No. 1 Hits and Birthdays
People think it's something when a song tops the chart but I've learned it doesn't guarantee any lasting fame for the artist. I found this site that will tell you the Number One Pop Chart hit for your birthday (actually for any day). Topping the charts on the day I was born was "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis. Must have been a real winner considering that I've never even heard of it before.
What song was number one when you were born?
posted by dolphin at 11:05 AM
10 Comments:
Yes you have. It's just so ubiquitous that you don't realize it.
It's that airy music they play these days whenever people run anywhere.
You've doubtless seen the commercial for the shoes where the guy is running on the beach, but then passes newspaper boxes, etc and it turns into the city?
The song in the background is Chariots of Fire.
That's pretty cool. Mine was "Leaving On A Jet Plane" by Peter, Paul, and Mary.
Great song.
Dolphin,
I left a link to the commercial in the wrong comments section. Its under your Darwilliams post.
sheesh..I had to go with my 18th birthday because the charts hadn't started when I was born..god, am i old or what.
on my very special 18th birthday the #1 song in USA was 'Ain't no mountain high enough' by Diana Ross. I guess it could be worse..like something by Air Supply or other such pablum.
John...that was 1970....which would make you born in 1952? My book of records starts in 1955. Someone older than me on here! Whooooooooooohaaaaaaaaaa!
I guess I'm the geezer in here...sheesh.
But, I seriously started listening to music when I was 9 (1961) and I discovered a wonderful wonderful thing: WLAC AM at night played rhythm and blues..muddy waters, chuck berry, howling wolf, sam cooke, the Pinetops (wilson pickett's early group), Drifters, etc. etc.
My parents were aghast, appalled (I won't repeat my dad's appellation of such music) because they had raised me to appreciate the symphony and classical music. But rebellion was fueled by that little transister radio in this cool perforated black leather case. When the transistor was on for over an hour (it usually was) you could smell the leather...when I smell that particular kind of leather now it totally pulls me back to 1961. I guess the leather is my madelaine (sp?) or my rosebud....
No one had a smoother voice than Sam Cooke. His version of "A Change's Gonna Come" is one of my favorites. Eric Clapton and Keith Richards were listening to the same music as you. Did you ever listen to Robert Johnson? There is a great documentary on him..as well as a lot of Delta Blues artists who ultimately led to rock and roll. BTW..I am in my 40s...not much younger than you!
I cut my teeth on The Beatles. They raised me. I had three fathers: God, my biological father and John Lennon.
Have you ever heard the live Sam Cooke CD/album "Live at the Harlem Club" (this Harlem club was in Miami). It is a great example of Sam Cooke of singing the way he wanted to sing and really letting go..the crowd is seriously into it...It has now moved into my everchanging Top 10 Desert Island CDs..
I got into Robert Johnson through the Stones. When I first heard 'Love in Vain' and saw that it was by some blues guy named Johnson, and then I heard Crossroads by Cream and realized they were by the same guy, I knew that I had to find the mother lode..simply amazing stuff.
John H: and I discovered a wonderful wonderful thing: WLAC AM at night played rhythm and blues..
Ooh, WLAC!! WLAC was where I first heard Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy played. I was living in Daytona Beach, Florida at the time but could pick up WLAC at night. When the tornado hit Nashville in 1998, I immediately pulled WLAC up on the internet because I knew its proximity to the old Hall of Fame and knew, if WLAC was okay, chances were that the Hall of Fame was, too.
Eddie Stubbs and I did this comparison once. The song that was #1 when he was born was Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John," while the #1 song when I was born was Jim Reeves' "He'll Have to Go." We both agreed I had the better "birthday song."
Of course, being country music nuts, we used the country chart, not the pop chart. LOL
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