Prior to being known as Memorial Day, our annual celebration of those who served in our military forces was know as Decoration Day ...
And, until 1970, it was always celebrated on May 30th, regardless of where in the week that day may have fallen.
Then, in 1971, we adopted a National Holiday Monday policy for a lot of these annual celebrations. (Remember when we used to have Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday, which were now just rolled into President's Day?) Veteran's Day also became a "standing Monday" date for the ease of accommodating a long, 3-day weekend.
As we have a few times this year for other occasions, we take a look back at every #1 Hit on Memorial Day, 1955 - 1985 ...
Noting that all Memorial Day #1's fell on May 30th thru 1970 ...
With the exact date noted from 1971 - 1985.
1955 - CHERRY PINK AND APPLE BLOSSOM WHITE - Perez Prado
1956 - HEARTBREAK HOTEL - Elvis Presley
1957 - LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND - Pat Boone
1958 - ALL I HAVE TO DO IS DREAM - The Everly Brothers
1959 - THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS - Johnny Horton
1960 - CATHY'S CLOWN - The Everly Brothers
1961 - RUNNING SCARED - Roy Orbison
1962 - I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU - Ray Charles
1963 - IT'S MY PARTY - Lesley Gore
1964 - LOVE ME DO - The Beatles
1965 - HELP ME RHONDA - The Beach Boys
1966 - WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN - Percy Sledge
1967 - RESPECT - Aretha Franklin
1968 - MRS. ROBINSON - Simon and Garfunkel
1969 - GET BACK - The Beatles
1970 - EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL - Ray Stevens
1971 - BROWN SUGAR - The Rolling Stones (May 31st)
1972 - I'LL TAKE YOU THERE - The Staple Singers (May 29th)
1973 - MY LOVE - Paul McCartney and Wings (May 28th)
1974 - THE STREAK - Ray Stevens (May 27th)
1975 - BEFORE THE NEXT TEARDROP FALLS - Freddy Fender (May 26th)
1976 - LOVE HANGOVER - Diana Ross (May 31st)
1977 - SIR DUKE - Stevie Wonder (May 30th)
1978 - TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE - Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams (May 29th)
1979 - HOT STUFF - Donna Summer (May 28th)
1980 - FUNKYTOWN - Lipps, Inc. (May 26th)
1981 - BETTE DAVIS EYES - Kim Carnes (May 25th)
1982 - EBONY AND IVORY - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (May 31st)
1983 - FLASHDANCE ... WHAT A FEELING - Irene Cara (May 30th)
1984 - LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOY - Deniece Williams (May 28th)
1985 - EVERYTHING SHE WANTS - Wham (May 27th)
There are a few surprises on this list ...
It's not unusual to think that an artist or two just might have topped the chart on two different Memorial Days ...
And we have a few occurrences of this on this list above ...
But if given a hundred guesses, would you ever have speculated that Ray Stevens and Deniece Williams would be among those who accomplished this feat?!?!
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder each earned two (but only because they teamed up together for one of them) ...
As did The Everly Brothers and The Beatles (which I guess technically gives McCartney FOUR Memorial Day #1's)
AND NOW THE BIG QUESTION ...
Which of these Memorial Day #1 Hits is most "memorable" and meaningful to you???
Send us a list of your Top Five Favorites (in rank order, please!) ...
And we'll tabulate your votes and run the results during next weekend's Sunday Comments Page.
Email your list to kk@forgottenhits.com ...
And then keep watching these pages for a Top Ten Recap of your Favorite Memorial Day #1 Hits!
(We've got brand new posts planned for every day this week ... so check back often!) kk
