April 4th, 1964 ... THIS WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS …
For the first (and
ONLY) time in pop music history, an artist occupied THE TOP FIVE POSITIONS on The
Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart at the same time. CAN'T BUY ME LOVE (#1), TWIST AND SHOUT (#2),
SHE LOVES YOU (#3), I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND (#4) and PLEASE PLEASE ME (#5)
broke all industry protocol … Beatlemania was, without question, in full bloom.
In addition, The Fab Four held down seven other spots on the chart that
week: I SAW HER STANDING THERE (#31),
FROM ME TO YOU (#41), DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET (up 32 points from #78 to
#46), ALL MY LOVING (#58), YOU CAN'T DO THAT (the flip-side of their #1 Hit
CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, premiering at #65), ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN (#68) and THANK YOU
GIRL (the flip-side of DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET, coming in at #79) … thus
giving THE BEATLES TWELVE of the Top 100 spots on the chart. Incredibly, they would increase that total to
14 positions the following week when THERE'S A PLACE and LOVE ME DO premiered on the chart.
Other British acts in the countdown: GLAD ALL OVER by THE DAVE CLARK FIVE (#10),
NEEDLES AND PINS by THE SEARCHERS (15), HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE by THE SWINGING BLUE
JEANS (#24), BITS AND PIECES (new for THE DAVE CLARK FIVE) at #48 and STAY AWHILE
by DUSTY SPRINFIELD (#75). The American Charts were chock-full of British hits!
(By the way, VERY SPECIAL THANKS to Joe over at BEATLEBAY.com for the use of these vintage Billboard Charts ... you will find ALL kinds of Beatles-related memorabilia posted on their site with brand new merchandise postings every single day. You can check it all out right here): www.beatlebay.com
*****
As big as
The Beatles were on the Billboard Chart this week (holding down The Top Five
positions!), they were spread a little thinner on the WLS Chart. (That being said, they still had EIGHT titles
on the Top 40 list … that's a "not-too-shabby" 20% for those of you keeping score!)
This
week's chart included "Twist And Shout" at #1, "Glad All
Over" at #3, "Can't Buy Me Love" at #5, "She Loves
You" at #7, "It's All In The Game" at #8, "Thank You
Girl" at #10, "Please Please Me" at #12, "I Want To Hold
Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" sharing the #13 spot,
"Needles And Pins" at #15, "Hippy Hippy Shake" at #24,
"All My Lovin'" at #25, "We Love You Beatles" at #26,
"Beatle Time" at #33 and "Bits And Pieces", the latest from
The Dave Clark Five, at #37. Lest
ANYBODY out there thinking that The British Invasion wasn't "all
that" ... and may have been embellished over time ... just take a look at this chart from April of 1964 and then try to
argue that case!
Also this weekend: On Sunday, April 5th, The Searchers appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and performed "Needles And Pins" and "Ain't That Just Like Me".
Also this weekend: On Sunday, April 5th, The Searchers appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and performed "Needles And Pins" and "Ain't That Just Like Me".
