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Bubbling Under the Hot 100

Good Morning, Vietnam

One of the many music reference books – yes, I said BOOKS – that I own is Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100, 1959-2004. These are songs that didn’t quite make it to the promised land on the primary US singles chart.

There are several reasons. Some were regional hits. Some were B-sides of bigger hits but managed to nearly chart anyway. A few are re-releases that had charted higher in the past.

Since the book is nearly 300 pages long, I’m limiting myself to songs I actually own in physical form, either on compact disc or vinyl. You’ll recognize quite a few, I promise. This will take a while.

New York New York – Ryan Adams, #112 in 2002, filmed 9/7/2001. I put this on a mixed CD in my early blogger days.
Baby Please Don’t Go – Amboy Dukes – #106 in 1968
Show Some Emotion– Joan Armatrading – #110 in 1978; I LOVED her albums of that era
What A Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong with the Tommy Goodman Orchestra – #116 in 1968; #32 in 1988, due to its inclusion in the movie Good Morning, Vietnam
The Shape I’m In – The Band, #121 in 1973; B-side of Time To Kill (#77 pop)

The Beach Boys

I gave a friend their box set, and when she knew she was dying, she wanted me to take it back
Why Do Fools Fall in Love, 101 in 1964; B-side of Fun, Fun, Fun (#5 pop)
She Knows Me Too Well – 101 in 1964; B-side of hen I Grow Up (To Be A Man) (#9 pop)
Cottonfields – #103 in 1970
Marcella – #110 in 1972
Barbara Ann – #101 in 1975 rerelease; #2 in 1966
Wouldn’t It Be Nice – #103 in 1975 rerelease; #8 in 1966

The Beatles

I have some interest in this group.
From Me To You, #116 in 1963; #41 in 1964
I’m Down, #101 in 1965; B-side of Help! (#1 pop) The only B-side of The Beatles first 21 regular Capitol/Apple releases not to make the Top 100
Boys, #102 in 1965; one of a series of singles released on Capitol’s green label “The Star Line”

I Can’t See Nobody – Bee Gees, #128 in 1967; B-side of New York Mining Disaster 1941 (#14 pop)

David Bowie

I have a fair amount of his output on LPs
Space Oddity, #124 in 1969 on Mercury Records; it hit #15 in 1973 on RCA Victor
Let’s Spend the Night Together, #109 in 1973
D.J., #106 in 1979
Ashes to Ashes, #101 in 1980

It Don’t Matter to the Sun – Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines, a fictional character for a proposed movie, The Lamb, starring Brooks; B-side of Lost in You (#5 pop)
Please, Please, Please -James Brown – #105 in 1960, though #5 on the R&B charts in 1956, and a live version went to #95 pop in 1964

Next time, I’ll get much further into the alphabet.

August rambling: Porn stars, Playmates, prayer

A Sinkhole of Sleaze

Why Fascism Has the Power to Seduce the Broken

John Oliver Confronts Fake Grassroots Movements

In 2008, America Stopped Believing in the American Dream

When That “Feel-Good” Story Really Ought To Make You Throw Up

Who Chooses Abortion?

Ken Screven – The Conscience of the Newsroom

The Scientific Case for Two Spaces After a Period

On Prepositions

Joe Biden’s LGBTQ acceptance initiative

Walter Ayres: Pope Francis and the death penalty

Vlogbrothers: How Do Adults Make Friends? and How I Made Friends

Terry Crews Made A PSA With Samantha Bee To Illustrate Why Sexual Assault Jokes Really Aren’t Funny

Treating Golfer’s Elbow And How To Prevent It

The seven original cast members of Saturday Night Live inducted into the Television Hall of Fame

Dick Cavett in the digital age

Alan Alda (and Leonard Maltin) Diagnosed With Parkinson’s

Amy Meselson, Lawyer Who Defended Young Immigrants, Dies at 46

Charlotte Rae, R.I.P.

Steve Jobs and Chrisann Brennan were 23 when their daughter, Lisa, was born

How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions

The end of Campbell’s Soup?

Embracing päntsdrunk, the Finnish way of drinking alone in your underwear

The mind-bendy weirdness of the number zero, explained

Now I Know: Who You Gonna Call? Not This Ghostbuster and The Blood*, Sweat, and Tears of English Rugby Players and Why You Can’t Visit Liberty’s Torch and Why the National Animal of Scotland is… Wait, Really?

Players from Sesame Street read great lines from the movies

Christopher Lee and Jane Seymour

THE SWAMP

A Sinkhole of Sleaze

Week of Corruption Scandals: A Closer Look

Why Betsy DeVos shuns the American flag on her 40-foot yacht

PORN STARS, PLAYMATES, AND PRAYER CIRCLES

Mike Pence – Holy Terror and has drastically lowered his moral standard for a President

John Oliver: the next issue of Stupid Watergate

How ICE was radicalized

How the regime misled the public on poverty

EPA is now allowing asbestos back into manufacturing

The Quislings of American Collapse

The Constitutional Con

His Foreign Policy Held Back by Struggle to Grasp Time Zones, Maps

Boston Globe Calls For A Nationwide Response To Attacks On The Press

MUSIC

The anthem of the Republic of Tyva in the Russian Federation

Ohio – John Batiste, Leon Bridges, Gary Clark Jr

Vasily Kalinnikov – Bylina, an overture

“Africa” le Toto as Gaeilge

Summer Wind- Willie Nelson

I greet my country -Ahoulaguine Akaline featuring Bombino

Feel The Love – Rudimental, featuring John Newman

In the Mood – Glenn Miller (see Sonja Henie!)

Stand By Me – Bootstraps

Fur Elise – pianist Lola Astanova

The Place Where Dreams Come True and End Credits – James Horner, scoring Field of Dreams

Coverville 1227: Cover Stories for Kate Bush and Rush and 1228: Cover Stories for Whitney Houston, A Flock of Seagulls and The Go-Go’s

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Iron Butterfly); Cover by Sina

1-2-3 – The Electric Indian

My Dearest Ruth – Patrice Michaels (from Notorious RBG in Song)

The niece Rebecca Jade will be singing at five Sheila E shows this month, in Michigan and the Northeast

How the Beatles unravelled: Hunter Davies, the band’s official biographer, recalls the tensions that led the Fab Four to split

The Top 60 Female Artists of All Time

O is for #101 on the Billboard charts

The ONLY B-side of the Beatles first 21 regular Capitol/Apple releases not to chart in the Top 100.

I have the book Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100, 1959-2004, one of many Joel Whitburn tomes in my collection. This one notes the songs that did not quite make it to the list of the Hot 100 singles that were most popular. Some of these were regional hits, others B-sides of chart-toppers.

In the book, there’s a list of the songs that made it to #101 on the Billboard charts in the US, but no higher, rather like Moses not quite to the promised land. There were 402 songs during the period, excluding August 1985 to November 1992, when the Bubbling Under chart was discontinued.

Some songs I recognize, with which YOU may also be familiar.

Links to all:

Earth Angel – the Penguins. 2 weeks starting 1 Feb 1959. This was a cheat in that in 1955, it had gotten to #8 (and #1 for 3 weeks on the R&B charts); this was the reissue.

I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It The Blues, Pt 1 – Stevie Wonder. 31 Aug 1963. I first heard this on a hits compilation.

I’m Down – the Beatles. 7 Aug 1965. The ONLY B-side of the Beatles’ first 21 regular Capitol/Apple releases not to chart in the Top 100. B-side of Help! (#1 for three weeks.) This is a live take because I couldn’t find a studio version.

Baby Driver – Simon & Garfunkel. 19 Apr 1969. B-side of The Boxer (#7). I saw Paul Simon solo in 1991.

Today I Sing the Blues – Aretha Franklin. 1 Nov 1969. A cover of a Sam Cooke song.

Gypsy – Van Morrison. 27 Jan 1973. Not to be confused with Gypsy Queen.

Barbara Ann- The Beach Boys. 9 Aug 1975. ANOTHER cheat, as the original release went to #2 for 2 weeks in 1966.

Baretta’s Theme – Sammy Davis Jr. 22 May 1976. Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow, theme to a TV show starring Robert Blake.

Accidents Will Happen – Elvis Costello. 14 Apr 1979. I saw him live a few years ago.

It’s Different For Girls – Joe Jackson. Two weeks, starting 8 Dec 1979. I saw him live in the late 1980s.

Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie. 25 Oct 1980. The return of Major Tom.

Try Jah Love – Third World. 1 May 1982. I really thought the last four, plus the U2 song were bigger hits, as I heard them on the radio a lot.

Atomic Dog – George Clinton. Three weeks, starting 16 Apr 1983.

Two Hearts Beat As One – U2. Two weeks, starting 9 Jul 1983.

White Lines (Don’t Do It) – Grandmaster & Melle Mel. 2 weeks, starting 17 Dec 1983. But it did get to #47 on the R&B charts. I own this 12″, which is a couple of minutes longer than the single.

Skylark – Linda Ronstadt. 12 Jan 1985. From Lush Life, one of the three Nelson Riddle LPs that I have on a 2-CD set.

ABC Wednesday – Round 19

May rambling #1: The Case Against Reality

I had a terrible blogging April, but because I work ahead, it wasn’t always evident.

1965 edition of “Our New Age”[/caption]

The Case Against Reality. A professor of cognitive science argues that the world is nothing like the one we experience through our senses.

Song Of My Self-Help: Follow Walt Whitman’s ‘Manly Health’ Tips, appearing in the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. It was uncovered by a University of Houston student, and includes: “The beard is a great sanitary protection to the throat.”

The Neverending Workday – A pervasive cultural norm of work devotion leaves many employees with little time for family, friends, or sleep.

In rural Maine, a life of solitude and larceny. Police say the hermit stole to survive 27 years in the woods.

What Would Happen If We Just Gave People Money?

After ‘The Biggest Loser,’ Their Bodies Fought to Regain Weight. “Contestants lost hundreds of pounds during Season 8, but gained them back. A study of their struggles helps explain why so many people fail to keep off the weight they lose.”

United Methodist Church Requires Removal of Reference to LGBTQI Christians from Worship Greetings, and, reported the next day, United Methodist clergy come out as church conference begins.

Transcending ignorance. Plus AmeriNZ weighs in, as does Funny or Die.

This isn’t just for me. It’s for everybody who needs a pep talk.

The smug style in American liberalism.

John Oliver: science reporting and Puerto Rico debt and cicadas.

Russian Insider Says State-Run Doping Fueled Olympic Gold.

Someone Put Bartolo Colon’s First Homer In The Natural, Where It Belongs.

Boston Globe: As great as David Ortiz is, Teddy Ballgame is still No. 1.

Free Comic Book Day isn’t free for everybody.

Morley Safer Stepping Down From ’60 Minutes’ After 46 Years.

President Obama delivered a commencement speech at Howard University.

WHCD: Barack Obama and Larry Wilmore. Plus An Obama Blooper Reel, from The White House Correspondents’ Association.

America operates under a crazy quilt of voting requirements, “with each state making its own laws for different populations and with challenges to those laws whipping back and forth through the courts. But if the primaries have frustrated the candidates, try being a voter in November.” Including New York.

Former NY State Assembly Speaker Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison. And former NY State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos sentenced to five years for corruption. Those were two of the three most powerful people in state government, along with Governor Andrew Cuomo.

MUSIC

First Listen: Bob Dylan, ‘Fallen Angels’.

Great audio/visual presentation of Billboard Top 10 songs from 1956 – 2016 (22,000 songs!)

Jaquandor: Music to write swashbucklers by.

Happy birthday to Reverend Gary Davis (April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972) and James Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006).

K Chuck Radio: Rare tracks.

Return of the Monkees and remembering Harry the Hipster Gibson.

What Have I Done to Deserve This? – Pet Shop Boys, with Dusty Springfield.

What does Becky mean? Here’s the history behind Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ lyric that sparked a firestorm. (And me, nearly oblivious to it all.)

Keef cartoon: Nina Simone.

Local legend Ruth Pelham to close Music Mobile. Lack of funds leads the musician to close her beloved program.

Minnesota’s Broad Publicity Rights Law, The PRINCE Act, Is So Broad That It May Violate Itself.

GOOGLE alerts (me)

TWC Question Time #36: I Love You, But… Moments from your favorite comics characters you consider particularly embarrassing.

Arthur on the blog balance. I too had a terrible blogging April, but because I work ahead, it wasn’t always as evident. So we may be Blogging Twins™.

Dustbury is blogging. Chaz is my blogging hero.

AmeriNZ on Kasich dropping out of the presidential race and the REAL May Day.

Shooting Parrots is a grammar nerd.

Ted Cruz solicits me; no, that doesn’t sound right…

I goose Jaquandor; it was not painful.

M is for musical crossovers of the 1960s

Ode To Billie Joe did better on the soul charts than the country charts?

In the back of the book Across the Charts, Joel Whitburn lists the 48 songs that were musical crossovers, which charted in the Top 10 in three of the four Billboard music charts (US) between 1960 and 1969: Hot 100 (HT), rhythm & blues (RB), country (CW), and adult contemporary (AC).

Three of them hit #1 on three charts:
I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You by Ray Charles (RB for 10 weeks, HT for 5 weeks, AC for 5 weeks in 1962)
Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean (AC for 9 weeks, HT for 5 weeks, CW for 2 weeks in 1961)
*the treacly Honey by Bobby Goldsboro (HT for 5 weeks, CW for 3 weeks, AC for 2 weeks in 1968).

Only one song made the Top 10 in all FOUR charts, The End of the World by Skeeter Davis, which was #1 AC for 4 weeks, #2 CW for 3 weeks, #2 HT, and #4 RB in early 1963.

Of the four dozen songs that made it on three charts, three each are by Ray Charles, Roger Miller, and Dionne Warwick; two each by Jimmy Dean, Glen Campbell, and Stevie Wonder.

LISTEN to a sampling:

The End of the World by Skeeter Davis HERE or HERE

I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles HERE or HERE

Big Bad John by Jimmy Dean HERE or HERE

A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash (#1 CW for 5 weeks, #1 AC for 2 weeks, #2 HT for 3 weeks in 1969) HERE or HERE

Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell (#1 AC for 6 weeks, #1 CW for 2 weeks, #3 HT in 1968/9) HERE or HERE

Walk Right In by the Rooftop Singers (#1 AC for 5 weeks, #1 HT for 2 weeks, #4 RB in 1963; also #23 CW) HERE or HERE

Harper Valley P.T.A. by Jeannie C. Riley (#1 CW for 3 weeks, #1 HT, #4 AC in 1968) HERE or HERE

Roses Are Red by Bobby Vinton (#1 HT for 4 weeks, #1 AC for 4 weeks, #5 RB in 1962) HERE or HERE

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by the 5th Dimension (#1 HT for 6 weeks, #1 AC for 2 weeks, #6 RB in 1969) HERE or HERE

Make the World Go Away by Eddy Arnold (#1 AC for 4 weeks, #1 CW for 2 weeks, #6 HT in 1965) HERE or HERE

I’m Leaving It Up To You by Dale & Grace (#1 HT for 2 weeks, #1 AC for 2 weeks, #5 RB in 1963) HERE or HERE

Ramblin’ Rose by Nat King Cole (#1 AC for 5 weeks, #2 HT for 2 weeks, #7 RB in 1962) HERE or HERE

Can’t Get Used to Losing You by Andy Williams (#1 AC for 4 weeks, #2 HT for 4 weeks, #7 RB in 1963) HERE or HERE

Puff (the Magic Dragon) by Peter, Paul, and Mary (#1 AC for 2 weeks, #2 HT, #10 RB in 1963) HERE or HERE

England Swings by Roger Miller (#1 AC, #3 CW, #8 HT in 1965/6) HERE or HERE

Walk On By by Dionne Warwick (#1 RB for 3 weeks, 6 HT, #7 AC in 1964) HERE or HERE

Ode To Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry (#1 HT for 4 weeks, #7 AC, #8 RB in 1967; also #17 CW) HERE or HERE (This did better on the soul charts than the country charts?)

ABC Wednesday – Round 18