Well, actually, it's a countdown that's second to ALL ...
Because today we're counting down The Top #2 Records of The Forgotten Hits Era, 1955 - 1989.
I kicked around several different ideas when trying to decide how to celebrate the two special, one-of-a-kind dates that this month offered us.
On 2-2-22, I decided to run The Top Ten Pop Charts for similar dates in history covered in The Forgotten Hits Rock Era, such as 5-5-55, 6-6-66, 7-7-77 and 8-8-88. (Scroll back to 2/2 if you missed it)
This time around, I knew that I wanted to do something tying into the songs that peaked at #2 ... but I wanted to do it in a more unique way than simply rehashing the Billboard stats.
Because, as we have seen time and time again, despite the long-standing motto that "It Ain't #1 Until It's #1 in Billboard," 20/20 hindsight (or, I guess today, 22/22 hindsight) tells us that Billboard flat out dropped the ball on a few of these ... especially when so many titles peaked at #1 in both of the other national music trades at the same time ... but still came up short in Billboard.
I'm talking about long-standing, proven top-of-the-chart hits like ...
"Bye Bye Love" by The Everly Brothers, "Exodus" by Ferrante and Teicher, "Crying" by Roy Orbison, "Return To Sender" by Elvis Presley, "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen, "Twist And Shout" by The Beatles, "Last Kiss" by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers, "Let's Hang On" by The Four Seasons, "Barbara Ann" by The Beach Boys, "A Groovy Kind Of Love" by The Mindbenders, "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb, "Georgy Girl" by The Seekers, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" by The Monkees, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli, "Valleri" by The Monkees, "Lady Willpower" by Gary Puckett and The Union Gap, "Those Were The Days" by Mary Hopkin, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" by Diana Ross and the Supremes and The Temptations, "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, "Cecilia" by Simon and Garfunkel, "Spill The Wine" by Eric Burdon and War, "Lonely Days" by The Bee Gees, "She's A Lady" by Tom Jones, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver, "Long Cool Woman" by The Hollies, "Nights In White Satin" by The Moody Blues, "Dueling Banjos" by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell (from "Deliverance"), "Shambala" by Three Dog Night, "Live And Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Wings, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John, "The Rose" by Bette Midler and "Open Arms" by Journey ...
ALL of which reached #1 all over the country, yet still failed to reach the summit in Billboard Magazine. (Perhaps the best example that I always cite of the OPPOSITE effect is Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" spending FOUR WEEKS at #1 in Billboard, yet NEVER reaching #1 at all in either Cash Box or Record World.)
[It also means that Billboard's "Kings of #2," Creedence Clearwater Revival, are nowhere to be found on our special salute, as their hits "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising" and "Lookin' Out My Back Door" DID make it to #1 in at least one of the other music trades, just like they did from coast to coast everywhere except Billboard.]
So the criteria for THIS special countdown is that in order to qualify, the record had to peak at #2 in ALL THREE PUBLICATIONS!!! (Sadly, this eliminated some great candidates along the way that may have made it to #1 in one publication ... or stalled at #3 in another ... but we had to draw the line somewhere!!!)
Then we took the total number of ACCUMULATED weeks spent at #2 (in all three pubs) and were able to determine The Top 47 #2 Hits of The Forgotten Hits Rock Era, 1955 - 1989. (Ties were broken by chart points earned along the way.) Once all the research was done, the grand total of "common" #2 hits was 47 during that timeframe ... so that's what we're going with. (NOTE: Record World was known as Music Vendor prior to 1964 and then ceased publication in early 1982. To fill out the rest of the national charts thru 1989, we used the Radio and Records charts from 1982 - 1989. Joel Whitburn's series of Record Research chart books provide an invaluable service when it comes to a project like this one ... and his latest book ... the 17th Edition of Billboard's Top Pop Singles ... ALSO encompasses what we are now referring to as "The Forgotten Hits Era." You can order YOUR copy of this book ... a must for any serious music library ... here:
https://www.recordresearch.com/books/top-pop-singles-1955-1989/
(And ... for the first time ever, it's available IN LIVING COLOR!!!)
Despite some very important omissions, you're going to find some incredible titles on this list, all of which came up just a LITTLE bit short of hitting the top. (Elvis' 1962 hit "Can't Help Falling In Love" immediately comes to mind ... it has ALWAYS been a #2 Record in my mind ... but in actuality, only peaked at #2 in Billboard Magazine, topping out at #3 In Music Vendor and #4 in Cash Box, thus making it ineligible for this list of Biggest #2 hits ... and a source of my frustration in putting this whole thing together!!!)
[You can also order Joel Whitburn's COMPARISON CHART Book here, which shows the peak position EVERY charted record hit in all three major trade publications (1954 - 1982): https://www.recordresearch.com/books/the-comparison-book-1954-1982/]
And, to keep things even more interesting, fun and exciting, we'll even show you WHY these records never reached the #1 position ... many of these songs were up against some of the biggest #1 Hits of All-Time ... and never had a chance of overtaking them ... while at any other time, most, if not all, would have been sure-fire #1 Hits. Again, these "rock blockers" reflect a consensus of all three charts, showing no favoritism toward Billboard, but rather the most likely reason these 47 #2 smashes didn't make it to the top ... and review only the song that got in the way during our list's initial assent up the chart to the #2 position ... and not any other titles that may have leap-frogged their way into the #1 position over these #2 Hits.
We'll be revealing these #2 Hits throughout the day today ... with a new list of titles going up every hour. (Sometime after 6 pm this evening we'll recap the entire list.)
So spread the word ...
Tell a friend and watch the whole thing unfold ...
As we reveal
THE TOP 47 #2 SONGS, 1955 - 1989
The fun begins at 7 am. (kk)
