Friday, May 2, 2014

50 Years Ago This Weekend

On The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart dated 5/2/64 CAN'T BUY ME LOVE completes its run at #1 this week (that makes FIVE if you're counting!) while the rest of the Top Ten is rounded out by DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A SECRET (#3), BITS AND PIECES (#4) and TWIST AND SHOUT (#7) … not quite the stranglehold of the past few weeks but still FOUR British Hits out of Ten.
GLAD ALL OVER dropped to #13, NEEDLES AND PINS to #24 … while LOVE ME DO leaped from #67 to #32 (!) and LITTLE CHILDREN climbed from #61 to #35.  SHE LOVES YOU (#36), STAY AWHILE (#39) and THANK YOU GIRL (#40) rounded out the British tunes in The Top 40 this week.
THE DAVE CLARK FIVE had the highest debut of the week with their remake of the recent Motown Hit DO YOU LOVE ME (#53).  DIANE (#57), ALL MY LOVING (#59), I KNEW IT ALL THE TIME (another DC5 Hit at #74), SUGAR AND SPICE by THE SEARCHERS (#96) and the very first U.S. chart hit for THE ROLLING STONES (NOT FADE AWAY, premiering at #98) rounds out the list of British Hits this week.
WLS published an abbreviated chart for the week of May 1st … the weekly chart was cut to just 20 positions (of which "Bits And Pieces" held the #5 spot, "Love Me Do", now coupled with "P.S. I Love You", was #7, "Can't Buy Me Love" / "You Can't Do That" at #10, "Thank You Girl" / "Do You Want To Know A Secret" at #14 and "Yesterday's Gone" sat at #16.)  5 out of 20 ... that's 25%.
The rest of the chart listed "THE 20 BEST SILVER DOLLAR RECORDS OF OUR FIRST FOUR YEARS" … and guess who held the Top Three positions on THIS chart!!!  Why The Beatles, of course, with "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You" and "Twist And Shout" at #'s 1, 2 and 3 respectively.  The rest of the chart saluted other previous #1 Records from the WLS Silver Dollar Survey, dating back to its inception in October of 1960 (although only one record from 1960 made the final tally … "Exodus" by Ferrante and Teicher came in at #11.  You can see the rest of the chart below.  (My guess is the May 1st date was selected to best represent when the radio station first switched over to its Top 40 format … although that actually happened in APRIL of 1960.  As we saw yesterday, they continued the anniversary tradition for a couple more years before dropping it completely.)
 

On Sunday, May 3rd, (1964) Gerry and the Pacemakers appeared on The Ed Sullivan and performed "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'" and "I'm The One".  They'd return again a week later ... probably part of a deal negotiated by manager Brian Epstein!



Also Announced This Week ... in 2014!!!
The Beatles First Movie, "A Hard Day's Night" is being
re-released in theaters this summer in honor of the film's 50th Anniversary.  
Look for a crystal clear picture and greatly enhanced sound thanks to Giles Martin, son of long-time Beatles Producer George Martin.  (Unfortunately this won't be the "colorized" version that we campaigned for earlier ... but it'll still be cool to see this back up on the big screen again ... especially with all these digital improvements.)  The celebration will take place over the 4th of July Weekend in over fifty cities from coast to coast.  Be sure to check your local listings to find a theater near you!