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JUMP TO:
🎵 1990 – VOGUE / Madonna
🎵 1980 – FUNKYTOWN / Lipps, Inc.
🎵 1970 – EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL / Ray Stevens
🎵 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.
Including this installment, 235 distinct number one singles from the years 1956 through 1995 have now been featured since early January – 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 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 5th, 1990
VOGUE
Madonna
[1990]
(Single Version)
Number One: 3 weeks
Replaced: NOTHING COMPARES 2 U / Sinéad O’Connor
Succeeded by: HOLD ON / Wilson Phillips
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Vogue by Madonna was a track from her album I’m Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy and was written in conjunction with her co-starring in the movie as showgirl “Breathless Mahoney” with Warren Beatty as “Tracy” and Madonna’s love interest.
In a cover story interview in Rolling Stone magazine issue #1090 (October 29, 2009) Madonna commented on the song –
“I wrote it when I was making Dick Tracy. After we shot the movie, Warren Beatty asked me if I could write a song that would fit my character’s point of view, that she could have conjured up. She was obsessed with speakeasies and movie stars and things like that. The idea for the lyrics came through that request.”
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Vogue began as the B-side of the single Keep It Together, but Sire Records ultimately reversed its decision to make the former the prime side.
Madonna mentions many glamorous actors and actresses in the lyrics, including Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Jean Harlow and Rita Hayworth.
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The chart-topper also became the target of a lawsuit in 2012 claiming that portions of the song “borrowed” the horns and strings from Salsoul Orchestra‘s 1983 dance tune Ooh, I Love It (Love Break), beginning at the 1:02 mark of Vogue.
In November of 2013 a District Court in California initially ruled in favor of Madonna and Vogue’s producer Shep Pettibone, stating that the sampling of horns and strings was “trivial” i.e. they could not be recognized.
https://youtu.be/gT37vbaRTFo
After 2 1/2 years of appeals, a final judgement was rendered by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in early June of 2016 – exactly 26 years after Vogue was topping the Hot 100 – and reported in a BBC News article found HERE.
[Trivia Bits] The song’s title was in reference to a popular dance in the gay community called “vogueing,” in which dancers used dramatic hand gestures and often held poses.
Bringing their dance craze to the mainstream re-enforced Madonna’s iconic stature in the gay community.
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
• 1991 / JUSTIFY MY LOVE
• 1992 / THIS USED TO BE MY PLAYGROUND
• 1995 / TAKE A BOW
• 2000 / MUSIC
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#1 / June 5th, 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.
https://youtu.be/hSz0YrqY9AI
[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 5th, 1970
EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL
Ray Stevens
[1970]
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: AMERICAN WOMAN b/w NO SUGAR TONIGHT / Guess Who
Succeeded by: THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD b/w FOR YOU BLUE / The Beatles
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Veteran 1960’s pop music performer Ray Stevens was selected by the producers of TV’s ‘The Andy Williams Show’ to host its summer replacement program in 1970, for which Ray needed to compose his own theme song for a variety series targeting adults.
The task proved daunting for the Nashville singer-songwriter, with virtually all of his prior hits being frivolous novelty-type numbers, such as Jeremiah Peabody’s Poly Unsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting Pleasant Tasting Green And Purple Pills, Harry The Hairy Ape and his most recent success, Gitarzan, a #8 million-seller in 1969.
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During a self-imposed three-day confinement to his basement piano, Stevens came up with a straight-forward song whose theme is based upon a saying he claimed to be an old Indian proverb – “Everything is beautiful in its own way.”
To reinforce the song’s older demographic appeal, Stevens added the voices of children from Oak Hill Elementary School in Nashville during the recording session.
The ensemble, of which Ray’s own second grade daughter was a member, opened the tune with the childhood Bible hymn Jesus Loves The Little Children and also sang during the song’s chorus.
The inspiring #1 million-seller became Ray’s second all-time biggest hit, topped only by another novelty number which followed in 1974, The Streak, the link to which is found below.
https://youtu.be/1ceObzdTZoc
[Trivia Bits] Everything Is Beautiful won the Grammy for ‘Best Male Pop Vocal,’ which occurred while Stevens was on tour in Australia. The award was accepted on Ray’s behalf by Glen Campbell.
Since Ray’s 1970 hit version more than 200 artists have recorded covers of EIB.
Ray Stevens later placed two more novelty releases on Billboard’s Hot 100 when recording under the name Henhouse Five Plus Two: I Need Your Help Barry Manilow (1979 • #49) and Shriner’s Convention (1980 • #101).
Other #1 Singles by RAY STEVENS (2)
• 1974 / THE STREAK
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#1 / June 5th, 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.
https://youtu.be/PjAq6SOoGEc
[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
• 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
