Bobby Rydell tops the list (for at least the second week) with his latest, "We Got Love". Several other "Teen Idols" rank high on this list, too ... Neil Sedaka ("Oh! Carol") is at #4, followed by Frankie Avalone at #5 with his latest, "Why". Ricky Nelson has a two-sided hit at #7 with "I Wanna Be Loved" and "Mighty Good".
Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon holds down the #14 spot with "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" ... and Paul Anka sits about ten spots below him with his latest, "It's Time To Cry" (#25)
Looking over this list I have to admit that these titles DO seem pretty dated ... but we can ALWAYS find gold in them thar hills if we look hard enough.
I've always liked "The Big Hurt" by Miss Toni Fisher ... but I don't know how well this one would play in today's radio market. However, I'd bet the farm on "Why" by Frankie Avalon, "Uh! Oh!" by The Nutty Squirrels, "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" by Freddy Cannon, "El Paso" by Marty Robbins, "Handy Man" by Jimmy Jones and "Seven Little Girls" by Paul Evans. Every one of these tunes would perk up your listeners' ears if only given a shot!
Jumping ahead to 1965 we find The Beatles on top of his C-FUN Canadian Chart with their two-sided hit "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out". "I Can Never Go Home Anymore" by The Shangri-Las and "Puppet On A String" by Elvis are also pretty high on the charts this week.
The McCoys sit at #14 with their follow up to their #1 Hit "Hang On Sloopy", a remake of the '50's classic "Fever". The Knickerbockers leap 12 places to land at #15 with "Lies".
C-Fun's "Pick Hits" include "A Must To Avoid" by Herman's Hermits and "Big Bright Eyes" by future Three Dog Night member Danny Hutton!
Turn the clock back a year and you find The Beatles on top again with yet ANOTHER two-sided hit ... this time it's "I Feel Fine" / "She's A Woman" that tops this Top 40 Chart. (I don't see a city OR the station's call letters listed anywhere on this chart ... maybe Clark Besch can fill us in when he sees this piece run!)
Whoever they are, they seem to appreciate a good novelty hit when they see (hear?) one! "The Other Ringo" by Larry Finegan (featured in one of our 50 Years Ago This Weekend segments a short while back) is at #14 ... and Ron Dante and The Detergents are climbing the chart at #16 with their parody hit "Leader Of The Laundromat". (The fact that "I'll Be Back" by The Beatles is holding down the #18 spot makes me think that this, too, may be a Canadian chart.)
Roger Miller is at #37 with his latest, "Do Wacka Do" (which I'll bet will be stuck in your head all day long if you play the clip shown below) ... and we ALSO have to feature "My Buddy Seat" by The Hondells ... a "Forgotten Hit" if there ever was one. (LOTS of fans of this one on our list!!!)
One more this week ... as we cover charts from the '50's, '60's and '70's!!!
Tri-Cities Rocker WSAM has everybody from Led Zeppelin to Helen Reddy to The Staple Singers to Charlie Rich to Jim Stafford, Olivia Newton-John and Ike and Tina Turner on this chart. (You'll also find three Ex-Beatles solo hits on the list!)
Let's make it "All About The Ladies" this week ... as we feature "Painted Ladies" by Ian Thomas, "Pretty Lady" by Lighthouse (now THIS one shoulda been a hit!!!) and "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich ... every single one of these would sound good coming out of your radio as a "WOW!" song every now and then!
