Throwing back to the week of March 20, 1954, we find Jo Stafford and Doris Day hanging on the the #1 and #2 spots with ‘Make Love to Me‘ and ‘Secret Love,’ respectively.
At #3 that week, and kicking around the top ten for awhile, was a song I’ve seen listed in a number of different ways: ‘I Get So Lonely (Oh Baby Mine),’ ‘Oh Baby Mine (I Get So Lonely),’ ‘I Get So Lonely When I Dream About You (Oh Baby Mine).’ Whatever the name, it’s a catchy doo wop song by vocal group The Four Knights.
Throwing back to the weekend of February 27, 1954, Doris Day held on to Billboard’s top spot with ‘Secret Love.’ At #2 was a song that had been moving up the chart for about a month, Jo Stafford’s ‘Make Love to Me.’
This song would reach #1 the following week and alternate in the top spot with ‘Secret Love’ for more than a month.
Throwing back to the week of February 6, 1954, we find that songs clung to the top spot of Billboard’s charts right from the beginning.
At #1 that week was Eddie Fisher’s ‘Oh! My Pa-Pa,’ just as it had been every week of that year. In the second spot was Dean Martin’s ‘That’s Amore,’ another repeat.
At #3 was a song that had been moving up the chart for weeks on it’s way to an eventual #1 berth: Doris Day’s ‘Secret Love.’
Throwing back to the week of January 16, 1954, we find Eddie Fisher’s ‘Oh My Papa’ with a stranglehold on Billboard’s Weekly Singles chart. The song, which I featured a few weeks back, clung to #1 from the beginning of the year through mid-February.
For a few of those weeks, including this one, it prevented a much better song from reaching #1. Dean Martin’s classic charmer ‘That’s Amore’ peaked at #2.
I’ve been very happy with Throwback Weekends, with one exception. As I mentioned last week, the 2010s have been a pain, primarily because I was blogging during that decade so I’ve already featured many of the hits of the day.
To address that issue, I’m changing things up a bit starting this weekend. I will now start my Throwback rotation in the 50s and end in the 00s. But wait, you might say, the Billboard Hot 100 didn’t start publishing until 1958! And you would be right. But Billboard did release a singles chart through out the 50s that gathered the “Best Selling Popular Retail Records” each week. So that’s what I’ll be using to cover 1953 and beyond.
Meet Me In Montauk 