Number one singles that have been (almost) completely forgotten

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by AFOS, Oct 15, 2013.

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  1. Grant

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

    You apparently forgot about "Knock Three Times" was #1 in 1971. It is played all over oldies radio.

    It's a shame some men can't get past this. It was all over the radio out here back in 1972. It was a great record!

    I hear "You're Sixteen" quite a bit, but, you're right about "Photograph". What's up with that??? It was his biggest hit, yet it's seldom ever played.

    Funny how you could play the word "bitch" on the radio in the 70s, but you can't do it now. You also never hear Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back" or Billy Joel's "Big Shot".

    I have heard "#9 Dream" on oldies radio, though.

    And, if you do ever hear it, they never play the long 45 single version.

    I wouldn't say that. Abdul was still hot in 1991, and "Spellbound" was a big album.
     
  2. Sparky

    Sparky Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, England
    Funnily enough it was a number 1 here and could probably qualify for this thread but i'm sure i've heard it played occasionally.

    Double Barrel was number one on the day i was born so i've not forgotten it:winkgrin:

    How about Angel Fingers by Wizzard, See My Baby Jive is a constant on oldies radio but that one is rarely played.
     
  3. mikee

    mikee Forum Resident

    I would rate Sue (which only reached #2 on the Billboard rock chart but #1 on the country and adult contemporary charts) as one of the best remembered #1's

    For forgotten, I nominate "Convoy" by C.W. McCoy - #1 on both the Country and Rock charts in 1975. It probably gets "remembered" now and then but I've never heard the actual song on the radio in a long time.
     
    Drifter likes this.
  4. As long as there are jukeboxes in bars where blue collar men congregate, "A Boy Named Sue" is going to get played at least occasionally.
     
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  5. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    How about The Bay City Rollers pair of chart toppers (Bye Bye Baby/Give A Little Love)? So much for Rollermania!
     
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  6. impalaboy

    impalaboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boise, Idaho
    Although it never reached #1, the Northern Pikes' "She Ain't Pretty (She Just Looks That Way)" got a ton of airplay, then just disappeared.
     
  7. Leepal

    Leepal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Swindon, UK
    Slik - Forever and Ever
     
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  8. Glenpwood

    Glenpwood Hyperactive!

    My point was more about while it was a hit, had it come long a few months it never would have topped the chart. Once Billboard went full on BDS/Soundscan data Paula's best showing was #6 for Promise's follow up Blowing Kisses In The Wind. A lot of the piggybacking off prior success as far as playlisting vs actual airplay and sales disappeared until the labels figured out a few years later how to make the boxes of free goods shipped to retailers that they could sell for .49 or .99 cents to spur impulse buys work for them.
     
  9. greenwichsteve

    greenwichsteve Well-Known Member

    Nick Gilder sounds female? Bonnie Tyler sounds male? Not to my ears!!
     
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  10. Raf

    Raf Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Ontario
    Does anyone play "Stars on 45" anymore?
     
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  11. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    Still hear this one (more on classic rock stations than on oldies/hits channels).
     
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2013
  12. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    Thanks very much for the reference. From the looks of it, the Canadian charts operated differently from their U.S. counterparts in some regards.

    I notice that it was rare for a song to spend more than one week at #1. I see only a few instances of a song staying on top for two weeks, and even fewer of it lingering for three weeks. In the U.S., one-week stays at #1 were actually less common than multi-week ones.

    Also, if I read one of the footnotes correctly, up through 1966 the practice at RPM was to delete a song entirely from the charts once it had finished its run at #1. Sometime in that year, they began mimicking the U.S. practice of having a song begin a slow descent back down the charts after it had peaked.

    It really is surprising how many of the songs on the original list you posted failed to reach #1 in the States. Canadian content ones aside, some of them (e.g., "Ride Away," "Magic Town" ) didn't even make the Top 10 or Top 20, while songs like "My Name Is Mud" missed the Top 40 altogether.
     
  13. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Don't think those are forgotten at all!
     
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  14. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Good pick - I'm surprised it made #1. I have no memory of that song at all - I remember that it exists but couldn't hum it to save my life!
     
  15. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    The good people at Lifestyle Lift believe the song is remembered since they're using it and Debby to advertise their product! :D

     
  16. Grant

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

    For decades, I thought the vocalist in "Hot Child In the City" was a female.
     
  17. ampmods

    ampmods Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I believe they sped up Nick Gilder's vocal on the recording.
     
  18. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    I suspect one of the main reasons was demographic differences were much greater back in the 1960s. The charts tend to skew more towards "pop".
     
  19. zen

    zen Senior Member

    "Livin' la Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin
     
  20. setalpgninnpsekil

    setalpgninnpsekil Forum Resident

    Pretty sure Photograph was played in a movie recently... 500 Days of Summer maybe?

    That might have boosted its popularity some.
     
  21. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Ha, "Skye" looks better in the before picture! Can't possibly be her real name, being born in 1953 and all. Ron
     
  22. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Don't think I saw Kung Fu Fighting mentioned. I haven't heard that song in radio since the 70's. Another one that comes to mind is A Fifth Of Beethoven. Pure dreck and a number one hit! Ron
     
  23. Pseudonym

    Pseudonym Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit, MI
    All of Pat Boone's bowdlerized, easy-listening tripe, thankfully.
     
  24. Rufus McDufus

    Rufus McDufus Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Best selling single ever in the UK by quite some margin. I wonder if the record company predicted the almost complete lack of repeat plays after the mourning of Diana subsided?
     
  25. seed_drill

    seed_drill Senior Member

    Location:
    Tryon, NC, USA
    I don't think it would be an exaggeration of me to say this would apply to 85% of the number ones of the last 20+ years. Once I stopped spending my summers working in factories, my exposure to top 40 radio pretty much ceased. So unless a song was also on rock radio or something with over the top ubiquity, I probably didn't penetrate my filters.
     
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