Monday, April 10, 2017

April 10th



It's Nancy and Frank Sinatra who take over the #1 spot on this week's Super Chart as their father / daughter duet "Somethin' Stupid" slides into the #1 spot from the #3 position last week.  (It is the first father / daughter duet to ever hit #1 on the pop charts.)  The Turtles fall to #2 with "Happy Together" after two weeks on top.  

The Monkees move into third place as their latest, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" moves up three places from #6 to #3.  Minimum movement elsewhere in this week's Top Ten … "This Is My Song" by Petula Clark (#4), "Bernadette" by The Four Tops (#6) and "Western Union" by The Five Americans are all up a spot or two … while "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James and the Shondells and "Dedicated To The One I Love" by The Mamas and the Papas are beginning to slip down the chart.  

Top Ten newcomers include "Jimmy Mack" by Martha and the Vandellas (#9, up from #12) and "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)" by Aretha Franklin (#10, up from #13.) 

Elsewhere within The Top 40, Arthur Conley continues his climb up the chart as "Sweet Soul Music" moves from #21 to #13.  "At The Zoo" by Simon and Garfunkel (#17, up from #28), "With This Ring" by The Platters (#18, up from #25) and "Dry Your Eyes" by Brenda and the Tabulations (#19, up from #23) all earned bullets this week … but the BIGGEST mover has got to be "The Happening" by The Supremes, which leaps an incredible 34 places from #54 to #20.  







"I'm A Man" by The Spencer Davis Group is up from #36 to #21, "Don't You Care" by The Buckinghams is up from #31 to #25, "Love Eyes" by Nancy Sinatra takes a 14 point leap from #41 to #27, "Sunday For Tea" by Peter And Gordon jumps up to #29 from #43, "Close Your Eyes" by Peaches And Herb is up from #49 to #36 and "You Got What It Takes" by The Dave Clark Five, enters The Top 40 for the very first time at #40, thanks to a leap from #53, rounding out this week's biggest movers.  

The Monkees' second album, "More Of The Monkees", holds on to the #1 spot on the album chart for the tenth straight week.  

Peter Tork makes a solo appearance this evening at The Troubadour's "Hoot Night", performing a fifteen minute set.  

The 13-day AFTRA / television strike ends just in time to broadcast the 39th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Bob Hope.  "A Man For All Seasons" wins the Best Picture Oscar, Elizabeth Taylor wins Best Actress for "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf" and Paul Scofield wins the Best Actor award for "A Man For All Seasons".  

Paul McCartney attends a Beach Boys recording session in Hollywood.  (He would appear on the track … and some say he produced the track … "Vegetables", which was later released as part of their "Smiley Smile" album.)  



Marvin Gaye records his version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" in Studio A of Motown / Hitsville USA in Detroit.  Berry Gordy doesn't feel it is good enough to release as a single so he has Gladys Knight and the Pips record a new, more uptempo version two months later.  In September, the Gladys Knight version is released as a single and it goes on to top The Cash Box Chart.   

Gaye continued to fight with Gordy for his own release, believing in his heart that he had recorded a VERY important piece of music.  Gordy finally relented and released Gaye's version as a single a year later in November of 1968.  In the end, Marvin Gaye was proven right as his version of "I Heard It To The Grapevine" went to #1 in all three major trades and stayed at #1 for 7 straight weeks in Billboard, ultimately becoming The Biggest Motown Hit of the '60's.  (My guess is that even today Berry Gordy will very happily admit to being wrong on this one … the record has literally never been off the radio in nearly 50 years!  Can you even imagine this one being locked up in the vault for all this time?!?!)