Billboard Top 100 Songs of All Time Continued…
90. “Waiting For a Girl Like You” – Foreigner
Hot 100 Peak: No. 2 (1981): This song would have been number 1 but it had the unfortunate task of trying to surpass Olivia Newton-John’s smash hit “Physical.” As a result “Waiting For a Girl Like You” spent 10 weeks at number 2 on the charts.
89. “Family Affair” – Mary J. Blige
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (2001): This song was originally written for rapper Rakim but Blige decided to take it on herself and it turned into a huge hit for her.
88. “I Swear” – All 4 One
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for 11 weeks (1994): Originally a Hot 100 Country hit for John Michael Montgomery, All 4 One took the song, made their version, and had one of the biggest hits of all time when all was said and done.
87. “Nothing Compares 2 U” – Sinead O’Connor
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1990): “Nothing Compares 2 U” was written by Prince and was the biggest hit of Sinead O’Connor’s career by a long shot.
86. “All Night Long (All Night)” – Lionel Richie
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1983): To make sure he was pronouncing the old Jamaican chant, “Tom bo li de say di moi ya, yeah jumbo jumbo” correctly, Richie called his wife’s Jamaican gynecologist, which of course made for an interesting conversation.
85. “My Sharona” – The Knack
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (1979): The song was written based on a girl that Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Doug Fieger fell in love with.
84. “Say You, Say Me” – Lionel Richie
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1985): The song was written for the 1985 film “White Nights” and ended up winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
83. “Play That Funky Music” – Wild Cherry
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1976): Bob Parissi and his band wanted to play rock music but it was the disco era and all their bookings were in dance clubs. A backstage discussion about how to handle this dilemma led drummer Ron Beitle to tell Parissi, “Play that funky music, white boy,” and Parissi grabbed a bar order pad and wrote down those words. (from Billboard)
82. “You’re So Vain” – Carly Simon
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for three weeks (1973): The person Simin is talking about in the song has never been revealed, though she did say she had three people in mind. Mick Jagger sings backup on this hit.
81. “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for seven weeks (1983): As popular as the album “Thriller” is (biggest selling album of all time), the album only spawned 2 number one hits with Billie Jean being the first.
See #’s 80 – 71 on Next Page
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