#47
The countdown kicks off with this classic from 1963 by Peter, Paul and Mary.
"Puff The Magic Dragon" spent a collective three weeks at #2 (that means one week each in Billboard, Cash Box and Record World) and earned 30 points in the process ...
And Peter, Paul and Mary are one of only TWO artists to place TWO titles in our Top #2's Countdown. This one was blocked from the #1 spot by "I Will Follow Him" by Little Peggy March.
#46
Sitting at #46 is Bob Dylan with his #2 Hit from 1966, "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35." (Three total weeks at #2; 35 points)
Peter, Paul and Mary made quite a career covering songs written by Bob Dylan ... (you'll hear one of them before you leave this page!) ... while Dylan himself didn't have a lot of chart hits of his own, especially this early on in his career. (He was always perceived as more of an albums artist.) But after reaching #1 the previous year with his "plugged in" classic "Like A Rolling Stone" (#1 in Cash Box only, thus eliminating from today's #2's competition), he proved that he could churn out hit singles with the best of them. "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" (one of MY personal Dylan favorites) proved the point again in '66 when it rose to #2 in all three major trade publications. (This one was blocked from hitting #1 by "Monday Monday" by The Mamas and The Papas.)
#45
Coming in in the #45 spot is the Motown Classic "Shop Around" by The Miracles. (Three total weeks at #1; 38 points)
Smokey Robison was a vital part of Motown's success, not only writing #1 Hits for other artists on the label but also scoring massive hits of his own with his group, The Miracles ...
Like this one, a song that peaked at #2 in 1961, kept out of the #1 spot by "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" by The Shirelles.
#44
The only other artist to place TWO songs on this list of Biggest #2 Hits from 1955 - 1989 is Elton John.
In 1988, Elton hit the #2 spot on all three charts (now Billboard, Cash Box and Radio and Records) with his hit "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That."
It spent a total of four accumulated weeks at the #2 position, kept out of the #1 spot by George Michael's hit "Monkey." (Ironically, Elton and George would hit #1 TOGETHER when they recorded a live remake of Elton's hit "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" in 1992.) "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" earned 40 points in our Best #2's competition.
#43
Our
#43 #2 Hit is by Johnny Tillotson, who took "Poetry In Motion" to the
also ran position in 1960 for an accumulated total of four weeks, kept
out of the #1 spot by "Save The Last Dance For Me" by The Drifters.
"Poetry In Motion" earned a total of 41 points in this very special #2's Countdown.
#42
As promised, here are Peter, Paul and Mary, back again at #42 with "Blowin' In The Wind," a Dylan tune that hit #2 for an accumulated total of four weeks. (Again, the TOTAL number of weeks spent at #2 are shared between the three major music trade publications at the time ... so in this instance, "Blowin' In The Wind" spent one week each at #2 in two of these (Billboard and Music Vendor) and two weeks at #2 in Cash Box.) It earned 42 points ... and was kept out of the #1 spot by "Fingertips (Part 2)" by Little Stevie Wonder. (Hmm ... that means that both Little Peggy March and Little Stevie Wonder rock-blocked them in 1963 ... it all sounds just a LITTLE bit shady to me!)
Be sure to stop back at 8 am to catch the next batch of #2 Hits!
