Barry McGuire’s ‘Eve of Destruction‘ returned to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 the week of September 21, 1965. At #2 was The McCoys’ recording of ‘Hang On Sloopy,’ a song that would reach the top spot the following week.
This song was originally released a year earlier as ‘My Girl Sloopy’ by the R&B group The Vibrations. It was written by Bert Berns and Wes Farrell. Berns is also a co-writer of ‘Twist and Shout,’ and you can hear echoes of that song in this one.
Throwing back to the week of September 20, 1955, we find a trio of usual suspects atop the singles chart: Mitch Miller’s ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas,’ The Four Aces’ ‘Love is a Many Splendored Thing,’ and Pat Boone’s ‘Ain’t That a Shame.’
In the fourth spot that week was ‘Autumn Leaves,’ an instrumental track by pianist Roger Williams. The song was composed a decade earlier by Joseph Kosma, a Hungarian who immigrated to France, with lyrics penned by Jacques Prévert. Johnny Mercer adapted the song to English.
The final Song of the Summer finalist shows up at #11 on Billboard’s official chart, and it’s another case where I’ve never heard of the song or the artist.
It turns out I do know Leon Thomas, if not by name. He played Andre in four seasons of the Nickelodeon series Victorious, which my daughters (and therefore I) watched in the early 2020s. He also appeared on Broadway in The Lion King and The Color Purple. In the mid 2010s, he shifted his attention to music, writing and producing for others and eventually recording his own songs.
It’s hard for me to consider something a candidate for Song of the Summer if I’ve never heard the name of either the song or the person singing it.
But that’s the case for the #10 song on Billboard’s Song of the Summer chart: Ravyn Lenae’s ‘Love Me Not.’ The pop/R&B banger is the first single from the Chicago singer-songwriter’s sophomore album, Bird’s Eye.
In my opinion, Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ was last year’s Song of the Summer regardless of what the charts said. Sure, it peaked at #3 on the Hot 100, but it felt like it was everywhere. And it’s exactly the sort of frothy crowd-pleaser that deserves the SotS title.
This year, Carpenter had another runner-up in ‘Manchild.’ This one did hit #1 (it even debuted there) but ended up at only #9 on the Songs of the Summer chart. Carpenter just can’t catch a break.
(Incidentally, #8 was Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club,’ which I’ve already featured).
Meet Me In Montauk 