Saturday, October 11, 2014

50 Years Ago This Weekend ... And The Saturday Surveys!

50 YEARS AGO THIS WEEKEND:




DO WAH DIDDY DIDDY by MANFRED MANN holds at #2 this week in The Billboard Hot 100.  A SUMMER SONG by CHAD STUART AND JEREMY CLYDE joins it in The Top Ten this week (up from #12) to once again give The Brits only TWO Top Ten Hits on the US Charts this week. 

MATCHBOX stalls at #18 for THE BEATLES while THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN by THE ANIMALS falls from #8 to #19 this week.  BILLY J. KRAMER AND THE DAKOTAS' FROM A WINDOW holds at #23 while THE BEATLES climb a couple of places from #27 to #25 with SLOW DOWN, the flipside of their MATCHBOX single.  Rounding out The Top 40:  HAVE I THE RIGHT by THE HONEYCOMBS at #29 and TOBACCO ROAD by THE NASHVILLE TEENS at #30, two records that seem to "stick together" on their chart run thus far. 

Meanwhile, I LIKE IT by GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS sits just outside The Top 40 at #41, I'M CRYING by THE ANIMALS is right behind it at #43, ALL CRIED OUT by DUSTY SPRINGFIELD climbs 12 places to #47, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT by THE BEATLES is still holding on at #50 (down from #24), EVERYBODY KNOWS by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE jumps from #66 to #52, I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN by PETER AND GORDON climbs from #84 to #61 in what is certainly the biggest British move of the week, THE KINKS are now at #66 with YOU REALLY GOT ME and THE BACHELORS are at #69 with I WOULDN'T TRADE YOUR FOR THE WORLD. 

We're letting the tear drops fall with this week's selections …





DO WAH DIDDY DIDDY holds at #2 for the third straight week for MANFRED MANN on THE WLS Silver Dollar Survey.  FROM A WINDOW by BILLY J. KRAMER climbs to #4 (up from #8 the week before), HAVE I THE RIGHT by THE HONEYCOMBS sits at #8, TOBACCO ROAD by THE NASHVILLE TEENS at #9 and THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN by THE ANIMALS at #10, giving British Invasion Artists HALF of Chicagoland's Top Ten Tunes! 

Also represented:  A SUMMER SONG by CHAD AND JEREMY (#15), MATCHBOX / SLOW DOWN  by THE BEATLES (#16), I'M CRYING by THE ANIMALS (#18), I LIKE IT by GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS (#22), SOME DAY WE'RE GONNA LOVE AGAIN by THE SEARCHERS (#23), I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN by PETER AND GORDON (#25) and EVERYBODY KNOWS by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE (#28) … that's 12 of The Top 30 Songs by British Acts this week!

THE SATURDAY SURVEYS:


Elvis Presley tops this WBBF chart in 1972 with one of his last big hits, "Burning Love".  (The King is even pictured on this week's survey!)  In fact, fellow '50's act Chuck Berry can be found on this chart, too, with his big comeback hit "My Ding-A-Ling", this week down to #21 (from #15 the previous week).

There are a few great songs on this list that never get played anymore ...

"If I Could Reach You" by The Fifth Dimension
"Rock 'n' Roll Soul" by Grand Funk Railroad
And "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues" by Danny O'Keefe ...

So we'll feature all three of these today!











Jumping back nearly ten years we find this "Fabulous Forty Survey" from KDWB in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs top the chart this week with their Record Of The Year Hit, "Sugar Shack".  I'm also partial to "Sally Go Round The Roses" by The Jaynetts (recently featured in this series), "I Can't Stay Mad At You" by Skeeter Davis, "Surfer Girl" by The Beach Boys and the two-sided Roy Orbison hit at #7, "Mean Woman Blues" / "Blue Bayou".

Big movers on the chart this week include "Fools Rush In" by Rick Nelson (another recent Saturday Surveys spotlight tune), up from #33 to #21 this week, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" by Peter, Paul and Mary (climbing from #36 to #23) and Buddy Holly's version of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", up seven places to #10 ... and charting 4 1/2 years after his fatal plane crash.

And check out the new music on this week's chart ... every one's a winner ...

"She's A Fool" by Lesley Gore, "Deep Purple" by Nino Tempo and April Stevens, "Washington Square" by The Village Stompers and "500 Miles Away From Home" by Bobby Bare would all go on to Top Ten Chart Success around the country!










Here's a vintage Top 21 Chart from Chicago's own WIND, one of the early rock and roll stations here in The Windy City.

This week in 1957 found The Everly Brothers at the top of the heap with their latest, "Wake Up Little Susie".  Elvis Presley debuts at #8 on this week's chart with "Jailhouse Rock" ... and it's kinda cool to see "old school" artists like Johnny Mathis (TWO hits in the Top 20), Jane Morgan, Debbie Reynolds and The Chordettes competing for teen-age dollars with brand new, contemporary rockers like Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Gene Vincent, Elvis Presley, Paul Anka, Larry Williams and Ricky Nelson ... proving once again that even on a chart listing only 21 songs, there was still something for EVERYBODY happening on the radio dial!








Here's another chart from 1965 showing "Yesterday" (at #1 this time) by Paul McCartney, rather than The Beatles.  (This is exceptionally odd since it also shows the flipside of this hit, "Act Naturally", which was clearly sung by Ringo!!!)

Speaking of Ringo, check out the mini-article about Pete Best suing The Beatles over the use of his drumming on the recently released "The Savage Young Beatles" LP!

The Beatles also have the #14 hit with the two-sided winner "Help!" / "I'm Down".

"A Taste Of Honey" by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass makes a HUGE leap from #15 to #2 this week as does the latest by The Rolling Stones, referred to here as "Hey You Get Off My Cloud" which jumps from #22 to #4.

Brand new on the charts (and all debuting in The Top Ten) are The McCoys with "Hang On Sloopy", "One, Two, Three" by Len Barry (both of which will go on to top many charts across the USA in 1965) and "Dance With Me" by The Mojo Men ... which MOST people never even got a chance to hear! (It peaked at #61 in Billboard ... and was produced by a young Sly Stone!)