Category Archives: throwback weekends

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Song of the Day #5,608: ‘Demons’ – Imagine Dragons

The 2013 installment of Throwback Weekends continues to annoy, as once again the majority of the top ten has been featured on the blog before. This is due to a combination of my having written about some of these songs at the time and the fact that the Billboard Top Ten was remarkably static that year.

I won’t list the songs in the top seven spots as I have in previous weeks. It’s the same roundup of Lorde, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Drake, Jay-Z and friends. All decent enough songs, but apparently the only songs worth hearing during the back half of that year.

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Song of the Day #5,607: ‘Stand Up’ – Ludacris feat. Shawnna

Throwing back to the week of November 8, 2003, we find Beyoncé and Sean Paul holding on to the top spot with ‘Baby Boy,’ in the middle of a nine-week run for the song at #1.

Sitting just behind it, a month away from its own #1 berth, is Ludacris’ ‘Stand Up.’ This is the second single from the rapper’s fourth album Chicken-n-Beer, and would become his first to top the Hot 100.

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Song of the Day #5,601: ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ – Meat Loaf

The week of October 30, 1993, saw Mariah Carey hanging on to the top spot of Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘Dreamlover.’ It was the last of eight weeks that song would spend atop the chart.

Right behind it was a song that would ascend to #1 the following week and spend five weeks there: Meat Loaf’s ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).’ This was Meat Loaf’s first-ever #1 hit, and his last. He died last year at age 74.

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Song of the Day #5,600: ‘Islands in the Stream’ – Kenny Rogers & Kenny Rogers

Throwing back to the week of October 29, 1983, we find Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton topping the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Islands in the Stream.’ The duet spent two weeks at #1, and gave each of the country legends their second chart-topper on the Hot 100. (Bonus points to any commenter who can name the previous #1 for one or both artists).

‘Islands in the Stream’ was written by the Bee Gees as an R&B song but it got a pop country makeover when it landed with Rogers and Parton. The song was released on Rogers’ album Eyes That See in the Dark, on which every track was written by Barry Gibb (most with brother Maurice).

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Song of the Day #5,594: ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ – Gladys Knight & The Pips

The week of October 27, 1973, found Gladys Knight & The Pips at #1 with the classic ‘Midnight Train to Georgia.’ This song, the band’s first #1, spent two weeks at the top spot. It became Knight’s signature song.

‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ was written by country singer-songwriter Jim Weatherly as ‘Midnight Plane to Houston.’ His plaintive version is worth a listen, though the track definitely reached a higher level in the hands of Gladys Knight & The Pips.

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