EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present

Summer Sand is a gem.
Surprising it only made it to No. 33 in 1971 !!

 

That's a good one too.

 

Not bad. I've never heard that one before.
The intro sounds a lot like "Someday We'll Be Together," which was only a year or so in the past at the time...maybe radio found it too derivative?

 

Connie Francis' awful sequel

 

The opening lyrics also somewhat resemble Gerry Goffin-Carole King's Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, which The Shirelles took to No. 1 in 1961.
"Tonight you're mine completely. You give your love so sweetly..."

 

I don't know about that.
It isn't horrible.

It sounds like a note-for-note remake of the Tony Orlando song.
If I'd never heard the hit version, I wouldn't necessarily think this was a bad song.

It's not among Connie's best works.
At least this great recording artist (who had Hot 100 hits through the end of the 1960s) was still recording.

 

I like "Tie A Yellow Ribbon". As in like it. I don't tolerate it, I don't apologetically consider it a guilty pleasure. I really LIKE this record.


I like the melody, the vocals, and the story, as sappily sentimental as it is, touches on a fairly distinctive theme for a pop song.

And I always considered the narrator as coming home from prison, not from some hitch in the military. The giveaway is the "put the blame on me" phrase. He acknowledges that he's the one responsible for the separation to begin with.

I enjoy this song, and I'm glad it hit the top. Despite their reputation as seventies jukebox-from-hell regulars, Tony Orlando and Dawn had a few other fine records (I also love "Candida"), and some awful ones, one of which we'll be encountering later in this thread...

 

When I initially heard Tie A Yellow Ribbon, I had a deja vu moment to an older song with a somewhat similar story - The Rascal's last Atlantic single Almost Home which was actually a B-side. The story doesn't have the happy ending of the TO&D song and is definitely about an ex-con returning home. Then I remembered an even older tune that dealt with the subject matter with an even more downbeat conclusion - Tom Jones' The Green Green Grass Of Home. I prefer both of those to Yellow Ribbon.

 

The harmonica at the end strikes me as rather too melancholy for what's supposed to be a happy ending.

Maybe Tony could've started whistling.

 

I don't think it should've been released as a single.

 

Love that song too!

 

Connie was off MGM at the time. She was probably doing all sorts of one shots.

 

Indiana Wants Me was about a criminal... a man who shot another in honor of the woman the singer's addressing, though the incident isn't explained.

The great song peaked @ No. 5 in 1970.

 

I think that's right, a record could be split between 2 years and show up in low numbers in 2 different year-end charts. Billboard column writer Fred Bronson wrote a book where he recalculated the year-end charts by assigning each record to only one year, i.e., moving the total chart points of 2 split years into just one year, giving it a fair shot at a higher end of year ranking. Which you can easily do after the fact, but Billboard of course needed to get their year-end issue out in December. Fred's book is "Billboard's Hottest Hot 100 Hits."

 

She was. Definitely. Did a cover of "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" in 1971 on the Ivanhoe label, whose most famous record was this one from 1970:

 

I'm aware of all of that. But I'm still surprised to see a #1 in the 75-100 range.

I remember in 1980-81 when I was listening to the year end broadcast and writing down the song titles, and knew what the #1s were already, I don't think there was a #1 below 50 in the year end list.

I remember "I Go Crazy" by Paul Davis being on the charts forever in 1978 and only getting up to about #7. I imagine that one is pretty high up on the year end chart for that year.

It would matter how the scores are compiled. If it's just a matter of reverse weighting (i.e., for each week, #1 gets 100 points, #2 gets 99 etc. and then a sum taken over all weeks), it would be real easy to for a #2 to outperform a #1, if the #2 stayed near the top for an extra week.

 

Filled with music only Grandma liked? I direct you to 2:48 in this video...

 

Here's the Hot 100 chart the last week (the 4th week) that Tie A Yellow Ribbon was No. 1.
The "lesser" quality songs are bolded.

There's even a Jerry Lee Lewis song, which sadly, didn't make it past its Top 50 chart high.
Same with the Beach Boys tune, which would be reissued/re-recorded later.

US Top 40 Singles Week Ending 12th May, 1973


TW LW TITLE –•– Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date)

1 1 TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE –•– Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando (Bell)-13 (4 weeks at #1) (1)
2 4 YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-9 (2)
3 3 LITTLE WILLY –•– The Sweet (Bell)-17 (3)
4 2 THE CISCO KID –•– War (United Artists)-11 (2)
5 6 DRIFT AWAY –•– Dobie Gray (Decca)-12 (5)
6 7 STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU –•– Stealers Wheel (A&M)-11 (6)
7 10 FRANKENSTEIN –•– The Edgar Winter Group (Epic)-10 (7)
8 5 THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA –•– Vicki Lawrence (Bell)-14 (1)
9 14 DANIEL –•– Elton John (MCA)-6 (9)
10 8 THE TWELFTH OF NEVER –•– Donny Osmond (MGM)-11 (8)

11 15 REELING IN THE YEARS –•– Steely Dan (ABC)-10 (11)
12 13 WILDFLOWER –•– Skylark (Capitol)-13 (12)
13 26 MY LOVE –•– Paul McCartney and Wings (Apple)-5 (13)
14 20 PILLOW TALK –•– Sylvia (Vibration)-8 (14)
15 18 DAISY A DAY –•– Jud Strunk (MGM)-13 (15)
16 9 SING –•– The Carpenters (A&M)-12 (3)
17 23 HOCUS POCUS –•– Focus (Sire)-11 (17)
18 19 OUT OF THE QUESTION –•– Gilbert O’Sullivan (MAM)-11 (18)
19 21 FUNKY WORM –•– The Ohio Players (Westbound)-12 (19)
20 16 WALK ON THE WILD SIDE –•– Lou Reed (RCA)-13 (16)

21 25 THE RIGHT THING TO DO –•– Carly Simon (Elektra)-7 (21)
22 27 THINKING OF YOU –•– Loggins and Messina (Columbia)-7 (22)
23 12 PEACEFUL –•– Helen Reddy (Capitol)-15 (12)
24 37 I’M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY –•– Barry White (20th Century)-5 (24)
25 11 MASTERPIECE –•– The Temptations (Gordy)-12 (7)
26 30 STEAMROLLER BLUES / FOOL –•– Elvis Presley (RCA)-5 (26)
27 32 PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND –•– Clint Holmes (Epic)-8 (27)
28 33 I’M DOIN’ FINE NOW –•– New York City (Chelsea)-11 (28)
29 36 IT SURE TOOK A LONG, LONG TIME –•– Lobo (Big Tree)-6 (29)
30 35 LEAVING ME –•– The Independents (Wand)-6 (30)

31 31 “CHERRY CHERRY” FROM HOT AUGUST NIGHT –•– Neil Diamond (MCA)-9 (31)
32 34 ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS –•– First Choice (Philly Groove)-10 (32)
33 17 AIN’T NO WOMAN (Like the One I Got) –•– The Four Tops (Dunhill)-15 (4)
34 47 RIGHT PLACE WRONG TIME –•– Dr. John (Atco)-5 (34)
35 43 SUPER FLY MEETS SHAFT –•– John and Ernest (Rainy Wednesday)-5 (35)
36 38 I CAN UNDERSTAND IT –•– The New Birth (RCA)-8 (36)
37 45 TEDDY BEAR SONG –•– Barbara Fairchild (Columbia)-12 (37)
38 40 BLUE SUEDE SHOES –•– Johnny Rivers (United Artists)-9 (38)
39 41 NO MORE MR. NICE GUY –•– Alice Cooper (Warner Brothers)-5 (39)
40 42 LET’S PRETEND –•– The Raspberries (Capitol)-8 (40)

THIS WEEK’S DROPS

43 22 NEITHER ONE OF US (Wants To Be the First To Say Goodbye) –•– Gladys Knight and the Pips (Soul)-16 (2)
45 29 PINBALL WIZARD / SEE ME, FEEL ME (Medley) –•– The New Seekers (Verve)-12 (29)
49 24 STIR IT UP –•– Johnny Nash (Epic)-14 (12)
53 28 HALLELUJAH DAY –•– Jackson 5 (Motown)-9 (28)

POWER PLAYS

41 55 WILL IT GO ROUND IN CIRCLES –•– Billy Preston (A&M)-7 (41)
42 46 HEARTS OF STONE –•– The Blue Ridge Rangers (Fantasy)-7 (42)
44 48 DRINKING WINE SPO-DEE O’DEE –•– Jerry Lee Lewis (Mercury)-6 (44)
46 52 AND I LOVE YOU SO –•– Perry Como (RCA)-5 (46)
47 49 I KNEW JESUS (Before He Was a Star) –•– Glen Campbell (Capitol)-9 (47)
48 54 CLOSE YOUR EYES –•– Edward Bear (Capitol)-5 (48)
50 60 ONE OF A KIND (Love Affair) –•– The Spinners (Atlantic)-3 (50)

DEBUTS THIS WEEK

81 — DIAMOND GIRL –•– Seals and Crofts (Warner Brothers)-1 (81)
85 — BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY –•– Bette Midler (Atlantic)-1 (85)
88 — SWAMP WITCH –•– Jim Stafford (MGM)-1 (88)
91 — CALIFORNIA SAGA (On My Way To Sunny Californ-i-a) –•– The Beach Boys (Brother)-1 (91)
93 — LETTER TO LUCILLE –•– Tom Jones (Parrot)-1 (93)
95 — SATIN SHEETS –•– Jeanne Pruett (MCA)-1 (95)
96 — SHAMBALA –•– B.W. Stevenson (RCA)-1 (96)
97 — TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC –•– The Spinners (Motown)-1 (97)
99 — OUTLAW MAN –•– David Blue (Asylum)-1 (99)
100 — DON’T LET IT GET YOU DOWN –•– The Crusaders (Blue Thumb)-1 (100)

 

The Killer.

 

This was the version my Grandma liked:

 

I'm one who didn't have a problem with the trend to older style, Vaudville, 40s type music particularly where Bette Midler was concerned. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy is a blast and made me want to check out other's like The Pointer Sisters and Manhattan Transfer. What I did object to was Barry Manilow's re-recording of the tune for single release. The original off her debut album is the superior recording and should not have been mucked with. The horns in particular, are cheesy and so is his production. Unfortunately, too many comps now feature that abomination. The chutzpah of this guy thinking he knows better than Joel Dorn and Arif Mardin! Stick with this one:

 

Do you want to hear Sinatra cover it? Of course you do!

 

I will say that this Lambert and Potter song that would come the next year, and top out at #11 was a song I like just as well, if not a bit better than "Tie A Yellow Ribbon". But then, I like almost everything Lambert and Potter turned out.

 

I remember this on the radio.

Great song.
It got a lot of airplay.