The week of August 24, 1965, found a trio of major hits atop the Billboard Hot 100: Sonny & Cher’s ‘I Got You Babe,’ The Beatles’ ‘Help!,’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls.’
In the #4 spot that week, its peak position on the chart, was The Righteous Brothers’ ‘Unchained Melody.’ I was sure I had featured this song on the blog before, but it turns out I have posted other versions (five, to be exact) but never the most famous one.
Throwing back to the week of August 23, 1955, we find Bill Haley & the Comets and Pat Boone holding on to the top two spots with ‘Rock Around the Clock‘ and ‘Ain’t That a Shame,’ respectively.
That brings us to the #3 song that week, Mitch Miller’s version of ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ which eventually reached #1. This traditional tune dates back at least 100 years from Miller’s recording. The original version had references to “darkeys” and “yellow women” that were sanitized over the years.
On the week of August 17, 1985, Tears for Fears held the top spot with ‘Shout,’ which spent three weeks at #1.
Right behind it, on its way to its own #1 berth, was Huey Lewis and the News’ ‘The Power of Love,’ lead single of the soundtrack of blockbuster hit Back to the Future. The song plays early in the film as Marty McFly skateboards to school, followed shortly by Lewis himself in a cameo as an uptight school employee.
Throwing back to the week of August 16, 1975, we find the Bee Gees atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Jive Talkin’.’ It was the band’s first #1 hit (and first in the top ten) since 1971’s ‘How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.’ They would have seven more over the next four years.
This was the lead single of the album Main Course, the Bee Gees’ first gold album in the U.S. and the start of a massively successful run that made them one of the top-selling acts in history.
Sonny & Cher owned the #1 spot of Billboard’s Hot 100 the week of August 10, 1965 with ‘I Got You Babe,’ their signature song.
Written by Bono, this was the first single from the duo’s debut album, Look at Us. Cher wasn’t a fan of the song at first, doubting it would be a hit, but it ended up topping the charts for three weeks and selling more than a million copies.
Meet Me In Montauk 