Throwing back to the week of May 30, 1956, we find Elvis Presley’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel‘ and Morris Stoloff’s ‘Moonglow and Theme from Picnic‘ hanging on atop the singles chart.
Just behind at #3 was the song that would eventually end Presley’s seven-week stint in the top spot: ‘The Wayward Wind’ by pop singer Gogi Grant. This song would go on to spend six weeks at #1.
A pair of divas topped the Billboard Hot 100 the week of May 24, 1986: Whitney Houston with ‘Greatest Love of All‘ and Madonna with ‘Live to Tell.’ Alas, I’ve already written about both.
That brings us to #3, where we find another diva teaming up with one of the great soul singers. Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald’s ‘On My Own’ eventually spent three weeks at #1 and became the biggest hit for either artist.
Throwing back to the week of May 23, 1976, we find Diana Ross atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Love Hangover,’ the third single from her self-titled soul album released in February of that year.
The first single, which also reached #1, was ‘Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),’ a Best Song Oscar nominee the previous year.
The week of May 17, 1966, found a quartet of classic songs I’ve already posted atop the Billboard Hot 100. They were, in order: The Mamas and the Papas’ ‘Monday Monday,’ Bob Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,’ The Young Rascals’ ‘Good Lovin’,’ and Percy Sledge’s ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’
That #2 position was the closest Dylan ever got to a chart-topping hit, and it was his second song to hit #2 following ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’
Throwing back to the week of May 16, 1956, we find Elvis Presley and Perry Como atop the Billboard singles chart with ‘Heartbreak Hotel‘ and ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)‘,’ respectively.
At #3 that week was an instrumental medley by composer Morris Stoloff that combined the 1933 jazz standard ‘Moonglow’ with an instrumental version of the theme from the 1966 film Picnic, which starred William Holden and Kim Novak.
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