The week of July 11, 1964, saw The Beach Boys land their first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘I Get Around.’
It also saw my father turn 21. Today is his birthday, quite a few years later, and while I don’t think he’s much of a Beach Boys fan (Frank Sinatra was and remains more his style), I dedicate this Song of the Day to him anyway. Fortunately, he didn’t “leave his best girl home on a Saturday night” or else my sister and I might have never been born.
Throwing back to the week of July 10, 1954, we find Kitty Kallen still dominating the charts with ‘Little Things Mean a Lot,’ at #1 for the seventh of nine straight weeks.
In the #2 spot that week was Archie Bleyer’s recording of ‘Hernando’s Hideaway,’ a song from the musical The Pajama Game, written by Jerry Ross and Richard Adler. The song was recorded by several artists, but Bleyer’s was the most successful.
R.E.M. went from college rock indie pioneers to one of the most popular rock bands in the world, eventually selling more than 90 million albums globally. But they never managed to place a single atop the Billboard Hot 100.
The band did score a #1 in Canada with ‘Bang and Blame’ and another in Norway with ‘Supernatural Superserious.’ And in the Netherlands, ‘Losing My Religion’ made it to #1. But in the good old U.S. of A., four hits between 1987-1991 stalled out in the top ten.
It’s not a surprise to me that today’s featured artist never had a #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. But I’m including The Who in this series because it is a surprise that only one of their songs even reached the top ten. And that they never scored a #1 hit in their native UK, either.
In general, The Who just hasn’t had the staying power of other classic 60s and 70s rock bands. Despite being very influential on a whole generation of musicians, they seem to have faded in the general consciousness.
Missy Elliott has released six Platinum albums and 74 singles (44 as a featured performer) without reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
She’s had five top ten singles as a solo artist and six as a feature. But what sets her apart and earns her inclusion in this list is how close she came to #1 and for how long. While Creedence Clearwater Revival have had the most songs at #2 without a #1 hit, Missy Elliott has spent the most weeks there.
Meet Me In Montauk 