From my childhood way back in 1965 comes "The Name Game" by singer Shirley Ellis. We used to have this 45 on the old Congress label back in the day. My late sister and her friend used to love to sing this and substitute names of people they knew at the end of the song. This was a real long time ago... what almost 60 years now.
One thing I liked about "The Name Game" 45 was the killer B-side of that record. The song title was "Whisper To Me Wind". This could have also been a hit back in the day... though I never recall any radio station playing the song.
Shirley Ellis' real name was Shirley Marie O'Garra. She was born in 1929 and lived to 2005. During her career Shirley had three major Billboard Hot 100 hits. The first was "The Nitty Gritty" which came out in 1963 and topped off at the #8 position in October of that year. Her next hit single was "The Name Game" which peaked at #3, followed by "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat, Clap Slap)" which went to #8. Shirley Ellis had a total of 14 charted singles that appeared on the U.S. as well as the U.K. charts.
Check this playlist I created on Spotify featuring Shirley Ellis' music. The playlist tracks should play in full if you have a Spotify subscription.
Much has been written about "The King of Rock n Roll", ELVIS PRESLEY. This little post on my music corner of nowhere is just another cog to add to that huge, growing wheel, more than 46 years ago today.
Elvis Presley passed away on August 16, 1977. He left a long musical legacy of hundreds of memorable singles and record albums, all of which have been brought up to date in the digital age when you can stream just about anything online.
One of the very first records I was exposed to in the rock n roll genre came very early in my life, probably before I was five years old. My Dad used to have a friend who ran a vending machine business. Among his many vending machines were jukeboxes that he loaned out to restaurants and other eating places. Periodically he would have to change out the records contained in the jukeboxes. Since he was a friend of my Dad, we would end up with dozens of old 45s that Dad brought home. How cool was that?
One of the first records I remember getting was Elvis Presley's single "Are You Lonesome Tonight" with "I Gotta Know" on the B-side. I think my Mom first played the record when we got it. She fell in love with the broken hearted ballad that was the featured A-side of the record. The song was one of several Elvis singles that went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
As a kid I found the other side of the record to be much better. "I Gotta Know" was an upbeat song, more to my early rock n roll liking of faster tunes. So I played that side of the record more than the A-side which my Mom loved.
That all said, both "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "I Gotta Know" both became radio hits, with "Lonesome" as previously stated peaking at #1 and "I Gotta Know" peaking at #20 on the Hot 100.
I love 45 rpm records, especially in the old days when both sides of a 45 could become hits. DJs had more flexibility in those days to flip a record over and figure that hey, the other side is just as good as the A-side being pushed by the record company.
The original 45 was on the black RCA label featuring Nipper the dog looking into the old gramophone record player. What a classic label and symbol. Sadly I no longer have that original 45.
Today "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "I Gotta Know" exist on CD or a digital playlist like I have at. Spotify.
"Rich Men North of Richmond" is a rootsy, blue-collar song that came out of nowhere to become a huge viral video hit for its author and singer Oliver Anthony. Apparently this guy just does some home made recordings and this one has resonated a lot... so much that it debut at #1 on my country music chart. The song is available for streaming on various platforms as well as digital purchase on Amazon and iTunes.
"Rich Men North of Richmond" also tops the iTunes Top 100 and the iTunes Country Charts. Oliver Anthony's other songs are also charting on iTunes including "Ain't Gotta Dollar" which chimes in at #10 on my country chart. Check that out below:
The Country 5 + 5 Chart
As of August 15, 2023.
TW
Title
Artist
LR
1
Rich Men North of Richmond
Oliver Anthony Music
new
2
Try That In A Small Town
Jason Aldean
1
3
Need A Favor
Jelly Roll
2
4
When I Die
Fanny Lumsden
4
5
Fast Car
Luke Combs
5
6
Bury Me In Georgia
Kane Brown
7
7
White Horse
Chris Stapleton
9
8
Save Me The Trouble
Dan + Shay
3
9
Save Me (featuring Lainey Wilson)
Jelly Roll
6
10
Ain't Gotta Dollar
Oliver Anthony Music
new
You can listen to all ten of the Country 5 + 5 hits on Spotify.
Jason Aldean Tops the Current Top 20, Country 5 + 5, Billboard's Hot 100 and More
Jason Aldean tops Mel's Current Top 20with his high profile hit, "Try That in a Small Town." The track has been the #1 best seller on iTunes for the past few weeks, and topped the Billboard Hot 100 onTuesday for the week of August 1. I would be thrilled to see if "Try That in a Small Town" can hold on to #1 for a few more weeks, especially on the Hot 100 chart.
Here are this week's Current Top 20 hits as posted on August 4, 2023.
I was only 12 back in 1969. The biggest event of that year was the manned landing on the moon by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins.
Music wise 1969 was another year of great rock and pop music that wrapped the decade of the 1960s up. We had some great big classic hits by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many others.
In retrospect my favorite songs from 1969 are those by The Beatles. My #1 song of the year is "Get Back" and I list it with its 45 rpm B-side "Don't Let Me Down". My #2 song of the year is another Beatles song that was never released as a single. It is George Harrison's greatest song of all time... "Here Comes The Sun" from the Abbey Road album. He also showed up with The Beatles at #12 with "Something". John Lennon had Beatles tracks on my top 100 with "The Ballad of John & Yoko" at #9, "Come Together" at #21 and his first solo track, "Give Peace a Chance" at #58, which is shown on the record's label at John Lennon / The Plastic Ono Band.
The Rolling Stones had a couple of big hits in 1969, with my favorite being "Honky Tonk Woman" at #3 for the year.
Several songs in my Top 100 of 1969 were not in the Billboard Top 100 of 1969. They include It's a Beautiful Day's "White Bird" at #4, The Youngbloods' "Get Together" at #11 (originally released in 1967), and "The Boxer" and "Baby Driver" 45 from Simon & Garfunkel. Several other songs that did not score high enough on the year end Billboard Chart of 1969 made this chart.
