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!
Throwing back to the week of March 9, 1974, we find Terry Jacks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Seasons in the Sun.’
This song was first written and recorded in 1961 by the Danish artist Jacques Brel as ‘Le Moribond’ (which means ‘The Dying Man’). The lyrics described a man’s final messages to his friends, a priest, and his wife — who was cheating on him with one of his friends. In 1964, the Kingston Trio recorded an English-language version, retitled ‘Seasons in the Sun.’
A few weeks ago, I featured The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ the band’s first #1 hit in the U.S. It was still atop the chart the week of February 29, 1964, but just below it was the band’s soon-to-be second #1 hit, ‘She Loves You.’
This single had been a huge hit in the UK the summer before, but a U.S. release was largely ignored by radio and failed to crack the Hot 100. Imagine that!
When the British Invasion finally arrived in early 1964, ‘She Loves You’ came back with a vengeance, rocketing to the top of the chart.
Throwing back to the weekend of February 27, 1954, Doris Day held on to Billboard’s top spot with ‘Secret Love.’ At #2 was a song that had been moving up the chart for about a month, Jo Stafford’s ‘Make Love to Me.’
This song would reach #1 the following week and alternate in the top spot with ‘Secret Love’ for more than a month.
The week of February 21, 2004, saw a few repeats at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart: ‘Slow Jamz,’ by Twista feat. Kanye West & Jamie Foxx; ‘Yeah!‘ by Usher feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris; and ‘The Way You Move‘ by Outkast.
In the fourth spot that week was a rising star named Beyoncé, with the third single from her debut album Dangerously in Love. While the first two singles (‘Crazy in Love’ and ‘Baby Boy’) reached #1, ‘Me, Myself and I’ stalled at #4.
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