EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present

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

  1. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    Cute song, the 'And if you say hey go away, I will' line always made me laugh

    David Cassidy was HUGE from what I've gathered, apparently he was even bigger overseas and sold out Wembley in the UK during the 70's. Everything chilled after that fateful incident where a young girl lost her life at one of his concerts I believe.

    This song is very of it's era
     
  2. Grant

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


    Great song! It was a huge hit, and I was on it because I started watching the TV show from its first episode. In fact, I remember ABC's promo ads in August of that year for it. But, I never bought the 45 or had the album it was on. I didn't get this song until I got it on CD in the late 80s.
     
  3. Grant

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

    "I'll Meet You Halfway" is one of their best songs, IMO. It deserved to be #1 also. But that would be 1971. I did have that 45, with "Lonely Rider On The Road" on the B-side. I drove my sister crazy playing those two sides repeatedly.
     
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  4. Grant

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

    I think they included it on one of their more recent compilations.:thumbsup:
     
  5. AppleBonker

    AppleBonker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    I'll Be There

    This is without question my favorite of the four Jackson 5 #1 hits. First of all, I think it's a really good song. And they managed to minimize Michael's screechiness in this one, although he still gets a bit dicey in the final part. The arrangement is nice, with Michael and Jermaine switching off, and I really like the drama of Jermaine's part. I also like the harmonies, particularly at the end.

    I'm still thinking there could be a better version of this song made, and before anyone wonders, the words 'Mariah Carey did the best version' will never escape my lips about any song. Particularly odd are the ad libs (I think they are ad libs) by Michael towards the end. Especially 'Just look over your shoulder! I'll be there!' The song is supposed to be comforting, but that line makes the narrator sound more like a stalking creep than a helpful friend. And I've never been a fan of Michael's ooooohs, either.

    Round about the same time as I'll Be There, the Five Stairsteps were also scoring their biggest hit. Like the Jacksons, the Stairsteps were a five piece group built from a family of African American youngsters, though they were a bit older than the Jacksons (they were the Burkes of Chicago and billed themselves as the First Family of Soul). Their most famous hit, Oooh Child, came in 1970, the same year as I'll Be There. For my money, they pull this one off better than the Jacksons. The vocals are better for one (no screeching), the song is lovely with a great sentiment, and it builds to a glorious ending that always sounds to me like the rays of the beautiful sun coming through the curtains.



    The Burkes never had their own Saturday morning cartoon show, though. Score one for the Jacksons I guess!
     
  6. Grant

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

    I don't think the network they were on had anything to do with it at all. If anything, ABC, since it was the "third network", always aimed for the more youthful audience in their programming, and that strategy worked for them up to the 80s, when Fred Silverman started to beat them at their own game. In the 60s and 70s, ABC was home to The Brady Bunch, The Flying Nun, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, Bewitched, Love American Style, SWAT, Kojack, Get Christie Love, Dark Shadows, The Mod Squad, Gidget, Mork & Mindy, Welcome Back Kotter, General Hospital, Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, Three's Company, and many others, including The Partridge Family. They were all youth-oriented shows, or shows with a huge youthful audience.

    The problem with The Partridge Family was their image, and something David Cassidy fought the whole time. He played ball, of course, but he complained that the music was too middle-of-the-road, and didn't rock. He was into playing Jimi Hendrix and Robert Plant-style guitar. No doubt, the image worked for the show, so the producers wanted to keep the music there, too. For his part, the show was edgier than it's sibling rival The Brady Bunch. It dealt with more real-world issues. I digress.

    And, those solo albums were edgier, too. Certainly, Cassidy had more creative input on his solo material.
     
  7. Grant

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

    Well, consider your age at the time.:D The Osmonds had even more of a "kiddie" image and audience, and, later, pre-pubescent girls, just like Bobby Sherman. I can't think of any singer of that period in time more embarrassing than Bobby Sherman, at least for a male. Even if you just kinda liked one of his songs, you better not let anyone know it. Gotta keep it to yourself! Mr. Sherman was strictly for the teenybopper girls.
     
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  8. Grant

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


    I didn't know what they were in Arizona. We lived in a region that just didn't have any natural disasters at all. (Knock on wood!) I didn't know until I was older that I lived at ground zero for one or the USSR's primary targets, so I always viewed those EBS tests as a major annoyance. They were loud, and always interrupted Gilligan's Island or The Munster reruns. Grrrrrr!
     
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  9. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    I like I Think I Love You. It's an infectious, bouncy pop song like the best often are. Lol that they credit the group as "starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy when his was the lead vocal. If you listen, towards the end you can clearly hear her voice on the line, "If you think I have a case, let me ask you to your face". I would say they never hit the heights of the Monkees for several reasons. 1) Cassidy's voice was fairly weak. 2) He was the only male who fit the heartthrob status. 3) The Monkees had several lead singers to the PF's one.
    My favorites remain Looking Through The Eyes Of Love, It's One Of Those Nights and a flip side that I feel should have been it's own A-side single Morning Rider On The Road.



    Such a shame he's apparently suffering from the same type of disease Glen Campbell had.
     
    Grant likes this.
  10. Grant

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

    One thing to remember since there are a couple of you guys who think Michael had a "screechy" voice: Michael was such a master at his voice, a professional, and knew when to lay it on and pull it back. The producers really didn't have to tell him what to do. He was a natural at knowing. In many ways, he produced himself. He was a remarkable child prodigy. And, at around 12 years of age, his voice was changing.
     
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  11. Grant

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

    Well, Glen Campbell had Alzheimer's. I think Cassidy has a milder form of dementia. Either way, yeah, they are both destructive to the brain, and it also may explain their bouts with drinking.
     
  12. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    I know I'm jumping way ahead but since you brought it up, Valerie Carter covered this great Soul record in 1977 and I enjoy it a whole lot, too.

     
  13. WLL

    WLL Popery Of Mopery

    ...As a TV show, the Partridges lasted longer, 3&1/2 seasons rather than 2. I suppose lightning couldn't strike twice, for the Partridges having less big hits than the Monkees- and the outside songwriters the Monkees drew on were a really strong pool: the early 60s Brill Buildingers and new jacks, by 4 yrs later most of those songwriters weren't available, many more writing for themseled...and the " AM-FM " gap had set in, people who wrote pop for others were a little quaint and unhip. The Monkees went more for pinnuping teenage girls, with four heartthrobs to pick from the Partridges had just one and, less " rock " potential teenage boy appeal.
    Shirley Jones was a thirtyish?? aging musical comedy ingenue, not really a Screen Hems exec's idea of " something for the kids "! Just think, what if they had gotten Barbara Cook rather than Shirly for the mother role! Reversing what happened with " The Music Man "...The publicity for the Patridges' records acknowledged that only David and Shirley participated at all in the records, perhaps avoiding a Monkees'style backlash but hurting the ol' cred, even if nobody used that phrase then...The Partridges were a little more explicitly aimed at mums'n'kids...
    Was " Whale Song " ever released on a commercial record?
     
  14. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    I'm not too embarrassed to admit I like Julie Do Ya Love Me and The Drum but more for their pop production than his so-so vocals. Plus, he did well enough starring on Here Come The Brides along with that other heartthrob David Soul.

     
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  15. Grant

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

    I admit to having Bobby's greatest hits CD, and liking a couple of his songs. (Hey! I'm a middle-aged guy now, totally free of young male peer pressure.) But, david Soul doesn't even fit here. His one hit "Don't Give Up On Us" was totally adult material. I was in jr. high when it came out and I don't remember any guy running away from it. I also don't remember any girls going ape over him.
     
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  16. Victor/Victrola

    Victor/Victrola Makng shure its write

    I was a massive Partridge Family fan, had all the albums and watched the show when I could catch it. Our area didn't have an ABC affiliate until 1974, but the local CBS station would run some of the more popular ABC shows when they had slots open. The show was shown in my area since the first season, but you'd never really know when. I always thought the show was just ok, but particularly liked the Danny character because he was such a wise cracker.

    Their records, on the other hand, were light years better than the show. I didn't know exactly why I enjoyed them so much, although the style certainly did fit in with the kinds of music I liked, but I heard something special on those records. Years later, I realized that the backing group is the great "Wrecking Crew" and I figured that was it. The PF records (including I Think I Love You) are tight pop tracks that deserve a lot more respect than they get.

    Plus, harpsichord solo.
     
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  17. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I had no idea they were a family act or that young. Always loved this single - better than anything The Jacksons ever produced.

    Frankly, never understood why The Jacksons were such a "thing". Michael on the other hand took off once he hooked up with Quincy.
     
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  18. Damiano54

    Damiano54 Senior Member

    Your reaction made me smile. That's funny.

    I understand what your saying. I never really cared about the artists. If they were black or white, male or female, heavy rock or bubble gummy, I didn't really care. If I liked the song, I'd listen and usually admit I liked it. Although, yeah I might be embarrassed to admit to liking the artist. The fact that Bobby Sherman was considered a cute teen girl heartthrob didn't matter, but neither his music or voice were all that great so I wasn't any big fan, but I did enjoy "Easy come, easy Go" and "Little Woman" somewhat. The one song when I was younger that I was really shy about admitting I loved was "Dancing Queen". I realize now that lots of adult males love the song but I was definitely shy about singing the lyrics out loud.
     
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  19. CliffL

    CliffL Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento CA USA
    I've had this CD for years and love it! In fact it's one of my all time favorites, every song on it is very good to great. The cover of "Desperado" is one of the most touching performances I've ever heard. I was in glee club myself for three years in junior high, I had just done my last 9th grade performance a few weeks before "Mill Valley" came out.
     
  20. Grant

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

    Same here. I usually didn't care who the artist was, as long as the song was good. The fact that some of Bobby Sherman's album covers were blatantly aimed at young girls was all the more unsettling to any male who may have liked some of his songs. He looked almost androgynous in one of them.

    The Bobby Sherman songs I can admit to liking today are:

    Easy Come, Easy Go (sounded like a sociopath)

    Julie, Do Ya Love Me (More bad Vegas schmaltz)

    Cried Like A Baby (sounds like it was written to be a depressing ballad, but Sherman turned it into an insincere, happy, Vegas-style sing-a-long. Bizarre!)

    La La La (If I Had You) (I guess it's time to cut up my man card.)

    To this day, I do not understand the association people make between ABBA and gays. I never even heard of it until this forum! Where I grew up, even jocks liked ABBA. The druggies liked ABBA. The Black people liked ABBA. Young people liked ABBA. Old people liked ABBA. Hard rockers liked ABBA. I just don't get it.
     
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  21. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    All true, except KOJAK. That was CBS.
     
  22. Grant

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

    Oops. Yer right. I was thinking of Barretta. I don't know how I mixed those two up.
     
  23. CliffL

    CliffL Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sacramento CA USA
    The last record of his I really got into was "Moods" from 1972. I liked and purchased the 45 "Play Me" from the LP. Also really liked the song "Captain Sunshine" from the album.
    After that Neil didn't really hit it for me. But much of his earlier work was frequently superb, and I definitely count myself as a fan.
     
  24. AppleBonker

    AppleBonker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    4) The Monkees never had to deal with Danny Bonaduce.
     
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  25. AppleBonker

    AppleBonker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    This was in 1990, right after I got out of college, so perhaps by then the Cold War had thawed enough that the books were no longer necessary anyways.
     

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