Category Archives: throwback weekends

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Song of the Day #5,530: ‘Fingertips – Pt 2’ – Little Stevie Wonder

Throwing back to the week of August 24, 1963, we find a pre-teen Stevie Wonder (then billed as Little Stevie Wonder) atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Fingertips – Pt 2,’ the B-side of the first single from his album The 12 Year Old Genius – Recorded Live.

The full ‘Fingertips’ is an instrumental jazz track that was split across two sides for release. It was the second half of the performance, when Wonder was called back onstage for an encore after a rousing bit of harmonica playing, that rocketed up the charts, giving Wonder his first #1 hit.

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Song of the Day #5,524: ‘Holy Grail’ – Jay-Z feat. Justin Timberlake

Throwing back to the week of August 17, 2013, we’re once again going deep into the top ten before finding a song I haven’t featured.

The top five that week were, in order, Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines,’ Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop,’ Imagine Dragons’ ‘Radioactive,’ and Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky.’ Those tracks were competing for Song of the Summer status for months that year.

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Song of the Day #5,523: ‘Right Thurr’ – Chingy

Throwing back to the week of August 16, 2003, we find Beyoncé hanging on to the top spot with ‘Crazy in Love,’ halfway through its run of eight weeks at #1.

Below that is ‘Right Thurr’ by St. Louis rapper Chingy. This song spent (non-consecutive) five weeks at #2, held off by Queen Bey’s first major hit. That seems fair, given how much better ‘Crazy in Love’ is than this track.

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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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