EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by alphanguy, Jan 29, 2016.

  1. troggy

    troggy Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow

    Location:
    Benton, Illinois
    Yes and these guys made some of their own recordings, including a couple of things on Atlantic.

     
    I Love Music likes this.
  2. ronm

    ronm audiofreak

    Location:
    southern colo.
    This is Alphanguys thread and Im sticking to his introductions.
     
    Skywheel, Grant and Tim S like this.
  3. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Hmmm. Sounds like the chorus of a song that had been Number One five years before the period we're now covering . . . :winkgrin:
     
  4. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    Surprisingly little comment on "Hello, I love you," seems like me moved on to the next #1 very quickly. Oh well, I said my piece about it, so I guess I shouldn't complain. Just thought others would have something to say about it.
     
  5. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    Why would we? The thread starter hasn't posted it yet. We are on "Grazing In The Grass."

    JcS
     
    Grant likes this.
  6. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Yes! The only person allowed to do the song introductions is alphanguy.

    I also wish people would stop jumping ahead just because they may not care for the song introduced by the OP. It confuses the whole discussion and encourages the jumping ahead more.

    The OP says it's fine to discuss other songs that were out at the time of the song under discussion, but people are already jumping ahead to 1969.

    We will get to The Rascals, but we have other songs in cue.
     
    sunspot42, Frank and Skywheel like this.
  7. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    See previous page - it seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle, but it's there.
     
    Skywheel likes this.
  8. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    See previous page--it wasn't started by Alphaguy. He started the thread and he posts the next song for discussion. Creates order, rather than chaos.

    JcS
     
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  9. snepts

    snepts Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene, OR
    Haha. With some confusion about who and when we should be moving to the next # 1, yes your Doors comment kinda flew right by.
    I try not to reflexively comment on everything, but I have been keeping up so, since you asked ....
    Wanting to remove the poetic Doors from the short and concise Doors seems funny to me. I suspect the band was of the opposite mind, and while struggling to find a proper analogy, it's almost like wishing for more poppy Macca from the Beatles than the brooding Lennon. I just don't think you can have one without the other, and likely shouldn't wish to.
    Not that I don't understand your point. "Hello" is a great, fun tune, and a lot of Doors gets freighted down with artistic pretension. But it's so much of the Doors identity, I'm almost surprised you would express wanting to separate it from their overall output.
    I also think the Doors got tired of being pressured to deliver hit records. Seems like "Touch Me" ended with a nod to a detergent ad -- "Stronger Than Dirt!" I can't be the only person to notice this, hahaha.

    Anyway, I look forward to our OP straightening things however seems necessary, and we keep going forward harmoniously. Cheers all !!
     
  10. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    I agree, I did not see that the OP didn't post that. Will the thread please come to order!
     
    Joey Self likes this.
  11. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The OP may just be having a busy day. We can't expect him to be on this thread 24/7.
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  12. AppleBonker

    AppleBonker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Sorry, I meant 'produced' as a synonym for 'created', not as produced in a musical sense. :)
     
  13. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    I was gonna offer up the same explanation but decided I shouldn't presume to know what you mean. More proof that the written word can be interpreted in many ways.
     
  14. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Well, these are important distinctions there . . .
     
  15. alphanguy

    alphanguy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Missouri
    Yes... please wait for me to introduce each song. At the very first I thought maybe every day, but people didn't have enough time to chime in and it made things confusing, I played around with different inetervals...but I eventually settled on every 48 hours.
     
    John54 likes this.
  16. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Well . . . on the "jump-ups" in question I've had my say, I'll let others chime in once you get onto them, then let it flow accordingly . . .
     
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  17. Cheevyjames

    Cheevyjames Forum Resident

    Location:
    Graham, NC
    Grazing in the Grass - I'd never heard this song before this thread. It's a pleasant song, but doesn't hit me anywhere near as hard as Mrs. Robinson from the month before. Jumpin' Jack Flash was the #1 in Cashbox for the week of July 20th. JJF only peaked at #3 in Billboard this same week, which is a shame since it's such an electrifying song. I wasn't around in 1968...maybe the more pleasant "Grazing in the Grass" and "This Guy's in Love With You" were so popular because the reality of the world at that time was pretty chaotic?
     
    sunspot42 likes this.
  18. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    I do like the somewhat laid-back Grazing in the Grass by Hugh Masakela, although I'm not too fussy about the Friends of Distinction vocalized version, with it's cartoonish "sock it to me" refrain. I'm not sure what was the first song with "sock it to me" in the lyrics, that or Coney Island Sally by the Fifth Estate, which used to be on YouTube a couple of years ago but has flown the coop, as some songs do.
     
  19. Tim S

    Tim S Senior Member

    Location:
    East Tennessee
    I have a lot of fondness for "Grazing in the grass," especially the Friends of Distinction version. My mom bought the album and it got played a lot (and loudly) in our house. I remember liking all of it. Yes, I can dig it.

    I like the Hugh Masakela version. It's kinda slow and it has an odd drum beat (if you listen to it closely - it's in the left channel - it's not a straight on 4/4 with the snare on the 2 and 4 beats, the second snare is a beat ahead with a quick hi-hat following it on the 4. This gives it a much different feel than the fast and funky Friends' version. One thing that bother me on the Hugh Masakela recording is the main trumpet really sounds flat to me.

    I still like it. I'm very surprised it made it to number 1. I would have guessed somewhere in the top 20.
     
    SomeCallMeTim likes this.
  20. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    If it was the Fifth Estate number, you obviously haven't accounted for Aretha Franklin's "Respect" or Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels' "Sock It To Me - Baby!" Both of which preceded the FoD's "Grazin' " vocal version.
     
    Damiano54 likes this.
  21. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    You're right, of course. I forgot about them (they're not all that big on my radar). I suppose Laugh-in pulled the phrase from one of those records?

    Coney Island Sally was only summer '68. Good tune though.
     
  22. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Probably. But, even if there weren't so much turmoil back then, these songs have sisen on their own merits. They are that good! I mean...look at what we have today, and the world's still in turmoil.
     
    Cheevyjames likes this.
  23. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    Trivia time: Herb Alpert had "This Guy's In Love With You" at #1. It was pushed off the charts by Hugh Masekela's "Grazin' In The Grass". In the 1970's Herb Alpert would team up with Hugh Masekela for two albums:
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  24. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member

    For some reason, this sounds like a record from the early to mid 1970s to me.
     
    Damiano54 likes this.
  25. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The 60s saw a very rapid change in music.
     

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