Throwing back to the week of August 15, 1976, we find Elton John and Kiki Dee atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,’ the song that claimed Billboard’s official Song of the Summer crown that year.
At #2 that week was ‘You Should Be Dancing’ by the Bee Gees, on its way to a single week atop the Hot 100. This song — and Children of the World, the album on which it appeared — marked the band’s shift to disco, a controversial but wildly successful move.
The Lovin’ Spoonful held the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 the week of August 9, 1969, with ‘Summer in the City,’ the folk rock band’s first and only #1 hit. This was also the most overtly rocking song they had released to that point.
Dropping in the middle of a record heat wave in New York City, ‘Summer in the City’ was the right song at the right time. It spent three weeks in the top spot and earned critical acclaim for its shifting keys and use of sound effects.
Throwing back to the week of August 8, 1956, we find the doo-wop group The Platters atop the Billboard singles chart with ‘My Prayer.’
The song was written in 1939 by Romanian violinist Georges Boulanger as an instrumental titled Avant de Mourir, with lyrics later added by Carlos Gomez Barrera and Jimmy Kennedy. It found some success in the U.S. that year as ‘My Prayer,’ including in a recording by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.
The week of August 2, 1986, was a battle of the Peters, with Peter Cetera’s ‘Glory of Love’ overtaking Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer‘ to claim the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
‘Glory of Love’ would spend another week atop the chart before ceding #1 to the world’s hottest star at the time, Madonna. More on that in a couple of weeks.
Throwing back to the week of August 1, 1976, we find Elton John and Kiki Dee atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,’ the official Song of the Summer for 1976.
At #2 that week, and for the second straight week, was Gary Wright’s ‘Love is Alive.’ The song peaked in this position during its 27-week run on the chart. That’s nearly two months longer than Wright’s other #2 hit, ‘Dream Weaver.’
