Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Top 40 Book of Records (7/6/80)

During the week of the Fourth of July, AT40 sometimes aired special countdowns in the place of the regular Top 40. This chart, broadcast in 1980, presents the “Book of Records”—the first, the most, the oldest, etc. Some of these records have since been broken—a few songs have debuted at No. 1, for example, and several have spent more than a year on the Hot 100 chart—but it’s insightful to look back at the state of the charts in 1980 and what was considered a significant achievement.

Obviously, there is no numbering system. The numbers on the left represent the year each song charted.

One interesting aspect of this list is that it contains songs from the pre-rock era (1940-54).

By the way, I was transcribing all of this by hand, and, while I took pains to preserve the accuracy of the original language used by Casey Kasem, some discrepancies and curiosities inevitably crept in. Some of these are noted with asterisks.

1960 THE TWIST, Chubby Checker [only song to hit No. 1 twice, also in 1962; biggest overall hit of the Rock Era]
1969 IN THE YEAR 2525, Zager & Evans [biggest hit by the biggest “disappearing act” which had no other hits.]
1976 A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN, Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band [oldest melody to hit No. 1; written 1804-08*]
1972 AMAZING GRACE, Judy Collins [oldest melody to hit Top 40 (reached No. 11); written by John Newton in 1773**]
1964 HELLO, DOLLY! Louis Armstrong [oldest male to hit No. 1—age 64]
1965 TURN! TURN! TURN! The Byrds [oldest lyrics to hit No. 1—more than 3000 years, from The Book of Ecclesiastes]
1963 I WILL FOLLOW HIM, Little Peggy March [youngest female to hit No. 1—age 15]
1963 FINGERTIPS, PT. 2, Little Stevie Wonder [youngest male to hit No. 1—age 13]
1965 EVE OF DESTRUCTION, Barry McGuire [biggest protest song]
1960 STAY, Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs [shortest playing No. 1—1:29]

1964 I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND, The Beatles [one of five songs in Top 5 by one act at the same time]
1971 AIN’T NO SUNSHINE, Bill Withers [song with the most repeated phrase—“I know,” 26 times]
1971 HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART, The Bee Gees [biggest family act—nine No. 1s]
1969 AQUARIUS/LET THE SUNSHINE IN, The Fifth Dimension [biggest medley]
1958 TEQUILA, The Champs [No. 1 with the fewest lyrics—the word “Tequila” spoken three times]
1971 GO AWAY LITTLE GIRL, Donny Osmond [biggest remake of a prior No. 1. Original version by Steve Lawrence, 1963]
1964 CAN’T BUY ME LOVE, The Beatles [tied as fastest moving No. 1—hit the top in its second week on the chart; the other was “Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley, 1958]
1972 AMERICAN PIE, Don McLean [longest playing No. 1—8:22]
1970 MY SWEET LORD, George Harrison [biggest spiritual/religious song]
1978 HOT CHILD IN THE CITY, Nick Gilder [tied for slowest climb to No. 1—21 weeks; the other was “Sad Eyes” by Robert John, 1979]

1968 (SITTIN’ ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY, Otis Redding [biggest posthumous hit, male; died Dec. 1967]
1958 NEL BLU, DIPINTO DI BLU (VOLARE), Domenico Medugno [biggest hit sung entirely in a foreign language (Italian)]
1971 ME AND BOBBY McGEE, Janis Joplin [biggest postumous hit, female; died Oct. 1970]
1978 TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE, Johnny Mathis/Deniece Williams [longest wait for a No. 1—Mathis first charted in 1957]
1977 DON’T STOP, Fleetwood Mac [a song from the biggest LP of the rock era, Rumours, which spent 31 weeks at No. 1]
1961 BIG BAD JOHN, Jimmy Dean [biggest spoken-word hit]
1966 GOOD VIBRATIONS, The Beach Boys [most expensive hit single—budget $40,000; took 3½ months, half a dozen studios, and 30 musicians to record]
1970 BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, Simon & Garfunkel [winner of most Grammys—6]
1959 MACK THE KNIFE, Bobby Darin [biggest version of song with most cover versions—eight (seven Top 40s, all between 1956-60)]
1977 I GO CRAZY, Paul Davis [longest run in Hot 100—40 weeks]

1956 SO RARE, Jimmy Dorsey with Orchestra and Chorus [longest stay in Top 10 without hitting No. 1—17 weeks (reached No. 2)]
1977 YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE, Debbie Boone [biggest song from a movie and biggest song with a single chart run***; spent 10 weeks at No. 1]
1956 SINGING THE BLUES, Guy Mitchell [ biggest hit of Rock Era on a single chart run***]
1957 WAKE UP LITTLE SUSIE, The Everly Brothers [biggest hit by duo with the most No. 1s—4]
1970 AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH, Diana Ross [biggest hit by female solo artist with most No. 1s—4]
1956 HEARTBREAK HOTEL, Elvis Presley [first No. 1 by male solo artist with most No. 1s—18]
1964 I FEEL FINE, The Beatles [a No. 1 by the overall act with most No. 1s—20]
1978 STAYIN’ ALIVE, The Bee Gees [from biggest soundtrack—Saturday Night Fever, 25 million copies sold]
1970 LET IT BE, The Beatles [highest debuting song in Hot 100—at No. 6]
1955 CHERRY PINK AND APPLE BLOSSOM WHITE, Perez Prado [biggest hit by a foreign act (from Cuba) and biggest instrumental of the Rock Era]

1957 YOUNG LOVE, Sonny James [most consecutive No. 1s on any chart—16 on the country chart from 1967-72]
1979 DIM ALL THE LIGHTS, Donna Summer [song with the longest note held by a singer in the Rock Era—15.9 seconds]
1965 I GOT YOU, James Brown [most Top 40 hits without a No. 1—43; also, most No. 1s on the soul chart—17]
1950 I’M MOVING ON, Hank Snow [biggest hit on the country chart—21 weeks at No. 1]
1964 BABY LOVE, The Supremes [American group with most No. 1s—12****]
1951 SIXTY MINUTE MAN, The Dominoes [biggest hit on soul chart—12 weeks at No. 1]
1957 LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND, Pat Boone [biggest hit by the artist with the longest continuous stay in Top 40—169 weeks (23 songs)]
1956 DON’T BE CRUEL/HOUND DOG, Elvis Presley (double-sided hit) [only song to hit No. 1 on pop, soul, and country charts simultaneously]
1943 PAPER DOLL, The Mills Brothers [biggest hit in history of the chart—12 weeks at No. 1, 30 weeks in Top 10]

*My notes say the song is 200 years old, which is not quite accurate. In 1976, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony was 168 years old.

**My notes say the song was written in the 1600s, but this is incorrect. Wikipedia says Newton wrote the lyrics for “Amazing Grace” for a church service on New Years Day, 1773. But it was not attached to the melody of “New Britain,” the melody it is associated with, until 1835.

***Notice that these two records seem to contradict each other; not sure I know why.

****My notes say “biggest American act”—but doesn’t Elvis Presley qualify as an act?

I love this song. I've always thought Davis' vocal sounded completely heartfelt. I'm sure that record has been broken numerous times in the decades since, but I think it's nice that I song I love set the original record.

"I Go Crazy" is a fond memory from my teen years, too. One of those songs you couldn't help but love for its simplicity and sincerity.

By the way, Davis' record stood until 1982, when "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell spent 43 weeks in the Hot 100.

In 2001, Billboard Magazine changed its methodology. These changes allow for longer stays on the chart as well as greater jumps and drops. This Wikipedia article contains a fascinating look at current chart milestones.

Awesome! Thanks for the link, He Who.

I'm with you guys on the Paul Davis song.

Thanks for the Wiki article, interesting to read after this thread.

And can I just say about Sad Eyes: while I can't deny the music, I'd kick the narrator in the shins.

Seconded!

As we've previously discussed, US and UK charts have a lot of overlap (taking into account different release dates) but aren't identical. Here's The Guardian's (UK paper) Best #1 Singles, 1952-2012 feature.
That led me to this archive of UK hits.

Awesome!! Thanks, Teeds!!

Mmmmmbop

It's fascinating to see which songs became hits in the UK yet barely made a dent in the U.S. chart. "Atomic" by Blondie stalled at No. 40 in the U.S. yet topped the chart across the pond.

Tubeway Army was Gary Numan's band pre-"Cars." In fact, it's the same musicians; Numan merely decided to release "Cars" under his own name.

Curious that the Beatles are the only act to get two songs listed for the year they represent (1963). But then they are the Beatles.

Thanks for sharing, Teeds.

LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND. One of the songs that my folks would play a lot when I was a kid. Usually at the same time as my afternoon nap, and thus I could never get to sleep...

AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH is one of the songs that I could really get behind. We sang it in school for graduation, I think. The lyrics are great

I WILL FOLLOW HIM, I have a soft spot for because of Sister Act. I wish all church services I attend would have choirs like that.