Saturday, January 31, 2009
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival amassed five No. 2 hits, but never managed to hit the top spot. It should be noted that the Creedence hits have held up better than some of the records that blocked their path. "Proud Mary" was kept out of the No. 1 spot by Tommy Roe's "Dizzy"; "Green River" was held at bay by the Archies' "Sugar Sugar."
Floyd Cramer
Floyd Cramer could be forgiven if he had a little bit of a grudge agains Elvis Presley. His single "Last Date" looked like it was going to be a sure-fire No. 1, until Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" rocketed to the top. "Last Date" wound up spending four weeks at No. 2 behind Elvis.
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello entered the album chart for the first time in December, 1977, less than four months after the death of Elvis Presley, whose name he adopted. Costello's aim may have been true from the beginning, but it took him six years to land his first Top-40 single, "Everyday I Write The Book."
Don Costa
Don Costa's "Never On Sunday" was a top-20 hit in 1960, but Costa is much better known as the arranger of numerous Frank Sinatra sessions, and the co-producer of such hits as Sammhy Davis Jr.'s "Candy Man" and Donny Osmond's "Puppy Love." His co-producer on those dates: future California Lt. Gov. Mike Curb.
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge often turned to oldies for her singles in the 70s. She charted with Peggy Lee's "Fever," Jackie Wilson's "Higher And Higher," the Temptations' "The Way You Do The Things You Do," and the Chiffons' "One Fine Day."
Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke's influence and impact is suggested by the number of his songs that have become top-10 hits for other artists. Among them: "Only Sixteen," "Wonderful World," "Cupid," and "Another Saturday Night."
Perry Como
Perry Como landed his first top-10 hit ("Long Ago(And Far Away)") in May, 1944, and his last (It's Impossible") in January, 1971. that's 26 years and eight months between top-10 hits--a span topped by only one singer in history: Fank SInatra.
The Commodores
The Commodores' "Nightshift" was one of two top-10 hits in April, 1985, to pay tribute to the late, great Marvin Gaye. The other: Diana Ross' "Missing You," which was written and produced by former Commodores leader Lionel Richie.
Phil Collins
Phil Collins landed his first top-10 hit with a remake of the Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love." Collins and former Supreme Diana Ross have one other hting in common: They're the only two performers to hit No. 1 as a solo, as part of a duo, and as part of a trio.
Joe Cocker
Joe Crocker gained his initial reputation as a blues screamer, but he scored his biggest hits as a pop balladeer, with "You Are So Beautiful" and "Up Where We Belong."
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff's "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" was a new, original song, not a medley of "Wonderful World" and "Beautiful People." But that might not be a bad idea either.
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons & Jackson Browne's "You're A Friend Of Mine" was a hit at the same time as Dionne & Friends' "That's What Friends Are For," and while Andrew Gold's "Thank You For Being A Friend" was heard every week as the theme for TV's "Golden Girls."
Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton's highest-charting album was titled 461 Ocean Boulevard, which was the address of the Miami studio where the album was recorded. Julio Iglesias' highest-charting album was 1100 Bel Air Place, which was the address of the Bel Air home in which he lived while he was recording.
The Chordettes
The Chordettes' two biggest hits have re-surfaces in two of the biggest movie hits of the mid-80s. "Mr. Sandman," a No. 1 hit from 1954, appeared in Back To The Future, while "Lollipop," a No. 2 entry from 1958, was heard in Stand By Me.
Cheech & Chong
Cheech & Chong have hit the charts with parodies of three very different songs: Brighter Side Of Darkness' "Love Jones," the Floaters' "Float On," and Bruce Springsteen's "Born In" The U.S.A.
Peter Cetera
Peter Cetera is one of seven artists to hit No. 1 as a soloist, as part of a duet, and as part of a group. The six others to have hit the top in all three configurations: Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John.
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash recorded two live albums in prisons in the late 60s--Folsom and San Quentin--and both topped the two-million sales mark. A third live album, recorded at the Grand Ole Opry, didn't sell nearly as well. There's just nothing like a captive audience.
Eric Carmen
Eric Carmen's first solo hit was the solemn "All By Myself." His second was the forlorn "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again." Could this be the same Eric who had sung the Raspberries' classic "Go All The Way" with such optimism and abandon just four years earlier?
Belinda Carlisle
Belinda Carlisle led the Go-Go's to a spot in the history books in 1982, when their debut album, Beauty and the Beat, became the first album by a female rock band to hit No. 1.
Captain & Tennille
Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" was a very big record, but there is no truth to the rumor that it inspired the Joy Division's rock classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart."
The Buckinghams
The Buckinghams' "Kind Of A Drag" did what the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron," Aaron Neville's "Tell It Like It Is" and the Seekers' "Georgy Girl" all tried, but failed to do: It knocked the Monkees' monster hit "I'm A Believer" out of the No. 1 spot.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne's spiraling popularity in the 70s is reflected in the fact that each of his first six albums climbed higher on the chart than its predecessor. But after that there was nowhere to go but down: that sixth album, Hold Out, hit No. 1.
Brothers Johnson
Brothers Johnson were the main beneficiaries of Quincy Jones' production talents in the mid-70s, before he went on to bigger and better things (Off The Wall and Thriller).
Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan's "Gloria" peaked at No. 2 in December, 1982, when the entire top five consisted of one-word titles. Lionel Richie's "Truly" was No. 1, Toni Basil's "Mickey" was No. 3, Daryl Hall & John Oates' "Maneater" was No. 4, and Neil Diamond's "Heartlight" was No. 5.
David Bowie
David Bowie has worked with a lot of diverse musicians over the years. He co-wrote his first No. 1 hit, "Fame," with John Lennon, and co-produced his second, "Let's Dance," with Nile Rodgers. He's also teamed for Top-40 hits with Queen and the Pat Metheny Group.
Berlin
Berlin was the second act to hit No. 1 to share the name of a foreign capital. The Kingston Trio, named after Kingston, Jamaica, was the first.
Brook Benton
Brook Benton was the first artist to have a top-five hit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. He was able to claim that distinction when "Rainy Night In Georgia" cracked the top five in March, 1970.
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar's Crimes Of Passion would probably have been a No. 1 album if John Lennon hadn't been murdered in December, 1980. "Passion" logged five weeks at No. 2 behind Lennon's Double Fantasy in January and February, 1981. But with nothing to block its path, Benatar's next album, Precious Time, hit No. 1 in August, 1981.
Blondie
Blondie's Autoamerican is one of only three albums in the 80s to generate two No. 1 singles without hitting No. 1 itself. The others: Starship's Knee Deep In The Hoopla and Peter Cetera's Solitude/Solitaire.
The Beatles
The Beatles' single which logged more weeks on the Hot 100 than any other was "Twist And Shout." The song spent 11 weeks on the chart in 1964, and 15 additional weeks in 1986. The runner-up is "Hey Jude," with 19 weeks.
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys' Beach Boys Concert album was the first live album by a contemporary pop or rock act to hit No. 1. It topped the chart in December, 1964.
Bangles
Bangles' "Manic Monday," which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in April, 1986, was kept out of the top spot by Prince & the Revolution's "Kiss." Prince wrote both songs, making him one of only five writers in the rock era to hold down the top two spots on the Hot 100 simultaneously. He followed Elvis Presley, Lennon & McCartney, the Bee Gees, and Jim Steinman.
Band Aid's
Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" only reached No. 13 on the Hot 100, but it was probably the most significant single released in 1984. It launched the social consciousness movement which culminated in USA for Africa and the "Live Aid" concert.
Bananarama
Bananarama's "Venus" hit No.1 in September, 1986, more than 16 years after Shocking Blue first took the song to the top of the chart. "Venus" is the fourth song in the rock era to hit No. 1 for two different artists, following "Go Away Little Girl" (Steve Lawrence, Donny Osmond), "The Loco-Motion" (Littel Eva, Grand Funk), and "Please Mr. Postman" (Marvelettes, Carpenters).
Ashford & Simposn
Ashford & Simpson have been writing top-20 hits for other artists since the mid-60s, but they didn't write one for themselves until 1985. Better late than never.
Arcadia
Arcadia and Power Station, the two offshoot groups from Duran Duran, both landed No. 6 singles in 1985. Power Station's "Some Like It Hot" hit No. 6 in May, Arcadia's "Election Day" reached No. 6 in December.
The Animals'
The Animals' string of Top-40 hits ran out in 1968, whereupon group leader Eric Burdon set out for a solo career. His 1970 solo debut, "Spill The Wine," was a smash, but it did more to introduce his backing group on the record, War, than to create a constituency for Burdon's work.
a-ha
a-ha's "Take On Me" was the first single by a Norwegian group to hit No. 1. Great record, great video, great cheekbones--how could it miss?
Bryan Adams & Tina Turner
Adams and Turner's "It's Only Love" was one of the six top-20 hits from Adams' smash album, Reckless. Only two albums in history have generated that many top-20 hits: Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A., both of which yielded seven.
ABC
Got its start in the British synth-pop boom of 1982-83, but landed its biggest hit, "Be Near Me," in late 1985, long after that boom had gone bust.
The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits
This blog solely comes from my inspiration to know more about the decades I grew up in and the songs from which were created in them. The book title stated above as the posts' sub-title is a fascinating trivia and complete chart data about the artists and their songs from 1955 to the mid-80s and will serve as a great resource to each video that is posted. Enjoy~
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