Throwing back to the week of January 31, 1976, we find Ohio Players stop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Love Rollercoaster,’ enjoying its first and only week at #1.
The R&B/funk band had made it to #1 a year earlier with ‘Fire.’ After this hit, they would never again reach the top ten, though later in 1976 they would hit #18 with ‘Who’d She Coo?’
Throwing back to the week of January 25, 1966, we find The Beatles hanging on to the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘We Can Work It Out,’ in its third week at #1. Nipping at their heels were The Beach Boys, whose ‘Barbara Ann’ jumped from #15 to #2 that week.
The Beatles fell from #1 the following week, but The Beach Boys weren’t able to capitalize and score their third #1 hit (that would happen later in the year). Instead, Petula Clark leapfrogged them with a song that will likely show up on a future Throwback Weekend.
Some familiar names topped the Billboard Hot 100 on the weekend of January 24, 1955: Dean Martin with ‘Memories Are Made of This,‘ The Platters with ‘The Great Pretender,’ and Tennessee Ernie Ford with ‘Sixteen Tons.’
At #4 that week, on its way to a 4-week stint at #1, was the novelty track ‘Rock and Roll Waltz’ by vocalist Kay Starr. The track, written by Shorty Allen and Roy Alfred, depicts the singer coming home to find her parents dancing (a waltz, naturally) to her rock and roll records.
It’s a real cheesefest this weekend. Just when you thought it was safe to come back to the blog after yesterday’s Barry Manilow offering, I’m serving up a little ‘That’s What Friends Are For.’
The week of January 18, 1986, was the first of a four-week stint at #1 for this collaboration between Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder. Written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, the song was originally recorded by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the 1982 film Night Shift.
Throwing back to the week of January 17, 1976, we find Barry Manilow atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘I Write the Songs,’ which spent a single week at #1 after debuting on the chart a month and a half earlier.
Two other versions of this song were released in 1975 — one by Captain & Tennille on their album Love Will Keep Us Together, and another by David Cassidy for his album The Higher They Climb. Neither was released as a single.
Meet Me In Montauk 