We have reached a major turning point not just in music history but also my reviews. For the next 5-6 years, I'll be able to actually give in depth stories on most of the songs that his #1. I also personally consider 1964-1979-ish to contain some of the finest rock music ever recorded. Even the time period between 1964 and 1969 contains very few bad pop song that reached the top of the chart.
One reason for this is that many of the groups or singers who hit #1 were creative artists who wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. This is a direct contrast with the more poppy acts from the last few years and even today, who had often anonymous people write the songs for them. So be prepared for mostly positive reviews for these next few years.
This big bang of creativity all started with The Beatles arrival to the states. In just 1964 alone, the American record companies managed to squeeze a whopping 7 studio albums out of their 4 album British catalog and thus, the group's music was inescapable. This probably got many of the more conservative folks thinking The Beatles were just another over-hyped boy band. This of course couldn't be farther from the truth, as the group wrote their own songs and always strived to progress their music every time they wrote a new song.
1964 opened with songs such as "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" on the top of the charts. Most bands would gladly spend the rest of their career singing those songs. However, those two songs were recorded and released the previous year and thus, not representative of The Beatles current musical ambitions. In the coming months, The Beatles and especially John Lennon, wanted those songs off their setlist. By year's end, the group became one of the first to experiment with feedback for the song "I Feel Fine". It was only the tip of the iceberg for these lads.
The success of the British Invasion led to a huge surge of British Bands charting in America. The Beatles' friendly rivals, The Rolling Stones, offered a more "Bad Boy" image while producing songs rooted in classic American blues. The Kinks gave us "You Really Got Me", which paved the way for punk, hard rock, and metal due to lead guitarist Dave Davies' distorted amplifier sound. The final fourth of the "Big 4", The Who, would not see American chart success until 1967 and even in Britain, they would not release their first hit "I Can't Explain" until January of 1965.
Other British invasion bands who had made their way overseas, in terms of chart success, included The Zombies, (She's Not There), The Dave Clark Five, (Glad All Over), The Hollies, (Just One Look), Herman's Hermits, (I'm Into Something Good), and The Animals, (House Of The Rising Sun). Some bands such as The Yardbirds, featuring Eric Clapton on lead guitar, would be less known this year, in America at least.
As a result of all of these new sounds from all of these British rock bands, many of the American pop artists and song styles of the last five years became dinosaurs overnight. Some tried to change their sound and get with the times, others permanently fell to the wayside. Still, there were some notable styles that managed to not only survive the British Invasion, but also flourish during this time.
For one, Motown reached a possible peak in popularity this year with artists such as The Temptations, The Supremes, Martha And The Vandellas, and The Four Tops, all having incredible success. The label would continue to prosper throughout the sixties. Even folk music continued to be cherished and celebrated, and the genre would undergo its own revolution the following year.
So join me as we look at all of the songs that hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. To quote John Lennon, we're going "To The Toppermost Of The Poppermost!"
First Up For 1964 - "There! I've Said It Again" by Bobby Vinton.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock -
No comments:
Post a Comment