The week of March 21, 1964, saw The Beatles dominating the top of the Billboard Hot 100. ‘She Loves You‘ and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand‘ occupied the #1 and #2 spots, respectively, and a re-release of ‘Please Please Me‘ — which had bombed in the U.S. a year earlier — made it to #3.
In the #4 slot that week was ‘Dawn (Go Away)’ by The Four Seasons, a song that peaked at #3 during a six-week stint in the top ten. During that span, it was never topped by anything but a Beatles song.
Throwing back to the week of March 20, 1954, we find Jo Stafford and Doris Day hanging on the the #1 and #2 spots with ‘Make Love to Me‘ and ‘Secret Love,’ respectively.
At #3 that week, and kicking around the top ten for awhile, was a song I’ve seen listed in a number of different ways: ‘I Get So Lonely (Oh Baby Mine),’ ‘Oh Baby Mine (I Get So Lonely),’ ‘I Get So Lonely When I Dream About You (Oh Baby Mine).’ Whatever the name, it’s a catchy doo wop song by vocal group The Four Knights.
The week of March 13, 2004, saw Usher atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Yeah!,’ which occupied the #1 spot for 12 consecutive weeks that year.
At #2 is ‘One Call Away’ by Chingy, an artist I had never heard of until he showed up on Throwback Weekends in August (with ‘Right Thurr‘) and November (with ‘Holidae In‘). Those tracks peaked at #2 and #3, respectively.
Throwing back to the week of March 12, 1994, we find Swedish pop band Ace of Base atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘The Sign.’
Late last year, I featured the band’s previous hit, ‘All That She Wants,’ which peaked at #2. That song, plus today’s track and ‘Don’t Turn Around,’ which reached #4, all showed up on the band’s debut album, Happy Nation. To be more precise, they showed up on the U.S. version of that album, which had a different track order than the initial Denmark release and added three new songs (including ‘Don’t Turn Around’ and ‘The Sign’).
The week of March 10, 1984, was a great one on the Billboard Hot 100.
In the top spot you had Van Halen’s ‘Jump,’ followed by Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.’ Rounding out the top three was Nena’s ’99 Luftballons,’ a rare hit not in the English language.
What a great mix of songs. What a great decade!
Meet Me In Montauk 