Duran Duran held on to the top spot of the Hot 100 the week of July 20, 1985, with ‘A View to a Kill,’ but hot on their heels was Prince with ‘Raspberry Beret.’ The song peaked there, one of three Prince songs to stall out one slot short of #1 (‘Purple Rain’ and ‘U Got the Look’ are the other two).
This is one of 18 top ten songs for Prince, and one of 13 in his signature decade. The 80s also accounted for four of his five #1 hits.
The week of July 19, 1975, found Wings atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Listen to What the Man Said,’ the leadoff single from the album Venus and Mars. This was the third of five #1 hits by Wings during the 70s.
This is the song I know least of those five, which include ‘My Love,’ ‘Silly Love Songs,’ ‘Band on the Run,’ and ‘With a Little Luck.’ I’m sure I’ve heard this before but it doesn’t exactly ring a bell.
The week of July 13, 1965, saw a couple of repeats atop the Billboard Hot 100 in The Rolling Stones’ ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction‘ and Four Tops’ ‘I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch).’
At #3 that week, on its way to #1, was ‘I’m Henry VIII, I Am’ by Herman’s Hermits. At 1:50, this is one of the shortest songs to ever top the Hot 100.
Throwing back to the week of July 12, 1955, we find Bill Haley & His Comets holding on to the top spot of the pop chart with ‘Rock Around the Clock.’
That brings us to #2, and the first appearance of Mr. Frank Sinatra on Throwback Weekends. The song is the Dolores “Vicki” Silvers-penned ‘Learnin’ the Blues.’ I’m excited to hear frequent commenter Peggy chime in on this one.
During the week of July 5, 1985, Phil Collins’ ‘Sussodio’ held on to the top spot of the Hot 100.
At #2 that week, on its way to a two-week stint atop the chart, was Duran Duran’s ‘A View to a Kill,’ theme song to the James Bond movie of the same name. The band got the gig after bassist John Taylor approached the movie’s producer at a party and drunkenly asked for the job. It probably helped that the band was coming off of a three-year span that included a handful of songs in the top five.
Meet Me In Montauk 