Throwing back to the week of April 26, 1975, we find country crooner B.J. Thomas atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.’
This was Thomas’ second #1 hit on this chart, following his recording of ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On MY Head,’ which appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The week of April 20, 1965, saw Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘The Game of Love,’ a song that had reached #2 in their native UK six months earlier.
Frontman Fontana left the band in the middle of a concert later that year, leaving the Mindbenders to continue as a trio. They bounced back nicely, making it to #2 with ‘A Groovy Kind of Love’ the following year.
Throwing back to the week of April 19, 1955, we find Bill Hayes’ ‘The Ballad of Davy Crockett‘ holding on to Billboard’s #1 spot for the last of its five weeks atop the chart.
Hot on its tails at #2 was an instrumental track that would kick off a 10-week stint at #1 the following week: Pérez Prado’s recording of ‘Cherry Pink (and Apple Blossom White).’
The #1 song in America the week of April 13, 1985, was a charity single that sold more than 20 million copies, becoming the eighth best-selling single of all time worldwide. I’m referring, of course, to ‘We Are the World,’ a song conceived as a way to raise money for and awareness of the famine in Africa.
‘We Are the World’ was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson and performed by a laundry list of music stars. The song featured so many big names that it’s easier to list the major 80s icons who weren’t there: namely, Prince and Madonna.
Throwing back to the week of April 12, 1975, we find Elton John atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Philadelphia Freedom.’ This was John’s fourth #1 hit on the chart on his way to seven in his career.
This was the first song John and lyricist Bernie Taupin ever wrote as a standalone single. John wanted to honor his friend Billie Jean King, who had become an international voice for feminism after her defeat of Bobby Riggs in the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match. The song was named for the Philadelphia Freedoms, King’s team in the World Team Tennis league.
Meet Me In Montauk 