Tuesday, December 31, 1996

Cashbox – Songs of the Year, 1950-1996

This list was created by taking Cash Box magazine’s top 100 song list (see here) and putting the songs in order by year and then by putting songs which hit #1 on Cash Box in order by number of weeks. In the event of ties, the song with more points in Dave’s Music Database was ranked higher.

  • 1950: The Third Man Theme…Anton Karas
  • 1951: It’s All in the Game…Tommy Edwards
  • 1952: Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart…Vera Lynn with the Ronald Shaw Orchestra
  • 1953: Where Is Your Heart (Song from “Moulin Rouge”)…Percy Faith with Felicia Sanders
  • 1954: Wanted…Perry Como with Hugo Winterhalter’s Orchestra
  • 1955: The Ballad of Davy Crockett…Bill Hayes
  • 1956: Singing the Blues…Guy Mitchell
  • 1957: All Shook Up…Elvis Presley
  • 1958: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes…The Platters
  • 1959: Mack the Knife…Bobby Darin

  • 1960: The Twist…Chubby Checker
  • 1961: Stand by Me…Ben E. King
  • 1962: Monster Mash…Bobby “Boris” Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers
  • 1963: I Want to Hold Your Hand…The Beatles
  • 1964: Hello, Dolly!...Louis Armstrong & the All-Stars
  • 1965: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction…The Rolling Stones
  • 1966: I’m a Believer…The Monkees
  • 1967: Love Is Blue…Paul Mauriat
  • 1968: Hey Jude…The Beatles
  • 1969: Sugar, Sugar…The Archies

  • 1970: I’ll Be There…The Jackson 5
  • 1971: Joy to the World…Three Dog Night
  • 1972: Alone Again (Naturally)…Gilbert O’Sullivan
  • 1973: Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree…Tony Orlando & Dawn
  • 1974: I Honestly Love You…Olivia Newton-John
  • 1975: Bohemian Rhapsody…Queen
  • 1976: Mary MacGregor…Torn Between Two Lovers
  • 1977: You Light Up My Life…Debby Boone
  • 1978: Le Freak…Chic
  • 1979: My Sharona…The Knack

  • 1980: Another One Bites the Dust…Queen
  • 1981: Endless Love…Lionel Richie & Diana Ross
  • 1982: Abracadabra…Steve Miller Band
  • 1983: Flashdance…What a Feeling…Irene Cara
  • 1984: Like a Virgin…Madonna
  • 1985: Say You, Say Me…Lionel Richie
  • 1986: Livin’ on a Prayer…Bon Jovi
  • 1987: Faith…George Michael
  • 1988: Sweet Child O’ Mine…Guns N’ Roses
  • 1989: Another Day in Paradise…Phil Collins

  • 1990: Because I Love You (The Postman Song)…Stevie B
  • 1991: Everything I Do (I Do It for You)…Bryan Adams
  • 1992: End of the Road…Boyz II Men
  • 1993: Whoomp! There It Is…Tag Team
  • 1994: I’ll Make Love to You…Boyz II Men
  • 1995: Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)…Los Del Rio
  • 1996: I Love You Always Forever…Donna Lewis

Ace Collins: Top 100+ Country Songs

Ace Collins:

Top 100+ Country Songs

As Collins explains in the introduction of his book, The Stories Behind Country Music’s All-Time Greatest 100 Songs, “these are not necessarily the best one hundred or the one hundred records with the highest sales…What we have tried to do is look at the history of country music and choose the songs which were the most important.” The songs are not ranked, but listed chronologically. Also, instead of identifying specific recordings, the songs are identified with the writers. I’ve also made some minor corrections where all the writers weren’t credited and the song’s date was listed as later than its original publishing date.

Finally, this list actually includes 104 songs. “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes,” “The Great Speckled Bird,” “The Wild Side of Life,” and “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” were also listed as one entry. Also, “Blue Christmas” is listed as a “holiday bonus” track. I’ve reworked the list so that these titles are where they belong chronologically.

Click here to see other lists from critics and individuals and here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations

1. J.A. Roff, adapted by A.P. Carter “Wabash Cannonball” (1882)
2. Wallace Saunders “Casey Jones” (1910)
3. Guy Massey “The Prisoner’s Song” (1925)
4. A.P. Carter “Wildwood Flower” (1928)
5. Jimmie Rodgers “Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas)” (1928)
6. Jimmie Rodgers “In the Jailhouse Now” (1928)
7. Irving Mills and Cliff Friend “Lovesick Blues” (1928)
8. Guy Massey, adapted by A.P. Carter “I’m Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes” (1929)
9. Bob Nolan “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” (1934)
10. Gene Autry and Jimmy Long “That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine” (1935)

11. A.P. Carter (adapted by), Ada Habersoln, Charles Gabriel “Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)” (1935)
12. Ervin T. Rouse “Orange Blossom Special” (1936)
13. Adapted by Reverend Guy Smith “The Great Speckled Bird” (1938) 14. Bob Wills “San Antonio Rose” (1938)
15. Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell, based on a song by Paul Rice “You Are My Sunshine” (1940)
16. Ernest Tubb “Walking the Floor Over You” (1941)
17. Ted Daffan “Born to Lose” (1943)
18. Zeke Clements and Earl Nunn “Smoke on the Water” (1944)
19. Spade Cooley “Shame on You” (1946)
20. Merle Travis “Sixteen Tons” (1946)

21. Steve Nelson and Bob Hilliard “Bouquet of Roses” (1948)
22. Hal Blair, Eddie Dean, and Darest Dean “One Has My Name, the Other Has My Heart” (1948)
23. Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart “Tennessee Waltz” (1948)
24. Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (1949)
25. Floyd Tillman “Slipping Around” (1949)
26. George Morgan “Candy Kisses” (1949)
27. Bob Wills and John Wills “Faded Love” (1950)
28. Hank Snow “I’m Movin’ On” (1950)
29. Lefty Frizzell and Jim Beck “If You’ve Got the Money, I’ve Got the Time” (1950)
30. Jay Johnson and Billy Hayes “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without You” (1950)

31. Hank Williams “Cold, Cold Heart” (1951)
32. Ned Washington and Dimitri Tiomkin “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’)” (1952)
33. Arlie Carter and William Warren “The Wild Side of Life” (1952)
34. J.D. “Jay” Miller “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” (1952)
35. Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (1953)
36. Audrey Grisham, Mary Jean Schurz, and Russ Hall “There Stands the Glass” (1953)
37. Don Robertson and Jack Rollins “I Don’t Hurt Anymore” (1954)
38. Jimmy Work “Making Believe” (1955)
39. Red Hayes and Jack Rhodes “Satisfied Mind” (1955)
40. Stan Kester “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” (1955)

41. Melvin Endlsey “Singing the Blues” (1956)
42. Don Gibson “Sweet Dreams” (1956)
43. Johnny Cash “Folsom Prison Blues” (1956)
44. Ralph Mooney and Charles Seals “Crazy Arms” (1956)
45. Carole Joyner and Rick Cartey “Young Love” (1956)
46. Boudleaux Bryant and Felice Bryant “Bye Bye Love” (1957)
47. Otis Blackwell “Great Balls of Fire” (1957)
48. Harlan Howard “Pick Me Up on Your Way Down” (1958)
49. Bill Anderson “City Lights” (1958)
50. Harland Howard “Heartaches by the Number” (1959)

51. Jimmy Driftwood “The Battle of New Orleans” (1959)
52. Marty Robbins “El Paso” (1959)
53. Willie Nelson, Walt Breeland, and Paul Buskirk “The Night Life” (1959)
54. Joe Allison and Audrey Allison “He’ll Have to Go” (1960)
55. Don Robertson and Hal Blair “Please Help Me, I’m Falling” (1960)
56. Bill Anderson “Tips of My Fingers” (1960)
57. Don Gibson “I’d Be a Legend in My Time” (1960)
58. Harland Howard and Hank Cochran “I Fall to Pieces” (1961)
59. Kendall Hayes and Gary Walker “Walk on By” (1961)
60. Floyd Cramer, Boudleaux Bryant, and Skeeter Davis “Last Date” (1961)

61. Willie Nelson “Hello Walls” (1961)
62. Mel Tillis “Heart Over Mind” (1961)
63. Merle Kilgore and Claude King “Wolverton Mountain” (1962)
64. Willie Nelson “Crazy” (1962)
65. Hank Cochran “She’s Got You” (1962)
66. Penny Jay “Don’t Let Me Cross Over” (1962)
67. Earl Greene and Carl Montgomery “Six Days on the Road” (1963)
68. Danny Dill and Mel Tillis “Detroit City” (1963)
69. Johnny Russell and Vonei Morrison “Act Naturally” (1963)
70. Buck Owens “Together Again” (1964)

71. Bill Anderson “Once a Day” (1964)
72. Roger Miller “King of the Road” (1965)
73. Dallas Frazier “There Goes My Everything” (1965)
74. Hank Cochran “Don’t Touch Me” (1966)
75. Lewis DeWitt “Flowers on the Wall” (1966)
76. Loretta Lynn “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man” (1966)
77. Merle Haggard “Mama Tried” (1968)
78. Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill “Stand by Your Man” (1968)
79. Merle Haggard “Okie from Muskogee” (1969)
80. Jan Crutchfield “Statue of a Fool” (1969)

81. Joe South “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” (1970)
82. Conway Twitty “Hello Darlin’” (1970)
83. Kris Kristofferson “Help Me Make It Through the Night” (1971)
84. Ben Peters “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’” (1971)
85. Tom T. Hall “The Year That Clayton Delaney Died” (1971)
86. Alex Harvey and Larry Collins “Delta Dawn” (1972)
87. Joe Allen “The Midnight Oil” (1973)
88. Dolly Parton “I Will Always Love You” (1974)
89. Paul Fraser and Terry Stafford “Amarillo by Morning” (1974)
90. Vivian Keith and Ben Peters “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” (1975)

91. Ed Bruce and Patsy Bruce “Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” (1978)
92. Charlie Daniels, Tom Crain, Taz Digregorio, Fred Edwards, Charlie Hayward, and Jim Marshall “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (1979)
93. Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman “He Stopped Loving Her Today” (1980)
94. Bob Morrison, Wanda Mallette, and Patti Ryan “Looking for Love” (1980)
95. Randy Owen “Tennessee River” (1980)
96. Kenny O’Dell “Mama He’s Crazy” (1984)
97. Bill Monroe “Uncle Pen” (1984)
98. Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz “Forever and Ever, Amen” (1987)
99. Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz “When You Say Nothing at All” (1988)
100. Hank Williams, Jr. “Are You Ready for Some Football?” (1989)

101. Vince Gill and Tim DuBois “When I Call Your Name” (1990)
102. DeWayne Blackwell and Earl “Bud” Lee “Friends in Low Places” (1990)
103. Alan Jackson, Roger Murra, and Keith Stegall “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” (1991)
104. Susan Longrace and Rick Giles “Is There Life Out There” (1992)

Resources/Related Links:


First posted 8/25/2022; last updated 8/26/2022.

Saturday, December 7, 1996

No Doubt's "Don't Speak" toppped airplay chart for first of 16 weeks

Don’t Speak

No Doubt

Writer(s):Gwen Stefani/Eric Stefani (see lyrics here)


Released: April 15, 1996


First Charted: October 19, 1996


Peak: 116a US, 19 RR, 6 AC, 114 A40, 12 AA, 2 MR, 13 UK, 12 CN, 18 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.)


Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.01 UK, 2.17 world (includes US + UK)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.9 radio, 988.83 video, 509.27 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

“Don’t Speak” is one of the biggest #1 pop songs in history, but it never hit the Billboard Hot 100. During the ‘90s, record companies often held radio songs back from release to push album sales instead. While Billboard did track airplay, they didn’t permit songs without a physical single release to chart on the Hot 100. With 16 weeks on the airplay chart, the only song on one of Billboard’s pop charts to spend more weeks at #1 is 1947’s “Near You” by Francis Craig. The song did top the charts in more than a dozen countries including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It was also nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year. WK

No Doubt had previously released two albums which had gone largely unnoticed before 1995’s Tragic Kingdom. Top-ten alternative rock hits “Just a Girl” and “Spiderwebs” finally put the spotlight on the band; “Don’t Speak” propelled the album to the top of the Billboard album chart for nine weeks.

According to Tom Dumont, the band’s guitarist, the original version of “Don’t Speak” was written primarily by Eric Stefani, a former band member, as a love song. WK Gwen Stefani, his sister and lead singer of the band, changed the lyrics almost completely after her breakup with bandmate Tony Kanal. WK As she said, “It used to be more upbeat, more of a seventies rock-type thing. [When] Tony and I broke up…it turned into a sad song.” WK

The video put a different twist on the song by turning it into a commentary on the media attention given to Gwen. During the video, the rest of the band appear upset and shoot dirty looks at her. Kanal said, “We didn’t want it to be about a normal breakup. So we thought, ‘What would be the saddst thing that could happen? The band splitting up?’ So that’s what the video’s about.” SF


Resources:


Related Links:


First posted 1/22/2020; last updated 10/31/2022.

Toni Braxton hit #1 for 1st of 11 weeks with “Un-Break My Heart”

Un-Break My Heart

Toni Braxton

Writer(s): Diane Warren (see lyrics here)


Released: October 7, 1996


First Charted: October 18, 1996


Peak: 111 US, 6 CB, 2 RR, 114 AC, 4 A40, 2 RB, 2 UK, 5 CN, 6 AU (Click for codes to singles charts.)


Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 629.26 video, 177.63 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Braxton was a preacher’s daughter “raised in a household where pop music was strictly forbidden.” KX In 1990, she recorded with her sisters as The Braxtons, but by 1992 she’d launched a solo career. In 1993, she landed the Grammy for Best New Artist and found her way into the top 10 of the pop charts with “Another Sad Love Song” and “Breathe Again”.

Braxton’s second album, Secrets, proved she would not suffer the Best New Artist Grammy curse of disappearing from the music scene. Lead-off single “You’re Makin’ Me High” was a #1 hit which won a Grammy for R&B Female Vocal.

However, even more successful was the album’s second single, “Un-Break My Heart”, a ballad of “blistering heartbreak” SF in which Braxton begs a former lover to return and undo the pain he has caused. SF In her “distinctive, husky alto” BB100 Braxton delivered a performance which was “both poignant and hopeful.” TB The song’s eleven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 put it amongst the biggest #1 songs of all time. It won her yet another Grammy – this one for Pop Female Vocal.

The song was written by Diane Warren who’d penned such #1 hits as Chicago’s “Look Away” and Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me”, but this was her most successful song in the U.S. in terms of chart performance. SF Warren said she knew immediately that “Heart” would be a hit, but that Braxton didn’t want to sing it. Even after the song succeeded, Braxton told Warren she “didn’t want another one of those”. SF


Resources:

  • BB100 Billboard (9/08). “All-Time Hot 100”.
  • JA David A. Jasen. (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 202.
  • KX KXXO Mixx 96, Olympia, WA. Top 96 Soft Rock Songs of All Time
  • SF Songfacts.com
  • TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 273.


Related Links:


First posted 10/26/2011; last updated 10/27/2021.


Friday, December 6, 1996

Ira Gershwin: Top 50 Songs

First posted 12/12/2019.

image from Gershwin.com

Ira Gershwin was a classical/musical theater composer born Israel Gershowitz on this day one hundred years ago – 12/6/1896 – in New York City, NY. He died 8/17/1983. Most of the time he collaborated with his brother, George Gershwin His songs “I Got Rhythm” and “Someone to Watch Over Me” are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.


Top 50 Songs

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Many of these songs have been recorded multiple times. Only the highest-ranked version in Dave’s Music Database is included in this list. There are also some songs not identified as being by any particular artist. Additionally, songs which hit #1 on the following charts are noted: United States’ pop charts (US) and Hit Parade (HP).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. I Got Rhythm (Red Nichols, 1930)
2. Someone to Watch Over Me (Gertrude Lawrence, 1926)
3. They Can’t Take That Away from Me (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1937) #1 US
4. The Man I Love (Marion Harris, 1928)
5. Summertime (Billie Holiday, 1936)
6. I Can’t Get Started (Buny Berigan, 1938)
7. Embraceable You (Red Nichols with Dick Robertson, 1930)

DMDB Top 5%:

8. Oh, Lady Be Good (Paul Whiteman, 1925)
9. Fascinating Rhythm (Cliff Edwards, 1925)
10. Nice Work if You Can Get It (Fred Astaire with Ray Noble’s Orchestra, 1937) #1 US

11. Love Walked In (Sammy Kaye with Tommy Ryan, 1938) #1 US, HP
12. Strike Up the Band (Red Nichols, 1930)
13. Do Do Do (Gertrude Lawrence, 1927)
14. Love Is Here to Stay (Larry Clinton with Bea Wain, 1938)
15. S’ Wonderful (Sarah Vaughan, 1927)
16. But Not for Me (Ella Fitzgerald, 1959)
17. Sweet and Low Down (Harry Archer & His Orchestra, 1926)
18. A Foggy Day in London Town (Fred Astaire with Ray Noble’s Orchestra, 1937)
19. Clap Yo’ Hands (Roger Wolfe Kahn, 1927)
20. It Ain’t Necessarily So (Leo Reisman, 1935)

21. Of Thee I Sing ( Ben Selvin, 1932)
22. Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1937)
23. Mine (Emil Coleman, 1933)
24. Liza (All the Clouds'll Roll Away) (Al Jolson with Bob Haring’s Orchestra, 1929)
25. That Certain Feeling (Paul Whiteman, 1929)
26. You’re a Builder Upper (Harold Arlen with Leo Reisman’s Orchestra, 1934)
27. I’ve Got a Crush on You (Frank Sinatra, 1948)

DMDB Top 10%:

28. The Man That Got Away (Judy Garland with Ray Heindorf & the Warner Brothers Studio Orchestra, 1954)
29. Bidin’ My Time (Foursome, 1930)
30. They All Laughed (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1937)
31. Funny Face (Arden-Ohman Orchestra with Johnny Marvin, 1928)
32. My One and Only (Jane Green with Nat Shilkret’s Orchestra, 1928)
33. I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ (Leo Reisman, 1935)
34. Fun to Be Fooled (Henry King with Joe Study, 1934)

DMDB Top 10%:

35. Shall We Dance? (Fred Astaire with Johnny Greer’s Orchestra, 1937)
36. Things Are Looking Up (Fred Astaire with Ray Noble’s Orchestra, 1937)
37. For You, for Me, Forevermore (Dick Haymes with Judy Garland & the Gordon Jenkins Orchestra, 1947)
38. Bess, You Is My Woman (Porgy and Bess cast, 1935)
39. I Loves You, Porgy (Porgy and Bess cast, 1935)

DMDB Top 10%:

40. How Long Has This Been Going On? (Bobbe Arnst with Mary O’Brien, 1927)
41. Isn’t It a Pity? (George Givot with Josephine Huston, 1932)
42. Let’s Take a Walk Around the Block (1934)
43. Slap That Bass (Fred Astaire with Dudley Dickerson, 1937)
44. I Was Doing All Right (Ella Logan, 1938)
45. He Loves and She Loves (Ella Fitzgerald, 1959)
46. Maybe (Nat Shilkret, 1926)
47. Anything for You (1921)
48. Love Is in the Air (1925)
49. Somebody Stole My Heart Away (1929)
50. Ask Me Again (1930)


Awards:



Saturday, November 16, 1996

Cash Box's Top 100 Singles 1958-1996

First posted 11/28/2011; last updated 3/23/2020.

Cash Box’s Top 100 Singles

1958-1996

Cash Box magazine first issued a top 100 singles chart for the September 13, 1958 issue when they expanded their top 75 chart to one hundred positions. The original version of the magazine lasted through November 16, 1996. Using a progressive inverse point system, Cash Box chart archivist Randy Price compiled a list of the top 100 songs according to the Cash Box charts. Here’s the list:

  1. Chubby Checker “The Twist” (1960)
  2. Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” (1959)
  3. The Monkees “I’m a Believer” (1966)
  4. Boyz II Men “End of the Road” (1992)
  5. The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1964)
  6. The Beatles “Hey Jude” (1968)
  7. Debby Boone “You Light Up My Life” (1977)
  8. Johnny Horton “The Battle of New Orleans” (1959)
  9. Percy Faith & His Orchestra “The Theme from “A Summer Place” (1960)
  10. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1976)

  11. Boyz II Men “I’ll Make Love to You” (1994)
  12. Lionel Richie & Diana Ross “Endless Love” (1981)
  13. Olivia Newton-John “Physical” (1981)
  14. The Archies “Sugar Sugar” (1969)
  15. Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra “Love Is Blue (L’Amour Est Bleu)” (1968)
  16. Whitney Houston “I Will Always Love You” (1992)
  17. Boris Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers “Monster Mash” (1962)
  18. Louis Armstrong “Hello, Dolly!” (1964)
  19. The Fifth Dimension “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” (1969)
  20. Queen “Another One Bites the Dust” (1980)

  21. Three Dog Night “Joy to the World” (1971)
  22. Los Del Rio “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” (1996)
  23. Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men “One Sweet Day” (1995)
  24. The New Vaudeville Band “Winchester Cathedral” (1966)
  25. Irene Cara “Flashdance...What a Feelin’” (1983)
  26. The Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women” (1969)
  27. Chic “Le Freak” (1978)
  28. The Bee Gees “Night Fever” (1978)
  29. The Police “Every Breath You Take” (1983)
  30. Boyz II Men “On Bended Knee” (1994)

  31. Sir Mix-A-Lot “Baby Got Back” (1992)
  32. Blondie “Call Me” (1980)
  33. The J. Geils Band “Centerfold” (1981)
  34. The Bee Gees “How Deep Is Your Love” (1977)
  35. Andy Gibb “Shadow Dancing” (1978)
  36. Tony Orlando & Dawn “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree” (1973)
  37. Tag Team “Whoomp! (There It Is)” (1993)
  38. The Four Seasons “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” (1976)
  39. The Platters “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1958)
  40. Ben E. King “Stand by Me” (1961)

  41. The Knack “My Sharona” (1979)
  42. Tommy Edwards “It’s All in the Game” (1958)
  43. Phil Collins “Another Day in Paradise” (1989)
  44. Ray Charles “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962)
  45. B.J. Thomas “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (1969)
  46. Donna Lewis “I Love You Always Forever” (1996)
  47. Lionel Richie “Say You, Say Me” (1985)
  48. Snap! “Rhythm Is a Dancer” (1992)
  49. Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
  50. The Steve Miller Band “Abracadabra” (1982)

  51. UB40 “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (1993)
  52. Don McLean “American Pie” (1971)
  53. Andy Gibb “I Just Want to Be Your Everything” (1977)
  54. Ssgt. Barry Sadler “The Ballad Of The Green Berets” (1966)
  55. The Jackson 5 “I’ll Be There” (1969)
  56. Kenny Rogers “Lady” (1980)
  57. Ferrante & Teicher “Exodus” (1960)
  58. Chubby Checker “Limbo Rock” (1962)
  59. Mariah Carey “Fantasy” (1995)
  60. Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” (1978)

  61. Men at Work “Down Under” (1982)
  62. The Beatles “She Loves You” (1964)
  63. Janet Jackson “That’s the Way Love Goes” (1993)
  64. Gilbert O’Sullivan “Alone Again (Naturally)” (1972)
  65. Jim Reeves “He’ll Have to Go” (1960)
  66. The Box Tops “The Letter” (1967)
  67. The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)
  68. Exile “Kiss You All Over” (1978)
  69. Elvis Presley “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” (1960)
  70. The Singing Nun “Dominique” (1963)

  71. Survivor “Eye of the Tiger” (1982)
  72. Mary MacGregor “Torn Between Two Lovers” (1977)
  73. Daryl Hall & John Oates “Maneater” (1983)
  74. Jimmy Dean “Big Bad John” (1961)
  75. The Human League “Don’t You Want Me?” (1982)
  76. Kim Carnes “Bette Davis Eyes” (1981)
  77. Toni Braxton “You’re Makin’ Me High”/“Let It Flow” (1996)
  78. The Monkees “Last Train to Clarksville” (1966)
  79. Real McCoy “Another Night” (1994)
  80. Glen Campbell “Rhinestone Cowboy” (1975)

  81. The Partridge Family “I Think I Love You” (1970)
  82. The Everly Brothers “Cathy’s Clown” (1960)
  83. Mr. Aker Bilk “Stranger on the Shore” (1962)
  84. USA for Africa “We Are the World” (1985)
  85. Roy Orbison “(Oh) Pretty Woman” (1964)
  86. The Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (1963)
  87. Elvis Presley “It’s Now or Never” (1960)
  88. Stevie B “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” (1990)
  89. Bobbie Gentry “Ode to Billie Joe” (1967)
  90. Tony Orlando & Dawn “Knock Three Times” (1970)

  91. Dire Staits “Money for Nothing” (1985)
  92. The Supremes “Love Child” (1968)
  93. Bobby Lewis “Tossin’ and Turnin’” (1961)
  94. Rod Stewart “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (1979)
  95. The Marvelettes “Please Mr. Postman” (1961)
  96. Lulu “To Sir with Love” (1967)
  97. Lawrence Welk & His Orchestra “Calcutta” (1961)
  98. The Kingston Trio “Tom Dooley” (1958)
  99. The Starland Vocal Band “Afternoon Delight” (1976)
  100. George Michael “Faith” (1987)

Saturday, November 2, 1996

“Macarena” spent 14th week on top

Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)

Los Del Rio

Writer(s): Rafael Ruiz, Perdigones, Antonio Romero Monge, SWK, Carlos de Yarza (see lyrics here)


First Charted: September 2, 1995


Peak: 114 US, 12 CB, 28 AC, 19 A40, 2 UK, 16 CN, 19 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.)


Sales (in millions): 4.3 US, 0.6 UK, 11.0 world (includes US + UK)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 222.61 video, 240.0 streaming

Awards:

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About the Song:

“Macarena” was a Spanish dance song originally released in 1993 by Los Del Rio, a Spanish flamenco-pop lounge act comprised of Antonio Romeo Monge and Rafael Ruiz. Monge wrote the chorus on the spot at a private party in Venezuela. WK Inspired by a local flamenco dancer named Diana Patricia, SF he sang about a woman named Magdalena. The term was associated with Mary Magdalene and her seedy past and someone who was sassy and sensuous. WK It was renamed Macarena, which means “Mother of God.” SF

Jammin’ Johnny Carride, a radio personality and club DJ in Miami, saw how popular the song was with clubgoers and snuck in an airing of the song at his radio station, despite their policy to exclude non-English songs. The program director was hooked, but wanted an English remix. SF Carride recruited Mike Triay and Carlos de Yarza, his partners at Bayside Records, to remix the song. They added English-language lyrics and a new dance beat. WK In the original version, Macarena carouses with other men to get revenge on her boyfriend, Vitorino, who joined the army. The Bayside Boys remix, featuring lyrics sung by Carla Vanessa, paints her as more promiscuous. SF

The remix topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in August 1996 and stayed there for 14 weeks, making it one of the longest-running #1 songs in history. Its 60 weeks on the chart also made it, at the time, the longest-charting #1 song in the chart’s history. WK Billboard named it the #1 song of the year.

With easy-to-learn, accompanying dance movies, the song became an international dance sensation and iconic presence at weddings, parties, and sporting events. It was even featured at the 1996 Democratic National Convention when Vice President Al Gore, known for his stiffness, made a joke about doing the Macarena and then stood motionless for a few seconds. In 2002, VH1 ranked it the greatest one-hit wonder of all-time. WK In 2012, Billboard ranked it the #1 all-time Latin song. WK


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First posted 10/30/2019; last updated 10/22/2022.