Category Archives: throwback weekends

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Song of the Day #5,517: ‘Whoomp! (There It Is)’ – Tag Team

After a run of great Throwback Weekend songs from the 60s through the 80s, we hit the brick wall of the 90s. Fortunately, I’ve already posted the #1 song from the week of August 7, 1993, the awful but inexplicably popular cover of ‘(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love with You‘ by UB40.

In the #2 spot is a song I was ready to dismiss as hot garbage, but my increasing nostalgic fondness for early 90s hip-hop keeps me from going too negative. ‘Whoomp! (There It Is),’ by hip-hop duo Tag Team, isn’t great art, but its verses have the playfulness and buoyancy that make much of this era’s rap music a delight.

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Song of the Day #5,516: ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ – Donna Summer

Throwing back to the week of August 6, 1983, we find that it was great to be a music fan that summer. In the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 is The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take,’ which ultimately spent eight weeks atop the chart (and gave the band its only #1 hit on the Hot 100).

I’ve featured that one before, so we move to #2, where the Eurythmics classic ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ spent one month before overtaking The Police for the #1 spot. I’ve written about that one, too.

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Song of the Day #5,510: ‘The Morning After’ – Maureen McGovern

The week of August 4, 1073, saw Maureen McGovern’s recording of ‘The Morning After’ reach the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100, where it would remain for two weeks. This was McGovern’s first single and her only career #1.

‘The Morning After’ was the love theme of the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, and was performed in the movie by the ship’s singer (Carol Lynley played the role but Renée Armand dudded her vocals). McGovern released her own version of the track several months after the film came out. The song won Best Original Song at that year’s Academy Awards.

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Song of the Day #5,509: ‘So Much in Love’ – The Tymes

Throwing back to the week of August 3, 1963, we find the R&B vocal group The Tymes in the #1 spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with their song ‘So Much in Love.’ This doo-wop treasure spent exactly one week at #1.

‘So Much in Love’ was The Tymes’ debut single. Their follow-up release, ‘Wonderful! Wonderful!,’ made it to #7 but they never reached the top ten in the U.S. again. It was a different story in the UK, where they went relatively unnoticed through the 60s but scored a #1 hit in 1975 with ‘Ms Grace.’

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Song of the Day #5,503: ‘Treasure’ – Bruno Mars

I’m developing a theory that the Hot 100 over the last two decades has been a lot more stagnant than in previous years. In other words, fewer songs are spending a longer amount of time in the upper echelons of the chart.

I’m basing this admittedly half-baked idea on the fact that the 2013 edition of Throwback Thursdays has produced the most repeats by far. Just take a look at the chart on the week of July 27, 2013.

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