Archive for Music - page 3

Thanks for waiting two weeks for the latest post in my quest to determine my “Peak Music Year”.  Get more background here  and here if you wish.  My task is to examine the BillBoard Hot 100 music charts for the years 1965 through 1975 to see if I can pinpoint the year that most influenced my taste in music.  This installment brings us to the year 1970.  And awaaaay we go!

You can see the 1970 BillBoard Hot 100 Chart for yourself here.  My first impression is that Pop Music, or what we used to call “bubblegum pop” seems to be emerging as a dominant genre, with more than half the #1’s fitting that description.  Indeed the group with the most #1’s in 1970 are the poster children for pop music, with one of those children eventually earning the title “The King of Pop”.  They are the “winners” of 1970 with four #1’s, The Jackson 5  which of course featured Michael Jackson.  The runners up with only two #1’s in 1970 are – no surprise here – The Beatles.  I’ll show you the four #1 Jackson 5 songs, but before I do I have to say that right off the bat I think I can eliminate 1970 as my peak music year.  Chronologically it might have been a good candidate as it was the year I entered High School and was well into my adolescence which seems like a good time for a person to bond emotionally with music.  However, after perusing the chart I find no songs that really made an impression on me.  Even the Beatles’ #1’s that year, including the iconic Let It Be, aren’t among my favorite tunes though there are some tunes whose titles one would recognize, including Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel.

OK, back to The Jackson 5.  They had four #1’s in 1970:

First up – it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it – I Want You Back

Next up  – bubblegum, anyone?  ABC

Third up – The Love You Save.  Huh.  Forgot about that one.

And fourth, probably my favorite of the bunch, the ballad I’ll Be There

So in conclusion, 1970 is most likely not my peak music year, and possibly a year the marks a turning point in the culture away from the counterculture and rock music that dominated most of the 1960s to more commercial pop music. What do you think?

Too many good songs on the 1969 BillBoard Hot 100 to cover in only two posts.  So here’s the PS – which I could have entitled “Music Friday – Unrequited Love Edition”.  This is dedicated – ala Casey Kasem – to the unrequited lovers of the world.  You know who you are:

Have a great week!  Love to all!

In the  1969Billboard Hot 100 post I noted that nearly all the #1 songs that year were (are?) really great songs – some by lesser known artists and others  by music icons.  Click the link here for the chart and see for yourself.  Of the seventeen songs that reached #1 that year, all but a handfull are commonly heard today in heavy rotation on classic rock or oldies stations.  And because there are so many, I felt that I should feature a few of them besides the “winners” I posted yesterday.  A couple of them (in addition to the two that I mentioned in yesterday’s post) I had featured in earlier posts:  Henry Mancini’s Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet,  and Every Day People by Sly and The Family Stone.  OK.  So I have established that I like these songs, therefore they are “great”.  Whether you like them or not, you will have to agree with me that one of them is universally known and heard even today in movies, in commercials and of course on the radio or streaming media.  It’s been covered by many successful mainstream artists.  I doubt that more than a day or two goes by without one hearing it in some form somewhere.  If you’ve looked at the chart, you can probably guess which one I’m talking about:  I Heard It Through The Grapevine by Marvin Gaye:

Oh, yeah.  That’s some R&B right there.  Alright.  Next up is a song that nearly defines the band that recorded it, a band that is one of the most successful of all time and is still recording and touring today with nearly their original lineup.  Pretty amazing, considering that this song hit #1 just a little over 35 years ago.  The song and band?  Honky Tonk Women by The Rolling Stones:

So there you have it.  1969 was a very good year.  And perhaps….my peak music year.  We shall see.

Hello everyone.  Sorry to make you wait two weeks for this installment in my project to discern my Peak Music Year.  It won’t happen again.  Unless it does.  Anyhoo, here goes.  We are now up to 1969 – if you wish to catch up on 1965-1968 you can just scroll down, down and further down or click here for 1965, here for 1966, here for 1967 and here for 1968.  I’ll wait while you get caught up……all caught up or don’t care?  Well, you must care at least a little or you wouldn’t be reading this far.  So good.

Let’s go:  the 1969 BillBoard Hot 100.

I have a feeling that this may be my peak music year simply by looking at the roster of #1 songs and seeing how many of these are among my favorites and are songs that are currently in my collection, on my playlists, or have been featured on my blogs as a Music Friday subject or as part of another post.  Of the 17 different songs that charted at #1 in 1969, I regularly listen to 15 of them.  The two exceptions are Sugar, Sugar by The Archies (who were not even a real band) and In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans, though the latter is somewhat of a classic in it’s own right and was the subject of a previous Music Friday post.  Another surprise – The Beatles don’t win walking away.  It’s kind of a tie with The 5th Dimension since both groups had two #1 songs that year.  The 5th Dimension edge out The Beatles slightly in total weeks at #1 since their two songs spent a total of nine weeks at #1, and The Beatles’ two songs spent a total of 6 weeks at number one.  However…I am going to have to call it for The Beatles, because of the iconic status of their #1’s.  While The 5th Dimension’s songs, though representative of the music of the period, are really just footnotes to the history while the Beatles’ tunes are the history.  So the winner is…..drumroll…..The Beatles!  Big Surprise, I know.  I also know that I haven’t told you the titles of the songs.  Don’t worry – I’ll tell you the titles and you can listen to them too.  I’ll present all four songs – two by The Beatles, and two by The 5th Dimension and you tell me if I made the right choice.

I’ll do this like they do the Miss America Pageant – we’ll start with the “runners up”.  Should the winners be unable to fulfill their obligation, the runners up will be named the winner.  Not really, but I’ve always wanted to say (write?) that.  Here goes:

Second runner up is The 5th Dimension’s Wedding Bell Blues, sometimes A.K.A. Marry Me Bill:

First runner up is The 5th Dimension’s Age of Aquarius / Let The Sun Shine In which I featured in a previous blog post titled Was That The Dawning Of The Age Of Aquarius?

Not bad, but when was the last time you heard either one of those songs?  Not recently, I bet unless you are me.  And you’re not.  Now for the Winners:  The Beatles’ (featuring Billy Preston on keyboards) Get Back which spent six weeks at #1:

And The Beatles’ Come Together and Something which spent only one week at the top spot in 1969.  Two songs which for some reason BillBoard lists as a single song.  Could two songs share the top spot?  Guess so…here are both songs:

So there you have it.  1969 winners are The Beatles.  They are on a roll…a rock and roll?  Sorry, bad pun.  But they’re looking hard to beat, but since they broke up in 1970 they can’t win more than one more year.  And 1971 – 1975 will be wide open!  Hope you enjoyed…stay tuned for the obligatory encore post following right behind this one.  Or right above this one.  Or something.

The project to determine my peak music year continues this week with a look at the 1968 BillBoard Hot 100.  If you want to recap 1965, 66 and 67 you can click here.

For the first time so far in this endeavor, the winner of the round not only had the most songs at the #1 position, but also the most overall time spent at #1 as well.  1968 was an interesting year, as there were five individual songs that each spent four consecutive weeks or more at #1, not including one of the songs by this year’s winner that spent nine consecutive weeks at #1.  Dying of suspense?  OK, I’ll have mercy and announce the winner as…The Beatles!  Somewhat anti-climactic, isn’t it?  The Beatles had two songs that made #1 in 1968;  Hello Goodbye which spent 2 weeks at #1 (after having spent time at #1 the previous year also) and Hey Jude which spent an amazing nine consecutive weeks at #1.  So here you go.

Hello Goodbye, two weeks at #1

And Hey Jude, nine weeks at #1

Another interesting thing about Hey Jude is that it bucked the AM Radio format of the two and a half minute song, as it clocked in at a little over seven minutes, almost four minutes of which is “Na Na Na Na-na-na-na”.  As I mentioned in one of the earlier posts, it is possible The Beatles dominated the chart until their breakup in 1970 (I don’t know for sure – I have not cheated and looked ahead).  They’ve won every year now 1965 through 68.  I guess we’ll find out together.

I mentioned that there were five songs that each spent four consecutive weeks or more at #1.  One of them is instantly recognizable as one of the best songs of the sixties…period.  I’ll just tell you the name of the artist:  Otis Redding.  Now listen:

A note of irony in that the song did not reach #1 until after Otis Redding’s death that year in a plane crash, the first posthumous #1 song in BillBoard Hot 100 history.  Too bad.

Oh…also…Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay is two minutes and forty two seconds long.  So it also bucked the two-and-a-half minute format.  Just by a lot less.   See you next week when we wrap up the sixties with The 1969 BillBoard Hot 100.  See ya!

I owe someone an apology.  That someone is…or rather those someones are The Young Rascals.  In the last post I omitted them from the groups that had songs that spent four weeks at #1 on the 1967 BillBoard Hot 100.  Their song Groovin’ spent four weeks at #1, though not consecutively.  It was at #1 for two weeks on two occasions for a total of four weeks.  So four weeks.  Here you go:

Hi there.  In the previous post (scroll down) I had  mentioned that although The Beatles had the most #1 songs on the 1967 BillBoard Hot 100 chart, there were other songs that accumulated more time at the #1 position that year than any of the Beatles’ tunes.  In fact there were quite a few individual songs that year that each spent more time at #1 than all the Beatle’s songs combined.  Let me break that down for you.

As we go along here, note that you can click on each song title to hear it, and click on the group or artist’s name to go to their WikiPedia page.  Now back to our story.  The three Beatles tunes, Penny Lane, All You Need is Love and Hello Goodbye  each spent one week at #1 for a total of three weeks.  In 1967 there were two individual songs by other artists that each spent three weeks at #1 – Happy Together by The Turtles and Light My Fire by The Doors.  Obviously, both songs have endured to this day, especially the Doors’ tune which is one of the iconic sixties rock songs of all time.

In 1967 there were five individual songs that spent four weeks each at the #1 spot.  A couple of these you’ll recognize, the others will have to be resurrected from the grooveyard of forgotten favorites.  First, the familiars.   The “Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane” song,  The Letter by The Boxtops, (no Wiki page for The Boxtops, so link goes to Google search) held the top spot for four weeks September 23rd through October 14th, and Daydream Believer by The Monkees which sat at #1 for four weeks from December 2nd through December 23rd.  The other songs that occupied the top spot for four weeks apiece were…brace yourselves… Somethin’ Stupid by Nancy and Frank Sinatra, Windy by The Association and Ode To Billy Joe by Bobbie Gentry.  That last one is a humdinger.

Now we’re getting to the meat and potatoes.  This next song spent five weeks at #1.  It was on the soundtrack of a popular movie that year which starred Sidney Poitier.  The song and the movie shared the same title.  Can you guess?  For this we must again go back to the grooveyard to find…

To Sir With Love by Lulu:

Finally, this next song is by a group that I suspect may be dominating the chart for at least the next couple Music Fridays.  This song sat atop the BillBoard Hot 100 for six weeks in 1967.  Can you believe it?  It’s true…

I’m a Believer by The Monkees

So there you go.  1967 was quite a trip and I didn’t even get into the three songs that spent two weeks apiece at #1.  Click on this link to see the chart for yourself.  Hope you enjoyed our trip.  See you next week and remember:  Don’t be trippin’!

Here is this week’s installment in my “peak music year” discovery project.  Recall that I am reviewing the BillBoard Hot 100 charts from 1965 to 1975 to determine the group or artist that had the most #1 songs during those periods.  If you’d like to review quickly, you can read my previous posts here:

Music Friday – 1966 BillBoard Hot 100 Edition

Music Friday 1965 – BillBoard Hot 100 Edition

OK.  All caught up?  Good.  Now on to 1967.  Before I unveil the group that had the most #1 songs on the BillBoard Hot 100 chart that year, I have an observation to make.  In 1967, there were several songs that had long stretches at the #1 position, so while the “winner” this year again had the most songs to hit #1, there were other artists that had fewer songs hit #1, but their songs held more weeks at #1 than the winner.  I’ll explain further at the end of the post.

The envelope please….and the winner is…The Beatles!  I told you last week that I sensed a pattern, and it continues this year too.  The Beatles had three #1 songs in 1967:  Penny Lane, All You Need Is Love and Hello Goodbye, the most of any group or artist that year.  Each song was at the #1 position for one week, a total of three weeks.  Here they are:

Penny Lane, #1 the week of March 18th, 1967

All You Need is Love, #1 the week of August 19th, 1967

And finally we closed the year out with Hello Goodbye, #1 the week of December 30th, 1967

I mentioned there were songs by other artists that spent longer at the #1 position than the three Beatles songs combined.  The longest running #1 song that year was six weeks at #1, and another song sat at #1 for five weeks.  Not only that, but there were also five different songs that held #1 for four-week stints and a smattering of songs that stayed at #1 for three weeks apiece.  What were those songs?  I’ll tell you…in the next installment.  You won’t want to miss it so stay tuned!

As I mentioned in the previous post(scroll down) there were many great songs on the BillBoard Hot 100 Charts in 1966.  Follow this link to the chart to see for yourself or listen to these three I picked out.  You’re Welcome!

Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence (2 weeks at #1)

The Righteous Brothers, (You’re My) Soul and Inspiration (3 weeks at #1)

The Mamas & the Papas, Monday, Monday (3 weeks at #1)

Have a great weekend!

My quest to determine my “peak music year” continues this week.  As you may or may not recall (or care for that matter) I resolved to examine the BillBoard Hot 100 charts from 1965 to 1975, see who were the groups or artists with the most #1 songs in each year, then choose  a favorite from those and then deem the year that artist or group “won” as my peak music year.  Not very scientific, but it’s the best I have for now.  Anyhoo, last week we stated with 1965, so this week it’s 1966.

And the 1966 Winner is…The Beatles.  Again.  I think this may end up being a trend that will come to a halt after 1970.  However…I noticed a couple things that I hadn’t anticipated.  First is the fact that choosing a “winner” based on the quantity of #1 songs might not be fair.  For example, the Beatles had the #1 song for 4 different times for a total of 5 weeks, but with only two songs.  There was another artist who had only one #1 song that year (Sgt. Barry Sandler, The Ballad of the Green Berets), but it was at #1 for 5 weeks.  So, also 5 weeks at #1, but only 1 song.

Next, I noticed that there are a lot of awesome “one hit wonders” – songs that were at #1 a single time for one week only, some obscure and some iconic.  Case in point: Wild Thing by The Troggs; Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys.  You get the idea – take a look at the chart and see for yourself.  Even The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra had a #1 that year with Strangers in the Night.  Doobie doobie doo indeed.  So I think I’ll have to give 1966 an asterisk for overall additional awesomeness.  By the way you can click on any of those song titles to listen.  And here, once again are The Beatles with their two songs that held the #1 position for a total of five weeks in 1966:  We Can Work It Out and Paperback Writer.  Enjoy!  Oh, and… comments!