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JUMP TO:
🎵 1988 – FOOLISH BEAT / Debbie Gibson
🎵 1978 – SHADOW DANCING / Andy Gibb
🎵 1968 – THIS GUY’S IN LOVE WITH YOU / Herb Alpert
🎵 1958 – THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATER / Sheb Wooley
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Welcome to another #1 Songs On This Date! – and another four-pack of the best of the best from the Top 40 Rock ‘n’ Roll music era.
Since early January, 269 distinct number one singles from the years 1956 through 1995 have now been featured – 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 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 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 27th, 1988
FOOLISH BEAT
Debbie Gibson
[1988]
Number One: 1 week
Replaced: TOGETHER FOREVER / Rick Astley
Succeeded by: DIRTY DIANA / Michael Jackson
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On this date in 1988, Brooklyn-born and Long Island-raised 17-year-old teen idol Debbie Gibson sat atop the Hot 100 with her first of two Billboard pole-sitters called Foolish Beat.
The singer-songwriter-pianist-actress seemed to have music in her bones at a very early age, playing classic piano at age four and on the eve of her starting kindergarten penning her first song called Make Sure You Know Your Classroom.
She then appeared in productions of musicals like ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ ‘South Pacific’ and ‘The Sound Of Music’ – all before the age of 12.
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In her early teens Gibson had her own 12-track recording studio housed in the family garage, honed her craft as a tunesmith and learned other facets of recording like engineering and producing.
At age 16 she finally decided to pursue music professionally and signed a contract with Atlantic Records for a one-off recording called Only In My Dreams. And it became a surprise #4 hit in the spring of 1987.
A full-blown album for Atlantic followed, named Out Of The Blue, which produced three more hit singles: Shake Your Love (1987 • #4), the title track (1988 • #3) and this week’s number one.
https://youtu.be/doYd9gJlMMo
[Trivia Bits] With Foolish Beat, Debbie Gibson was the second artist born in the 1970’s (8-31-70) to have a number one Hot 100 single. In 1987, Tiffany (born 10-2-71) became the first with her initial chart-topper I Think We’re Alone Now.
Other #1 Singles by DEBBIE GIBSON (2)
• 1989 / LOST IN YOUR EYES
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#1 / June 27th, 1978
SHADOW DANCING
Andy Gibb
[1978]
Number One: 7 weeks
Replaced: YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT / John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
Succeeded by: MISS YOU / The Rolling Stones
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The hottest of all Hot 100 artists in 1978, Andy Gibb, was locked in at week number two of an impressive 7-week stint at the top with his disco-oriented hit Shadow Dancing.
SD was the only platinum-seller among a cluster of six consecutive Top 10’s by the junior Gibb – the others being his 1977 debut hit I Just Want To Be Your Everything (#1), 1978’s (Love Is) Thicker Than Water (#1), An Everlasting Love (#5) and (Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away (#9) plus 1980’s Desire (#4).
This week’s top tune was also the only one co-written by Andy together with his Bee Gees siblings Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb – and according to AG, was penned by the quartet in just 10 minutes.
Other #1 Singles by ANDY GIBB (3)
• 1977 / I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR EVERYTHING
• 1978 / (Love Is) THICKER THAN WATER
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#1 / June 27th, 1968
THIS GUY’S IN LOVE WITH YOU
Herb Alpert
[1968]
Number One: 4 weeks
Replaced: MRS. ROBINSON / Simon and Garfunkel
Succeeded by: GRAZING IN THE GRASS / Hugh Masekela
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Herb Alpert, the long-time trumpeter, producer, songwriter and bandleader of the ensemble known as The Tijuana Brass, held down the #1 position on Billboard’s premier weekly U.S. singles chart with the solo recording This Guy’s In Love With You.
Following his Latin-flavored TJB Top 10 hits The Lonely Bull and A Taste Of Honey – among numerous other Top 40 singles and charted albums in the first half of the 1960’s – it was surprisingly ironic that Alpert’s first song to climb to #1 would be one on which he opened the studio mic and sang.
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Authored by the venerable team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, TGILWY was the Brill Building songwriting duo’s first #1 hit on Billboard’s Pop Singles chart. Their first chart-topper from any genre was The Story Of My Life by Marty Robbins which capped the country listings in 1957.
And in early 1969, Dionne Warwick‘s gender-swapping cover version – and de facto “answer” song – This Girl’s In Love With You went to #7.
https://youtu.be/FM6HLgFpEYs
[Trivia Bits] 11 years later, Alpert would finally scale the summit of the Hot 100 with an instrumental recording – albeit another solo rendering – called Rise. With both one vocal and one instrumental #1 to his credit, Alpert is the only Hot 100-charting artist to hold that claim.
Herb Alpert wrote Sam Cooke‘s 1960 classic Wonderful World (#12), which also became a hit by Herman’s Hermits (1965 • #4) and a Top 20 cover in 1978 from Art Garfunkel, James Taylor and Paul Simon.
In 1962, Alpert and business partner Jerry Moss formed the Los Angeles-based A&M Records (Alpert & Moss) label, for whom scores of successful artists – including TJB – have since recorded: Billy Preston, Bryan Adams, The Captain and Tennille, Cat Stevens, The Carpenters, Gino Vannelli, Jeffrey Osborne, Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton, The Police, Procol Harum, Sheryl Crow, Styx, Supertramp, Sting, 38 Special and many, many others.
Other #1 Singles by HERB ALPERT (2)
• 1979 / RISE
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#1 / June 27th, 1958
THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATER
Sheb Wooley
[1958]
Number One: 6 weeks
Replaced: ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM / The Everly Brothers
Succeeded by: HARD HEADED WOMAN / Elvis Presley
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The genre of music known as “novelty songs” had a long history that easily predated the era of Top 40 Rock ‘n Roll, with oddball recordings dating back to the early 19th century.
But by the early 1950’s – only a handful of years prior the the transition of pop music to R&R – the form firmly took root when satirists such as Stan Freberg and Tom Lehrer used novelty songs to poke fun at contemporary pop culture.
In 1951, desperate for a hit with Columbia Records, crooner Frank Sinatra recorded Mama Will Bark. And a year later, the Patti Page tune (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? became popular (See “Trivia Bits” below).
In 1956, Dickie Goodman, the godfather of the genre, faced a lawsuit for his #3 novelty song The Flying Saucer Parts I & II, which featured a four-minute rewriting of Orson Welles’ ‘War of the Worlds’ radio show and “sampled” snippets of contemporary hits without permission.
A copyright infringement case was launched against Goodman and the song’s co-writer Bill Buchanan, but the court eventually ruled that his “sampled” mix was a parody – and thus an entirely new work.
Others novelty recordings followed, such as the Coasters #1 single Yakety Yak in the summer of 1958 and Billie and Lillie‘s Lucky Ladybug later that year.
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By 1958-59, three songs using a recording technique which sped up voices and/or instruments became #1 hits on Billboard: David Seville‘s twin hits Witch Doctor and The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) and The Purple People Eater from country singer-songwriter-actor Sheb Wooley.
The one-hit wonder song The Purple People Eater took root when a school riddle was told by a child to a music industry friend of Wooley: “What has one eye, flies, has a horn and eats people?” Answer: “A one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater,” of course!
Wooley also recorded song parodies throughout the 1960’s as Ben Colder – none of which became major chart hits.
https://youtu.be/MWTh7JpXMCc
[Trivia Bits] I digress here, but decades later – and brought on by the exposure of the mistreatment of dogs in Missouri “puppy mills” which stocked pet stores across America – Page’s hit became an extremely controversial one that caused a major backlash with animal rights activists.
Four years prior to her death in 2013, Page, rightfully citing society’s ignorance of dreadful practice with animals, re-recorded the song as Do You See That Doggie In The Shelter? on behalf of the American Humane Society.
The following video contains Patti’s re-recording in which she also explains the background of both the hit and new version.
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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
• 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
