Throwing back to the week of June 4, 1983, we find Irene Cara on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her soundtrack smash ‘Flashdance… What a Feeling.’
Watching clips from Adrian Lyne’s Flashdance, I’m reminded of the crush I had on lead actress Jennifer Beals at the time. I assume I caught up with the film on video, because I don’t think I saw the R-rated film in theaters as an 11-year-old.
Throwing back to the week of June 2, 1973, we find Paul McCartney and Wings at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their song ‘My Love.’ The track would spend four weeks at #1 and 18 weeks in total on the chart. This was the first of six #1 tracks McCartney recorded with Wings.
This song sounds like it took McCartney about ten minutes to write, and not in the “genius strikes” sort of way. It’s a simple love ballad with an uninspired melody and pedestrian lyrics.
Today we throw back to the week of June 1, 1963, when Lesley Gore topped Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘It’s My Party,’ the lead single from her debut album I’ll Cry if I Want To. The song spent two weeks at #1 and 13 total weeks on chart. Gore’s next three singles reached the top five, but this track was her last to reach #1.
‘It’s My Party’ was first recorded by British singer Helen Shapiro, but it wasn’t released until her album came out in October, months after Gore’s success with the song. Her version is a little slower and her voice is a little deeper, giving the illusion that you’re listening to the more popular version at a reduced speed.
Throwing back to the dog days of 2013, specifically the week of May 25, we find Macklemore & Ryan Lewis occupying the top spot of the Hot 100 with ‘Can’t Hold Us.’
I find with both Throwback Weekends and the Decades series that the closer I get to present day, the less I like the music. Give me the hits of the 60s, 70s and 80s all day every day, but once we get into the 90s, 00s and god forbid the 10s, it’s a minefield.
Today we throw back to the week of May 24, 2003, when the Billboard Hot 100 was topped by Jamaican reggae rapper Sean Paul and his party song ‘Get Busy.’
‘Get Busy’ spent three weeks in the top spot, the first of two Sean Paul solo tracks to reach #1. The second, ‘Temperature,’ came two years later, so we might see it on a future Throwback Weekend.
Meet Me In Montauk 