Throwing back to the week of March 14, 1976, sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 is a classic disco doo-wop song that returned its legendary group to the #1 spot for the first time in more than a decade.
The Four Seasons had four #1 hits between 1962 and 1964 — ‘Sherry,’ ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry,’ ‘Walk Like a Man,’ and ‘Rag Doll,’ doo-wop hits that made splendid use of Frankie Valli’s falsetto. Another six singles made it into at least the top 20.
Today is my 29th wedding anniversary, so I was hoping a romantic song topped the Hot 100 the week of March 8, 1966. Alas, it was not to be.
Instead, we have ‘The Ballad of the Green Berets’ by Staff sergeant Barry Sadler. This simple march was a massive Vietnam War-era hit that wasn’t critical of the campaign, like most popular music of the time, but instead celebrated the men who fought in it.
Throwing back to the week of March 7, 1956, we find a couple of repeats atop the Hot 100: Kay Starr’s ‘Rock and Roll Waltz‘ and Nelson Riddle’s ‘Lisbon Antigua.’
Another instrumental track was hot on the heels of Riddle’s hit, and would soon overtake it. That was Les Baxter’s recording of ‘The Poor People of Paris.’ This was a take on the French song ‘La goualante du pauvre Jean,’ which translates to ‘The Ballad of Poor John.’ Somewhere along the line, somebody mistook “pauvre Jean” for “pauvres gens,” which means “poor people,” and that explains the title change.
The week of March 1, 1986, found the pop rock band Mr. Mister atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Kyrie.’ It was their second #1 hit, following ‘Broken Wings’ a little more than a year earlier.
Those were the first two singles from the band’s sophomore album, Welcome to the Real World. The following single, ‘Is It Love,’ peaked at #8 in July of 1986, giving this album a presence on the chart for a few months short of two years.
Throwing back to the week of February 28, 1976, we find the ‘Theme from S.W.A.T.’ by Rhythm Heritage atop the Billboard Hot 100. I wrote about that song during a week about instrumental tracks that reached #1. Paul Simon drops to #2 with his ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.’
In the third spot, a week before its sole week at #1, was The Miracles’ ‘Love Machine Pt. 1.’ The full seven minute album track was split into two parts with ‘Part 2’ serving as the B-side (it’s basically an extended coda).
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