#1 for weeks of January 4, 11, 18, and 25th, 1964.
Wait a minute...I take back what I said about the British invading from day one of 1964. It seems we have one final chapter in the 1959-1963 quieter ages of rock and roll to tackle. Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said It Again" is yet another prime example of the easy-listening genre. While this particular time period (Post JFK assassination) was a time where softer music was favored, Bobby Vinton had already had several #1 hits. Undoubtedly this song would have hit #1 around this time regardless of how history played out.
Mr. Vinton has been very up and down in terms of my personal opinions on his music. One of his songs I ranked the weakest of a year (Roses Are Red My Love). Yet, I do feel that "There! I've Said It Again" is a major improvement over his earlier works. While this song and just about every song from his 1960's career sounds incredibly dated and old fashioned, I find "There! I've Said It Again" to be a bit higher quality than the rest.
First of all, this song is instrumentally much more interesting than the past few #1's of Bobby's. There's a nifty vibraphone part that underscores the tune and even some subtle rock instrumentation like non-distorted electric guitars. Sure, there's the obligatory soft-pop string section and those highly old fashioned backing vocals. This time though, they're not as oppressive and corny as in past songs like "Roses Are Red". In fact, they actually compliment the music quite well here.
Bobby Vinton's singing is also top notch in this particular song. Despite me not being crazy about his style of music, there's no doubt he is a great vocalist. Lyrically the song deals with the usual innocent romantic love song lyrics that have populated the charts for the previous years. On top of it all, the song has an interesting bridge section and a nice key change by the end. Not bad, not bad at all...
This song is best known today as being the final #1 hit before the British invasion took hold of American pop music. Although there would still be a select few hits over the years of the softer style, and even one more #1 from Bobby in '64, the symphonic-pop sound would be rendered completely un-hip in just a couple of years. Although I don't go out of my way to listen to this style of music, I do appreciate this song in a sense that it is the last chapter of the period in music history between the day the music died (February 3, 1959), and the chart success of the following song and band on the list. The song is, in a way, a bookend.
Final Verdict - One of Bobby Vinton's better preserved songs. The tune is still antiquated and probably won't appeal to fans of louder music. However, I'd certainly recommend giving it a listen, especially for historical purposes as it unintentionally was the end of an era.
Coming Up Next - "I Want To Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock...Prepare yourself for what could potentially be the longest song review yet!
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