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JUMP TO:
🎵 1991 – RUSH, RUSH / Paula Abdul
🎵 1981 – BETTE DAVIS EYES / Kim Carnes
🎵 1971 – IT’S TOO LATE / Carole King
🎵 1971 – I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE / Carole King (A-side of It’s Too Late)
🎵 1961 – MOODY RIVER / Pat Boone
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Welcome to another #1 Songs On This Date! – and the month of July, with another four-pack of la crème de la crème from the Top 40 Rock ‘n’ Roll music era.
Since it began in early 2016, 272 distinct number one singles from the years 1956 through 1995 have now been presented – and 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 / July 1st, 1991
RUSH, RUSH
Paula Abdul
[1991]
(Single Version)
Number One: 5 weeks
Replaced: MORE THAN WORDS /Extreme
Succeeded by: UNBELIEVABLE / EMF
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After a one-year absence from Billboard’s Hot 100, the streak of huge hits from the multi-talented Paula Abdul continued with her fifth consecutive #1 song called Rush, Rush.
And for her penultimate chart-topper, Abdul – who in 2002 became an original judge on TV’s top-rated talent show ‘American Idol’ – employed a new songwriter named Peter Lord, with whom she would also collaborate on the penning of her next several singles.
All of her previously successful material had been solely authored by either Elliot Wolff or Oliver Leiber – the latter being the son of one half of the Hall of Fame Pop/R&B songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
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Paula’s 1988 debut album, Forever Your Girl, had yielded three top-of-the-heap singles: Straight Up, the title track and Opposites Attract.
Her second LP release, 1991’s Spellbound, produced this week’s top hit and its followup #1 The Promise Of A New Day, plus the singles Blowing Kisses In The Wind (1991 • #6), Vibeology (1992 • #16) and Will You Marry Me? (1992 • #19).
In 1995, a third Abdul album named Head Over Heels yielded My Love Is For Real, Crazy Cool and Ain’t Never Gonna Give You Up – all of which failed to achieve the success of her previous singles.
https://youtu.be/ilLV3rHyTb4
Other #1 Singles by PAULA ABDUL (6)
• 1989 / STRAIGHT UP
• 1989 / FOREVER YOUR GIRL
• 1989 / COLD HEARTED
• 1990 / OPPOSITES ATTRACT (with The Wild Pair)
• 1991 / THE PROMISE OF A NEW DAY
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#1 / July 1st, 1981
BETTE DAVIS EYES
Kim Carnes
[1981]
Number One: 9 weeks
Replaced: MORNING TRAIN (Nine To Five) / Sheena Easton
Succeeded by: MEDLEY / Stars On 45
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Bette Davis Eyes, the memorable tune whose title bears the name of the silver screen legend, was Kim Carnes‘ only single to occupy the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100. But it was her second venture in twelve months into that chart’s Top 5.
Carnes and high-profile country crooner Kenny Rogers had hit #4 with their duet Don’t Fall In Love With A Dreamer in the spring of 1980.
In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Rogers was the hottest pop-country crossover male performer around – when everything he touched literally turned to ‘gold.’ So Carnes’ appearance with him on a recording gave invaluable exposure to the previously unknown female vocalist, which no doubt set up Kim nicely for solo success the following year with BDE.
In fact, Rogers and the Los Angeles-born Carnes were band-mates during one of the permutations of the legendary folk ensemble the New Christy Minstrels.
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Co-authored and first recorded by singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon, Bette Davis Eyes modestly debuted on the Hot 100 at #80, only to reach the Top 10 in just five weeks. 14 days later it began an impressive 9-week run at #1.
[Note] The interesting-sounding and effective musical instrument first heard during the song’s intro, and then throughout the record, was an analog synthesizer from the day known as a Prophet-5, manufactured by Sequential Circuits.
https://youtu.be/HFhML68ue0c
[Trivia Bits] Following the success of Bette Davis Eyes, the actress sent personal, hand-written letters to Carnes and songwriters DeShannon and Donna Weiss, thanking them for making her (Davis) “a part of modern times.”
Then, after BDE won both ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’ Grammys, the trio received roses from Ms. Davis.
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Normally a 9-week lock on Billboard’s penthouse perch would easily be enough to cop the venerable trade paper’s distinguished ‘Biggest Single of the Year’ honor. But the behemoth work-out hit known as Physical spent a sweat-laden 10-weeks at #1 for Olivia Newton-John to not only become the biggest single of 1981, but of the 1980’s.
However, ‘Eyes’ became the third best-selling record of the 20th century’s penultimate decade, following Physical and the Diana Ross/Lionel Richie duet Endless Love.
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#1 / July 1st, 1971
IT’S TOO LATE
Carole King
[1971]
Number One: 5 weeks
Replaced: WANT ADS / The Honey Cone
Succeeded by: INDIAN RESERVATION (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian) / The Raiders
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One of the Brill Building‘s most prolific pop songwriting tandems of the 1960’s was the great Carole King and then-husband Gerry Goffin, who penned a multitude of Top 20 classics inside New York City’s iconic Broadway office tower.
And the list is truly impressive: Goffin-King‘s first chart-topper Will You Love Me Tomorrow (1961 • #1) by the Shirelles, Bobby Vee‘s Take Good Care Of My Baby (1961 • #1), Crying In The Rain from the Everly Brothers (1962 • #6), co-written with Howard Greenfield, Little Eva doing The Loco-Motion (#1) and then Keep Your Hands Off My Baby (#12) – both in 1962, the Drifters‘s Up On The Roof (1962 • #5), One Fine Day (1963 • #5) with the Chiffons, Chains (1962 • #17) and Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad About My Baby (1963 • #7) – both by the Cookies, Steve Lawrence‘s Go Away Little Girl (1963 • #1), I Can’t Stay Mad At You (1963 • #7) from Skeeter Davis, I’m Into Something Good (1964 • #13) and Don’t Bring Me Down (1966 • #12) by British Invaders Herman’s Hermits and the Animals, respectively, Pleasant Valley Sunday (1967 • #3) by the Monkees and Aretha Franklin‘s You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman (1967 • #8).
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To start the 1970’s, King signed a recording contract with L.A.-based Ode Records, founded by Lou Adler, who, while with Dunhill Records, produced The Mamas and The Papas hits California Dreamin‘ and Monday Monday, plus Barry McGuire‘s apocalyptic chart-topper Eve Of Destruction.
Her first album for the label was called Writer and produced by Adler. It combined her already well-proven song-authoring skills with mostly untested vocal talent – even though King had recorded her own song in 1962 – It Might As Well Rain Until September – and a tune initially written by Goffin-King to be recorded by Vee.
But given that single only reached number twenty-two in 1962, during the month contained in the song’s title, it had essentially been eight years since Ms. King’s music had last been heard as a complete artist in 1970.
And with that long-player’s only modest success, it wasn’t until her second Ode album titled Tapestry was released in 1971 (2016 marks its 45th anniversary) that audiences actually experienced King’s music performed by Carole herself – and many for the first time.
It’s Too Late was originally released as the B-side of the double-hit single, but ended up scoring two Grammy Awards for ‘Record of the Year’ and ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.’
https://youtu.be/PlFx61gyAsw
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#1 / July 1st, 1991
I FEEL THE EARTH MOVE
Carole King
[1971]
(A-side of It’s Too Late)
Number One: 5 weeks
Replaced: WANT ADS / The Honey Cone
Succeeded by: INDIAN RESERVATION (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian) / The Raiders
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The original A-side of Carole King‘s Ode double-dip single was the bouncy, up-tempo lead track from Tapestry called I Feel The Earth Move.
But not long after the 45’s release, It’s Too Late began receiving equal radio airplay – due in large part to the solid female appeal of a brooding, emotion-driven song from an artist who already had a strong fan base with that gender.
Billboard ultimately declared the record a #1 double A-side single on the Hot 100.
https://youtu.be/h44ppAkpJjA
[Trivia Bits] Tapestry by Carole King produced another double-sided hit single called So Far Away b/w/ Smackwater Jack which reached #14 in the autumn of 1971.
The album went ten times platinum in America – denoted as a “diamond-seller,” won the Grammy for ‘Album of the Year’ and spent nearly six years on Billboard’s LP chart.
King subsequently released 15 additional studio albums – 5 of them for Adler’s label and the remainder with various others.
1971’s Music and Wrap Around Joy from 1974, both on Ode, hit #1 on Billboard’s Top Albums listings.
Her most recent album release was in 2011 with a seasonal offering titled Holiday Carole.
Gerry Goffin died on June 19, 2014 at the age of 75.
You May Also Enjoy: CAROLE KING RETURNS TO UK – Performs Entire ‘Tapestry’ Album
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#1 / July 1st, 1961
MOODY RIVER
Pat Boone
[1961]
Number One: 1 week
Replaced: RUNNING SCARED / Roy Orbison
Succeeded by: QUARTER TO THREE / Gary U.S. Bonds
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After an almost four-year absence from the Billboard’s Pop Chart’s top slot, Pat Boone returned with his last – and darkest – #1 single.
A number of near-misses in 1958 managed to place Top 5, after which Boone experienced a prolonged period of non-success on the charts.
In fact, between the second half of 1958 until early 1961, no less than 20 of Boone’s releases charted poorly – a run during which his movie and television careers thrived.
But that changed by mid-1961 with Moody River, the tale told by Boone of a boy’s cheating girlfriend who was unable to confess the guilty behavior to him face-to-face.
Instead, the grief-riddled lass decided to drown herself along a riverbank where the two normally met, prior to which she left a suicide note for her beau admitting her transgressions.
https://youtu.be/9VbQ7kkIPis
[Trivia Bit] Moody River was Boone’s cover of a country music original by Chase Webster.
Astonishing, the single was indicative of how fast and loose the record and radio industries played the game during those early, heady days of Top 40 rock n’ roll.
The record transitioned from Pat laying down the track in an L.A. recording studio to the turntable of a Southern California radio station in a couple of hours; an incredulous Boone heard his song being played on the air while still driving home from the recording session.
Dot Records owner Randy Wood was so excited about Pat’s version that he immediately made an acetate test pressing from the master tape at the conclusion of its recording, then hand-delivered it to a local DJ who aired it immediately.
Other #1 Singles by PAT BOONE (6)
• 1955 / AIN’T THAT A SHAME
• 1956 / I ALMOST LOST MY MIND
• 1957 / DON’T FORBID ME
• 1957 / LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND
• 1957 / APRIL LOVE
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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 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
