EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present

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

  1. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member

    Something - I wasn't around when the Beatles were active so when I first heard this via the Love Songs comp in 1980, I assumed that that it was recorded sometime in the 1970s. It might be one of the earliest hits to have the dead drum sound that would became popular throughout the coming decade.

    Kiss Him Goodbye - I first heard this via the Bananaramma version in 1983 and I hated it. I heard the Steam version on an oldies radio show a year a later and it knocked me out. For something that was recorded as a throwaway track, everything fits together quite well.
     
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  2. I Love Music

    I Love Music Forum Resident

    Everything you wanted to know about Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye but were afraid to ask . . . from the drum loop lifted from the Garrett Scott (aka Gary DeCarlo) recording of Sugar, Sugar (the Neil Sedaka song, not the one by The Archies), the additional percussive effects produced by Gary using padded drumsticks on a packaging board for a Hammond organ that had recently been delivered to the recording studio, to the decision by Mercury records to remove the song from the B-side of the Garrett Scott single Sweet Laura Lee (written by Larry Weiss of Rhinestone Cowboy fame) and release it separately as an A-side under the Steam moniker on their Fontana imprint . . . as told by the song’s co-writer and lead singer, the late Gary DeCarlo:

     
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  3. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    This would be filed under "screwing up in reverse." But see how the stereo and mono editings differ considerably.

    It was also the last major hit recorded at Mercury Sound Studios in New York. From there on in it would chiefly be a mastering/cutting facility, later spun off into the independent Masterdisk in 1973.
     
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  4. Dawg In Control

    Dawg In Control Forum Resident

    Location:
    Granite Falls, NC
    Have to admit that I thought it was a girl who sang Kiss Him Goodbye for a long time. In fact, always thought it sounded a lot like Cher.

    Was years later that I found out it was a guy.

    Had a friend who thought, Neil Sedaka was a girl on his 70's version of "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do".
     
  5. John22

    John22 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Northern Germany
    I think it's not easy to find the mono version. I have found the song on the German soundtrack album "FC Venus":
    https://www.amazon.de/Fc-Venus-Fehlfarben/dp/B000FA58KM

    Also available on the album "Dick Bartley Presents: On The Radio, Vol. 3". Read this thread:
    Single Versions
     
  6. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    I mentioned earlier there were four #1 songs through December 1969, all one weekers except for this one. Funny that the lone Bubblegum-ish tune held onto the top spot longer. There was still power in that style of Pop though it would morph into the 70s version with the likes of Edison Lighthouse, Dawn, Vanity Fair, The Partridge Family and of course, those Osmonds.
     
  7. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    I like Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, more so than any of the numerous no. 1 songs already posted for which I have said "I like this but not a whole lot".

    Not to be confused with Kiss Me Goodbye by Petula Clark, one of those songs I didn't like at the time but which is a favourite now.
     
  8. AppleBonker

    AppleBonker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
  9. Joey Self

    Joey Self Red Forman's Sensitivity Guru

    "Na Na Etc" is OK to hear on the radio now and then--and to use to abuse an opposing team when the game is over but the clock is still ticking.

    As for "Something," I'd nominated it as Paul McCartney's single best bass playing in the Beatles. Sublime.

    JcS
     
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  10. alphanguy

    alphanguy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Missouri
    In October 1969, Tony would make a preliminary appearance on the charts as lead singer of this group, and the song would reach # 28 on the charts, a modest rekindling of a career that would supernova come the next couple of years.

     
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  11. Bruce M.

    Bruce M. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hilo, HI, USA
    I read a contemporaneous review of a '70s Sinatra concert by LA Times pop critic Robert Hilburn that reported during that show he credited "Something" to "Mr. Lennon and Mr. McCartney." (and yes, I remember it that specifically because it really stuck with me). Hilburn wasn't my favorite critic but I don't think he made stuff up.
     
  12. zebop

    zebop Well Known Stranger

    Sammy was on a painkiller alright: Cocaine. I keed, I keed...

    It's amazing how "out of it" Sammy can sound out of his element. I'm a big fan of his, watched tons of clips and the oddest things I've seen that era when he's doing some song and screaming like James Brown, it never worked.
     
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  13. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Ha! I bought this single in '69.
     
  14. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Well he was The Candy Man! Sammy D was of a style that I didn't learn to appreciate until I was well into adulthood. Strangely enough, I connected with this tune as a 14 year old in '68 and it's the only record I own by him.

     
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  15. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    Thanks. I'd be interested in knowing the date of the concert on which Hilburn was reporting. A quick online search failed to turn up the article. I'm not doubting its existence or your recollections, but perhaps someone in the Beatles fan crowd here can locate a copy?

    It's certainly possible that Sinatra may have miscredited "Something" on occasion—but not on any of the many concert recordings I've found, including all official releases. Frank was a stickler for crediting songwriters in his performances, but there are many examples of times when he flubbed credits on stage. (He usually managed to correct himself.) Note that Sinatra made two studio recordings of "Something" (1970 and 1979), and in this case, having met George Harrison, he certainly knew who wrote the song.

    BTW, see also:
    Frank Sinatra frequently called "Something" his favorite Lennon-McCartney song? - snopes.com
     
  16. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    One of many examples (first 20 seconds):

     
  17. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    I personally heard him credit Lennon and McCartney as the writers of "Something" one night in Carnegie Hall.
     
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  18. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    I have the LP, although I think I fished it out of a delete bin in the '70s.

    Another track that got airplay was Teenybopper:



    Edit: changed the link, there's a glitch in the first one.

    In retrospect it's surprising how close it sounds to Tony Orlando and Dawn, which was only a couple of years later after all ...
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2017
  19. alphanguy

    alphanguy Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Missouri
    Next we got "Leaving On A Jet Plane", by Peter, Paul, and Mary, #1 from December 20 - December 26, 1969.

     
  20. AppleBonker

    AppleBonker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle
    Come Together

    Come Together started life as John Lennon's attempt to write a campaign song for Timothy Leary, who was planning to run for governor of California. His slogan was supposed to be something like 'Come Together, join the party', but it quickly became clear to Lennon that the gobbledegook he was composing was not going to be much use to Leary (who ended up aborting his political career anyway). As a song, however, it was one of Lennon's best of the year, a swampy, tough rocker with an unforgettable bass line and another of John's best, if most cryptic, lyrics.

    There is a theory in Beatles fan circles that the four verses of the song each reference a different member of the band. If so, my guess is they are as follows (in the order they appear in the song):

    George Harrison ('he one holy roller')
    Ringo Starr ('he wear no shoeshine' -- cause he's down to Earth?)
    John Lennon ('he got Walrus gumboot/he got Ono Sideboard')
    Paul McCartney ('got to be good looking cause he's so hard to see')

    Lennon did get into a bit of trouble because the first line of the song - 'here come old flat top' - is a lift from a Chuck Berry song called You Can't Catch Me (in that song, the lyric is 'here come a flat top, he was moving up with me'). In fact, listening to Berry perform the number here, I can definitely see a slight resemblance (though it doesn't sound THAT much like it).



    In order to avoid being sued, Lennon later agreed to cover You Can't Catch Me and two other songs by the music publisher Morris Levy. Two of the songs appeared on his Rock n Roll solo album in 1975, but the third never did, prompting more court problems before they settled out of court (I wonder -- why wasn't Paul also sued? It was theoretically a Lennon/McCartney composition, wasn't it?).

    Come Together also is the first Beatles song that Lennon was willing to perform in concert after the group split up. In fact, other than a one-time performance of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and I Saw Her Standing There, paired with Elton John, I think it might be the ONLY Beatles song he ever performed in concert post breakup (please correct me if I'm wrong!).
     
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  21. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Written by John Denver. I loved this song when I was a tyke, and still like it today. Their last big hit I believe, and fairly far-removed from the early-'60s folk boom. Of course, that was about to all come roaring back in a way, thanks to the rise of the children of the folk boom, the singer/songwriters.
     
  22. czeskleba

    czeskleba Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Levy's original lawsuit was filed against MacLen Music Inc., Northern Songs Ltd. and Apple Records Inc, so Paul (and George and Ringo, as owners of Apple Music) were also parties to the lawsuit. That suit was dropped when they reached their out-of-court settlement that Lennon would agree to cover three Levy-owned songs on his next album, and from that point it on became Lennon's problem rather than the Beatles'.

    From there though, things got really complicated (as is covered in this article) and they eventually wound up back in court, suing each other. Lennon ultimately wound up paying Levy $6,795 for failing to include the third song ("Angel Baby") on the Rock 'n' Roll album, while Levy had to pay Lennon $84,912.96 for releasing the unauthorized Roots album.
     
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  23. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Leaving On A Jet Plane has never been a favorite of mine in any way. It's quite boring musically and truth be told, I'd just as soon hear Puff the Magic Dragon or If I Had A Hammer.
     
  24. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    When released as a single, this track (and its B side, "The House Song") was some two years old, originally featured on the 1967 LP Album 1700 (which was not mentioned on the label). If anything indicated that the '60's were about to be over, it was this one, with only guitars and double bass for instrumentation (talk about retro!), Ms. Travers' lead vocals, and Mr. Yarrow and Mr. Stookey backing her up on the chorus. I.I.N.M., PP&M, on their last LP's up to this point, had more instrumentation (and a different producer*).
    * "Leavin' " was produced by Albert Grossman and Milt Okun; one of their more recent records before this, "Day Is Done," had been produced by Phil Ramone.

    This has long been a favorite track of mine (indeed, it's in my collection), and I.I.N.M., was the only #1 had by Warners' in the 1968-70 stretch as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts ("W7").
     
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  25. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    This has led to a lot of consternation on moviemistakes.com. In the movie Catch Me If You Can, a minor character sings it in a scene set a few years prior to 1969. This has led to some claiming it's a mistake because the song "wasn't released until 1969", which of course is also a mistake. Although it wasn't well known until then, it had been available to the public since 1967. The catch: that scene is probably set in 1966 (it's not specifically identified as such, but context makes that fairly clear), so it's still an anachronism, just not by as much as people tend to think.

    I love PP&M, but I've never cared much for "Leavin' On A Jet Plane". One of many, many examples of an act's biggest hit not being among my favorites. But I am glad they made it to the top once, and there is something poetic about it being their very last single and at the very end of the decade that will forever be synonymous with their style!
     
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