Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men debuted at #1 with "One Sweet Day"

First posted 12/2/2011; updated 1/23/2020.

One Sweet Day Mariah Carey with Boyz II Men

Writer(s): Mariah Carey/Michael McCary/Nathan Morris/Wanya Morris/Shawn Stockman/Walter Afanasieff (see lyrics here) Released: November 14, 1995 Peak: 116 US, 111 CB, 18 RR, 113 AC, 110 A40, 2 RB, 6 UK, 12 CN, 2 AU (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.25 UK, 3.5 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 139.0 video, -- streaming

Awards: (Click on award for more details).

About the Song: This ballad paired “some of the best R&B ballad singers of their generation” BBC emphasizing Carey’s “vocal gymnastics, artfully supported by the more restrained vocalizing of…Boyz II Men.” JA Done with “fitting and tender simplicity”, BBC “this passionate expression of loss” BBC was reportedly inspired by the death earlier that year of David Cole, half of the group C+C Music Factory and a friend of Carey’s. TB However, she says the song wasn’t inspired by just one specific person. BR Meanwhile, Boyz II Men were working on a tribute to Khalil Roundtree, their road manager who had been murdered. TB When Carey and the Boyz decided to pair up, they merged their efforts into what became not just the biggest pop hit of 1995, WHC but the biggest hit of the latter half of the 20th century. In fact, from 1900 to 1999, the only song to log more weeks at number one (17) was the 1947 song “Near You” by Francis Craig and His Orchestra. Interestingly enough, it was the THIRD time that Boyz II Men could claim to have the biggest hit of the rock era – first with 1992’s “End of the Road” and again with 1994’s “I’ll Make Love to You.” Collectively, Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men had already accumulated 69 weeks (36 and 33 weeks respectively) atop the charts BB100 in just the first half of the 1990s. Mariah Carey went on to hit the top spot another eight times after this, giving her a total of 79 weeks at #1 – only one week behind Elvis Presley’s record 80 weeks. Boyz II Men only scored one more #1 (1997’s “4 Seasons of Loneliness”) and one more top 10 (1997’s “A Song for Mama”), but their total of 50 weeks in the pole position ranks them fourth all-time behind Elvis, Mariah, and The Beatles (59 weeks). Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Mariah Carey DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Boyz II Men BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” BB100 Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100” BR Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 843. JA David A. Jasen. (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 153. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 269. WHC Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Page 126. First posted 12/2/2011; last updated 4/1/2021.

50 years ago: Bing Crosby charted with Christmas album

First posted 3/2/2008; updated 9/29/2020.

Merry Christmas (aka “White Christmas”) Bing Crosby

Charted: December 1, 1945 Peak: 139 US, 45 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, -- UK, 15.0 world (includes US and UK) Genre: traditional pop/Christmas

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Silent Night (12/21/35, 7 US, 8 UK, sales: 10 million) Adeste Fideles (O, Come All Ye Faithful) (12/12/60, 45 US) White Christmas (with the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Orchestra) (10/3/42, 114 US, 110 HP, 77 CA, 11 HR, 12 GA, 3 AC, 13 RB, 5 UK, 120, sales: 56 million) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Faith of Our Fathers I’ll Be Home for Christmas (12/4/43, 3 US, 8 RB, sales: 1 million) Jingle Bells (with The Andrews Sisters & Vic Schoen) (12/25/43, 19 US) Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (with Carol Richards and John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra) (12/25/43, 22 US) Silver Bells (with Carol Richards and John Scott Trotter & His Orchestra) (12/27/52, 20 US) It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Christmas in Killarney Mele Kalikimaka (with The Andrews Sisters & Vic Shoen) Total Running Time: 27:24

Rating: 4.159 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings) Quotable: -- Awards:

About the Album: “Try to forget the fact that Bing Crosby probably never had to record another song in his life after he immortalized White Christmas. If you can do that, you’ll find plenty more to like in this crooning Christmas collection.” AZ “White Christmas” is the best-selling song of all time, but this album didn’t too shabby either. When it comes to seasonal recordings, only Elvis Presley’s Christmas Album has sold more at 19 million copies worldwide. However, Merry Christmas reached the lofty heights of 39 whopping weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart, thanks to multiple reissues, repackagings, and rereleases over the years. The original album was packaged as five 78 records, each with two songs. All of the songs had been released previously and were Christmas-themed with the exception of “Danny Boy.” When a second edition was released in 1947, “Danny Boy” and “Let’s Start the New Year Right” were omitted and new recordings of “White Christmas” and Silent Night from March 19, 1947 were added. WK In 1955, the vinyl reissue of the album followed the 1947 track listing and added four tracks, including Silver Bells and three tracks with the Andrews Sisters: Jingle Bells, Mele Kalikimaka, and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. The 1955 version of the album has been continually in print ever since. Only the original cast recording of Oklahoma! has been in print longer. WK It’s also this cover with Crosby in a Santa Claus stocking cap which became the standard, replacing the original cover which had Crosby’s floating head on a blue background. WK The album finds “‘Der Bingle’ in two distinctly different moods: from the solemnity of ‘Silent Night’ and Adeste Fidelis (sung in Latin and English) to the playfulness (‘gonna have a lotta fun’) on ‘Jingle Bells,’ with The Andrews Sisters providing some smiles with their ‘Ji-ji-jingle’ vocals.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: Bing Crosby’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Dennis MacDonald AZ Amazon.com review by Steve Gdula WK Wikipedia

Smashing Pumpkins “1979” charted

1979 Smashing Pumpkins

Writer(s): Billy Corgan (see lyrics here) Released: January 23, 1996 First Charted: November 25, 1995 Peak: 9a US, 11 CB, 7 GR, 9 RR, 30 A40, 3 AA, 12 AR, 11 MR, 16 UK, 2 CN, 16 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.6 radio, 221.8 video, 411.49 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The Smashing Pumpkins were an alternative rock band who formed in 1988 in Chicago, Illinois. Their debut album, Gish, was released in 1991. It flew under the radar, peaking at #146, but eventually selling a million copies. Their second album, 1993’s Siamese Dream, was a huge leap forward, selling four million copies and reaching #10 on the Billboard album chart. In 1995, they released Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album that saw the group reach #1 on the album chart and achieve diamond certification for ten million in sales. The lead single, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” gave the group their first entry (#22) on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the first of five alternative-rock top-ten hits from the album. It was the second single, “1979,” which gave the group their biggest hit. It reached #1 on the alternative-rock chart and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#9 airplay). Frontman Billy Corgan wrote a version of the song long before it appeared on Mellon Collie. SF It started as a song called “Strolling” and ended up the last of 56 songs written for consideration for the album. WK Flood, the album’s producer, didn’t think it was good enough and gave Corgan 24 hours to make it work. SF That night Corgan spent four hours writing “a nostalgic coming-of-age story.” WK He considered the year 1979, when he turned twelve, to be “his transition into adolescence” WK and eventually being in high school “and having adult responsibilities like a car and job, but still being very much a youth and dependent on his parents.” SF Flood immediately approved and Corgan considered it “the most personally important song” WK on the album. The song was nominated for Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Smashing Pumpkins SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/20/2023.

 

Squeeze released Ridiculous

Ridiculous Squeeze

Released: November 13, 1995 Peak: -- US, 50 UK Sales (in millions): -- Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Electric Trains [4:03] (10/30/95, 44 UK) Heaven Knows [4:34] (5/27/96, 27 UK) Grouch of the Day [3:27] Walk Away [4:43] This Summer [3:39] (8/21/95, 32 UK) Got to Me (Wilkinson) [3:45] Long Face [4:31] I Want You [4:03] Daphne [3:44] Lost for Words [1:59] Great Escape [3:27] Temptation for Love [3:37] Sound Asleep [4:38] Fingertips [5:40] Songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 55:59 The Players: Chris Difford (vocals, guitar) Glenn Tilbrook (vocals, guitar, keyboards) Keith Wilkinson (bass) Kevin Wilkinson (drums)

Rating: 3.033 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Quotable: ”Smart and stylish pop music for discerning listeners” – CdUniverse.com

About the Album: ”After nearly 20 years of recording, it would be easy to write Squeeze off as spent creative force – certainly their mosty recent albums have seemed like somewhat forced attempts to recapture the glory days.” AMG Ridiculous isn't an embarrassing attempt to rewrite previous hits, but rather, a natural progression executed with a dignified maturity rather than resignation.” AMG ”This…album came out to little fanfare in the States, though Squeeze continued to be a solid draw in their homeland England, with a back catalog justifiably revered by their following.” CDU Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, “the only original members left and still the band's primary songwriters” AMG “offer up…smartly written and arranged odes to the ins and outs of life and love.” CDU The pair “seem content to have passed the Brit-pop torch on.” AMG ”The record is jammed with distorted guitars, fat bass lines, plodding electric organ lines, and echoey drums. They get totally carried away with shameless Baby Boomer pandering on the record's one obvious potential hit ("Electric Trains"), a relatively upbeat effort with an enthusiastic beat and groovy string and backing vocal arrangements.” JA ”This is smart and stylish pop music for discerning listeners. The hooks are subtle and yield their rewards slowly but unshakably.” CDU Electric Trains is a heartfelt reminiscence back to a boyhood transition from the hobby mentioned in the title to a guitar and a band.” CDU “Grouch of the Day is a moderately successful attempt at emulating [The Beatles’] Revolver [with it's] bouncy, reverby 12-string sound.” JA “Long Face is a moody, thoroughly modernized electronic dance number with a breathless, distorted Chris Difford lead vocal.” JA “I Want You gets a big bombastic string arrangement.” JA ”As the band are wont to do, the album's name shows up as simply a word in Daphne which has a chorus of ‘Daphne, don't be ridiculous’” CDU and “a warped country-western vibe that's a little amusing.” JA "Great Escape has a funky chorus worthy of Midnight Oil.” JA ”The gorgeous Temptation for Love finds Tilbrook dueting with one Cathy Denis whose parallel singing is like a soft drop shadow.” CDU “The very mellow love song…sounds much like early 70's Stevie Wonder.” JA When all is said and done, this album falls into the same pile as most of Squeeze’s output – a collection of well-written and sung shoulda-been hits that go nowhere fast. Then again, “catchy” isn’t enough to make an album a classic and while this album may be able to boast of catchiness, it can’t call itself a classic.

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Squeeze AMG All Music Guide review by Chris Woodstra JA John Alroy, Wilson & Alroy’s Record Reviews CDU CdUniverse.com Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/16/2006; last updated 2/7/2022.

Oasis chart with “Wonderwall”

Wonderwall Oasis

Writer(s): Noel Gallagher (see lyrics here) Released: October 30, 1995 First Charted: November 11, 1995 Peak: 8 US, 6 CB, 9 RR, 33 AC, 30 A40, 5 AA, 9 AR, 110 MR, 2 UK, 5 CN, 11 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 3.0 UK, 4.2 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 683.0 video, 1497.47 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: The English rock band “Oasis had a lot of shining moments, but ‘Wonderwall’ was their brightest.” CT They burst out of the gate with their 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe, racking up four top-40 hits in the UK. While they charted a few songs on the Billboard alternative chart, they didn’t make the Hot 100 until “Wonderwall,” the third single from sophomore album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? The song reached the top 10 in the U.S. and ten other charts. The band’s guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher wrote the song, but his brother Liam sang it. The song’s worldwide success made him “to many the frontman of the decade.” CT Originally titled “Wishing Stone,” the final title was inspired by George Harrison’s solo album Wonderwall Music. WK “Wonderwall” refers to “a schoolboy’s wall to which posters of footballers and pop stars are attached,” SF but also creepily references a ‘60s movie called Wonderwall: From Psychedia to Surrealism in which a voyeur makes holes in his wall to watch his neighbor. SF Noel initially said he wrote it for his then-girlfriend and later wife Meg Mathews but later claimed it was about “an imaginary friend who’s gonna come and save you from yourself.” WK All Music Guide’s Chris True called it “one of the best love songs ever written” CT and Shawn M. Haney called it “a British rock anthem resonating with hope.” SH British fans agreed, naming it the best British song of all time in Virgin Radio poll in 2005 and again in 2016 in a Radio X poll. WK U2’s The Edge and Blur’s Alex James have both said they wish they’d written the song. WK Two different videos were made for the song. The first won the British Video of the Year at the 1996 Brit Awards. The song was also nominated for Grammys for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance. Resources: SH All Music Guide review by Shawn M. Haney CT All Music Guide review by Chris True SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/27/2021; last updated 11/6/2022.