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JUMP TO:
🎵 1990 – IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE / Roxette
🎵 1980 – FUNKYTOWN / Lipps, Inc.
🎵 1970 – THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD / The Beatles
🎵 1970 – FOR YOU BLUE / The Beatles (B-side of The Long And Winding Road)
🎵 1960 – CATHY’S CLOWN / The Everly Brothers
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Welcome to another #1 Songs On This Date! – another four-pack of the very pop hit singles from the Top 40 Rock ‘n’ Roll music era.
265 distinct number one singles from the years 1956 through 1995 have now been featured in just short of six months – with hundreds more to follow.
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 in high-quality digital audio on computers inside the HOTH music vault.
With the availability of precise data and the 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 into the first half of 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 smartphones, tablets and connected devices. Whenever possible, an alternate working audio source will be provided, but a PC, Mac or laptop may ultimately be required in some cases.
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#1 / June 25th, 1990
IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE
Roxette
[1990]
(Single Version)
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: HOLD ON / Wilson Phillips
Succeeded by: STEP BY STEP / New Kids On The Block
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The top shelf of the Hot 100 was occupied on this date in 1990 by Roxette, a male-female duo comprised of Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson.
The origin of It Must Have Been Love, a song penned by the former, goes back to 1987 when it was released in Europe as a seasonal single – subtitled Christmas For The Broken Hearted – and became a big hit in their native Sweden.
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Fast forward to late 1989; Gessle was contacted by American record and film executives about It Must Have Been Love becoming a primary song in the soundtrack of a forthcoming Disney/Touchstone movie called ‘Pretty Woman,’ starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.
The offer was accepted by the pair, with only minor recording changes being made to render the tune fully secular – “it’s a hard Christmas day” was redone by vocalist Fredriksson as “it’s a hard winter’s day” and various seasonal sounds were removed from the opening bars of the original.
It Must Have Been Love was Roxette’s second million-selling single, having been preceded in gold status by their first number one, The Look.
[Trivia Bits] Upon its initial release in March of 1990, ‘Pretty Woman’ became Disney’s highest-grossing motion picture of all time.
Other singles from the film included Natalie Cole‘s Wild Women Do, which stalled at #34 on Billboard in April of 1990 and King Of Wishful Thinking from the UK pop-rock duo Go West, a Hot 100 #8 hit the following month.
Other #1 Singles by Roxette(4)
• 1989 / THE LOOK
• 1999 / LISTEN TO YOUR HEART
• 1991 / JOYRIDE
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#1 / June 25th, 1980
FUNKYTOWN
Lipps, Inc.
[1980]
(Single Version)
Number One: 4 weeks
Replaced: CALL ME / Blondie
Succeeded by: COMING UP (Live At Glasgow) / Paul McCartney
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The one-hit wonder ‘group’ known as Lipps, Inc. (pronounced “lip-synch”) was the vision of a Minneapolis musician named Steve Greenberg.
After several musical projects failed to garner attention from record companies, Greenberg concocted a synthesizer-driven hybrid of disco and R&B with a song called Rock It – one on which he played virtually every instrument.
The song became a regional hit single in Minnesota, after which the one-man band shopped around the recording as a demo to Los Angeles label execs.
One of them, Neil Bogart’s Casablanca Records ordered up four tracks to be recorded backed by a host of L.A.-based studio musicians. That ensemble included a female sax player familiar to Greenberg named Cynthia Johnson.
The mini-album, called Mouth To Mouth, yielded a very danceable track featuring vocals by Ms. Johnson – and sporadically synth-altered – called Funkytown.
The hybrid hit enjoyed 28 days atop the Hot 100, sold two million units and also climbed to #2 on Billboard’s Rhythm & Blues chart.
[Trivia Bits] The song that initially attracted the attention of Casablanca, Rock It, was released twice as a single – once prior to, and again after the success of Funkytown – but chart-wise it failed on both occasions.
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#1 / June 25th, 1970
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
The Beatles
[1970]
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL / Ray Stevens
Succeeded by: THE LOVE YOU SAVE / The Jackson 5
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This week in 1970 was a significant one in Billboard chart history – a fact unbeknownst to anyone at the time.
On June 25th of that year, The Beatles were spending their final two days ever at the top of the Hot 100 with The Long And Winding Road b/w For You Blue.
After residing at #1 for a combined 58 weeks and 5 days with 20 different A-side singles – mathematically, 59 weeks equals 413 total days – the most successful recording group in pop music history was fading into the sunset.
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The journey for this week’s #1 began in September of 1968 during sessions for the album titled The Beatles when Paul McCartney recorded demo versions of the songs Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road.
But neither ended up on that year’s double ‘White Album.’
The recording of that LP occurred at a time when dissension among the four band members had firmly taken root and would progressively grow over the next 18 months. So TLAWR was Macca’s expression of the sadness brought on by that turmoil.
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By March of 1970, John Lennon had brought in legendary record producer Phil Spector to complete the embattled Let It Be project (originally titled Get Back).
The latter proceeded to remix the entire album and add lush orchestration to the original Beatles works, including the two McCartney ballads held over from the 1968 sessions.
[Note] Because of increasingly heavy copyright restrictions on Beatles songs, I cannot present The Long And Winding Road in my usual manner.
However, I came across an interesting video set to the studio version. At first I thought was a bit corny, but as I watched more, it’s actually very cleverly done – and effective.
Props to Bruno Sacoda. Enjoy!
[Trivia Bits] The final recording session for the Let It Be album took place April 1st, 1970, when Ringo Starr added his drum track to The Long And Winding Road.
Thus, he was the last Beatle to take part in a recording by the group; if only it might have just been a good April Fool’s joke, but sadly it was true.
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#1 / June 25th, 1970
FOR YOU BLUE
The Beatles
[1970]
(B-side of The Long And Winding Road)
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL / Ray Stevens
Succeeded by: THE LOVE YOU SAVE / The Jackson 5
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Also a part of the Let It Be album, the B-side of The Long And Winding Road was a light-hearted, playful ditty written by George Harrison called For You Blue.
It features vocals by Harrison and the steel guitar playing of John Lennon. During his solo, George can be heard giving words of encouragement to Lennon with the Chuck Berry reference “Go Johnny, Go” and a nod to southern blues guitarist Elmore James – “Elmore James got nothin’ on this baby.”
Other #1 Singles by THE BEATLES (20)
• 1964 / I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
• 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
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#1 / June 25th, 1960
CATHY’S CLOWN
The Everly Brothers
[1960]
Number One: 5 weeks
Replaced: STUCK ON YOU / Elvis Presley
Succeeded by: EVERYBODY’S SOMEBODY’S FOOL / Connie Francis
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In 1960, after three chart-toppers and eight records placing inside Billboard’s Top 10 with their first record company, the small Cadence label, the Everly Brothers elected to do what any artist would when offered big bucks to jump ship to a major player. They signed with Warner Brothers for a then-record $1-million for 10 years.
The decision by the Everly Brothers to leave Cadence was aided by an alleged dispute with label owner Archie Bleyer over royalty payments and the future musical direction of the duo.
Reasons aside, the fat contract tendered by the label giant was money well-spent as it yielded immediate results with Cathy’s Clown hitting #1 on this date.
It also become the first record by Don and Phil to simultaneously sit at the top of both the U.S. and UK singles charts.
But that wasn’t without a lot of previous hard work. While under intense pressure by Warner to produce that first hit, CC was the ninth song recorded by the duo for them, with the previous eight songs having been rejected by the label.
[Trivia Bits] The well-documented sibling feud between Don and Phil took root during a July 13th, 1973 performance in California on the concert stage of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.
To a stunned sold-out audience, Phil, in mid-performance, inexplicably threw down his guitar and stormed off the stage. That left elder sibling Don with the painful task of telling their saddened fans that, as a duo, the Everly Brothers would be no more.
The ten year-long estrangement – one in which they reportedly never spoke – ended with a pair of triumphant reunion concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall on September 22 and 23, 1983.
A comeback recording for Mercury Records would follow in 1984. Written by Paul McCartney and titled On The Wings Of A Nightingale, the single stalled at #50 in the fall of that year.
Other #1 Singles by THE EVERLY BROTHERS (4)
• 1957 / WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE
• 1958 / ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM
• 1958 / BIRD DOG
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CREDITS
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 Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (5th Edition) by Fred Bronson
• The Billboard Book Of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits by Adam White and Fred Bronson
• The Billboard Book Of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits by Wesley Hyatt
• The Billboard Book Of Number One Albums by Craig Rosen
• The Billboard’s Hottest Hot 100 Hits (4th Edition) by Fred Bronson
• 1000 UK Chart Hits (Kindle Edition) by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh
• The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders (Revised and Expanded) by Wayne Jancik
• 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
• The Archives of RollingStone.com
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat.com
Special thanks to the patio of Starbucks, Little Road in New Port Richey, FL 😎
Other #1 Songs on This Date Posts are HERE
