Tag: music charts

No. 2 “What’s Going On”

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It was early in 1971 when one of the greatest (#2 or otherwise) songs of all time was released, “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. It was written by Motown staff writer Al Cleveland (I Second that Emotion), Renaldo Benson of The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye. It topped the R&B charts for five weeks (March/April) and the it crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100 in March and spent three weeks at #2 in April before dropping off the top 20 by the end of May.

It was first stopped at #2 by “Just My Imagination” from The Temptations, another Motown group and the song (ironically) was released under the Gordy label and was written by the Motown writers Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. The following week it was leap frogged by “Joy to the World” from Three Dog Night that stayed at #1 for six weeks.

“What’s Going On” finished at #28 on the Billboard Year End chart. On the R&B chart, it was #2 at the end of the year behind “Mr. Big Stuff”.  For R&B albums it was Isaac Hayes hitting #1 for the second year in a row with “To be Continued” and “What’s Going On” finished at #4.

I would describe “What’s Going On” as having modestly impressive chart numbers, however, this is not the typical performance we might think of for a song that now ranks as the fourth Greatest Song of all time (Rolling Stone Magazine). In truth this is more common than we may think. Many of histories highest ranked and well regarded creations were not #1 songs.

Gaye’s “What’s Going On” is also on the list of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and ranked by Acclaimed Music as the #1 R&B song of all time. Interestingly, some other lists put Gaye’s 1968 song “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” at #1.  I can’t find any song list from the National R&B Hall of Fame, but Marvin Gaye was inducted in 2014 which was just the second year of this new organization.

Fate has played a significant role in the life of many a song. On the topic of “What’s Going On”, the great Motown founder Berry Gordy is quoted as saying it was “the worst thing I ever heard in my life” and refused to release it. After Marvin Gaye threatened to go on strike until it was released, music executives Harry Balk and Barry Ales (without Gordy’s knowledge) released 100,000 copies in January of 1971. They immediately had to press another 100,000 as it sold out in less than a week.

Currently there are 271 versions. It was first ‘covered’ as a spoken word overlay by Radio DJ Tom Clay. I cannot find it anywhere but his version is on an album released on the Motown label in 1971 called What the World Needs Now Is Love. You may know of his version of “What the World Needs Now Is Love”/”Abraham, Martin and John” where he narrates the lyrics. He also includes responses from questions he put to young children who cannot pronounce words like segregation and bigotry, they can’t give the meaning of the words either. There are also audio clips from the news and also of Martin Luther King Jr. and J. F. Kennedy.

The first actual cover was from another Motown group, The Undisputed Truth in 1972.

There are so many good covers and with all songs with this many versions some not so great. I will leave with this one that I found quite intriguing, the amazing Banjo player Alison Brown has Blues legend Keb’ Mo’ provide the vocals.

You can get more on the story, check this recent post from A Sound Day.

No. 2 “Bang, Bang”

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The 60’s were a busy time for well known songs stalled at #2 and I almost forgot this one as I am moving along in a sort of chronological way. There was a song called “Bang Bang” by Cher in 1966 that peaked for one week at #2 behind “(You’re My) Soul And Inspiration” from the Righteous Brothers.

No. 2 “Be My Baby”

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Ronnie Spector, what else can I say?

The Ronettes, “Be My Baby” (1963) was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector. While the song did chart #1 on Cash Box it stayed at #2 on Billboard and on the Canadian Charts. The song was blocked by the #1 “Sugar Shack” a million seller by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, admittedly a catchy tune, it was produced by Norman Petty who’s studio rose to fame with Buddy Holly and the Crickets. “Be My Baby” has been given high praise by The Beatles and Brian Wilson said it changed the way he wrote music. It was ranked the #1 “Girl Group” song by Billboard Magazine ahead of TLC’s “Creep” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” by the Shirelles. A good example of where the #2 song has outlived the success of the #1 song.

While the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Ronettes are still well remembered this was their highest charting song. They had five more top 40 hits on the Hot 100 and a total of four on the R&B chart and five songs in the UK. Their last top 40 song was “Walking in the Rain” in 1964. However they picked up a great gig to open for The Beatles American tour in 1966 but cousin Elaine Mayes had to step in, they had not yet married but Phil Spector refused to let Ronnie join. Their popularity quickly declined and they split in 1967.

Andy Kim would reach #9 on the Hot 100 and #1 in Canada with his cover version in 1969.

No. 2 “Great Balls of Fire”

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Jerry Lee Lewis released “Great Balls Of Fire” in 1957, recorded at Sun Studios and written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. It was one of the top selling singles at the time at 5 million copies, it did manage to hit #1 on the Country Singles chart and #1 in the UK (January 1958) but got stalled out in at #2 in 1958 on the Billboard Hot 100 by “At the Hop” from Danny & The Juniors which spent the first seven weeks at #1.

Dennis Quaid lip synced this song to a re-recording by Jerry Lee Lewis for the film Great Balls of Fire.

No. 2 “Tutti Frutti”

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“Tutti Frutti” was written by Little Richard and released Oct 20, 1955

This song peaked at #2 on the R&B chart in 1956. As it was rising on the chart along came The Platters with “Great Pretender” and it would hold the #1 spot from early January to March 10, thus stalling Little Richards breakthrough single.

The songs origin has a story to tell and there’s a few different ones out there, but here is a brief explanation as I understand it. First, Little Richard had been playing an incomplete ribald little ditty he called “Tutti Frutti” as a bit of a filler in his live performances. His recording career at that time had been unremarkable since his first single in 1951. However, after he sent a demo tape, someone saw something in him and he was signed by Specialty Records and assigned to Robert ‘Bumps’ Blackwell.

Richard was in the studio and was frustrated with the progress of the session, he knew from the reaction at his live shows he had something people wanted. In a scenario almost exactly like what happened to Elvis Presley, on a break in the recording Richard started banging at the piano – like he did in his live stage shows. Out came “tutti frutti, good booty” and other lines that by the standard of the day were considered obscene.

But Blackwell as the staff arranger and producer saw lightning in a bottle. The song lyrics (as was not usual at that time) were “cleaned up” by songwriter Dorothy LaBostrie and the new sanitized version of “Tutti Frutti” was created. There is some debate as to the level of Dorothy’s involvement and how much of the finished product she created. There is also an “administrative” credit given to a Joe Lubin on the record as well. LaBostrie would also co-write with Blackwell “I’m Just a Lonely Guy” recorded as the ‘B’ side by Little Richard at the same time.

The record reportedly sold 200,000 copies in two and a half weeks, before it appeared on any mainstream chart. By 1968 it had sold 3 million copies. This was pre-Billboard Hot 100 so there were several charts on the go at this time. Besides the #2 spot for the R&B weekly charts it also reached the year end R&B at #12 on the Retail Records list, #4 on Jukebox plays and #7 for Most Played by Disc Jockeys. On the mainstream pop charts the song entered in January of 1956 and again depending on the chart peaked at #18 and #21. Pat Boone’s cover version would reach as high as #12.

There are 172 documented versions of this song but no one could match the energy and excitement of Little Richard. It has been recognized, as were some of his other songs by many as a key influence in the very definition of Rock and Roll.

“Tutti Frutti” by Queen, live at Wembley Stadium in 1986.