EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present

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

  1. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    "Annie's Song" was one of those that I made up rude lyrics for.

    I don't really remember them, but I didn't do that for songs I liked.

    I like it better now, but my John Denver collection consists of...nothing.

    JcS
     
  2. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    I never liked Annie's Song; it sounds forced. I don't like Sunshine on My Shoulder either. Ballads just don't come off well when he's on them.

    Calypso and Rocky Mountain High, on the other hand, are just fine.
     
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  3. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I’ll raise you with this...plenty of us think some of the previous number one’s, and a few coming up, didn’t belong on the charts at all...lol.

    I did hate it when an awesome song got stuck for weeks at number 2-3 when behind something like You Light Up My Life which I think locked out everyone else for what, 11 weeks? That’s another one I can’t wait to see comments for. Gonna be fun!
     
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  4. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Man, I just don’t even begin to know what to say! One has to admit, however, it was a fun era to grow up in. If that was what pop culture was into, and for many it sure was...I was there, at least you couldn’t get in too much trouble! What an incredible contrast to today!
     
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  5. Grant

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

    My older sister (RIP) used to say "I'm not a bitch, I AM the bitch!" whenever she was angry. :D
     
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  6. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    Randy: Would He Date a Teenager Girl?

    Sounds a bit strange in 2018, I don't know about 1974 though.

    The only person I recognize here is Donny Osmond and I honestly thought that the kid at the very top was Donny until I realized he was right next to his headline.
     
  7. Grant

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

    Awwww...was that what you read when you were that age? Just kidding!:laugh:

    Notice the part that says "Randy: Would he date a teenage girl?" Man, in those days, it was no big deal! The parents might have a little discussion beforehand, but nowadays, the guy would be arrested and have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
     
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  8. Grant

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

    I really hated "Annie's Song" back then. It was that surge of teenage testosterone that caused me to hate it. Yeah, that's it. But, somehow tolerated it when it came on the radio. Today I really like it.
     
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  9. Archguy

    Archguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond VA
    I bet it was more like "I'm not a bitch, I am THE bitch!"

    At least that's how mine put it. And she was right.
     
  10. Grant

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

    No, the emphasis was on "am", a drawn out "ammmmmm".
     
  11. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    Ditto. Since the kid at the very top is evidently named Tony, my best guess is Tony DeFranco (who I believe is now a real-estate salesman in Southern California - there are evidently second acts in Canadian lives)?
     
  12. Bobby Morrow

    Bobby Morrow Senior Member

    And this is the UK’s take on things. Music Star along with Popswap and Jackie were the teenybop mags of the day.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Marc Bolan was featured in these things almost permanently for a couple of years but by 1974 was ‘old hat’ and replaced with hunks like, erm Slade and Alice Cooper. Bowie also dominated though doesn’t appear to be in these issues
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
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  13. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    You would have hated the 1939-55 period before what became rock and roll first permeated the top of the charts. Just sayin'.
     
  14. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    I noticed about the bit about Happy Days, that this was before Fonzie began creeping onto these covers . . .
     
  15. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    That is indeed Tony DeFranco, whose 3rd and final hit was just slipping off the charts. The girls, as they always do, would be moving on.

    The rest are TV stars (in Donny's case, soon to be TV star).

    Randy is Randolph Mantooth of Emergency!. He was 28 at the time, thus the "would he date a teenage girl" thing. Hey, it was the '70s.

    Vincent Van Patten was 16 then, and part of an acting family that was all over the airwaves. Apple's Way would be cancelled soon, thus he didn't have to leave the show. (Gasp!)

    Ron Howard and Anson Williams are the "Happy Day" boys (that show had just started), Chris Knight was of course Peter on The Brady Bunch (which had just been cancelled, so they had lost him forever!), and The Cowboys was a short-lived series based on the 1972 John Wayne movie.

    It was about a bunch of boys living on a ranch. One of them apparently sang.
     
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  16. Dougd

    Dougd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fla.
    Wait until we get to the Gibbs Bros., who kept many good songs from No. 1. One of those was Baker Street, by Gerry Rafferty.
     
  17. Black Thumb

    Black Thumb Yah Mo B There

    Location:
    Reno, NV
    Indeed. I don't think Fonzmania broke out until '75 or '76. That first season he was very much a bit player, and wasn't even allowed to wear his leather jacket unless he was on his motorcycle.
     
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  18. Grant

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

    The TV show "Happy Days" premiered mid-season in January of 1974. Immediately, Fonzimania broke out. I'll never forget the morning after the first proper broadcast. We were in sixth-grade class and that's all my classmates could talk about. Fonzi this, Fonzi that! "Aaaaayyyyyyyy!". I did not find the show the least bit interesting.
     
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  19. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member


    True. Also, Dusty Springfield had sung background on "Ballad Of A Well Known Gun" from Tumbleweed Connection four years earlier.
     
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  20. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    Teen magazines age in dog years lmao, the careers of the subjects often last for like 3 years tops. The only 'teen idol' at this time who was able to branch successfully into a full fledged adult career was Michael Jackson and he got little coverage on these mags.

    In the biography I read of MJ, Joe Joseph always hated that despite their fame Michael Jackson was never a teen sensation like Donny Osmond who was his age mate. The were both 16 in '74.
     
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  21. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I was in my local store yesterday and it’s amazing how little TK stuff I have. I impulsively bought Foxy Hot Number on vinyl thinking it had Get Off on it, but it doesn’t...but I sitll want to collect some stuff he was involved in. Of course I have all the KC stuff, and a Jimmy Bo Horne that I liked when it was new...it’s really just a KC album with his vocals. History would have been far different for TK in the 70’s had he not seen the talent in KC and Finch. They wroto so many of the hits they got. There is a great web site (henrystone.com)....I might be wrong as there may be one more word, but that will get you close...it’s really interesting but note the top is white and the links are also in white...I almost left it thinking all there was was the photo on the front. Anyway, there is a link with all their gold records and nearly every one was either KC or they wrote the song. I just finished his short book and it was a fun, fast read. And that brought me to another one he wrote, which is more about the industry itself and not just on payola. I will let you guys know how it is. He writes rough and in some slang, and repeats himself a lot, so it can be hard to get through but it shows you the person. I think he probably dictated it, as he rambles a bit (but it’s all good) and I think someone typed it out for him.

    He sold off his rights to most of the TK stuff for $250K...man that sucks! On that web site, there is a list of stuff you can license and his son seems to make a living doing that. What’s interesting is all the odd ball stuff that is available, and sad that so many obvious material isn’t. And then, bang, a big hit pops up. So, I think Rhino got almost all the good stuff as would be expected. One of the big KC songs is on there though, which is odd in that Rhino would have wanted that too, and it’s on the Rhino comp. Point being, putting out a box set (which I would quite agree would be awesome) would probably be very complicated with all those labels, plus some is over at Rhino. But you would think Rhino has enough that they could put out a pretty good collection on their own. Also, you will probably find at least one label that you’ll recognize but didn’t know it was a TK affiliate. Interesting story: I believe it is a common belief that he was really stiffing his artists and that was the reason why he kept opining new labels and then he could let lawsuits go. That isn’t what he said at all, and his reason makes incredible sense. We are all talking about the charts, and that’s why he did it. He had people in his back pocket so in those days, you would see maybe 15 TK records on the Billboard chart at a time (I think he’s exagerrating, but that’s what he said). So, had he wanted ten more hits on the chart it would have been too obvious so he would come up with different labels and spread it around. That part makes sense, but I’m not believing he had that many TK Records hits at a time, plus others too. The majors could hardly pull that off! And, he repeatedly said he always paid his artist’s royalties first, and with the other half (that right there doesn’t make sense...half?) he would have to pay all the expenses. So, he ended up with little in the end so he says. Believe everything or not, and the truth is likely in the middle, it’s a fun read if you loved music during that era. Sorry for the ramble.....I hope some of your found it interesting.
     
    Last edited: Jun 12, 2018
  22. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    I actually like the song, and the vibe. I wasn’t very old yet, or not into the Eagles too much at the time, so I probably didn’t have the appreciation most did. I would bet most did “get it”. There are far, far worse songs we an talk about, that’s for sure! I sure enjoyed hearing him in the Eagles documentary.
     
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  23. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Well, good to know we in the US weren’t the only one’s with nothing better to do!
     
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  24. SomeCallMeTim

    SomeCallMeTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Rockville, CT
    [​IMG]

    To date, Rhino seems to have come up with just this...erm...label retrospective. Though it's lightly peppered with mainstream Top 40 hits, the other "deep" cuts were my first introduction to what naysayers hated so much about disco...and I generally LIKE the genre.

    I, too, would like to see a compilation of the TK family of labels' bona fide hits...especially the Facts of Life's "Sometimes," a cover of Bill Anderson's country hit that translates perfectly into r&b. Despite Rhino owning most of the TK catalog, it's never appeared on CD.
     
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  25. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    COOL! Thank you for posting. I’m going to laugh if I have that already....if I had seen it in the 90’s I bet I have it...going to go check....
     
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