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JUMP TO:
• 1991 – JUSTIFY MY LOVE / Madonna
• 1981 – (Just Like) STARTING OVER / John Lennon
• 1971 – MY SWEET LORD / George Harrison
• 1971 – ISN’T IT A PITY / George Harrison
• 1961 – WONDERLAND BY NIGHT / Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra
• BONUS – MY SWEET LORD / Billy Preston
• VIDEO – (Just Like) STARTING OVER / John Lennon
• VIDEO – John Lennon‘s Assassination Announcement on December 8th, 1980 / Howard Cosell / ABC Monday Night Football
According to the eBook editions of the invaluable publications from Joel Whitburn’s Record Research of data from Billboard magazine’s music charts – widely used in both the radio and record industries because of their accuracy – there were 837 singles that topped the Hot 100 in the 40-year period between January, 1956 and December, 1995. And the deep music vault here at House of the Hits has every one of them!
So, rather than let them sit idle on the vault’s digital hard drives, I thought that I’d begin presenting them over them over the next 52 weeks (and into 2017) for your listening pleasure – and virtually all of them in crystal-clear HD audio!
Each of the blog posts (3-4 per week) will contain four #1 songs, in exact 10-year separations (e.g.1991-1981-1971-1961), so that the changing styles and genres of music from corresponding weeks/decades can be seen and compared.
By early ’17, all 837 chart-toppers from each of those years will comprise a permanent archive found HERE and you can bookmark this link for future instant access.
Clearly, 2016 at House of the Hits will embrace la crème de la crème!
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[Note] For fans of statistics, for the three complete decades in this time period (60’s-80’s) the Seventies decade had the most #1’s with 252 (ah, yes, the music decade where AOR meant ‘All-Over-the-Road’), the Eighties had 231 and the Sixties, with 202, had the least.
Furthermore, across the full 40-year span, 1974 and 1975 had the most chart-toppers (34 each) and 1994 the fewest with just 9.
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[NOTE]
Due to copyright issues, some audio song files may not play on tablets,
smartphones and connected devices. A PC, Mac or laptop may be required.
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#1 / January 12th, 1991
JUSTIFY MY LOVE
Madonna
[1990]
(Official Video)
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (The Postman Song / Stevie B
Succeeded by: LOVE WILL NEVER DIE (Without You) / Janet Jackson
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Since the story of this song mainly revolved around the controversy surrounding its accompanying video – which was barred for broadcast on MTV – I thought I’d present it here, rather than audio only from the record.
Justify My Love, chiefly written by Madonna and Lenny Kravitz, was one of two new songs added to the 1990 Sire Records release of her 15-track ‘greatest hits’ collection titled The Immaculate Collection.
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No doubt, the disbarment of the hot five-minute promotional clip was not only expected by Madonna – but also an intentional ploy by the mega-star to draw public attention to it; her candid admission, “Half of me thought I was going to get away with it.”
Shortly after MTV announced the banishment, Sire’s parent company Warner/Reprise Records responded by releasing it as the first-ever commercially available video single.
No doubt the huge publicity produced by the video’s exclusion from MTV’s playlist – followed by the commercial release – helped the single reach Billboard’s top spot, and hold it for 2 weeks.
WARNING: Mature Content.
Other #1 Singles by MADONNA (12)
• 1985 / LIKE A VIRGIN
• 1985 / CRAZY FOR YOU
• 1986 / LIVE TO TELL
• 1986 / PAPA DON’T PREACH
• 1987 / OPEN YOUR HEART
• 1987 / WHO’S THAT GIRL
• 1989 / LIKE A PRAYER
• 1990 / VOGUE
• 1992 / THIS USED TO BE MY PLAYGROUND
• 1995 / TAKE A BOW
• 2000 / MUSIC
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#1 / January 12th, 1981
(Just Like) STARTING OVER
John Lennon
[1980]
Number One: 5 weeks
Replaced: LADY / Kenny Rogers
Succeeded by: THE TIDE IS HIGH / Blondie
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After a five year hiatus from recording while becoming a househusband and father to son Sean, John Lennon returned to the studios of New York City’s famed Hit Factory to begin work on a new album.
While on vacation in Bermuda, he and wife Yoko Ono had written almost two dozen songs, 21 of which became part of his new album, Double Fantasy – named after a flower Sean had seen in Bermuda.
Lennon’s new label Geffen Records released (Just Like) Starting Over as the album’s first single and it made an impressive first-week debut at #38 on Billboard. And over the next six weeks it climbed to #6 on the Hot 100 chart of December 6th, 1980.
Two days later, the world was in shock as Lennon was assassinated outside his NYC apartment building.
Read More: John Lennon: His ‘Dream’ Died 35 Years Ago
Nineteen days later, on December 26th, (Just Like) Starting Over hit the national chart’s top spot, where it posthumously sat for 5 weeks.
Other #1 Singles for JOHN LENNON (22)
• 1964 / I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND (The Beatles)
• 1964 / SHE LOVES YOU (The Beatles)
• 1964 / CAN’T BUY ME LOVE (The Beatles)
• 1964 / LOVE ME DO (The Beatles)
• 1964 / A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (The Beatles)
• 1964 / I FEEL FINE (The Beatles)
• 1965 / EIGHT DAYS A WEEK (The Beatles)
• 1965 / TICKET TO RIDE (The Beatles)
• 1965 / HELP! (The Beatles)
• 1965 / YESTERDAY (The Beatles)
• 1966 / WE CAN WORK IT OUT (The Beatles)
• 1966 / PAPERBACK WRITER (The Beatles)
• 1967 / PENNY LANE (The Beatles)
• 1967 / ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE (The Beatles)
• 1967 / HELLO GOODBYE (The Beatles)
• 1968 / HEY JUDE (The Beatles)
• 1969 / GET BACK (The Beatles with Billy Preston)
• 1969 / COME TOGETHER b/w SOMETHING (The Beatles)
• 1970 / LET IT BE (The Beatles)
• 1970 / THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD b/w FOR YOU BLUE (The Beatles)
• 1992 / WHATEVER GETS YOU THRU THE NIGHT (John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Nuclear Band)
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VIDEO 1
(Just Like) STARTING OVER
John Lennon
[1980]
(Official Video)
The video was filmed on November 26, 1980, amid scenes in New York City’s Central Park and inside a SoHo art gallery.
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VIDEO 2
JOHN LENNON’S ASSASSINATION ANNOUNCEMENT / December 8, 1980
Howard Cosell / ABC Monday Night Football
[2010]
This was aired by ESPN on December 8th, 2010, for the 30th anniversary of Lennon’s assassination.
It features both background information on that awful day in 1980, plus the announcement of Lennon’s death by ABC-TV’s Howard Cosell during a telecast of Monday Night Football from Miami.
This is how I first heard the shocking news. Do you recall where you were? What you were doing/
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#1 / January 12th, 1971
MY SWEET LORD
George Harrison
[1970]
Number One: 4 weeks
Replaced: THE TEARS OF A CLOWN / Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
Succeeded by: KNOCK THREE TIMES / Dawn
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Despite My Sweet Lord having made George Harrison the first ex-Beatle to score a #1 hit single on Billboard, the song is now best remembered for the copyright infringement lawsuit it induced.
In his autobiography I Me Mine, Harrison states, “I was inspired to write ‘My Sweet Lord’ by the Edwin Hawkins Singers’ (1969 hit) version of (a 1967 gospel song) ‘Oh Happy Day’.”
However, a plagiarism lawsuit was brought against Harrison by the music publishers of the song He’s So Fine, a 1963 hit by the Chiffons.
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Ultimately, United States Federal Judge Richard Owen sided with the plaintiff, awarding almost $1.6 million; deciding that Harrison didn’t deliberately copy the song – written by Ronnie Mack – but stated in his ruling, “’My Sweet Lord’ is the very same song as ‘He’s So Fine.’ Under the law, this is an infringement of copyright, and is no less so even if it may have been subconsciously accomplished.”
[Trivia Bit] After one of the longest running legal battles ever to be litigated in the U.S., the eventual settlement saw Harrison pay roughly one-third of that ($580,000) when latter-day Beatles’ manager Allen Klein purchased the rights to ‘He’s So Fine’ from the plaintiff for the above amount, and sold back the song and its rights to Harrison.
Other #1 Singles for GEORGE HARRISON (23)
• 1964 / I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND (The Beatles)
• 1964 / SHE LOVES YOU (The Beatles)
• 1964 / CAN’T BUY ME LOVE (The Beatles)
• 1964 / LOVE ME DO (The Beatles)
• 1964 / A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (The Beatles)
• 1964 / I FEEL FINE (The Beatles)
• 1965 / EIGHT DAYS A WEEK (The Beatles)
• 1965 / TICKET TO RIDE (The Beatles)
• 1965 / HELP! (The Beatles)
• 1965 / YESTERDAY (The Beatles)
• 1966 / WE CAN WORK IT OUT (The Beatles)
• 1966 / PAPERBACK WRITER (The Beatles)
• 1967 / PENNY LANE (The Beatles)
• 1967 / ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE (The Beatles)
• 1967 / HELLO GOODBYE (The Beatles)
• 1968 / HEY JUDE (The Beatles)
• 1969 / GET BACK (The Beatles with Billy Preston)
• 1969 / COME TOGETHER b/w SOMETHING (The Beatles)
• 1970 / LET IT BE (The Beatles)
• 1970 / THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD b/w FOR YOU BLUE
• 1973 / GIVE ME LOVE (Give Me Peace On Earth)
• 1988 / GOT MY MIND SET ON YOU
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BONUS TRAK
MY SWEET LORD
Billy Preston
[1970]
When he wrote MSL, George Harrison was still a member of The Beatles and hadn’t yet seriously considered a solo career, so he donated the song to Billy Preston for his new album Encouraging Words – released by Apple in 1970.
Harrison co-produced the session in early 1970, which featured the stated source of the song’s inspiration, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, on back-up vocals.
The Preston original recording of the tune made Harrison one of only a few to top the charts with a ‘cover’ version of their own song that was first done by another artist.
This rare track is now available on the 12-CD box set The Complete Apple Singles Collection.
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#1 / January 12th, 1971
ISN’T IT A PITY
George Harrison
[1970]
(B-Side of My Sweet Lord)
Number One: 4 weeks
Replaced: THE TEARS OF A CLOWN / Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
Succeeded by: KNOCK THREE TIMES / Dawn
In addition to being the first #1 solo single by a Beatle, My Sweet Lord also holds another distinction – the only one to have its B-side also officially listed at number one on Billboard.
[Trivia Bits] Length-wise, there are two versions of Isn’t It A Pity – one running at 4:50 and the much longer 7:10 version on the flip side of MSL. The latter is presented here.
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#1 / January 12th, 1961
WONDERLAND BY NIGHT
Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra
[1960]
Number One: 3 weeks
Replaced: ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? / Elvis Presley
Succeeded by: WILL YOU LOVE ME TOMORROW / The Shirelles
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From a banned video of a song by Madonna in 1990, to a classy-sounding 1960 instrumental by a German orchestra leader/composer is quite a dramatic departure and diversity in musical styles over a four decade span!
Hamburg-born Bert Kaempfert had an interesting history with three of the biggest acts in pop music history – Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
In the case of the former, Kaempfert co-wrote the Sinatra classic Strangers In The Night (Fremde in der Nacht) which Frank recorded with English lyrical translations in 1966.
The band leader also co-penned the song Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn), which the King of Rock & Roll recorded for the soundtrack of his 1960 movie G.I. Blues. A version by Joe Dowell became a Billboard #1 hit the following year.
The Beatles’ connection is more significant. After an appearance at Hamburg, Germany’s Star Club by British singer Tony Sheridan and his back-up band The Beat Brothers (The Beatles), Kaempfert signed the vocalist to a recording deal with the Polydor label. He produced the sessions that yielded My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean and When The Saints Go Marching In for Sheridan (back by the BB).
He also allowed the future Fab Four to cut two of their own demo recordings, Ain’t She Sweet (with vocals by John Lennon) and the instrumental song Cry For A Shadow, both of which were released by Polydor during The Beatles rise to fame.
[Trivia Bits] That beautiful trumpet playing on Wonderland By Night (Wunderland Bie Nacht) is by a gentleman named Charly Tabor.
And, speaking of Elvis, WBN ended Presley’s 6-week run at the top of Billboard with Are You Lonesome Tonight?
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Written By: Rick Murray Hunter
Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
References: The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (5th Edition) by Fred Bronson
The Archives of RollingStone.com
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
Other #1 Songs on This Date Posts are HERE
