Never really got into the Foo Fighters. Not sure why not. Most of what I’ve heard, I liked. I just wasn’t looking for new bands at the time, I suppose.
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Some time back, I mentioned that Billboard began publishing their charts in July 1940. That’s correct, but it’s not really complete.
You see, Billboard did have charts back to the first of 1940. Many sources don’t really consider them official, because of the change made to the process in July 1940, which created the “Best Selling Retail Records” chart, which was the primary chart. Despite that, Billboard did publish charts prior to July 1940.
Another thing I want to mention is that for many months now, I’ve been featuring the Billboard number one songs from that era, in order, on Tuesday nights. The exceptions are when I had previously featured a song that hit number one in a different context. I simply skipped them, and picked up with the next song that hit number one, that we haven’t previously featured during a nightly Open Thread post.
Also, I want to mention that I had used a secondary source for my information regarding what songs topped the charts, when, and for how long. I recently found some errors in my secondary source and decided to go directly to the primary source. I now have all of the Billboard pop charts for the 1940s, directly from the recognized authority, Joel Whitburn’s Record Research. I’ve used Whitburn’s data for over 40 years, but didn’t have any data prior to 1955. After my cheap secondary source proved unreliable, I did what I should have done years ago and went directly to the true authority.
As a result, I’m going back and filling in the blanks. I’m going to be listing number one songs from the 1940s, beginning in January 1940, that were not previously shared. I’ll include a little bit of info for trivia buffs. I may be the only one that really cares, but I’m the one putting up the night Open Thread posts, and will fill in some stuff that’s on my mind — the top songs from the Big Band era — accordingly. So, until Oppo, Walruskkkch, or someone else beats me to the keyboard, I’ll be doing this on Tuesday’s for a bit.
The first Billboard number one song of the 1940s was by Frankie Masters and his Orchestra.
This song spent a total of six weeks atop the chart, including the last two weeks of 1939 (no, I don’t have those charts … yet).
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The chart information is from Billboard magazine, as compiled by Record Research. Chart data is copyright 1939-1954, BPI Communications.
I fell into a “Billy the Kid” rabbit hole on the Internet this past weekend, and found some videos and interviews that had information I hadn’t heard before.
For instance, did you know that Billy the Kid sometimes wore a dress? That, a new version of details of the killing, a new reason for it, and a few other tidbits were gleaned from a pair of videos I saw.
How much truth to them? Dunno. The person interviewed is the grandson of a man who was at the Pete Maxwell ranch on July 14, 1881, and helped bury Billy the Kid, so if the grandfather told his grandson the truth, and if the grandson (the interviewee) remembers it correctly, this is something I hadn’t previously heard. And, it actually fits — or at least doesn’t not fit — with items that are not in dispute.
Here’s the short version of the interview, which I found interesting.
If you want the full version, which includes a lot of stuff not related to the infamous Henry McCarty AKA Billy the Kid, you can see that here. It’s interesting in other ways, but takes over an hour.
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Frank Sinatra had quite a few hits, but his first actual solo number one hit didn’t come until September 1946 with this hit record.
This song was number one for a total of four weeks, with two different stints at the top. Yes, I know this may conflict with some earlier trivia I offered, but it appears that resource was flawed. I’ll be looking back over those and issuing corrections as needed.
It’s quite frustrating to find a normally reliable resource is in error, and this is one of those times. However, I feel quite confident with my statement that this song was Sinatra’s first solo chart topper. I’ve ordered actual copies of all the Billboard Top Ten charts from the 1940s to ensure that my information about them is correct going forward, and, as I said, I may have to issue corrections. I hate having to do that.
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Now that it seems people are tired of this Coronavirus thing, it’s probably time for a new plague of some kind. Not that I’m trying to give folks any ideas, but it would probably be a good idea to keep an eye out for something like this.
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I love Weird Al.
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Apparently, there’s a musician from New Zealand called Lorde. Her real name is Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor or something like that. You might want to check my spelling. Anyway, she’s apparently a thing. Or was. Or something.
The reason I know she was something will become apparent within the next 24 hours or so. But honestly, I don’t remember hearing any of her stuff on the radio. If I did, I wasn’t paying attention.
Now, that’s not to say she’s not talented. After all, her first record sold more copies than the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards recording of “Amazing Grace,” so that’s something.
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The second version of “To Each His Own” to hit the top of the charts in 1946 was the version by Freddie Martin. He topped the charts for two weeks in August and September of that year.
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Normally, Thursday and Friday nights are where we’ll offer Weird Al and related videos. But this video is kinda interesting.
It’s a mash-up of Weird Al’s Amish Paradise and Coolio’s Gangsta Paradise, alternating between the two every other beat.
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I love Weird Al.
I find that I often like the Weird Al versions of songs better than the original artist versions. And I’ve found some artists with whom I wasn’t previously familiar though listening to Weird Al songs.
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There’s a group that I’m not all that familiar with called Southern Culture On The Skids. I was surprised to learn that I was actually familiar with some of their stuff. They’ve had several different songs that appeared in several different movies in the last quarter century. While I am one that will often sit through the credits, I never really noticed they had so many songs used in films.
Recently, I ran across a writing online that mentioned that fact, so I did some digging. And, sure enough, they’ve been in movies I’ve seen. And some movies I haven’t seen. No Oscar winners in the bunch, but still films I’ve seen.
Their first national exposure came with their song “Camel Walk.”
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The song “To Each His Own” was a huge hit in 1946. The song was in the number one spot on the Billboard charts for a total of eight weeks. And here’s the really unusual thing: three different artists took the song to the top of the charts.
Eddy Howard had the most time at the top of the charts, spending five weeks there. He hit number one for three weeks beginning in August 1946, then his version of the song returned to the top of the charts in October for another two weeks.
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The History Guy is one of my favorite YouTube channels.
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I love Weird Al.
Do you have something you’d like to share? A link? A joke? Some words of wisdom? A topic to discuss? It’s our nightly Open Thread, and you have the floor.
Never really got into Hanson. But, I do gotta say, they have a sense of humor. Even about themselves. And that’s a good thing.
Did you recognize the tambourine player?
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