mean Monster Mashed Potato."

Sadly, Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers had just one additional top 40 hit: "Monsters' Holiday," which peaked at #30 in December 1962. Yet, the group could take solace in the fact that "Monster Mash" re-entered the Hot 100 in 1973 and went to #10 that year. And, while I'll be the first to admit that I am a hypocrite on this matter (given how much I have trashed idiotic novelty tunes), I think "Monster Mash" is a good song: despite the stupid lyrics, the great melody and beat more than make up for it.

[alphanguy74]

As far as novelty songs go, I don't mind this at all. Every halloween it's played all over the country. It's silly...but it's also pretty fun. And you pretty much had to know that with a song like that, you weren't going to have another hit, even if you made a "serious" attempt.

[Max]

Alphanguy, I agree 100% with what you wrote above.

Phil Spector's finest hour arguably arrived when he produced "He's a Rebel" by The Crystals, which was number one for two weeks: the weeks ended 11/3/62 & 11/10/62.

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Though it is one of the most beloved girl group records of the era, "He's a Rebel" had two unusual ironies surrounding it. The first was that the song--which was written by Gene Pitney--kept Pitney's biggest hit, "Only Love Can Break a Heart," from reaching #1. The second irony was that (despite billing to the contrary) the song wasn't even performed by the Crystals; rather, it was performed by the Blossoms (who were led by Darlene Love). The major problem that arose during the production of "He's a Rebel" was that a competiting version was about to be released by Vikki Carr. Thus, time was of the essence, and Spector already had all of his "Wall of Sound" session musicians (including Sonny Bono) in place at a studio in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, because the Crystals were in New York, Phil decided to instead go with a local girl group: the Blossoms. The Blossoms were also the actual performers behind another "Crystals" hit: "He's Sure the Boy I Love," which peaked at #11 in early 1963.

The real Crystals had four top twenty hits, the first two of which charted before "He's a Rebel": "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" (#20, 1962) & "Uptown" (#13, 1962). Barbara Alston sang lead on those two songs; however, after the Blossoms gave the Crystals their hits, the lead singer was changed to La La Brooks (because she sounded more like Darlene Love). Brooks' vocals can be heard leading the group on their final two hits: "Da Doo Ron Ron" (#3, 1963) and "Then He Kissed Me" (#6, 1963). More than anything else, the Crystals' decline in popularity was due to Phil Spector losing interest in the group, because he had become pre-occupied with the Ronettes (whose #2 smash, "Be My Baby," marked the trio's only top twenty appearance).

As for Darlene Love, she was also the lead singer of Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, who had two top forty singles in 1963: "Zip-a-Dee Doo-Dah" (#8) and "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?" (#38). The same year, she scored two solo hits with "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" (#39) and "Wait Til' My Bobby Gets Home" (#26). Love was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011; even though she has such a beautiful voice, I must say that this induction was really not deserved.

[alphanguy74]

"He's A Rebel" is a wonderful song, and one I never get tired of. After extended listening to Phil Spector's wall of sound, I find I get listener's fatigue, and can only take 3 or 4 songs at a time, although as they stand alone, I really like most of them. the Crystal's "Uptown" I feel is by FAR their best song. The Blossoms are just a treasure trove of talent. they consist of Darlene Love, of course... and Fanita James and Jean King. Both of thsoe women are very talented in their own right, and were featured alone a few times on Shinding.... the ABC music show where the Blossoms were the in-house background singers, and they appeared on every episode of the series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01TB0qK6F3k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLKKOiRro7w&feature=related

[alphanguy74]

Barbi Benton also released a cover version of "He's A Rebel" in 1976:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh5TLc7gkco

[DRW50]

He's a Rebel is perfection, although I always have a tough time understanding all the lyrics (usually it's the "he's a rebel and..." where I lose it - it sounds like "he's a rebel don't ya know" or "he's a rebel do si do"). It's one of my favorite songs of all time, and I think is the best of the era, along with Mary Wells' best. And this other Crystals number, which has the best intro of any song:

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[I Am A Swede]

While "He's a Rebel" is a perfectly fine piece of music, I still prefer this one personally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVzmEq1KnVw

[alphanguy74]

It's been well documented that Vikki Carr's version was the original, but I got to tell you, Vikki's version STINKS. And i like her... but her version is so stiff and regimented, just awful. and yes, Carl... Uptown is just AWESOME. I think it's best record Spector ever made next to "To Know Him Is To Love Him".

[alphanguy74]

Although the Crystals' version of "Da Do Ron Ron" is the one people think about, Shaun Cassidy actually had the bigger hit with it, another one of those number ones that you never hear anymore.

[DRW50]

You used to hear Cassidy's version in those oldies record (then cassette, then CD) commercials, but it's not too common. His version has a kind of fake delivery, perhaps because that wasn't his style (apparently he was in some hard rock group in the early 70's). That's the first song I remember noticing changed genders in lyrics.

Vicki Carr has such a distinctive vocal style. She seems to have something of a strong personality too - I was reading some old magazine article from the opening of a big MGM hotel, sometime in 73-75, and Vicki was performing. She kept stopping to talk to the audience about the evils of smoking, and finally, someone yelled out, "I'll stop smoking if you stop singing!"

[Max]

I never mentioned this earlier, but "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Heart?" and "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" are two Darlene Love songs I think are almost as great as "He's a Rebel."

Even though Spector was afraid of the competiton, Carr's version of "He's a Rebel" failed to chart.

It's not surprising that Cassidy's version is forgotten, since it is far inferior to the Crystals' incarnation of the song.

This is funny.

In 2007, Fergie had a #1 hit with "Big Girls Don't Cry." Forty-five years earlier, a different song (with the same title) became the Four Seasons' second chart-topper, holding the peak position for five weeks: the weeks ended 11/17/62, 11/24/62, 12/1/62, 12/8/62, & 12/15/62.

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"Big Girl's Don't Cry" was a phrase Clark Gable spoke in one of his films. This highly recognizable tune was actually recorded at the same session as "Sherry," but the group randomly decided to release "Sherry" as a single first. Oftentimes, having a follow-up that is very similar sounding to one's previous hit proves damaging for one's career, but the exact opposite occured when "Big Girls Don't Cry" erased any doubts about the Four Seasons being a one-hit wonder (whose "once-and-done" appeal was solely based on Frankie Valli's "gimmicky" falsetto).

I covered much of the Four Seasons' early history in my post for "Sherry." However, two additional items should be mentioned, the first being the group's long-time association with writer and producer Bob Crewe (sometimes referred to as the "Fifth Season"). Valli met Crewe back in 1958 when he (Valli) was cutting a solo record. The other interesting fact was that Valli & his vocal groups changed names so many different times during 1955-61. A partial chronological listing is provided below: (Note that some of these monikers were when Valli tried to start a career as a solo artist.)

The Variatones

Frankie Valli & the Travelers

Frankie Love & the Four Lovers

The Four Lovers

Frankie Tyler

Frankie Vally

Frankie Valle & the Romans

Billy Dixon & the Topics

The Village Voices

The Topics

Eric Anthony

The Four Seasons changed names even one more time in 1965 when they covered Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice." For this release (which peaked at #12), they were billed as "The Wonder Who?," and Valli's voice was at the highest pitch imaginable.

The Jersey Boys followed-up "Big Girls Don't Cry" with "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," which reached #23. Then, Valli & Company were back on top with the tune I consider to be their best ever.

[alphanguy74]

I don't like "Big Girl's Don't Cry", either... again, it's the shrillness of the falsetto that bothers me. I can tolerate very little falsetto, Lou Christie's being one I can handle, although in his case, his regular voice is MUCH better, as in Frankie Valli.