Welcome to another edition of The Saturday Surveys ...
Join us as we take a look back through the charts reflecting the most popular music on this date, circa 1960-something!
This first chart from KRGI in Nebraska took a literal position for their Top 40 Countdown ... the records on their survey are ranked from #40 to #1, just the way you'd hear them counted down on the air!
FH Buddy Bob Lind kicks things off with a two-sided hit, "Remember The Rain" / "Truly Julie's Blues", a couple of tracks that peaked in the mid-60's on The Billboard Chart.
The BIG surprise may be the reissue of "Louie Louie" jumping from #14 to #3 ... this record hit its peak in late 1963 / early 1964 the first time around ... when it was re-released in '66, it charted for just two weeks in Billboard, peaking at #97.
And looks who's on top ... another "Friend of Forgotten Hits", Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits with their hit "Leaning On The Lamp Post"!
Let's take another look at 1964 ... as part of our on-going look back at the music of 50 years ago this week ... and the start of The British Invasion. Once again you'll see The Beatles ruling the charts ... this time in San Diego ... where "P.S. I Love You" / "Love Me Do" is #1, "Do You Want To Know A Secret" is #2, "Can't Buy Me Love" is #5 and "Twist And Shout" is #8.
Besides dominating The Top Ten, you'll also find The Fab Four at #15 with "Please Please Me", #18 with "She Loves You" and #22 with "I Want To Hold Your Hand", giving them seven of The Top 40 Hits shown on the survey.
Five other positions are held by British Invasion acts this week, too, including THREE by The Dave Clark Five: "Bits And Pieces" (#3), "Glad All Over" (#10) and "Do You Love Me" (#28).
I like the way the radio station's disc jockeys each get to select their own "Pick Hit To Click" at the bottom ... looking over the list, you'll find that some were a bit more "on the money" than others. A couple of other British Invasion favorites ... "A World WiIthout Love" by Peter and Gordon and "Yesterday's Gone" by The Overlanders are amongst the selections ... Peter and Gordon would top the charts with this Lennon and McCartney composition a few weeks later ... while "Yesterday's Gone" would go on to become the first big U.S. Chart Hit for Chad and Jeremy. Meanwhile other selections like Little Peggy March's "Takin' The Long Way Home" would pretty much permanently fade from sight.
Here's an unusual chart from a High School Radio Station ... WMTH was broadcast from Maine Township High School in Park Ridge, Illinois .. which might help to explain the more eclectic list of tunes featured on their Top 16 Countdown. (Hmm ... The Top 16 Countdown ... apparently also know as "The Twin Eight" ... from a chart that lists The Top 20 Hits. Maybe that's why this high school radio station never hit the big time! lol)
The Tremeloes sit at #1 with their big hit "Here Comes My Baby", written by Cat Stevens (from before anybody even knew who Cat Stevens was!)
The obvious hits are there ... and even some local tanet ... check out The Riddles at #17 with their version of "Sweets For My Sweet".
But the one that really caught my eye was the #3 Hit "Walk Tall" by 2 of Clubs.
You would not believe how many charts we've seen from around the country where this record ranked as a Top Ten Hit ... here in Chicago, it peaked at #9 on the WLS Chart .. yet nationally it crapped out at #92 in Billboard Magazine.
I've always thought it had a GREAT "Girl Groups Sound" ... so it's MY Pick Hit this week for our Saturday Surveys Feature.
This Detroit Chart from 1971 seems to be a little bit "soulful" ... which is to be expected, I guess, based on the folks up there buying music at the time. (That's what makes it fun to see Daddy Dewdrop all the way up at #2, ahead of The Queen Of Soul, Aretha Franklin, The Chi-Lites, Motown's own The Jackson Five and Honey Cone.
All kinds of Forgotten Hits on this list ... songs that we all knew and loved at the time that have fallen by the wayside with today's narrow-minded broadcasting. We've featured three early '70's soul classics that we're sure you'll remember ... once you hear them again ... below.
If The Top Ten on this chart out of Augusta, Georgia, seems a little bit middle-of-the-road / adult contemporary-ish to you, there are enough surprises elsewhere on the chart to help dispel any "type-casting".
While "Love (Can Make You Happy)" by Mercy sits at #1 (and artists like The Spiral Starecase, Perry Como, Brian Hyland, Henry Mancini and soft-rock hits by The Hollies and Simon and Garfunkel are also sitting in The Top Ten), they completely turn the tables by featuring Ray Stevens' novelty classic "Gitarzan" at #3 and The Monkees' rocker "Listen To The Band" (which only reached #63 in Billboard) at #9.
Another long-time Forgotten Hits favorite sits at #31 ... it's "Medicine Man" by The Buchanan Brothers.
WAY before Jack-FM took over the airwaves, folks in Lansing, Michigan were listening to (and enjoying) WJIM.
These guys, too, seemed to go their own way when it came to programming the hits ... up at #1 is Wanted with their version of "Midnight Hour", followed by the long-forgotten ? and the Mysterians hit "Can't Get Enough Of You", a song that would be resurrected by Smash Mouth some 30 years later. With this kind of Garage Band / Early Punk Rock at the top of the chart, it seems almost unthinkable that The Platters would have the #4 Record with their minor comeback hit "With This Ring."
The Monkees are still in full swing (pun intended) ... an early David Jones solo hit (shown with a disclaimer as "not available" sits at #7 ("Theme For A New Love"), while "Valerie" (listed here as The Monkees' next single ... which it wasn't) is right behind it at #9. Meanwhile their REAL hit single at the time, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" / "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" falls just outside The Top Ten at #11.
You'll find some real diversity on this chart ... yes, radio was a LOT looser and freer back in The Swingin' '60's ... wild "chart neighbors" abound as, besides The Platters, we find Tommy James and the Shondells and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels sitting side-by-side with Sammy Davis, Jr. ... Andy Williams followed by Sopwith Camel ... and folk duo Ian and Syliva at #13, sandwiched in between The Byrds and The Five Americans!
