Every year around November 1st, the “Defrosting of Mariah Carey” memes start to post on social media. It’s become quite the joke. Back in the day, Bing Crosby was the “King of Christmas.” I suppose that title today would go to Michael Buble’. However, the undisputed “Queen of Christmas” has got to be Mariah Carey.
Say what you want about her Christmas music, but the numbers don’t lie. Mariah hit a milestone record this week. According to Billboard Mariah’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a record-tying 19th total week atop the chart. It matches the reigns of two hits that led over one release cycle each — Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” in 2024, and Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, in 2019 — for the longest command over the chart’s 67-year history.
The song was originally released in 1994 on her “Merry Christmas” album. It hit the Top Ten in 2017, went Top Five in 2018 and since 2019 it has hit number one every year. It was number one for for three weeks, two weeks in 2020, three weeks in 2021, four weeks in 2022, two weeks in 2023 and four weeks in 2024. This week it hit number one again which makes Carey the first artist to have ranked at No. 1 on the chart in four distinct decades (1990s, 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s)!
In 2021, Mariah said, “When I wrote [it], I had absolutely no idea the impact the song would eventually have worldwide. I’m so full of gratitude that so many people enjoy it with me every year.”
Now up to 19 weeks, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” extends its mark as the holiday song with the most time logged atop the Hot 100, among three Yuletide No. 1s. “The Chipmunk Song,” by the Chipmunks with David Seville, led for four weeks beginning in December 1958, followed by Brenda Lee’s three weeks in the 2023 holiday season with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
Who knows, maybe she’ll achieve a new record next week …
The first Billboard singles chart was published on this day in 1940. It was 85 years ago that Billboard began compiling and publishing the National Best Selling Retail Records chart. It became the first official national music chart. Wiki says: Debuting in the issue dated July 27, it marked the beginning of the magazine’s nationwide tracking of record sales in the United States. Initially titled the “National List of Best Selling Retail Records”, the weekly ten-position chart was tabulated using sales figures received from a selection of merchants across the country. Prior to its introduction, The Billboard had produced lists ranking music by various metrics such as performance in vaudeville venues, jukebox plays, sheet music sales, and regional airplay.
The first number one single was “I’ll Never Smile Again” from the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. It featured the Pied Pipers and a singer who would go on to be a musical icon – Frank Sinatra. The song topped the chart for twelve consecutive weeks and elevated Sinatra to national popularity.
They performed the song together in the 1941 film Las Vegas Nights.
All these years later, Billboard is still ranking records/singles. Of course, the music from the past is a lot better that what is on the charts today. (My opinion – don’t be hating!)
Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.
In 1993, I turned 23 and was still coping with the fact that my girlfriend had broken up with me. It wasn’t until a year later that I began going out with a buddy and hitting the Karaoke bars. It was while we sat and waited for our turn to sing that I heard many songs that were new to me. The first was by Expose.
Expose had success with dance/pop music. When they crossed over and had a #1 song with Seasons Change, they decided to go in a different direction. Their focus was shifted to more mature audiences. The label picked some great songs for their third album, including the Diane Warren song “I’ll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me.”
When one of the gals we hung out with at Karaoke got up and sang this, I watched the words on the screen. The heartache was still pretty fresh and it actually choked me up. It was the break up that I really never saw coming and the fact that she moved on so quickly rubbed salt in my wound.
Today, I appreciate the song for the powerful lyrics, the beautiful arrangement, and the lovely vocals.
I’ll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me
Elvis Presley recorded two songs called “Trouble”. The first was back in 1958. The second was in 1975, but that time he spelled it out. The latter was written by Jerry Chesnut. Travis Tritt covered it on his third album and it was the title track.
Tritt’s version went to #13 on the charts and got some positive reviews. Geoffrey Himes, of Billboard magazine, reviewed the song favorably, saying that Tritt transforms it with “boogie-woogie piano, slide guitar and super-fast tempo into a bar romp reminiscent of (the band) Little Feat.”
Not to diss on Elvis, but Tritt’s version is superior.
T-R-O-U-B-L-E
I’m not the biggest Rod Stewart fan. I can’t give you a reason for that. However, there are a few songs that I feel he does a really good job with. One example of this is from his 1993 Unplugged performance – Have I Told You Lately.
The song was originally done by Van Morrison. According to songfacts.com, the song is widely considered to be about Van Morrison’s relationship with God and religious convictions. Although we’ve never heard him speak specifically about the song, he does acknowledge a spiritual element in his music.
In 1993, during his Unplugged show, Rod dedicates the song to his wife Rachel Hunter (They divorced in 1999). You can really hear the emotion as he sings this, and when you watch the video, those emotions are more apparent.
The song was a huge hit, reaching #5 in both the US and the UK. It remains one of the most popular bridal dance songs.
Have I Told You Lately
Every once in a while, there a song that just pops out of the radio at me. That was the case for Every Little Thing by Carlene Carter. From the opening guitar strums and the drum that kicks into the beat, I was hooked.
Carlene is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband Cal Smith. I’d never heard of her prior to this song, but she’d been recording and writing for some time. As a matter of fact, the album Little Love Letters was actually her seventh album!
To me, this was one of those songs that just made me feel good. It’s happy. It’s uptempo. It’s about a gal who loves her man so much everything reminds her of him. Isn’t that what we all want? Someone who loves us like that?
Every Little Thing
The next song was another one that hit me in the emotional gut. The song could be taken a few ways I suppose. I think you can look at a variety of situations and wonder, “What Might Have Been”. Our lives are full of “What ifs” and such.
When I heard this song, I thought about my ex girlfriend and wondered what our lives would be like if we had stayed together. Depression makes you dive deep into those hurtful thoughts. In hindsight now, I am glad to be where I am and realize that things happened the way they did to get me where I am today. At the time, though, this one ripped me apart.
It’s a truly beautiful song by Little Texas.
What Might Have Been
The early 90’s was a great time for dance music. There were some really awesome songs that kept folks out on the dance floor. As opposed to years later, I never really had to struggle to find a good follow up song back then.
One of my go-to songs was from the German group Real McCoy. The group was a dance trio formed in Berlin in 1993. They were made up of 2 female dance singers and a male rapper. This quickly became a huge hit in European dance clubs, and hit #2 UK. It went to #3 in the US.
It featured a good beat and the signature 90’s synthesizer. The song caught the attention of Clive Davis, who worked a deal with the band and the song took off!
Another Night
The next song was written before the band who sang it was ever created. Blind Melon’s bass player, Brad Smith, was not exactly feeling great. That’s when he wrote No Rain. He says, “The song is about not being able to get out of bed and find excuses to face the day when you have really, in a way, nothing.”
At the time, Brad was dating a girl who was going through depression (she would sleep through sunny days and complain when it didn’t rain), and for a while he told himself that he was writing the song from her perspective. He later realized that he was also writing about it himself.
He once said, “A lot of my songs come from a darker place. And if you just met me walking down the street, you’d say, ‘Oh, you’re such a happy guy, Brad. Why the dark songs?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ For me, it just has more meaning if you can get inside someone’s soul and identify with them on a heavier level and try to connect with them on that level. Because when you’re sad and you’re down, you’re the most vulnerable, and you feel the most alone.”
This is one of those songs where I really got lost in the lyrics. I felt like there was something more to them, and I couldn’t figure it out.
No Rain
The next one is another one of those songs I heard at the karaoke bar. Sadly, many of the people who tried to sing it were awful!
Linda Perry, the front woman for 4 Non Blondes, said, “There are times when we just need to take a deep breath and scream from the top of our lungs, ‘What’s going on!?'” On a podcast, she said that was the way she felt when she wrote the very cathartic song, “What’s Up”. “It’s like, ‘Why does it always seem like either I’m struggling, or there’s some f–king political mess happening? Why is this all happening in the world?'”
Fun fact: After the “And I scream at the top of my lungs, what’s going on?” line in the chorus, Linda Perry sings, “Hey hey hey hey…” She put this part in as filler, planning to insert lyrics, but the song sounded so good that way she left it in.
The song is sort of an anthem I suppose. I tend to agree with Linda. There are plenty of times where I wonder exactly what’s going on ….
What’s Up
The next one reminds me of my former sister-in-law. She always made me laugh and there are plenty of songs that make me think of her. This one is no exception. She loved Jim Carrey and this song was featured on the soundtrack. It is Boom-Shack-A-Lak by Apache Indian.
I can’t recite any of the lyrics except the chorus. and all I know is that it had a bouncy feel to it and was loaded with wacky sound effects. It is actually kind of silly.
Larry Flick of Billboard magazine described the song as “a wacky blend of guttural toasting and retro-pop shuffle beats.” He felt that “the hook has the potential to take up permanent residence in your brain, while the fun array of sound effects are sure to get those shoulders shakin’ out of control.” He also encouraged, “Seek it out and give it a whirl.”
I can hear my former sister-in-law laughing at this as I type…
Boom-Shack-A-Lak
The final song for this week is one that really didn’t mean much to me in 1993, but it sure did in 1999. When my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, there was a lot of uncertainty. I recall many times wondering about how long she was going to be around. She was in and out of remission so many times.
When I got engaged to my ex wife, there was a lot of talk about whether or not she’d make it to see us get married. Her battle was a long one and she struggled so much with the chemo and radiation. It was through this time that I realized just how strong she was!
She would battle that disease and fight like no one’s business. So when it came time to choose a song to dance with my mom for the mother/son song, I thought long and hard about it. With every passing day, I realized just how much of a hero my mom was to me. She was stronger than I could have ever imagined. So, I chose Mariah Carey’s Hero.
I remember walking out to the dance floor and meeting her there. I remember her telling me how much she loved me and how handsome I looked. I told her how amazing she was and how much I loved her. We both shed tears and it is four minutes of my life that I wish I could revisit every day. I miss her terribly.
Hero
So what song from 1993 was your favorite? What did I miss? Drop it in the comments.
Next week, we visit 1994. There are a couple cover songs, but no Elvis covers. There’s a tribute to a Rock and Roll legend. There’s a bit of country and a bit of alternative music. I’ll share a great story about a singer who appreciates the veterans of our country, and feature my favorite “last song of the night” at weddings and parties.
I thought I’d do something a bit different today. Rather than scroll through my iPod or my hard drive to see what song I felt like writing about, I thought I would check out the celebrity birthdays to see if any artist jumped out at me. One did. Josh Groban turns 43 today and while I like his voice a lot, I may not have ever chosen to write about him.
I have a few of his albums and there are some really fantastic songs that he sings, but one has always stood out to me – You Raise Me Up. The song was originally done by the Norwegian band Secret Garden in 2001. It has been recorded by many others, but Groban released his version in 2004.
David Foster produced the song and Josh’s version went to number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart and held that spot for 6 weeks. In 2005, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He performed the song at Super Bowl 38 in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster.
The song itself has been inspiring to millions of people with its message of overcoming, strength, and hope. Personally, I can see this as a Christian song. I know that I lean on God when I am down, when I am struggling, when I am stressed and in rough times. I have always found that in Him I find comfort and strength. At the same time, I can see where folks would apply it to a loved one, a parent, or a partner. However you look it it, Josh’s vocal and the arrangement are simply beautiful.
You Raise Me Up
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary When troubles come and my heart burdened be Then, I am still and wait here in the silence Until You come and sit awhile with me.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas I am strong, when I am on your shoulders You raise me up to more than I can be
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas I am strong, when I am on your shoulders You raise me up to more than I can be.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas I am strong, when I am on your shoulders You raise me up to more than I can be.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas I am strong, when I am on your shoulders You raise me up to more than I can be.
Once again, Dave from A Sound Day has asked some of us music lovers to participate in another round of Turntable Talk. This time around was a bit of a challenge for me. Dave’s e-mail stated:
“Put your thinking caps on and go through your stacks of records (or scroll thru that I-pod) and … come up with what you think the best year for music was. A tough call of course, thankfully there have been more than a few good ones! I’m interested in what you pick and don’t worry if yours duplicates someone else’s , you still have your reasons which might be different.” He goes on to say, “I think I have a guess on a couple of years that might come up more than once, but we’ll wait and see.”
This particular blog will be one of the last ones to be featured and I do not know if my year will be or has been featured. I plan on writing this KNOWING that the year I have chosen very well may be one that comes up in another post. Before I tell you the year I picked, let me tell you that I had a very difficult time narrowing it down.
My first thought was to go with 1956/1957 because those years were always so unique. You had the birth of rock and roll mixing with pop standards. When I worked at Honey Radio, I loved doing the Top 12 at 12 show when those years popped up because there was such a big variety in what was played. You could go from Elvis or Jerry Lee Lewis to Pat Boone or Nelson Riddle. When I looked at the list of songs, however, were they really the BEST? No.
The same thing can be said for some of the years in the 70’s decades. I looked through many lists and while there were many great songs, there were also a lot of really crappy songs! I just couldn’t really come up with the conviction to pick a year in that decade as the BEST.
One year kept coming up every time I started thinking about it – 1964.
I want you to know before I continue that I was dead set AGAINST 1964 when I read Dave’s e-mail. Why? Well, I felt that it would just be too Beatle heavy and loaded with British Invasion stuff. And it is. On the Top 100 Chart, The Fab Four nabbed 9 spots. 18 spots were held by other British Invasion acts. In total 27% of the Top 100 were British acts. When I really looked at the chart, the more and more I felt like this WAS the year.
1964 really was the year of the Beatles, so let’s discuss them first. They were present almost right from the start as their “Introducing The Beatles” album was released in America on January 10th of that year.
This album preceded Capitol Records “Meet the Beatles” by 10 days and there was a lawsuit surrounding that whole issue. Capitol Records won an injunction and Vee-jay Records was not allowed to put out any more Beatles recordings.
In February of 1964, the Beatles arrived in the US and appeared on Ed Sullivan’s show three times (2/9, 2/16, and 2/23). In March of 64, Billboard magazine stated that the Beatles were responsible for 60% of all single record sales! In a feat that has yet to be matched, on April 4, 1964, the Beatles held the Top 5 spots on the Billboard chart!
A week later, the boys held 14 spots on the Hot 100 Chart! That broke the previous record of 9 spots held by Elvis Presley in 1956.
In May, The Beatles Second Album was released and in July, they would release A Hard Day’s Night in theaters. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” wound up being the #1 song for the whole year of 64 (“She Loves You” was #2) To say that they played a small part in the music of 1964 would be a huge understatement.
Among the other artists that came over from “across the pond” in 64 were Manfred Mann (Do Wah Diddy Diddy), Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas (Little Children and Bad to Me), The Dave Clark Five (Glad All Over, Because, Do You Love Me), Peter and Gordon (A World Without Love), The Animals (House of the Rising Son), The Honeycombs (Have I The Right), Dusty Springfield (Wishin’ and Hopin’), Gerry & The Pacemakers (Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying and How Do You Do It), Chad and Jeremy (A Summer Song), The Kinks (You Really Got Me), and the Searchers (Don’t Throw Your Love Away and Needles and Pins). It is interesting to note that the Rolling Stones debut album was released this year, but no songs appear in the Top 100 for the year.
Once you move away from the British artists, the chart has a nice variety of pop, rock, folk, country, soul, and even a few novelty songs. I think that is what made me ultimately choose this particular year.
It was nice to look over the Top 100 and see Motown represented with some classics. The Supremes hold two of the six Motown songs (Where Did Our Love Go and Baby Love), Motown was female heavy as Mary Wells (My Guy) and Martha and the Vandellas (Dancin’ In The Street) grabbed the next two spots, and the male gender was represented by The Four Tops (Baby I Need Your Loving) and The Temptations (The Way You Do The Things You Do).
While they were not “oldies” at the time, there were some classic songs that are still in hot rotation today on the oldies stations across the country. Roy Orbison had a smash with Pretty Woman in 64, and also had a hit with It’s Over. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons grabbed three of the Top 100 with Rag Doll, Dawn and Ronnie. The Beach Boys only entry in the Top 100 was I Get Around.
1964 brought us classics like The Drifters Under The Boardwalk, Chapel of Love by the Dixie Cups, Suspicion by Terry Stafford, It Hurts to Be In Love from gene Pitney and Come A Little Bit Closer by Jay and the Americans. Johnny Rivers had a hit with Chuck Berry’s Memphis, Bobby Freeman invited us to C’mon and Swim, Detroit’s Reflections offered up Just Like Romeo and Juliet and the Shangri-Las told us the story of the Leader of the Pack.
Car songs were well represented in 64! Ronny and the Daytonas had GTO, while the Rip Chords sang Hey Little Cobra, and the Hondells had Little Honda. Jan and Dean told us the stories of The Little Old Lady from Pasadena and Dead Man’s Curve, while J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers told us the tragic story of a Last Kiss.
Soul music is represented by The Impressions (I’m So Proud and Keep on Pushing), Joe Hinton (Funny How Time Slips Away), The Tams (What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am), Jimmy Hughes (Steal Away) and Nancy Wilson (How Glad Am I). If you throw Blues into the “Soul” mix, the great Tommy Tucker song “Hi Heel Sneakers” was out in 1964.
Instrumentally, Al Hirt had a monster hit with Java, The Ventures had Walk Don’t Run 1964, The Marketts had The Outer Limits, and Robert Maxwell had the incredibly cheesy lounge version of Shangri-la. While novelty songs included Jumpin’ Gene Simmons (Haunted House), The Trashmen (Surfin’ Bird) and Roger Miller (Chug-a-Lug).
While Rock was dominant in 1964, there were still some pop (and even folk) songs that made the Top 100 – one of them, doing the “impossible.” Two of the biggest pop hits of the year couldn’t be more different from each other. The third biggest hit of the year belonged to Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong and his Dixieland hit “Hello, Dolly!” Barbra Streisand (who won Album of the year at the 1964 Grammy Awards) had the 11th biggest hit of the year with “People.”
Pop/Folk was also represented by Gale Garnett (We’ll Sing in the Sunshine), The Ray Charles Singers (Love Me With All Your Heart), Dionne Warwick (Walk On By), Al Martino (I Love You More and More Every Day), and Andy Williams (A Fool Never Learns). But the biggest surprise came from an artist who hadn’t had a top 40 record since 1958!
Dean Martin didn’t care for Rock and Roll. With the British Invasion in full swing, there was very little chance of him ever having another hit. His kids loved the new artists. His son, Dean Paul, loved the Beatles. Dean told his boy, “I’m gonna knock your pallies off the charts!” On August 15, 1964 – he did just that with a song that became his NEW theme song, “Everybody Loves Somebody.” (It replaced That’s Amore as his theme song)
The song knocked the beloved Beatles A Hard Day’s Night out of the number 1 spot! It went on to stay at #1 on the Pop Standards Singles Chart for 8 weeks. It also became the theme to his weekly television show in 1965.
I picked 1964 for a few reasons. Despite my initial worry about it being British act heavy, it was the year that introduced us to the Beatles (who changed the music scene forever!). It is also the year that one act held the top 5 spots on the charts (a record that remains in place). It is also the year that my favorite singer of all time bumped the biggest group in music out of the top spot.
It is also a year that encompasses such a vast variety of music. While there may be better songs that appeared before and after 1964, it truly represents a unique time in history. America was still recovering from the loss of a beloved president, there were still Civil Rights issues, and a war in Vietnam. The music of 1964 was a welcome escape from so many things.
Was it all good? No, and that is true of every year. However, as I look at the 100 biggest songs of the year, there are a lot of great songs that have gone on to become classics. There are so many songs that are still looked at as pivotal in the music scene. The fact that many of these songs are still getting airplay today is a statement to just how good they are.
Thanks again to Dave at a Sound Day for allowing me to be a part of this feature. I can only hope that my contribution is worthy of an invite to participate in the next round.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 