Billboard Chart History - 10 Years: the 9s

[Dawn]

Our focus this week is the charts from years ending in "9":


July 30, 1949

(TW = Position This Week; LW = Position Last Week; NW = Number Weeks on Chart; *Former #1)
TW LW NW
1 1 15 SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Perry Como w. Orch. Conducted by Mitchell Ayers (Note: Of all the songs recorded from the Broadway smash "South Pacific", this was the most popular single)
2 2 15 *RIDERS IN THE SKY - Vaughn Monroe & His Orch. w. vocal/Vaughn Monroe (Note: This was the #1 record of 1949 with 11 weeks atop Billboard's Best Selling Pop Singles chart)
3 3 6 YOU'RE BREAKING MY HEART - Vic Damon
4 4 15 AGAIN - Gordon Jenkins, His Orch. & Chorus w. vocal/Joe Graydon (Note: This song was introduced by Ida Lupino in the movie "Road House")
5 5 15 BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer w. Paul Weston & His Orch. (Note: This Oscar-winning song is from the Esther Williams movie "Neptune's Daughter")
6 6 13 BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - Dinah Shore & Buddy Clark w. Orch. Conducted by Ted Dale (Note: This was an Oscar winning song from the Esther Williams movie "Neptune's Daughter")
7 10 7 ROOM FULL OF ROSES - Sammy Kaye & His Orch. w. vocal/Don Cornell & The Kaydets
8 11 7 THE HUCKLEBUCK - Tommy Dorsey & His Orch. w. vocal/Charlie Shavers (Note: This is a Pop version of the early 1949 #1 R&B hit by Paul Williams)
9 9 9 SOME ENCHANTED EVENING - Bing Crosby w. John Scott Trotter & His Orch.
10 7 2 JEALOUS HEART - Al Morgan (Note: This was Morgan's only top-20 hit; it was six months on Billboard's Best Selling Pop charts)

****************************************************


August 3, 1959

(TW = Position This Week; LW = Position Last Week; NW = Number Weeks on Chart; *Former #1)
TW LW NW
1 1 10 LONELY BOY - Paul Anka w. Don Costa & His Orch.
2 5 5 A BIG HUNK O' LOVE - Elvis Presley
3 6 16 MY HEART IS AN OPEN BOOK - Carl Dobkins, Jr
4 2 15 *THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS - Johnny Horton
5 3 8 TIGER - Fabian
6 7 10 THERE GOES MY BABY - The Drifters featuring Ben E. King
7 4 11 WATERLOO - Stonewall Jackson
8 12 7 LAVENDER BLUE (Dilly, Dilly) - Sammy Turner
9 15 5 SWEETER THAN YOU - Rick Nelson
10 9 8 FORTY MILES OF BAD ROAD - Duane Eddy (Note: A twangy guitar instrumental)

****************************************************

US Top 100 Singles Week Ending 2nd August, 1969

TW LW TITLE-Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak Position)

1 1 IN THE YEAR 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)
Zager and Evans (RCA)-7 (4 weeks at #1) (1)
2 2 CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION
Tommy James and the Shondells (Roulette)-9 (2)
3 3 SPINNING WHEEL
Blood, Sweat and Tears (Columbia)-10 (2)
4 4 MY CHERIE AMOUR
Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-10 (4)
5 5 WHAT DOES IT TAKE (To Win Your Love)
Jr. Walker and the All Stars (Soul)-12 (5)
6 15 RUBY, DON'T TAKE YOUR LOVE TO TOWN
Kenny Rogers and the First Edition (Reprise)-9 (6)
7 13 SWEET CAROLINE (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)
Neil Diamond (Uni)-6 (7)
8 28 HONKY TONK WOMAN
The Rolling Stones (London)-3 (8)
9 9 BABY, I LOVE YOU
Andy Kim (Steed)-11 (9)
10 8 THE BALLAD OF JOHN AND YOKO
The Beatles (Apple)-8 (8)

****************************************************

US Top 100 Singles Week Ending 28th July, 1979

TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak Position)

1 1 BAD GIRLS
Donna Summer (Casablanca)-10 (3 weeks at #1) (1)
2 2 RING MY BELL
Anita Ward (Juana)-12 (1)
3 4 GOOD TIMES
Chic (Atlantic)-7 (3)
4 3 HOT STUFF
Donna Summer (Casablanca)-15 (1)
5 5 MAKIN' IT
David Naughton (RSO)-18 (5)
6 9 GOLD
John Stewart (with Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham)
(RSO)-11 (6)
7 7 I WANT YOU TO WANT ME
Cheap Trick (Epic)-15 (7)
8 8 SHINE A LITTLE LOVE
The Electric Light Orchestra (Jet)-11 (8)
9 11 WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
Dr. Hook (Capitol)-16 (9)
10 16 THE MAIN EVENT/FIGHT
Barbra Streisand (Columbia)-7 (10)

****************************************************

US Top 100 Singles Week Ending July 1, 1989

TW LW TITLE Artist - Weeks on Chart (Peak Position)

1 4 BABY DON'T FORGET MY NUMBER Milli Vanilli - 10 (1)
2 5 GOOD THING Fine Young Cannibals - 9 (2)
3 1 SATISFIED Richard Marx - 9 (1)
4 3 BUFFALO STANCE Neneh Cherry - 14 (3)
5 11 IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME BY NOW Simply Red - 9 (5)
6 13 EXPRESS YOURSELF Madonna - 5 (6)
7 7 THIS TIME I KNOW IT'S FOR REAL Donna Summer - 11 (7)
8 12 I DROVE ALL NIGHT Cyndi Lauper - 9 (8)
9 9 MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY Natalie Cole - 12 (9)
10 2 I'LL BE LOVING YOU (FOREVER) New Kids On The Block - 14 (1)

****************************************************

US Top 100 Singles Week Ending July 31, 1999

TW LW TITLE Artist - Weeks on Chart (Peak Position)

1 3 GENIE IN A BOTTLE Christina Aguilera - 5 (1)
2 1 WILD WILD WEST Will Smith Featuring Dru Hill & Kool Moe Dee - 11 (1)
3 2 BILLS, BILLS, BILLS Destiny's Child - 7 (1)
4 4 LAST KISS Pearl Jam - 10 (2)
5 5 IF YOU HAD MY LOVE Jennifer Lopez - 12 (1)
6 6 I WANT IT THAT WAY Backstreet Boys - 15 (6)
7 9 ALL STAR Smash Mouth - 11 (7)
8 10 WHERE MY GIRLS AT? 702 - 14 (4)
9 7 IT'S NOT RIGHT BUT IT'S OKAY Whitney Houston - 13 (4)
10 8 LIVIN' LA VIDA LOCA Ricky Martin - 16 (1)

****************************************************

Lots of variety here. The 1979 chart contains one of my favorite songs ever..."Gold."

Has it really been 11 years since Ricky Martin was the media darling? I remember VH-1 constantly showing his "Behind the Music" profile.

[Jughead]

The one thing I'll say about the 1969 chart is that it's very diverse. You have R&B with "My Cherie Amour", rock with "Honky Tonk Woman", and lots of other genres mixed in.

The 1979 chart...I heard that 1979 was the year in which almost every #1 song that year was a disco song! The fact that the top 4 songs are disco definitely seems to prove that correct!

That 1989 song would be a great chart to play in a spinning class or aerobics class. With artists like Neneh Cherry, Madonna, and Milli Vanilli up there, it's a gym class soundtrack for sure. Boy, did Milli Vanilli take a massive fall one year later! One final note, I'm not a huge fan of covers, but I ADORE that Simply Red cover!

Funny...the 1999 chart kind of bores me now. This was my high school soundtrack (this was the summer after Grade 12), yet I found it kinda blah.

[H2IZCOOL]

1949: I'm familiar with several of the songs (Baby It's Cold Outside, Some Enchanted Evening, A Room Full of Roses, The Hucklebuck, Riders In the Sky) but only generically. I couldn't tell you which version(s) I knew.

1959: I know them all, but I don't particularly care for several of them. The exception are the two R&B contributions - There Goes My Baby is top 500, and Sammy Turner's cover of Lavender Blue is beautiful. I like the Duane Eddy instrumental also. But Lonely Boy may be Paul Anka's most bland, forgettable song ever. The only value of "Tiger" is that it is a fast enough song that it kinda hides the fact that Fabian can't carry a tune.

1969: Easily my favorite chart on todays list. 2525 is the prototypical one hit wonder (although they followed with Mr. Turnkey; it didn't make the charts but it's a great song). My Cherie Amour is top 500. Sweet Caroline has become popular again as it is played in both Fenway Park in Boston and Nationals Park in DC for reasons still unknown to me, but all the fans sing along. (Neil Diamond was there to sing it live at the Sox/Yankees opener this year at Fenway.) I always found Andy Kim's cover of the Ronettes great soul ballad to be annoying at best. He turned it into a cross between bubblegum and disco. I love "The Ballad of John and Yoko" simply because it gives "the finger" to the censors.

1979: You have a bunch of disco crap, and then you have some "Gold." Top 500!

1989: I agree with Juggie that Simply Red's cover gives Harold Melvin's version a real battle. But the gem on this list is "I Drove All Night." The song was actually written for Roy Orbison, who recorded it in 1987, about a year before he died. His version, which I prefer, wasn't released until 1992, and never made the charts. Cyndi's version, however, is pretty powerful stuff as well.

1999: I prefer Hawaiiian Ryan's parody "Weenie In a Bottle."

[Ken]

'49 - The only song, I believe I'm familiar with, at least by title is "Some Enchanted Evening"

'59 - I always liked "Lonely Boy" other faves, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Duane Eddy, The Drifters and Johnny Horton.

'69 - All are big faves except for "Spinning Wheel" I still think it's ok but one of my local stations plays it along with a lot of the other BS&T
hits pretty much on a daily basis.

'79 - Yup, disco sure was in full swing in the summer of '79. A few faves here, Cheap Trick, John Stewart, and Jeff Lynne and the guys. I have to say however, that at least back then there was still a little variety on the top 40. Today (well for the past several years) it's a combo of (c)rap, hip hop and manufactured pop.

'89 - Only two faves here, Cyndi Lauper and Simply Red.

'99 - "Weenie in a Bottle" lol!!
I remember hearing Pearl Jam's cover of "Last Kiss" and I was not impressed

[dave910]

Dawn,

Here are my thoughts on the charts:

1949 - "Some Enchanted Evening" is a very pretty song. "Baby It's Cold Outside" is always played at Christmas. I'm most familiar with the Dean Martin version. I would have never thought this song would be a hit in the summer.

1959 - Rock and Roll was going through its first transition period. Chuck Berry was arrested, Jerry Lee Lewis married his cousin and Buddy Holly was a rising star whom perished along with the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. I tend to view 1959 full with weak teen idols. Perhaps Rick Nelson is an exception. "There Goes My Baby" still holds up today. Let's not forget Duane Eddy's talent.

1969 - There a few songs I could do without, never cared for the Kenny Rogers & First Edition and "In the Year 2525" sounds overproduced and full of itself. Jr. Walker, Stevie Wonder, Stones and the Beatles...fantastic mix!

1979 - The height of disco. Donna Summer has endured because she could write with great people. Cheap Trick are still making great music. I never was too into Steisand, sorry Babs!

1989 - The year I graduated high school. Donna Summer had her comeback that year. "This Time I Know It's for Real" was her last top ten. It wasn't until Simply Red were hitting the top ten that I realized it was a remake. Got to admit Nick Hucknall was able to make that song his own. I owned "Like A Prayer" and remains my favorite Madonna CD. This was her Sgt. Peppers'. "Express Yourself" has such a great groove. I remember cathcing Milli Vanilli on the club MTV Tour that summer with a couple of friends...little did I know?

1999 - So this is how the end of the millenium resembled. Granted not all of it was on the top 40. "All Star" was a great tune that summer. Smash Mouth made some good pop songs. Pearl Jam had their first mainstream pop hit. Unusual choice for a remake, but they did a good job. The rest of the top ten..just eh.

[m c dornan]

1949- The 40s live up to the pattern of having multiple versions of songs on the charts at the same time.

1959- History week here, with my two faves here - "Waterloo" and "Battle of New Orleans". (As Richard Armour once said, Napoleon was the only man to have met his Waterloo at Waterloo.)

1969- I guess the songs I liked from the 60s were on albums or didn't make the charts. But the Beatles & Stones are great here.

"In the Year 2525"- The Exordium was OK, but the Terminus was awful.

1979- John Stewart's "Gold" is very catchy, but kind of a sellout after his previous solo work (see the Phoenix Concerts double LP, for instance). Didn't know Lindsay Buckingham was on this too.

1989- Milli Vanilli! Can't get enough of the vocal stylings!

[Dawn]

Jul 28, 2010 17:35:09 GMT -5 Jughead said:

The one thing I'll say about the 1969 chart is that it's very diverse. You have R&B with "My Cherie Amour", rock with "Honky Tonk Woman", and lots of other genres mixed in.

The 1979 chart...I heard that 1979 was the year in which almost every #1 song that year was a disco song! The fact that the top 4 songs are disco definitely seems to prove that correct!

That 1989 song would be a great chart to play in a spinning class or aerobics class. With artists like Neneh Cherry, Madonna, and Milli Vanilli up there, it's a gym class soundtrack for sure. Boy, did Milli Vanilli take a massive fall one year later! One final note, I'm not a huge fan of covers, but I ADORE that Simply Red cover!

Funny...the 1999 chart kind of bores me now. This was my high school soundtrack (this was the summer after Grade 12), yet I found it kinda blah.

Yep, 1979 was very disco-heavy. Even artists who didn't normally record disco-style songs jumped on the bandwagon that year...some efforts were good, others not so much.

I remember Milli Vanilli making a guest appearance on a sitcom of the day called "Sister Kate." That must have been just before the revelations about the lip-synching came to light.

[Dawn]

Jul 29, 2010 9:49:57 GMT -5 H2IZCOOL said:

1949: I'm familiar with several of the songs (Baby It's Cold Outside, Some Enchanted Evening, A Room Full of Roses, The Hucklebuck, Riders In the Sky) but only generically. I couldn't tell you which version(s) I knew.

1959: I know them all, but I don't particularly care for several of them. The exception are the two R&B contributions - There Goes My Baby is top 500, and Sammy Turner's cover of Lavender Blue is beautiful. I like the Duane Eddy instrumental also. But Lonely Boy may be Paul Anka's most bland, forgettable song ever. The only value of "Tiger" is that it is a fast enough song that it kinda hides the fact that Fabian can't carry a tune.

1969: Easily my favorite chart on todays list. 2525 is the prototypical one hit wonder (although they followed with Mr. Turnkey; it didn't make the charts but it's a great song). My Cherie Amour is top 500. Sweet Caroline has become popular again as it is played in both Fenway Park in Boston and Nationals Park in DC for reasons still unknown to me, but all the fans sing along. (Neil Diamond was there to sing it live at the Sox/Yankees opener this year at Fenway.) I always found Andy Kim's cover of the Ronettes great soul ballad to be annoying at best. He turned it into a cross between bubblegum and disco. I love "The Ballad of John and Yoko" simply because it gives "the finger" to the censors.

1979: You have a bunch of disco crap, and then you have some "Gold." Top 500!

1989: I agree with Juggie that Simply Red's cover gives Harold Melvin's version a real battle. But the gem on this list is "I Drove All Night." The song was actually written for Roy Orbison, who recorded it in 1987, about a year before he died. His version, which I prefer, wasn't released until 1992, and never made the charts. Cyndi's version, however, is pretty powerful stuff as well.

1999: I prefer Hawaiiian Ryan's parody "Weenie In a Bottle."

I don't know the '40s version of "Room Full of Roses," but I've heard a country song with that title that I'm guessing is a cover of it.

I've always liked Simply Red, and have quite a few albums. Mick Hucknall's voice is very soulful; he does a great version of Bobby Blue Bland's "I Wouldn't Treat A Dog" that tops the original.

[Dawn]

Jul 29, 2010 17:22:32 GMT -5 Ken said:

'49 - The only song, I believe I'm familiar with, at least by title is "Some Enchanted Evening"

'59 - I always liked "Lonely Boy" other faves, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Duane Eddy, The Drifters and Johnny Horton.

'69 - All are big faves except for "Spinning Wheel" I still think it's ok but one of my local stations plays it along with a lot of the other BS&T
hits pretty much on a daily basis.

'79 - Yup, disco sure was in full swing in the summer of '79. A few faves here, Cheap Trick, John Stewart, and Jeff Lynne and the guys. I have to say however, that at least back then there was still a little variety on the top 40. Today (well for the past several years) it's a combo of (c)rap, hip hop and manufactured pop.

'89 - Only two faves here, Cyndi Lauper and Simply Red.

'99 - "Weenie in a Bottle" lol!!
I remember hearing Pearl Jam's cover of "Last Kiss" and I was not impressed

Yep, I hear "Spinning Wheel" constantly as well. It's ok, but I'm not big on the "that wasn't too good" sloppy ending.

Very true about the state of today's music. Maybe I'm showing my age here, but whenever I go into a Subway or some other establishment that plays mostly newer music on their PAs, I'm usually cringing after only a short time.

[Dawn]

Jul 29, 2010 21:21:39 GMT -5 dave910 said:

Dawn,

Here are my thoughts on the charts:

1949 - "Some Enchanted Evening" is a very pretty song. "Baby It's Cold Outside" is always played at Christmas. I'm most familiar with the Dean Martin version. I would have never thought this song would be a hit in the summer.

1959 - Rock and Roll was going through its first transition period. Chuck Berry was arrested, Jerry Lee Lewis married his cousin and Buddy Holly was a rising star whom perished along with the Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. I tend to view 1959 full with weak teen idols. Perhaps Rick Nelson is an exception. "There Goes My Baby" still holds up today. Let's not forget Duane Eddy's talent.

1969 - There a few songs I could do without, never cared for the Kenny Rogers & First Edition and "In the Year 2525" sounds overproduced and full of itself. Jr. Walker, Stevie Wonder, Stones and the Beatles...fantastic mix!

1979 - The height of disco. Donna Summer has endured because she could write with great people. Cheap Trick are still making great music. I never was too into Steisand, sorry Babs!

1989 - The year I graduated high school. Donna Summer had her comeback that year. "This Time I Know It's for Real" was her last top ten. It wasn't until Simply Red were hitting the top ten that I realized it was a remake. Got to admit Nick Hucknall was able to make that song his own. I owned "Like A Prayer" and remains my favorite Madonna CD. This was her Sgt. Peppers'. "Express Yourself" has such a great groove. I remember cathcing Milli Vanilli on the club MTV Tour that summer with a couple of friends...little did I know?

1999 - So this is how the end of the millenium resembled. Granted not all of it was on the top 40. "All Star" was a great tune that summer. Smash Mouth made some good pop songs. Pearl Jam had their first mainstream pop hit. Unusual choice for a remake, but they did a good job. The rest of the top ten..just eh.

The Barbra Streisand duet is ok, but I don't think it's very well suited to her style of singing. She's better on ballads and show numbers.

I do love "This Time I Know It's for Real." A shame she couldn't sustain the success of her comeback beyond that one song, as it was one of the better singles of that year.

[Dawn]

Jul 30, 2010 21:57:12 GMT -5 m c dornan said:

1949- The 40s live up to the pattern of having multiple versions of songs on the charts at the same time.

1959- History week here, with my two faves here - "Waterloo" and "Battle of New Orleans". (As Richard Armour once said, Napoleon was the only man to have met his Waterloo at Waterloo.)

1969- I guess the songs I liked from the 60s were on albums or didn't make the charts. But the Beatles & Stones are great here.

"In the Year 2525"- The Exordium was OK, but the Terminus was awful.

1979- John Stewart's "Gold" is very catchy, but kind of a sellout after his previous solo work (see the Phoenix Concerts double LP, for instance). Didn't know Lindsay Buckingham was on this too.

1989- Milli Vanilli! Can't get enough of the vocal stylings!

My husband is a big fan of "The Battle of New Orleans." His dad had Johnny Horton's Greatest Hits, so he heard it a lot growing up.

I've heard some of John Stewart's earlier work, but need to check him out more deeply one of these days.