For almost the entirety of 1964 so far, in these Throwback Weekends, The Beatles have dominated the Hot 100. The band owned the top of the chart for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs reaching #1.
So who finally dethroned the Fab Four? Would you believe it was 62-year-old jazz legend Louis Armstrong with a demo of the title track from the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!?
Old Satchmo recorded his demo at his manager’s request, to help promote the show, which had debuted in January. They released the track to radio and soon found they had a major hit on their hands.
The song spent just one week at #1 but hung around long enough to be #3 song of 1964, behind the Beatles hits ‘I Want to Hold You Hand’ and ‘She Loves You.’
This accomplishment made Armstrong the oldest performer to ever reach the top spot of the Hot 100, a record he still holds today.
This is Louis, Dolly
It’s so nice to have you back where you belong
You’re lookin’ swell, Dolly
I can tell, Dolly
You’re still glowin’…you’re still crowin’
You’re still goin’ strong
I feel the room swayin’
While the band’s playin’
One of our old favourite songs from way back when
So take her wrap, fellas find her an empty lap, fellas
Dolly’ll never go away again
Hello, Dolly
Well, hello, Dolly
It’s so nice to have you back where you belong
You’re lookin’ swell, Dolly
I can tell, Dolly
You’re still glowin’…you’re still crowin’
You’re still goin’ strong
I feel the room swayin’
While the band keeps on playin’
One of our old favourite songs from way back when
So…golly, gee, fellas
Have a little faith in me, fellas
Dolly’ll never go away
I said she’ll never go away
Dolly’ll never go away again
Meet Me In Montauk 
Great info about a classic song by a legendary artist.
It got me curious though about Armstrong’s other big song, “What a Wonderful World.” Turns out that song, released in 1967, made it to number 1 in the UK, making Armstrong the oldest person to do that – a record he held until 2009 when Tom Jones sang on a remake of “Islands in the Stream.” Meanwhile, Armstrong’s “wonderful World” likely would have made it to number 1 in the US too, but some guy at the record label didn’t like it and refused to release it as a single. Then, in 1988, the song was used in Good Morning Vietnam” and reached the top 20 in the US.
So interesting to read about this history of number one songs! Love the way Armstrong’s songs were used in movies ❤️