My friend Dan Van Riper sent me this list of all the #1 songs since August 4, 1958.
I have links only to the middle tune, the song of my birthday. You can go to the website and hear the other contenders. If I’ve heard it before, I won’t play it again. If I’ve never heard of it, I’ll play it once. But I won’t listen to the adjacent tunes. My goal: am I happy with THAT choice to celebrate my birthday? Or (as will be the case in the latter stages of the game), I have no idea?
1/22/94 Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, And Sting – All For Love
2/12/94 Celine Dion – The Power Of Love
3/12/94 Ace Of Base – The Sign
I played the Dion song because I didn’t recognize the song by the title, but I HAVE heard the chorus. Neither this nor the Three Musketeers song is my cuppa. Ace of Base, almost by default.
1/28/95 TLC – Creep
2/25/95 Madonna – Take A Bow
4/15/95 Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It
I had only a vague recollection of the Madonna song, but knew neither of the others. It’s OK, but not a favorite.
11/25/95 Whitney Houston – Exhale (Shoop Shoop)
12/2/95 Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men – One Sweet Day
3/23/96 Celine Dion – Because You Loved Me
I actually really love Shoop Shoop, and can’t place the Dion tune. But I must own the team up, because: On episode 3261 of JEOPARDY!, which aired 1998-11-09, the category was SONGS BY THE NUMBER $200. The clue: This 1995-96 hit by Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men holds the record for the most weeks at No. 1 with 16. I COULD NOT REMEMBER IT. I thought, One Fine Day, then no, that was the Chiffons song. It was the second clue on the show and no one got it right.
12/7/96 Toni Braxton – Un-Break My Heart
2/22/97 The Spice Girls – Wannabe
3/22/97 Puff Daddy feat. Mase – Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down
I thought the Spice Girls was very disposable pop. But the hook, “Tell me what you want…,” was annoyingly infectious. The Braxton song is great, though. I rather dislike the Puff Daddy, which samples that seminal Grandmaster Flash song The Message, to far lesser effect.
2/14/98 Usher – Nice & Slow
2/28/98 Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
3/14/98 Will Smith – Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It
Don’t know the Usher. DO know the Will Smith, which is OK. Whatever value the Dion ever has been driven away from overplaying. Yet I’ll take it anyway, as a reaction to the Titanic haters.
1/30/99 Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time
2/13/99 Monica – Angel Of Mine
3/13/99 Cher – Believe
We can eliminate the Cher song, which brought to the fore Autotune, which actually does not bother me here as much in MANY subsequent recordings. I’ll own up to liking the Spears song. But I think the Monica song is quite pleasant, though it could do with a little less Mariah Carey-type melisma.
2/19/00 Mariah Carey feat. Joe and 98° – Thank God I Found You
3/4/00 Lonestar – Amazed
3/18/00 Destiny’s Child -Say My Name
Speaking of Carey, most of her songs sound alike to me, but this is a good use of a boy band, so I’ll take this one. Don’t much like the Destiny’s Child vocal. The Lonestar was new to me, and maybe it could grow on me.
2/17/01 OutKast – Ms. Jackson
2/24/01 Joe feat. Mystikal – Stutter
3/24/01 Crazy Town – Butterfly
Don’t know Butterfly. Like the OutKast chorus. I’d never heard Stutter; I like the concept of the stuttering and liked the main theme, but hated the rap. OutKast by default.
12/22/01 Nickelback – How You Remind Me
2/23/02 Ja Rule feat. Ashanti – Always On Time
3/9/02 Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule – Ain’t It Funny
Bashing Nickelback is a pretty regular exercise. Still, I’ll pick it over The Ja Rule song, which I had not heard before, even though I like the Ashanti parts. Don’t know the JLo song either.
2/1/03 B2K feat. P. Diddy – Bump, Bump, Bump
2/8/03 Jennifer Lopez feat. LL Cool J – All I Have
3/8/03 50 Cent – In Da Club
Don’t know the B2K. The JLo song, previously unknown to me, didn’t grab me. There are appealing hooks in the 50 Cent song, which I had heard, so it’s the winner.