EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present

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

  1. John22

    John22 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northern Germany
    From 1968 to 1970 we got a package of a U.S. record service every week with the new entries in the Hot 100 because I worked for a German record company. We always wanted to know what was going on in the Hot 100. Who has used such a record service in the U.S.A.?
     
  2. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    As with many tracks here, I like Love Child but not a whole lot. However, it's one of those songs that I probably underrate a little.

    It's a damn sight better than Living in Shame, which really puts me off.
     
  3. Grant

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

    No, it's bunk.
     
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  4. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    That's Diana Ross and The Supremes, as the original labels on Motown 1135 make clear. And given that The Andantes are backing Diana up on this one, it's essentially a "Supremes" record in name only.

    Interesting, they were credited with a total of 12 #1's. Yet there were actually Supremes as a group on 10 of 'em. Not shabby by any means, but still . . .
     
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  5. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    Well obviously they were still The Supremes...12 #1 hits.
     
  6. AppleBonker

    AppleBonker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Love Child

    Love Child is another one of my favorite Supremes songs, probably my third favorite behind Reflections and You Keep Me Hanging On. It's cool that after so many songs which basically focused on relationships, here they took a radical turn into a controversial topic, and it works. The lyrics are well written and flow nicely, and Diana delivers them convincingly given that she's clearly playing a character in this song. My favorite bit is:

    This love we're contemplating
    is worth the pain of waiting
    We'll only end up hating
    the child we may be creating

    But though the lyrics are good, I think the tune is even better. It has a real desperate energy to it that matches the topic well. The ending part is particular good, when she croons 'I'll always loooove yooo-ooo-oooo'. Is the implication that, because she isn't going to sleep with this guy right at this moment, that they have to break up? I hope not!

    It's interesting that, after Motown had dominated the top of the charts the past five years, we went this long into 1968 before a Motown song got to #1 (meanwhile, we had had black artists from other places get to #1, notably Otis and Archie Bell. Did I forget anyone?). The Supremes in particular had been a #1 machine, but their streak ground to a halt when Holland/Dozier/Holland left Motown for greener pastures. This was their first #1 after that. Yet despite the slow start, we were not done with Motown in this year! (and that's all I say for now about that :)).

    I do have to give my shout out to the backing vocals, which are both really effective and kind of comical at times. I've always loved when they sing 'tenement slummmm' in the background, or when they sing "Scorned by" and Diana follows with "society". Backing vocals don't always have to just be oooh and ahhs, y'know! :agree:
     
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  7. snepts

    snepts Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eugene, OR
    For some reason this brings to mind "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" It was likely somewhere on this forum (maybe this thread?) where someone pointed out the song wasn't just about flirtation and uncertain longing but the decision whether someone should have intimacy tonight and what happens tomorrow? I had never thought about it quite that vividly. Love Child certainly is much more obvious with the point being made.
     
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  8. Dougd

    Dougd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fla.
    Will You Still Love Me-- which has been covered many times (like Yesterday) -- was way ahead of its time, given its topical nature.
    A powerful Carole King song (recorded and sent to No. 1 by The Shirelles).
    A very unusual, timely & topical song for 1961.
     
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  9. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Had the same thought.
     
  10. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    In deference to @alphanguy the Thread Starter (although one reason I'm putting this up early is due to work being done where I live), let me direct you to the next chart-topper after "Love Child" leaves the summit . . . another winner from the same label family . . .

    Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine
    (#1 from December 14, 1968 - January 25, 1969 = 7 weeks)

    [​IMG]
    (Very rare West Coast pressing [by RCA Records Pressing Plant, Hollywood] with 'globes' logo - and interesting typo [courtesy The Bert-Co Enterprises].)



    Motown Record Corporation's biggest hit up to that time, and Mr. Gaye's first of three Number One pop hits. Its massive success led to the album from which it came, In The Groove, to be retitled to this track.

    The funny thing: It had originally been recorded in early 1967, prior to the version (also produced by Norman Whitfield) by Gladys Knight & The Pips. But the Gaye version, at the time, was too ahead of its time in its arrangement and its presentation, so it was shelved up to the point it was slated for single release on Oct. 30, 1968. By then, "the times" were right for this rendition to come out. On the R&B charts, the song itself was a bookend in terms of its Number One status - the Pips' at the start of the turbulent year of 1968, Marvin's at the end.

    For yours truly, Marvin's recording was and is the definitive version - especially in mono. It smites all else - of course the California Raisins, but also (I.M.H.O.) Creedence Clearwater Revival's, among the more famous.
     
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2017
  11. Victor/Victrola

    Victor/Victrola Makng shure its write

    What is the best version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine? I think it's a testament to the strength of the composition that it's been remade so many times by a wide variety of artists and each version offers something of substance. It's a brilliant song in and of itself, but I think Marvin Gaye's version is definitive. GK&tPs do a scorching version as well, and CCR turns it into a jam session. But Gaye gives it the right touch of anger and sings with such a vengeance that you feel like it is only Chapter One in the story of this troubled relationship. By slowing the tempo just a bit from Knight's rendition, it really gives the song the smoldering feel of resentment that it needs. Another record deserving to be at the top of the charts for multiple weeks.
     
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  12. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Someone had noted that the way the tambourine was shaken on the intro paved the way for the foreboding tone of Mr. Gaye's rendition (they even used the term "threatening" to describe it). But as to your description, you really hit the nail on the head.
     
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  13. Mylene

    Mylene Senior Member

    The Creedence version was voted the greatest record of all time (#2 Hey Jude) in a radio poll in the early '70s here.
    The Gaye and Knight versions are so different they're consecutive tracks on the UK Non Stop Motown Hits CD.
    I really like The Slits version :D
     
  14. Finchingfield

    Finchingfield Forum Resident

    Location:
    Henrico, Va
    And now for the 1968 recap of #1 records in Cashbox and/or Record World that were not #1 in Billboard:

    --I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Gladys Knight & The Pips (1 wk CB)

    --Chain Of Fools by Aretha Franklin (1 wk CB)

    --Bend Me, Shape Me by The American Breed (1 wk RW)

    --Theme From Valley of the Dolls by Dionne Warwick (2 wks RW)

    --Simon Says by 1910 Fruitgum Co. (1 wk RW)

    --Valleri by The Monkees (2 wks in both CB and RW)

    --Young Girl by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (1 wk in both CB & RW)

    --Jumpin' Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones (1 wk in CB)

    --Lady Willpower by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (1 wk in both CB & RW)

    --Classical Gas by Mason Williams (1 wk in CB)

    --Those Were The Days by Mary Hopkin (2 wks in CB, 4 wks in RW)

    --For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder (1 wk in both CB & RW)
     
  15. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    The mono mix of "Simon Says" is way different from the stereo, which has the backing singers' "ba-ba-ba-ba" on the first verse as well as the last two. On the mono, only lead singer Mark Gutkowski's voice is heard on the first verse. Natch', I go for the mono every time. As I do for "Bend Me, Shape Me" (the stereo of which was slowed down considerably, didn't hear it sped-up till I first got the 45).

    "For Once In My Life" is an odd duck. It had been written three years before Mr. Wonder's version was released, and recorded by a whole host of acts (including Tony Bennett) before Stevie's came out. One of the most successful in the Stein & Van Stock part of the Motown publishing catalogue.
     
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  16. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Almost like night and day - with the Knight/Pips rendition being like day and Gaye's like night.
     
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  17. Grant

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

    I'm pretty sure it's the other way around: the mono 45 was sped up.

    It stands out for Stevie Wonder because the lyrics are mature and quite beautiful. My other favorite version is by Tony Bennett.
     
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  18. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    As for "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (the debut of the hard-charging "greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world" incarnation, initially under producer Jimmy Miller) which managed to make it to #1 on Cash Box' chart, the "go-to" for me is the CBS Pitman typesetting, as always in cases like this:
    [​IMG]
    . . . used also by their other two plants, Terre Haute and Santa Maria. As was also the case with their follow-up single . . . "Street Fighting Man." (This one's a Pitman, B.T.W.) An oddity in that UK Decca's XDR matrix system wasn't used on US copies (though UK Decca copies sure did - the A side here was XDR 42592, as opposed to the 69-42M shown here).
     
  19. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    Marvin Gaye has the best version IMO, and his was the one that was recorded first, even before Gladys Knight & The Pips did theirs. He was hesitant to release it because Gladys Knight & The Pips had just had a big hit with the song.

    His of course became the biggest hit of his career at that point and blocked 2 other Motown songs, 'For Once In My Life' by Stevie Wonder and 'Im Gonna Make You Love Me' by Diana Ross & The Supremes with The Temptations, from hitting the top spot.
     
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  20. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    1. Gladys Knight & The Pips - Heard It Through The Grapevine

    2. Aretha Franklin - Chain Of Fools

    3. Dionne Warwick - (Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls

    4. Garry Puckett & The Union Gap - Young Girl

    5. The Box-Tops - Cry Like A Baby

    6. Hugo Montenegro - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

    7. Richard Harris - MacArthur Park

    8. Cliff Nobles & Co. - The Horse

    9. Garry Puckett & The Union Gap - Lady Will Power

    10. Mason Williams - Classical Gas

    11. Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild

    12. Crazy Wolf of Arthur Brown - Fire

    13. O.C Smith - Little Green Apples

    14. Mary Hopkins - Those Were The Days

    15. Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life

    A last look at the 15 songs that were stuck at #2 in the year 1968. (I posted this list earlier)
     
  21. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    It wasn't Gaye who was reticent about releasing his version of "...Grapevine" - Berry Gordy was. The only reason it got released as a single was: a) Norman Whitfield including it in what first came out as In The Groove, and b) radio stations creating so much buzz due to it's being played as an album track that it practically forced its single release. And lawdy mama, did the Motown organization have a monster on their hands, or what? Gaye's mood at the time it reached the top was one of depression in large part due to the ultimately fatal illness of his singing partner of the time, Tammi Terrell, and his belief that its success "wasn't real" and he didn't "deserve it" - a prelude to the change in the direction of his entire career in every which way after the turn of the decade.
     
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  22. Glenpwood

    Glenpwood Hyperactive!

    Actually Norman Whitfield cut it on Smokey Robinson & The Miracles before he cut it on Marvin & Gladys. It wound up as just an album cut on their "Special Occasion" LP.

    Gordy had the final say but the track didn't go over well at the initial quality control meeting in Spring 1967. One of Berry's litmus tests was if you had a dollar to buy a 45 or a coke and hot dog would you skip the meal to buy the song in question. They would bring in local Detroit kids at times to test this. Another thing they did at these meetings was to play the top 5 records in the country that week and ask would the songs being considered for release work mixed into a DJ's playlist with them? Harry Weinger of Universal has recreated this meeting during his NYU teaching tenure with his students using "Grapevine" to try to figure out why Berry & this room of producers and exec's favored issuing HDH's mostly forgotten "Your Unchanging Love" over it. The theory they seem to hold was that the ominious tone of Marvin's anguished reading was too jarring when played against the big hits of the moment like "Somethin' Stupid", "Happy Together," "This Is My Song," & "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You." I would've argued back that Motown's lone record in that top 5 - "Bernadette" also has that anguished emotional angle Marvin's single does but ultimately they might have been right. Marvin's version would've played a bit heavy next to the light fair of spring 1967 but was sonically perfect for the end of a turbulent 1968.
     
  23. SITKOL'76

    SITKOL'76 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colombia, SC
    WOW, Berry AGAIN?!?! The same guy who didn't want 'What's Goin On' released? If Marvin had listened to Berry more often his career would've went nowhere. Berry always says Marvin was stubborn and this is probably why lol.
     
  24. Dougd

    Dougd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fla.
    Gordy also blocked many releases from other Motown acts, particularly the Girl Groups.
    "Jimmy Mack" got held-back because Gordy thought it sounded too similar to The Supremes.
    It became a big hit.

    Gordy was so jealously "guarding" the success of The Supremes.
    He poured profits from many other Motown hit records' into The Supremes as well.
    That's one reason Mary Wells left Motown... She felt her career was being slighted in favor of Diana Ross.
     
  25. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Marvin's version no question. With You're All I need To Get By, Too Busy Thinkin' 'Bout My Baby, That's The Way Love Goes and this one, the man was on fire!
     

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