A few weeks ago, I featured The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ the band’s first #1 hit in the U.S. It was still atop the chart the week of February 29, 1964, but just below it was the band’s soon-to-be second #1 hit, ‘She Loves You.’
This single had been a huge hit in the UK the summer before, but a U.S. release was largely ignored by radio and failed to crack the Hot 100. Imagine that!
When the British Invasion finally arrived in early 1964, ‘She Loves You’ came back with a vengeance, rocketing to the top of the chart.
The Beatles became the only band to have their first two Hot 100 singles occupy the #1 and #2 slots simultaneously. It has since happened one other time, by an artist I don’t think anyone will guess if I give you a hundred tries. Still, I’ll look for your answers in the comments.
‘She Loves You’ was one of the first songs to start with its chorus rather than a verse. That burst of energy right out of the gate epitomizes the sound of Beatlemania.
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
[Verse 1]
You think you’ve lost your love
Well, I saw her yesterday
It’s you she’s thinking of
And she told me what to say
[Refrain]
She says she loves you
And you know that can’t be bad
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad
[Verse 2]
She said you hurt her so
She almost lost her mind
But now she said she knows
You’re not the hurting kind
[Refrain]
She says she loves you
And you know that can’t be bad
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad, ooh
[Chorus]
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
With a love like that
You know you should be glad
[Verse 3]
You know it’s up to you
I think it’s only fair
Pride can hurt you, too
Apologize to her
[Refrain]
Because she loves you
And you know that can’t be bad
She loves you
And you know you should be glad, ooh
[Chorus]
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
With a love like that
You know you should be glad
[Outro]
With a love like that
You know you should be glad
With a love like that
You know you should be glad
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Meet Me In Montauk 
Well, I’ll play, but assume the artist is either fairly obscure or not someone we would think of to have two big hits off the bat. I’ll guess Barry Manilow.😉
Close… it was Iggy Azalea 🙂
Her song ‘Fancy’ reached #1 while ‘Problem,’ a collaboration with Ariana Grande, was at #2.
Wouldn’t have gotten that in a thousand guesses. 😀
gee I was just about to guess that Clay 😆
I believe it happened in March 18, 1978 when the Bee Gees occupied #1 and #2 slots on the Billboard chart with “Night Fever” at #1 and “Stayin’ Alive” at number 2. The same week they also two other songs in the top 5 that they had written – the #3 spot with “Emotion” by Samantha Sang and the #5 slot with “Love Is Thicker Than Water” by brother Andy Gibb.
Those weren’t their first two songs on the Hot 100, however. That’s the element that makes this feat unique to The Beatles and Iggy Azalea (two names you don’t see paired very often!).
Good point …