#11
Here's another one I wasn't really familiar with ... but coming from 1989, that's really not all that surprising to me.
Way before he was Mr. Whitney Houston, Bobby Brown was Bobby Brown ... a VERY successful R&B recording star, first with The New Edition, who had eight Top 40 Hits on Billboard's Pop Chart ... and then as a solo act, who made The Top Five another eight times all on his own.
"My Prerogative" went all the way to #1 ... while today's #11 Hit peaked at #2 on all three national charts, for an accumulated total of eight weeks (and 81 points.)
"On Our Own" was used in the film "Ghostbusters II," in which he also appeared.
Here Come The Top Ten Biggest #2 Hits of The Forgotten Hits Era, 1955 - 1989
#10
"Boogie Nights" by Heatwave take us into The Top Ten. (This one kind of surprised me as I didn't remember it being quite as big a hit as it was.)
It earned 82 points and spent EIGHT weeks in the Runners Up position, blocked by the ten week run at the top of Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" in 1977. (That fact alone is enough to make you cringe!)
Actually, Boone spent THIRTEEN weeks in the #1 position in Record World, enough time to stave off "How Deep Is Your Love" by The Bee Gees," a #1 Hit in both Cash Box and Billboard.
#9
The record to occupy the #1 spot before Debby Boone took things over and moved in for a few months was the "Star Wars Theme" by Meco. (It closed out September of '77 at the top of the charts.)
In the process, it kept KC and the Sunshine Band's latest, "Keep It Comin' Love," in the #2 position for a total of eight accumulated weeks. (It earned 83 points)
KC and the Sunshine Band had hit the #1 spot four times previously: "Get Down Tonight" (1975), "That's The Way I Like It" (1975), "Shake Your Booty" (1976) and "I'm Your Boogie Man" (1977 ... and odds are "Keep It Comin' Love" would have reached the top, too, were it not for the popularity of the first "Star Wars" movie.
#8
Speaking of movie themes, it was Carly Simon that was kept out of the #1 spot with her reading of "Nobody Does It Better" from the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me" in 1977. (Wow ... three records in a row from '77 to make the Top Ten Biggest #2 Hits list, 1955 - 1989!)
"Nobody Does It Better" spent an accumulated eight weeks in the #2 spot. She also fell victim to Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life." (Which song would YOU rather hear today???)
#7
Now we flip back to 1959 for this early Paul Anka classic, "Put Your Head On My Shoulder."
Paul occupied the #2 spot for a total of nine weeks that year, coming up second to Bobby Darin's smash "Mack The Knife." (That was the song to beat that year!) While Anka's nine weeks at #2 was a collection of ALL of the weeks spent at #2 between the three trades ... three weeks in each ... Darin held down the #1 spot for nine consecutive weeks all on his own! "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" earned 94 points in our Biggest #2 Hits Countdown.
#6
Here's a song that we've seen at the top of MANY Top 40 Charts over the years ...
But officially it peaked at #2 in Billboard, Cash Box and Record World, coming in second place to The Rascals' #1 Hit "People Got To Be Free" in 1968.
"Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf is a Rock And Roll Anthem. (A SUMMER anthem, too, as it has regularly place high on our list of All-Time Favorite Summer Songs.)
From the film "Easy Rider," these guys rode their hit to #2 and parked it there for nine collective weeks, earning 98 points in the process. The fact that it never "officially" hit #1 ranks high on my list of pop chart injustices ... what a great track!!!
The Top Five Come Alive beginning next hour!
Beginning at 2:00 ... and wrapping up at 6:00 ... we will reveal The Five Biggest #2 Hits, 1955 - 1989. Don't miss a note!
