Category Archives: throwback weekends

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Song of the Day #6,314: ‘Treat Her Right’ – Roy Head and the Traits

The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ still claimed the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 19, 1965. Just behind it was ‘Treat Her Right,’ the debut single by Roy Head and the Traits.

Written by Head and bassist Gene Kurtz, this two-minute blast of blue-eyed soul was an instant hit, missing out on #1 only because it was up against The Beatles’ classic. ‘Treat Her Right’ went on to be covered by a laundry list of performers, including Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Otis Redding, Jimmy Page, and Mae West.

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Song of the Day #6,313: ‘The Shifting Whispering Sands’ – Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra

Throwing back to the week of October 18, 1955, we find the usual batch of repeats in the top four (including The Four Aces and The Four Lads in the #1 and #2 spots, respectively). And at #5 is one of the strangest hits I’ve covered yet.

‘The Shifting Whispering Sands’ is a Western song that combines spoken-word poetry and choral singing. Over the years it has been recorded by many artists, including Johnny Cash and Lorne Greene, but the most popular was this version by Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra.

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Song of the Day #6,307: ‘Oh Sheila’ – Ready for the World

Today’s SOTD is the second straight Throwback Weekend selection that is entirely new to me. I have never heard ‘Oh Sheila’ and I have never heard of Ready for the World, the R&B band behind it.

This was the third single and biggest hit by the Michigan-based group, though they reached the top ten again the following year with ‘Love You Down.’

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Song of the Day #6,306: ‘Bad Blood’ – Neil Sedaka

Throwing back to the week of October 11, 1975, we find Neil Sedaka atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Bad Blood,’ a song I’m certain I’ve never heard before.

This was Sedaka’s third #1 hit, following 1962’s ‘Breaking Up is Hard to Do’ and 1974’s ‘Laughter in the Rain.’ This song remained at #1 for three weeks, becoming the biggest hit of the singer-songwriter’s career.

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Song of the Day #6,300: ‘Yesterday’ – The Beatles

The #1 song on the Hot 100 the week of October 5, 1965, was a little tune called ‘Yesterday’ by a little band known as The Beatles. The track was not released as a single in the UK because the band felt it was more of a Paul McCartney tune than a proper Beatles release, but in the U.S. it topped the charts for four weeks.

Considering I wrote 40 Beatles Weekend posts back in 2009/10, I was sure I had already featured ‘Yesterday.’ But alas, I made it to Song of the Day #6,300 without posting one of the most beloved, famous, and oft-covered songs of all time.

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