A look back in time ...
The September of our Years ...
#1, 1955 - ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK - Bill Haley and the Comets (8th and final week at #1. How cool is it that the song that launched The Rock And Roll Era is also the first song that we're featuring today!)
Also on this date: Alan Freed's First Anniversary Rock 'n Roll Party kicks off at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, New York. Appearing on the bill are Chuck Berry, Tony Bennett (Tony Bennett?!?!?), The Nutmegs, The Rhythmettes, The Cardinals and The Four Voices.
Young Archie Bell of The Drells turns 11 (he could not only sing ... but he danced just as good as he walked!)
Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees turned 8
Former Rock and Roller ... and then Country Superstar Conway Twitty turned 20
Roy Head ("Treat Her Right") turned 14
#1, 1956 - HOUND DOG / DON'T BE CRUEL - Elvis Presley (3rd week at #1 ... "Hound Dog" would continue to hold down the #1 spot for two more weeks ... and then "Don't Be Cruel" would take over as the more popular side and stay there for another six. Elvis would eventually knock himself out of the #1 spot on November 3rd when "Love Me Tender" hit the top of the charts, where it would stay for the following five weeks. In all, Elvis held down the #1 Record for sixteen consecutive weeks!)
Also on this date: Jerry Lee Lewis shows up at Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee, hoping for an audition. However, owner Sam Phillips is away on vacation in Florida, so Producer / Engineer Jack Clement has Lewis record some demos that he will play for Phillips when he returns. In December, Sam Phillips will sign Jerry Lee Lewis to a Sun Records recording contract.
#1, 1957 - TAMMY - Debbie Reynolds (first of a three week run at the top ... interrupted for a week by Paul Anka's hit "Diana" on September 9th)
Also on this date: The Biggest Show Of Stars package tour kicked off at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater. It featured Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Drifters, The Everly Brothers and Frankie Lymon. (What?!?!? No Tony Bennett?!?!?)
On some dates, artists were unable to play because of segregation laws.
#1, 1958 - NEL BLU DIPINTO DI BLU (VOLARE') - Domenico Modugno (second week of a five week run at #1. It fell to #2 the week before, thanks to The Elegant's "Little Star" ... but bounced right back up and stayed there for another four weeks)
#1, 1959 - THE THREE BELLS The Browns (second week at #1 ... it would hold on for two more weeks before being displaced by Santo and Johnny's "Sleep Walk")
#1, 1960 - IT'S NOW OR NEVER - Elvis Presley (It's Elvis again, sounding a WHOLE lot different than he did four years ago when he topped the chart on September 1st with "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel." This reinvented take of the Italian classic "O Sole Mio" would occupy the #1 position for a total of five weeks)
#1, 1961 - WOODEN HEART - Joe Dowell (This time it's Joe Dowell on top of the chart, DOING a song first made famous by Elvis Presley in the film "G.I. Blues." This would be its only week at #1)
Also on this date: The Marcels record "Heartaches"
#1, 1962 - SHEILA - Tommy Roe (Our buddy Tommy Roe's first big hit, it would hold on to the #1 spot for another week before being knocked down to #2 by The Four Seasons' first big hit, "Sherry.")
#1, 1963 - MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK - The Angels (first week at #1 ... it would stay there for two more)
#1, 1964 - WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO - The Supremes (It may have been the year of Beatlemania and The British Invasion, but for two weeks in August the #1 Record in the Country was by Motown's soon-to-be premier act, The Supremes. Even more amazing is that the #1 prior to theirs was "Everybody Loves Somebody" by Dean Martin!!!)
#1, 1965 - I GOT YOU BABE - Sonny and Cher (#1 for their third and final week) The Beatles would take over the top spot the following week with their latest, "Help!" Ironically, the year before, the theme song from their first movie, "A Hard Day's Night," had just vacated the #1 position a couple of weeks prior.
Also on this date: James Brown and Booker T and the MG's appear on "Shindig"
#1, 1966 - SUMMER IN THE CITY - The Lovin' Spoonful (Your All-Time Favorite Song Of Summer is enjoying its third week on top of the chart)
Also on this date: The Byrds played the first of an eleven night stay at The Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood, California
#1, 1967 - ODE TO BILLIE JOE - Bobbie Gentry (Boy, what a smash THIS was!!! This is the record's first of four weeks at #1)
Also on this date: The Beatles met at Paul McCartney's house to discuss their next course of action in the wake of Manager Brian Epstein's passing on the 27th of August.
And, Boz Scaggs joins The Steve Miller Band. (He'll stay with the band for two years and two albums ... and then go on to have a pretty successful solo career!)
#1, 1968 - PEOPLE GOT TO BE FREE - The Rascals (Their THIRD #1 Hit, following "Good Lovin'" and "Groovin'." This is their third of five weeks at #1.
#1, 1969 - HONKY TONK WOMEN - The Rolling Stones (#1 for its second of four weeks at the top)
#1, 1970 - WAR - Edwin Starr (Edwin Starr takes over the top spot for the first of four weeks at #1)
#1, 1971 - HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART - The Bee Gees (#1 for its fourth and final week)
Also on this date: The Rolling Stones sue their manager, Allen Klein
#1, 1972 - BRANDY - The Looking Glass (There it is again!!! We just gave "Brandy" the spotlight treatment this past Friday! And then it appeared on Sunday as one of Your Top 100 All-Time Favorite Songs of Summer! And now here it is again, Number One on this date, 48 years ago today, on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart! Talk about a song with legs!)
Also on this date: The O'Jays receive a gold record for their hit single "Back Stabbers"
#1, 1973 - BROTHER LOUIE - The Stories (#1 for its second and final week)
#1, 1974 - HAVING MY BABY - Paul Anka (Talk about your comeback hits! We told you that Paul Anka topped the chart back in 1957 with his first hit record, "Diana." Now here it is, seventeen years later, and he's #1 again ... and this one was a smash! It topped the chart for three straight weeks back in 1974)
#1, 1975 - GET DOWN TONIGHT - KC and the Sunshine Band (Boy, the sound of music certainly has changed over the course of the past twenty years! We started our look back at September 1st, 1955, when all the kids were Rockin' Around The Clock ... along the way, we also experienced "The Twist" ... and, by 1975, the new fad was disco. These guys were one of the champions of the genre, topping the chart SIX times! This was their first.)
#1, 1976 - DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART - Elton John and Kiki Dee (This was their fourth week at #1 ... what a great record this is!)
Also on this date ... Lou Adler (President of Ode Records and the guy who discovered The Mamas and the Papas ... among many others) ... is kidnapped in Malibu, California. He is released after a $25,000 ransom is paid.
#1, 1977 - BEST OF MY LOVE - The Emotions (Doesn't take much to make me happy ... but this song made all of America happy for four weeks back in 1977!)
Also on this date: Blondie signed with Chrysalis Records
The Beach Boys played a free concert in New York's Central Park
#1, 1978 - GREASE - Frankie Valli (He first topped the chart back in 1962 with The Four Seasons and "Sherry." Now, sixteen years later he's back with a solo hit that just happens to be the title track from the summer's biggest movie ... written by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees no less ... who topped the chart on September 1st of 1971!!! Don'tcha just love it when all this stuff ties together?!?!)
#1, 1979 - MY SHARONA - The Knack (The biggest record of the year starts its first of SIX weeks in the #1 position)
Also on this date: Thanks to the release of their new album "In Through The Out Door," all nine of Led Zeppelin's albums are now ranked on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart this week. Amazing!
#1, 1980 - SAILING - Christopher Cross (Chris was sidelined with the CoronaVirus early on this year ... but is now on the mend and chompin' at the bit to get back out there to celebrate his 40th Anniversary Tour.)
#1, 1981 - ENDLESS LOVE - Diana Ross and Lionel Richie (Not many records spend nine weeks at #1 ... but this one did. September 1st marked Week #3.)
#1, 1982 - EYE OF THE TIGER - Survivor (Chicago's very own!!!) A song that still brings inspiration to many. The theme song from "Rocky III" (the BEST Rocky film as far as I'm concerned ... but then again, what are they up to now??? "Rocky 27???" I think the next film will star the great-grandson of Rocky Balboa!) This record was #1 for six straight weeks ... and the royalties still help to put gas in Jim Peterik's fleet of cars!
#1, 1983 - EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - The Police (Another timeless smash, this record sat at the top of the chart for eight weeks in 1983. This was its final week at #1.)
Also on this date: Mick Jones is fired from The Clash
#1, 1984 - WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT - Tina Turner (Another big comeback record, this one dethroned "Ghostbusters" and held on to the #1 spot for three weeks. This was Tina's first appearance on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart in 24 years.)
#1, 1985 - THE POWER OF LOVE - Huey Lewis and the News (Another movie tune ... this time from "Back To The Future." It spent two weeks at #1 before being knocked out by yet ANOTHER movie tune, "St. Elmo's Fire" by John Parr.)
#1, 1986 - HIGHER LOVE - Steve Winwood (Talk about your perfect timing ... this was this record's only week at #1.)
Also on this date: Paul McCartney releases his "Press To Play" album
#1, 1987 - LA BAMBA - Los Lobos (Another movie tune, although this one dates back to 1958 and was first a hit for Ritchie Valens. It was the title track of his very well done biopic.)
#1, 1988 - MONKEY - George Michael (Once half of Wham! ... although nobody remembers the other guy!!! ... George enjoyed a very successful solo career. Andrew Ridgeley, on the other hand, went on to enjoy the rest of his career as the answer on a Trivia Pursuit card.)
#1, 1989 - RIGHT HERE WAITING - Richard Marx (Nice to see another Chicago dude make the list. Although his biggest hits were ballads like this one, Marx could rock with the best of them. His song "Hazard" remains one of my all-time favorites.)
#1, 1990 - IF WISHES CAME TRUE - Sweet Sensation (Hey, I did pretty good on this September 1st collection ... this was the ONLY song I wasn't familiar with!!! Thinking that many of you just might be in the same boat, I've included the video as your own personal "cheat sheet." This way, if anyone ever asks you "Hey, remember that song 'If Wishes Came True' by Sweet Sensation, you can always say "No ... but Forgotten Hits TRIED to help me!!!" Honestly, it was forgotten as soon as I heard it.)
Incredible to think that our journey stops THIRTY YEARS short of today!!!
But this is our look back at the Septembers Of Our Years. Hope you've enjoyed it! (kk)
