Throwing back to the week of June 14, 2003, we find 50 Cent atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ’21 Questions,’ a track featuring singer/raper Nate Dogg. This song spent four weeks atop the chart on its way to 23 total weeks on the Hot 100.
This was 50 Cent’s second straight single from debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ to reach #1. The first was ‘In Da Club,’ which showed up on a Throwback Weekend six weeks ago.
Today’s Throwback Weekend selection comes from the week of June 5, 1993, but this song wasn’t #1 that week. Janet Jackson was still in the midst of her eight-week run with ‘That’s the Way Love Goes‘ in the top spot, forcing me to skip down to #2.
Silk’s ‘Freak Me’ spent two weeks at #1 before it was bumped to #2 by Jackson. It ended up spending ten weeks in the second spot. That’s a lot of success for a song I have literally never heard until five minutes ago.
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.
