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JUMP TO:
• 1994 – THE POWER OF LOVE / Céline Dion
• 1984 – KARMA CHAMELEON / Culture Club
• 1974 – THE WAY WE WERE / Barbra Streisand
• 1964 – I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND / The Beatles
Welcome to another #1 Songs On This Date! – another four-pack of the cream of the cream from the Top 40 Rock ‘n’ Roll music era.
76 distinct number one singles between the years 1956 and 1995 have already been presented since January – with literally hundreds more to come.
They’re all part of a permanent archive that’s being built at HouseoftheHits.com which will ultimately feature ALL 837 different number one singles as listed in 2,080 weekly national music charts published by Billboard® within that 40-year timeframe.
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Fortunately, HouseoftheHits has every one of those charts – plus secondary data – as published in the essential Joel Whitburn’s Record Research series (CD-ROM and eBook edition formats).
Everything is stored digitally on a HouseoftheHits computer – as are all 837 number one singles (in high-quality audio) from the music vault.
With the availability of precise data and the HOTH song files – together with some amazing technology – approximately 600 – 700 of those Billboard® chart-toppers will be presented this year – with the remainder to follow in early 2017.
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As the archive grows you will have continual free access to the accumulating repository, indexed by Decade, Month and Year. Plus, EVERY Title and Artist will be (blue) hyper-linked for smooth, easy navigation from song to song – with more great features to be added along the way.
Again, it will contain every #1 single in America, plus interesting commentary about each song (written by yours truly) and presented with a crystal clear High-Definition audio version of the complete original hit to instantly play as often as you wish.
The ever-expanding library is found HERE and you can bookmark this link for future instant access.
Enjoy!
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[NOTE]
Due to copyright issues, some audio song files may not play on tablets,
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#1 / February 19th, 1994
THE POWER OF LOVE
Céline Dion
[1993]
(Radio Edit Version)
Number One: 4 weeks
Replaced: ALL FOR LOVE / Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting
Succeeded by: THE SIGN / Ace Of Base
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It took four kicks at the can before someone managed to record a version of the Jennifer Rush song The Power Of Love that would become a hit in America.
Rush, from Queens, NY, had great success in the UK with her original recording, hitting the top of the singles chart there in 1985.
But successive releases in America by Rush (1985 • #57), Australia’s Air Supply (1985 • #68) and Laura Branigan (1987 • #26) were all disappointing.
Then, Canada’s Céline Dion found the right formula to somehow succeed with the tune where the others had failed.
Her version, produced by Vancouver’s renowned David Foster, was enjoying its first of a four-week stay atop Billboard on this date.
https://youtu.be/G7jJgzcjzuA
Other #1 Singles by CELINE DION (4)
• 1996 / BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME
• 1998 / MY HEART WILL GO ON (Theme from ‘Titanic’)
• 1998 / I’M YOUR ANGEL (R. Kelly & Céline Dion)
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#1 / February 19th, 1984
KARMA CHAMELEON
Culture Club
[1983]
(Single Version)
Number One: 3 weeks
Replaced: OWNER OF A LONELY HEART / Yes
Succeeded by: JUMP / Van Halen
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The UK pop band Culture Club enjoyed an brief but impressive run on the music charts of both their homeland and in America in the early 80’s.
During a 15-month stretch between December, 1982 and March of 1984, Boy George and company racked up a half dozen Top 10 Billboard chart hits, highlighted by the only number one of the six-pack on this date.
According to George (real name George O’Dowd) the theme of Karma Chameleon is about being true to one’s own self, rather than choosing to act chameleon-like in order to please others and to avoid their ridicule and alienation; that nature will pay you back through ‘bad karma’ if you don’t.
Fortunately it was all ‘good karma’ here – a million-selling number one song in America for three weeks!
https://youtu.be/Aee0zGGWv7c
The other Top 10 singles for CC were Do You Really Want To Hurt Me (#2), Time (Clock Of The Heart) (#2), I’ll Tumble 4 Ya (#9), Church Of The Poison Mind (#10) and Miss Me Blind (#5).
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#1 / February 19th, 1974
THE WAY WE WERE
Barbra Streisand
[1973]
(Album Version)
Number One: 3 weeks
Replaced: YOU’RE SIXTEEN / Ringo Starr
Succeeded by: LOVE’S THEME / Love Unlimited Orchestra
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Between 1964 and 1972, Barbra Streisand was a very successful recording artist, placing 18 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including two inside the Top 10 – 1964’s People (#5) and 1970’s Stoney End (#6)
However, beginning with this week’s chart-topper – the title track from the film The Way We Were (in which she stars along side Robert Redford) – her commercial achievements went into overdrive.
The Way We Were was the first of 5 number one’s – all of which became platinum (two-million) sellers.
Evergreen (Love Theme From “A Star Is Born”), You Don’t Bring Me Flowers – with Neil Diamond, No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) – with Donna Summer and Woman In Love all followed.
https://youtu.be/857opHgY7aE
Other #1 Singles by BARBRA STREISAND (5)
• 1977 / EVERGREEN (Love Theme From “A Star Is Born”)
• 1978 / YOU DON’T BRING ME FLOWERS (Barbra Streisand & Neil Diamond)
• 1979 / NO MORE TEARS (Enough Is Enough) (Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer)
• 1980 / WOMAN IN LOVE
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#1 / February 19th, 1964
I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
The Beatles
[1964]
(Single Version)
Number One: 7 weeks
Replaced: THERE! I’VE SAID IT AGAIN / Bobby Vinton
Succeeded by: SHE LOVES YOU / The Beatles
[Note] On April 4th, 1964 – by which time I Want To Hold Your Hand had dropped to #4 on Billboard – the record was joined by four other Fab Four singles to hold down all five chart positions of their Top 5 – a never-before-seen wonderment to this very day! (See the ‘Trivia Bit’ below)
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Had it not been for reluctance on the part of Capitol Records – the U.S. subsidiary for UK’s EMI – the Beatles potentially could have had one or more #1 songs in America before February 1, 1964 and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
Prior to that date, four of the band’s singles had already been huge hits on the UK Singles Chart; Love Me Do (1962 • #17), Please Please Me (1963 • #2), From Me To You (1963 • #1) and She Loves You (1963 • #1).
Capitol stubbornly passed on all four, so the records were leased by EMI to three independent U.S. labels Vee-Jay, Swan and Tollie. But all went mostly unnoticed by U.S.radio – with the exception of one station.
In February of 1963, AM Top 40 powerhouse WLS/Chicago‘s legendary air personality Dick Biondi – also the station’s music director then – added Please Please Me to their playlist and became the first DJ to play a Beatles record in America.
The single spent just two weeks on their chart listings, peaking at #35. Not one other major-market radio station even aired the record.
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But in late 1963, after Capitol finally relented and agreed to release Beatles EMI records in the U.S., I Want To Hold Your Hand was scheduled to be issued on January 13, 1964.
However, a DJ at WWDC/Washington, D.C. named Carroll Baker had received a copy of the Parlophone single from a British airline’s flight attendant and played it on his show.
Massive listener response there, combined with spreading airplay across the country (including Chicago) by other stations who’d also managed to secure the UK single, forced Capitol to rush release I Want To Hold Your Hand on December 26th – and to increase the original order from 200,000 copies pressed to one million.
The floodgates were breached, and popular music in America would soon be reeling from the onslaught of the British Invasion.
I Want To Hold Your Hand was firmly entrenched in its third of seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.
https://youtu.be/VRqzJWSTC-Y
[Trivia Bit] IWTHYH also stunningly became a record-breaking part of pop music history in 1964. On April 4th, it joined four other smash hits by the Beatles to occupy the entire Top 5 of Billboard’s Hot 100 during that week! (See the related link)
Related: THE BEATLES: The Week That Was … Early April 1964 & Top 5 Domination!
Other #1 Singles by THE BEATLES (20)
• 1964 / SHE LOVES YOU
• 1964 / CAN’T BUY ME LOVE
• 1964 / LOVE ME DO
• 1964 / A HARD DAY’S NIGHT
• 1964 / I FEEL FINE
• 1965 / EIGHT DAYS A WEEK
• 1965 / TICKET TO RIDE
• 1965 / HELP!
• 1965 / YESTERDAY
• 1966 / WE CAN WORK IT OUT
• 1966 / PAPERBACK WRITER
• 1967 / PENNY LANE
• 1967 / ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
• 1967 / HELLO GOODBYE
• 1968 / HEY JUDE
• 1969 / GET BACK (The Beatles with Billy Preston)
• 1969 / COME TOGETHER b/w SOMETHING
• 1970 / LET IT BE
• 1970 / THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD b/w FOR YOU BLUE
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Produced & Written By: Rick Murray Hunter / HouseoftheHits.com
Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
References: The Archives of RollingStone.com
The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (5th Edition) by Fred Bronson
All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release (Kindle Edition) by Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon
The Beatles’ Story On Capitol Records / Part One: The Singles (Digital Edition) by Bruce Spizer
The Beatles’ Story On Capitol Records / Part Two: The Albums (Digital Edition) by Bruce Spizer
The website BeatlesBible.com
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
Other #1 Songs on This Date Posts are HERE
