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

43 years ago today, the Eagles’ four studio album flew into the #1 position on the Billboard 200, an achievement which they had never before achieved at that point in their career. Recorded partially at Mac Emmerman’s Criteria Studios in Miami and partially at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, ONE OF THESE NIGHTS wasn’t just a chart-topping album: it was also the band’s first album to provide them with three top-10 singles. Indeed, if you aren’t immediately capable of humming the hook to all three of these songs, you may want to have someone check your pulse, since “Lyin’ Eyes,” the

53 years ago today, Salvatore Bono and Cherilyn Sarkisian settled into the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with a single that, even long after the dissolution of the duo, has continued to serve as their signature song. Borrowing a bit from Bob Dylan and a lot from his mentor, Phil Spector, Sonny Bono penned some suitably sweet lyrics for “I Got You Babe,” but it’s the music and the production that made the song into a stone-cold classic, moving from your semi-standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus format before beginning the build-up to an epic climax and then fading to its

37 years ago today, Christopher Cross landed atop the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time in his career, an achievement which occurred with a little help from his friends…or at least his co-writers. Already riding high as a result of the success of his first #1 single, “Sailing,” Cross was fortunate enough to find himself in a position to collaborate with some pretty high-profile people, and when it comes to songwriting, it doesn’t get much more high-profile than Burt Bacharach. Cross had actually been asked to write the score for the Dudley Moore / Liza Minnelli film Arthur, only for writer

32 years ago this week, The Housemartins – otherwise known as the fourth best band in Hull – secured the lone #1 UK single of their career with, of all things, an a cappella cover of a single by a short-lived trio which had spun out of The Isley Brothers. Written by Ernie Isley, Chris Jasper, and Marvin Isley, “Caravan of Love” was originally released in 1985 and credited to Isley-Jasper-Isley, an iteration of individuals who grew weary of the creative tensions within The Isley Brothers and decided to try something outside of that particular musical organization. As it turned out, the decision

27 years ago today, Color Me Badd ascended to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for the second – and, at least of this writing, last – time in their career. Produced by Howard Thompson, a.k.a. Howie Tee, “All 4 Love” holds the distinction of having no less than seven different songwriters credited for its composition, although there are two names in particular which will tip off most music fans that their credit is one which came about through either sampling or “borrowing” from another song: Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes. For the record, it was a Cropper / Hayes composition entitled “Patch My

42 years ago today, Rose Royce pulled up and parked themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their debut single, which – as beginnings to music careers go – is virtually as good as it gets. Written by Norman Whitfield, who also produced the track, “Car Wash” was the theme song for the identically-titled 1976 film, a comedy which featured – among others – George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Franklyn Ajaye, Bill Duke, Ivan Dixon, Antonio Fargas, Lorraine Gary, and Professor Irwin Corey. Whitfield actually penned the entire soundtrack for the film, doing so using only the plot synopsis that

50 years ago this week, The Doors were sitting upon the top of the Cashbox 100 – that’s right, we’re talking Cashbox, not Billboard, so you can stop mentally preparing the nasty comment you were going to leave because you thought we’d gotten it wrong – with the last #1 single of their career, and it was a particularly good week for Ray Manazarek, because today was (and remains) his birthday. Written by Robby Krieger, “Touch Me” truly stands out within the canon of The Doors because it’s both brassy and string-laden, two musical attributes which generally didn’t tend to be found together on the

56 years ago today, Cliff Richard and The Shadows landed atop the UK Singles Chart with the title track of Cliff’s equally successful film, Summer Holiday. Written by Bruce Welch and Brian Bennett and produced by Norrie Paramor, “Summer Holiday” remains one of the jauntiest pop songs of the early ‘60s, which meant that it always had a solid shot at becoming another #1 for the future Sir Cliff. In fairness, though, Cliff had reached such a level of success by that point in his career that it could’ve been a less-than-stellar song and probably still would’ve hit the top 20. As noted, the film

48 years ago this week, T. Rex landed atop the UK Singles chart with a song which – although it was considered a standalone single at the time of its initial release – has since found its way into the “Bonus Tracks” section of the band’s 1971 album ELECTRIC WARRIOR. Recorded at Trident Studios under the watchful eyes and ears of producer Tony Visconti, “Hot Love” continued the musical evolution of the band that had been heard on their previous single, “Ride a White Swan.” Written – as ever – by Marc Bolan, “Hot Love” was the first T. Rex track to feature a full drum kit, and it was also the

32 years ago today, Starship landed atop the Billboard Hot 100 with a song from the soundtrack of a film about a mannequin that comes to life and… Actually, never mind. Let’s just say that it was an ‘80s movie, offer a blanket apology for the entire decade, and move on to talking about the song itself. Co-written by Albert Hammond, Richard Hulle, and Diane Warren, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” originally came out of a thought that crossed his mind after he was finally able to marry his girlfriend of seven years, which he’d been unable to do because his divorce from his previous wife had yet to