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JUMP TO:
🎵 1986 – ON MY OWN / Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald
🎵 1976 – SILLY LOVE SONGS / Wings
🎵 1966 – PAINT IT, BLACK / The Rolling Stones
🎵 1956 – THE WAYWARD WIND / Gogi Grant
EXTRA:
🎵 1986 – ON MY OWN / Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald (Official Video)
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Welcome to another installment of #1 Songs On This Date and another four-pack of the very best from the Top 40 Rock’n Roll music era as part of presenting every chart-topper in America (more below).
Already, 262 distinct number one singles between the years 1956 and 1995 have already been presented since January 6th of this year – 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 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 21st, 1986
ON MY OWN
Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald
[1986]
(Single Version)
Number One: 3 weeks
Replaced: LIVE TO TELL / Madonna
Succeeded by: THERE’LL BE SAD SONGS (To Make You Cry) / Billy Ocean
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The bittersweet duet On My Own by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald was indeed solitary on top of the Billboard Hot 100 on this date.
The initial recording of the song, written by the legendary Burt Bacharach and then-wife Carole Bayer Sager, was an unsuccessful solo effort for Patti, after which it was decided her dueting with a male counterpart was needed.
Michael McDonald, the ex-second generation lead vocalist of the Doobie Brothers was brought in, with his blue-eyed soul voice perfectly fitting the tune’s essence.
Logistically, Patti and Michael performed their parts individually – Labelle in her native Philadelphia and McDonald in Los Angeles, with the latter singing directly in response to hearing the former’s vocals – an effective side benefit for the song.
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In fact, the duo had never met both prior to and after the recording of both the song and the accompanying video, which also was filmed individually (See below).
1986 was a big songwriting year for Bayer Sager and Bacharach. That’s What Friends Are For by Dionne (Warwick) and Friends had hit #1 in January.
https://youtu.be/G-6QVmYJcus
[Trivia Bits] On My Own was a part of Patti Labelle’s first platinum album, 1986’s The Winner In You on MCA Records.
Michael McDonald had agreed to record his part only on condition that the song not be released as a single; he’d already maxed out on separate projects apart from his parent label, Warner Brothers, but was allowed to appear only as “a guest.”
However, when the recording showed great hit potential, MCA president Irving Azoff and Warner’s Lenny Waronker hammered out an agreement for its release as an MCA single.
Other #1 Singles for PATTI LaBELLE (2)
• 1975 / LADY MARMALADE (LaBelle)
Other #1 Singles for MICHAEL McDONALD (2)
• 1978 / WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES (The Doobie Brothers
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EXTRA
ON MY OWN
Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald
[1986]
(Official Video)
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Like the hit record, the official video for Own My Own was filmed in separate parts, with Patti LaBelle in New York and Michael McDonald in L.A.
But the bicoastal production proved to be extremely effective – especially with its use of a split-screen.
[Trivia Bit] The duo finally met for the first time on April 28, 1986 at an NBC-TV studio in Burbank, CA, appearing together on the ‘Tonight Show with Johnny Carson’ (hosted by Joan Rivers) to perform the duet.
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#1 / June 21st, 1976
SILLY LOVE SONGS
Wings
(Commercial Single Version)
Number One: 5 weeks
Replaced (1st Time): BOOGIE FEVER / The Silvers
Succeeded by (1st Time): LOVE HANGOVER / Diana Ross
Replaced (2nd Time): LOVE HANGOVER / Diana Ross
Succeeded by (2nd Time): AFTERNOON DELIGHT / Starland Vocal Band
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During various periods of Paul McCartney‘s post-Beatles recording career he used three different monikers – Paul McCartney (twice), Paul McCartney and Wings, and simply Wings (twice). And by 1975 he’d just begun using the latter handle for its second time.
Following on the heels on that year’s number one, Listen To What The Man Said, the band again hit the top with a single taken from their latest album, Wings At The Speed Of Sound, called Silly Love Songs.
And by doing so, Paul McCartney & Wings/Wings had just copped Macca’s fourth of five #1’s released under either of those group names – that’s in addition to a pair as “Paul McCartney,” future duets with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson and 20 as member of the Fab Four.
Mathematically speaking, that’s 29 McCartney or related Hot 100 chart-toppers – unmatched collectively by any other artist.
In various interviews, McCartney claimed he wrote Silly Love Songs in response to frequent criticism – going back to his day’s in the Beatles – that he only wrote and/or recorded sappy songs involving love. In essence, SLS was his response by simply asking “What’s wrong with that?”
https://youtu.be/OP-iWaP4eKo
[Trivia Bits] Silly Love Songs was McCartney’s 27th number one as a songwriter, an all-time record for pop hits by one author to reach the top.
The single’s five-week stay in the pole position was non-consecutive; After its initial 7 days it was supplanted for a pair of weeks by Love Hangover from Diana Ross.
A U.S. million-seller, SLS hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Easy Listening charts and also topped the UK rankings.
Other #1 Singles by WINGS (5)
• 1973 / MY LOVE (Paul McCartney & Wings)
• 1973 / BAND ON THE RUN (Paul McCartney & Wings)
• 1975 / LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID
• 1978 / WITH A LITTLE LUCK
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#1 / June 21st, 1966
PAINT IT, BLACK
The Rolling Stones
[1966]
(Single Version)
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN / Percy Sledge
Succeeded by: PAPERBACK WRITER / The Beatles
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It’s been said that music is a powerful tool for involuntarily evoking periods in one’s life – both good and bad – and/or specific events from the past. And this commentator whole-heartedly agrees.
Paint It, Black by the Rolling Stones, and perhaps its successor at #1, Paperback Writer by the Beatles, epitomized the early summer of 1966. It was an incredible period of outstanding non-stop Top 40 musical output.
Many elements of PI,B stand out – the opening guitar riff, followed by a silent pause, then Charlie Watts‘ drumming that leads to Mick Jagger‘s opening vocals.
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But clearly, the most outstanding feature of this early psychedelic-era song is the unique sound of a sitar played by guitarist Brian Jones, the man who founded the Stones during their initial incarnation as a blues-oriented band.
Paint It, Black was the first #1 single in both the U.S. and UK to contain the large string-plucked Indian instrument, whose origins went back several centuries.
The single also was the lead track from the U.S. version of the Stones’ sixth studio album in that country. Titled Aftermath, it was the first long-player on which all the tunes were exclusively written by Jagger-Richards.
https://youtu.be/rPPi1Kuf0lc
[Trivia Bits] Paint It, Black was a non-album track in the UK, and in fact, the lineup of songs on the U.S. and UK Aftermath albums was quite different.
The dissimilarity stemmed from different marketing philosophies for albums being released by the respective record companies of either country.
British LP records usually contained 14 tracks with no singles – current or future – among them. Those non-album tracks were reserved for mutually exclusive release on either 45 rpm singles or extended players (EP’s).
Whereas U.S. record companies felt that 11-12 tracks was optimal and should include singles as “samplers” from the album – hopefully to induce record buyers to shell out more money for an entire LP.
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But with these “samplers” effectively being the best songs on an album, the remainder of the tracks were often regarded as nothing more than secondary “filler” material which only a diehard fan might want to own.
So in America, the consumer had to decide whether to save money by buying just the most popular songs from an artists’ new output – i.e. the singles – or fork over more to own a disc containing those tunes placed among a collection of ostensibly weaker ones.
You May Also Enjoy: 7 Super Song Facts about Paint It, Black / Source: InkTank.fi
Other #1 Singles for THE ROLLING STONES (8)
• 1965 / (I Can’t Get No) SATISFACTION
• 1965 / GET OFF OF MY CLOUD
• 1967 / RUBY TUESDAY
• 1969 / HONKY TONK WOMEN
• 1971 / BROWN SUGAR
• 1973 / ANGIE
• 1978 / MISS YOU
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#1 / June 21st, 1956
THE WAYWARD WIND
Gogi Grant
[1956]
Number One: 6 weeks
Replaced: HEARTBREAK HOTEL / Elvis Presley
Succeeded by: I WANT YOU, I NEED YOU, I LOVE YOU / Elvis Presley
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Vocalist Gogi Grant was born Myrtle Audrey Arinsberg in Philadelphia, but grew up in Los Angeles where she began her career by winning teen singing contests and television talent shows.
That led to a recording contract with the small Hollywood-based Era Records label, for whom she immediately scored the #9 hit Suddenly There’s A Valley in 1955.
The following year Grant recorded one of three simultaneously released versions of The Wayward Wind – including a country rendering by Tex Ritter and another by Jimmy Young.
Ms. Grant’s interpretation was Billboard’s fifth biggest pop song for 1956 and scored a gold record in America. Ritter’s version topped out at #28 on their pop rankings, with Young’s failing to chart.
In the UK, Grant’s single hit #9, while Ritter’s and Young’s discs peaked at #8 and #27, respectively.
https://youtu.be/aJR3uPoDSUE
[Trivia Bits] Gogi Grant died in Los Angeles on March 10, 2016 at age 91.
According to distinguished Beatles author Mark Lewisohn in his tome ‘The Complete Beatles Chronicles,’ the Fab Four routinely performed The Wayward Wind in live shows both in Hamburg, Germany and Liverpool from 1960-1961.
Although no known recordings by them have survived, Lewisohn believes that a 1958 translation of the song by early American rocker Gene Vincent – one of many stars from ‘across the pond’ admired by the Beatles – had influenced the group to use it, but it also may have been the Ritter rendition.
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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
