April 4th, 1964

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

4/4/64 – The Beatles' next single "Can't Buy Me Love" (their first to be released simultaneously in England and America) goes to #1 and stays there for five weeks.  It allows The Beatles to hold down the top five spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart:  “Can’t Buy Me Love” (#1); “Twist And Shout” (#2); “She Loves You” (#3); “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (#4) and “Please Please Me” (#5).  Next week, they’ll have FOURTEEN entries in The Top 100.

As we  saw last Saturday, that didn't happen on The Super Chart ...

That's because the Super Charts are based on the compiled chart data from all THREE major trade publications at the time ... Billboard, Cash Box and Record World ... and although The Beatles DID manage to hold down The Top Five positions in both Billboard and Cash Box, they failed to do so this week in Record World.

For comparison's sake, Cash Box listed THEIR Top Five records for the week ending April 4th as TWIST AND SHOUT (#1), CAN'T BUY ME LOVE (#2), SHE LOVES YOU (#3), I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND (#4) and PLEASE PLEASE ME (#5) ...

But Music Vendor's chart showed TWIST AND SHOUT (#1), SHE LOVES YOU (#2), CAN'T BUY ME LOVE (#3), HELLO DOLLY by Louis Armstrong (#4) and SUSPICION by Terry Stafford (#5)

With "Twist And Shout" topping two of the three major trades, it also topped our Super Chart (and we have seen it ranked as the #1 song on local charts from all over the country ... so how it failed to do so in Billboard is a bit puzzling.)  Still, a move from #27 to #1 in its second week on The Hot 100 was a record that stood for quite some time ... and, as mentioned previously, it had over a million advance orders before it was even released.

Either way, holding down the top five spots in the country was an incredible accomplishment ... and a record that would stand until chart methodology was reconfigured in the 2020's.  (kk)

  

 

Chuck Buell also sent us his commemorative tribute to this record accomplishment to run again this year in Forgotten Hits ...

So here it is!!!

Kent,

To commemorate the Beatles dominating the Top Five Positions on Billboard's Hot 100 beginning in April of 1964, here's a Chuck Buell Radio Show production I once created to commemorate this remarkable Hit Charting Event.

By tightly editing out the music bridges, those five songs are presented here in just a little over eight minutes!

Oh, yeah. And for those of you who know her, playing the part of the young Beatle Fan introducing each song is the wonderfully talented and ever popular . . . . . Linda! 

For any Forgotten Hitters who are still hosting a radio show, or have Friends who are, and would like to use it, please feel free to do so.  I would, however, like to know if it was. ( A brief explanation of who I once was may have to be included!  Or not!  {:~}  )

"Do you know who I used to be?!"

CB ( which once stood for the formerly reasonably Famous "Chuck Beatle-Boy-Buell!"

 

What an incredibly exciting time in music it was!  (kk)

Well, It SOUNDS Like We've Got THIS To Look Forward To!!!

Now this Forgotten Hits Alert from our very own Alarmist, Chuck Buell! 

More Terrifying Than Godzilla versus King Kong!

Because – THIS is Real!

 Billions of Cicadas Will Emerge from their Secret Underground Burrows in the U.S. in a 

Rare Double-Brood Event!

 

Every thirteen and seventeen years, swarms of Cicadas emerge from the Earth to permeate the air and blanket the ground while having a hot time in the city singing their noisy ear-piercing mating songs!

 

The male insects’ high-pitched buzz can reach up to 100 decibels, roughly equivalent to the sound level of a motorcycle! Or a jackhammer.

 

Billions of these winged insects will make their presence known across the Midwest and the Southeast beginning in late April to early May for a raucous mating ritual!

 

And this year presents a rare dual emergence. 

 

There are two Cicada groups, a 13-year Brood and a 17-year Brood, that rarely appear at the same time ... but this year their cycles will align, an occurrence that happens only once every 221 years! 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime event!

 

The Cicada groups happened to have made their homes adjacent to one another with a narrow overlap in Central Illinois!

 

If your area is affected, you should know Cicadas do not sting or bite humans and they do not carry diseases. They are not pests and do not need to be killed.

 

In fact, Cicadas can actually be eaten and like all insects, they are protein-packed, low-carb, low-fat, gluten free and have a good balance of vitamins! 

So, Bar-B-Que 'em!

 

Ka-Bob ‘em!

 

Serve ‘em on a plate!

 

And Enjoy!

 

It’s said they taste like cold canned asparagus. ( WHOA! They lost ME on that! )

 

Meanwhile, here’s a not-often-seen photo of Cicadas singing!

 

 Nevertheless, you have been warned!  Wear protective clothing!

 

Now, here’s my “Cicada Insect-Infested Chuck Buell Minute Medley!”

 

 

CB ( which stands for “Cautionary Boy!” )

 

As far as I'm concerned, this whole idea of "see ya every 13 or 17 years" is nothing more than an urban legend myth!!!

We get these pesky critters EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!!  And while they are essentially harmless, their sound is annoying as hell ... deafening at times ... enough to drown out the tv!!!  (What a shame to have to close all your windows on on beautiful spring and summer night, just to tune out this irritating racket!!!)

I don't know where the "every 13 or 17 years" concept came from ... 

I can remember when I was just a little boy, my dad taking all of us kids out into the yard and turning over the dirt to expose them living "underground."  THAT was the first time I'd ever seen them ... and back then, they really DID only come back every 13 years or so ... it was VERY big news that "this was the year of the cicada!!!"  (Although here, they are primarily known as "locust" ... which I guess is essentially the same thing.  You say tomato ...)

And I swear that since at least 2007, we've had them back every single year.  

(I remember 2007 because that's the year daughter Nicki graduated college ... and we had to park about three block away to walk to the outdoor ceremony ... and the sidewalks and grass were COMPLETELY covered with cicadas ... it was impossible to take a step anywhere without crunching them ... it looked like a complete take-over!!!  It was like that final scene in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" where the family tries to quietly walk to safety without disturbing all that surrounds them!  I haven't SEEN it as bad since ... but I sure have heard it!)

And today's piece only serves to remind me (no pun intended) as to why I couldn't watch tv shows like "Fear Factor" back in the day!!!  (kk)

Tuesday This And That

Got this yesterday from Clark Besch ...

WAY too cool not to share with the rest of the group!

DOLENZ SRO AT LA'S TROUBADOUR

 

MICKY DOLENZ's show at LA's Troubadour this Friday, April 5, is sold-out.

In the audience will be SiriusXM's Michael des Barres and Breakfast With The Beatles' Chris Carter.

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

4/2/64 – The Beach Boys record “I Get Around.”  Tempers flare during this session and Brian Wilson fires his father as their manager.