Content tagged 'Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot'

44 years ago today, Jim Croce earned his second #1 hit, which – unfortunately – was also his first posthumous one. Produced by Terry Cashman and Tommy West and written by Croce, “Time in a Bottle” was taken from Croce’s 1972 debut album, YOU DON’T MESS AROUND WITH JIM, and had been written after he discovered that his wife Ingrid was expecting a child: A.J. Croce, who was born on September 28, 1971. As anyone who’s heard the song knows, the lyrics reveal that Croce’s impending fatherhood had caused him to become more aware of the passing of time and to pine for an opportunity to slow things do

30 years ago today, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe – known collectively as the Pet Shop Boys – sat atop the UK Singles chart with their cover of a 1972 song which had already found success via versions by Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson. Written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher, and Mark James, “Always On My Mind” was – to hear Carson tell it – whipped up at his kitchen table in about 10 minutes and then finished in the studio about a year later with the assistance of Christopher and James. Elvis recorded his version of the song in the wake of his separation from his wife, Priscilla, so you ca

43 years ago today, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young found themselves atop the Billboard 200 for the third consecutive time, thanks to a compilation of their greatest hits up to that point. The optimistically-titled SO FAR featured five of CSN&Y’s six singles up to that point, and while the sixth, “Marrakesh Express,” apparently didn’t warrant inclusion, there certainly wasn’t any issue with quality with a collection that included “Teach Your Children,” “Ohio,” “Woodstock,” “Our House,” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” The reason the album came into existence in the first place was that the quartet

30 years ago today, Whitesnake rode a re-recording of a song they’d originally released half a decade earlier all the way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Written by David Coverdale and Bernie Marsden, “Here I Go Again” initially made its debut on Whitesnake’s 1982 album SAINTS & SINNERS, an album which Coverdale described to Ultimate Classic Rock as “ my contractual obligation album ,” further explaining that he “refused to finish that album until my manager at that time was more reasonable in our divorce proceedings” and that he’d “never really had a full complement of musicians to finis

50 years ago today, The Association were sitting atop the Billboard Hot 100 with a Ruthann Friedman composition that would be eventually be danced to by the Sex Pistols and serve as the soundtrack to the opening moments of an episode of Breaking Bad . Produced by Creed Taylor, “Windy” was actually The Association’s second #1 hit, following their chart-topper “Cherish” the previous year. Despite claims to the contrary by Association member Larry Ramos, “Windy” was indeed written by Friedman about a woman, and she was purely fictional. Disputed rumors aside, however, the band thought enough of F

This week in 1978, Minute by Minute, the eighth studio album from the Doobie Brothers, rose to the pinnacle of the Billboard Top 200. To date, it remains the band’s only #1 album, but the achievement was hardly a surprise to anyone who’d caught the band’s seminal appearance on a very special two-part What’s Happening!! episode – entitled “Doobie or Not Doobie” – only a few months earlier. After all, surely we can all agree that any band capable of holding their own against the formidable trio of Rerun, Roger, and Dwayne was destined to top the charts sooner than later. Even without such a sign

16 years ago today, a duet which continues to be the most significant chart success for both of the R&B divas who sang it ascended to the pinnacle of the Billboard Hot 100: “The Boy Is Mine,” by Brandy and Monica. When one examines the credits for “The Boy Is Mine,” it’s hard not to paraphrase one of David Letterman’s recurring lines whenever he finished reading a piece of viewer mail featuring multiple signatures: it took four people to write this song. Still, it’s not like you can really complain about the results, given that the efforts of Brandy, LaShawn Daniels, Rodney Jerkins, and Fred J

30 years ago today, possibly emboldened by having sold the Renoir and the TV set, Duran Duran stopped dancing on the valentine long enough to dance their way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in their career. The opening track of 1983’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger, “The Reflex” was the band’s pick for the album’s first single, but the label denied their request, resulting in the nearly inconceivable decision to opt for “Union of the Snake.” The song also failed to earn second-single status, with “New Moon on Monday” earning that position instead. In the label’s defense, how

Get the iTunes Deluxe Edition with Video Get the iTunes Expanded Edition Get the Amazon Deluxe Edition Get the Amazon Expanded Edition 37 years ago today, one of Fleetwood Mac’s most beloved songs finally made its way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, almost three months after its initial release as a single: “Dreams,” written by Stevie Nicks. Given the turmoil and upheaval going on within the ranks of Fleetwood Mac while the band was recording the Rumours album – the relationship between Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham was on the rocks, the marriage of John and Christine McVie was coming to a

33 years ago today, one of the most enduring compilation albums from the man called “the Peter Pan of Pop” landed at #1 on the UK charts, where it remained for a total of five weeks. As avowed fans of The Young Ones, we’ve been thinking quite a lot about Cliff Richard in the wake of Rik Mayall’s recent passing, and as we’re based in the States, we’ve had the same reaction that we do whenever we’re inspired to give Sir Cliff’s back catalog a spin: “Man, we’d forgotten how many great singles he had!” You must understand, of course, that we’re American. Not being privy to regular media coverage o