Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 by jb
It can be tough to get a handle on just how popular certain classic Christmas singles really were in their time, compared to all the other records on the radio in the same season. Billboard’s erratic policy of charting Christmas singles—sometimes on a separate chart and sometimes not—meant that certain perennials like “Happy Xmas (War [...]
Filed under: Christmas, Record Charts, Tracks | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Friday, December 11, 2009 by jb
Every once in a while the universe smiles upon us, and we get a week that’s filled with musical goodness such that in years to come, we can hardly believe it was real. Six years ago, Eric Boehlert, then writing for Salon, called the week of December 20, 1969, “the greatest week in rock history.” [...]
Filed under: Record Charts, Tracks, YouTube | Tagged: 1972, Al Green, Billy Paul, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Johnny Nash, Stylistics, The Temptations | 3 Comments »
Posted on Monday, November 30, 2009 by jb
Before I forget, here’s the final installment of the series on one-hit-wonders whose lone claim to fame peaked at Number 97 on the Hot 100. (The first part is here and the second part is here.)
“Mississippi Mama”/Owen B (3/14/70, two weeks on chart). Here’s an artist more obscure than Wyatt (Earp) McPherson, the first one-hit [...]
Filed under: Forgotten 45, One Hit Wonders, Record Charts, Tracks | Tagged: Wyatt (Earp) McPherson, Owen B, Italian Asphalt and Paving Company, Duprees, Tony Cole, Maggie Bell, Stone the Crows, Donny Most, Automatic Man, Kerry Chater | 4 Comments »
Posted on Friday, November 27, 2009 by jb
As I’ve noted a million times before, the fall of 1970 is where time really begins for me—when the record charts first became the calendar of my life. I heard the season like the 10-year-old I was, gravitating toward my generation’s answer to the Jonas Brothers or Hannah Montana—the Partridge Family and Dawn. But while [...]
Filed under: Record Charts, Tracks, YouTube | Tagged: 1970, Andy Kim, Badfinger, Damnation of Adam Blessing, John Byner, WIXY | 5 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 by jb
There’s a thin line between history and oblivion. Cross it, leave a mark, and even if it’s a small one, it will stand for all time. One of those lines is the last slot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lately we’ve been looking into some of the records and performers who just squeaked past [...]
Filed under: Forgotten 45, Record Charts, Tracks | Tagged: Otis Clay, Dean Parrish, Paul Vance, the Hardtimes, Earth Opera, Steve Greenberg | 2 Comments »
Posted on Friday, November 20, 2009 by jb
Hello again, music lovers. It’s time for another edition of whatever we’re calling this feature in which we look at records that peaked near the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100. This time, it’s Number 97. Between 1961 and 1977, 19 records topped out at 97. We’ll take six of them today and the rest [...]
Filed under: Record Charts, Tracks | Tagged: Wyatt (Earp) McPherson, Johnny Caswell, Barbara and the Browns, Wallace Brothers, Willie Tee, Ron-Dels | 1 Comment »