Throwing back to the week of November 29, 2003, we find Beyoncé and Sean Paul still dominating the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Baby Boy.’ That song was in the last of its nine weeks atop the chart, soon to be replaced by #2 track ‘Stand Up‘ by Ludacris.
At #3 was the Outkast classic ‘Hey Ya!,’ a song that prompted me to wax nostalgic 12 years ago on the blog. That song would soon ascend to its own nine-week run at #1.
The week of November 20, 1993, saw Meat Loaf hanging on to the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).’ It would have been more appropriate for turkey to top the chart that Thanksgiving week, but I guess Meat Loaf will do.
At #2 was Janet Jackson with ‘Again,’ the third single from her hit album Janet and the second to hit #1 (it reached the top spot for two weeks in December).
Throwing back to the week of November 19, 1983, we find Lionel Richie on top of Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘All Night Long (All Night).’
I’ve featured that song already, however, so I’m moving on to #2, a hit duet between Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. ‘Say Say Say’ was the first collaboration the duo recorded, but the second they released. ‘The Girl is Mine’ showed up on Jackson’s Thriller the year before.
The week of November 17, 1973, saw former Temptations member Eddie Kendricks in his second week at #1 with ‘Keep On Truckin’ (Part 1),’ an abbreviated version of an 8-minute album track.
Kendricks had left The Temptations on bad terms two years earlier, and received some musical shade from his former band through a song called ‘Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are).’ This song, his only solo #1, gave him some measure of revenge. Kendricks even name-drops his former band during the song’s final verses.
Throwing back to the week of November 16, 1963, we find Nino Temple and April Stevens atop the Billboard Hot 100 with their recording of ‘Deep Purple.’
The original version of this song was composed by pianist Peter DeRose in the 1920s. It was recorded as an instrumental by many artists in subsequent decades (here’s a version with DeRose himself on piano). In 1938, lyricist Mitchell Parish added words to the composition, and it was reimagined as a doo-wop track.
Meet Me In Montauk 