Throwing back to the week of May 23, 1976, we find Diana Ross atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Love Hangover,’ the third single from her self-titled soul album released in February of that year.
The first single, which also reached #1, was ‘Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),’ a Best Song Oscar nominee the previous year.
The week of May 17, 1966, found a quartet of classic songs I’ve already posted atop the Billboard Hot 100. They were, in order: The Mamas and the Papas’ ‘Monday Monday,’ Bob Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,’ The Young Rascals’ ‘Good Lovin’,’ and Percy Sledge’s ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’
That #2 position was the closest Dylan ever got to a chart-topping hit, and it was his second song to hit #2 following ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’
Throwing back to the week of May 16, 1956, we find Elvis Presley and Perry Como atop the Billboard singles chart with ‘Heartbreak Hotel‘ and ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)‘,’ respectively.
At #3 that week was an instrumental medley by composer Morris Stoloff that combined the 1933 jazz standard ‘Moonglow’ with an instrumental version of the theme from the 1966 film Picnic, which starred William Holden and Kim Novak.
The week of May 10, 1986, found Pet Shop Boys and Robert Palmer atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘West End Girls‘ and ‘Addicted to Love,’ respectively.
At #3, a week away from its own three-week stint at #1, was Whitney Houston’s ‘Greatest Love of All.’ This was Houston’s third straight chart-topping hit from her self-titled debut, making her the first woman to have three #1s on the same album.
Throwing back to the week of May 9, 1976, we find family R&B band The Sylvers atop the Hot 100 with ‘Boogie Fever.’ This song, which spent one week at #1, was the group’s only chart-topping hit.
Nine Sylvers siblings perform on this track. A 10th, Christopher, never performed with the band, depriving them of the chance to say they were twice as good as the Jackson 5.
