Very 'Special' Billboard Hot 100 Singles of the Past Which You Must Hear Because...Wow

(I could easily make a Diamond-centric spin-off of this thread.)

God, nothing has ever made me dread the future quite like this song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q84lhmj8odk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QwI6wLYBYc

This is actually the primary song I had in mind when I started this thread and which I couldn't remember until it just now came up on shuffle. Buckle up for a hot time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoyHUY-UBYU

I don't understand why the opening song on this thread is "Blue Moon"

I guess because it's a not-as good-as-the-Marcels cover. Same with "Peanuts," that's not the original hit (which is a kind of annoying song in any event.)

That Randy Bell song, tho... that is amazing!

DJP, you gotta listen to that particular rendition to understand its inclusion.

okay lol I didn't listen long enough the first time

I know 1984 was a weird time but I've spent the whole last day perplexed over how you can invest that much effort into setting someone like poor Randy Bell as a teen idol and then release that as his lead single.

what are you finding odd about the randy bell song? the arch-80s sound? the lyrics (the hook sounding anti-sex, the "lips" line, "all mine" sounding like "a man")?

I dunno, to my ears it kinda sounds like someone released their karaoke performance as a commercial single.

Remember this "AIDS? nbd" jam that went to #35 in the US in 1991?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ImRyPymRAM

I loved that song (because I was in 6th grade and they said "sex"). Had no idea it got that high on the charts - I only heard it on the local alternative station.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Bn_Egd96A

Here, let me serenade u about the troubles of the world, after which I will spend a few minutes flipping through the bible and citing random passages that have very little to do with the scenario at hand. Wait, why are you backing out of the room?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8McY8i4cUFA

Why wait for someone else to ape your distinctive vocal stylings for a substandard ripoff single when you can do the job yourself?

this somehow cracked the top 40 in 1990

https://youtu.be/-yAse1tL-mk

I remember!

RIP Poppy Bush Interzone.

Here, let me serenade u about the troubles of the world, after which I will spend a few minutes flipping through the bible and citing random passages that have very little to do with the scenario at hand. Wait, why are you backing out of the room?

― Feed Me Wheat Thins (Old Lunch),

One of the most terrible R&B hits ever.

The Neil Diamond and Styx songs up there I had relegated to some forgotten part of my mind. Kinda reeling tbh.

You probably wouldn't expect a song from the '50s to cover such steamy ground, but brace yourself: 'Let's Be Lovers' by the Playmates is just as raw and sensual as it sounds. It's nothing less than unrestrained sexual energy captured on vinyl. Try to refrain from pawing yourself while listening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9zFMc0SaRM

Those shrill "la-LA-la's" are kind of a turn-off, tbh

Just a reminder that the seats in the Playmates' beloved little Nash Ramblers folded back into beds.

https://i2.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Rambler-1957-bed.jpg?resize=352%2C319

morrisp, you may just need to recalibrate your ears, as that's an unfiltered expression of raw animal lust that you're hearing.

I've been to paradise but I've never been to whatever world Charlene and Stevie are pining for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd2dWHtbWlg

I had never heard this late-period Grand Funk song before last weekend on community radio. Made it to #69 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. Allegedly written by Mark for his then-paramour Sally Kellerman.

Stick with it, the more times he sings "SAAAAAAALLLLLAAAAYYYY BAAAAY-BAYYYYY" the funnier I find it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9OLWXyGzY4