Billboard Top 100 Songs of All Time Continued…
70. “Rush Rush” – Paula Abdul
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1991): Abdul didn’t argue much about what songs made in onto this album. However, she did insist that “Rush Rush” be the lead single off the album. It was a good chic, as it became her longest running number 1 hit.
69. “Ebony and Ivory” – Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for seven weeks (1982): Wonder and McCartney did perform the duet together in the same studio. HOwever, they never met in the video and making them look like they were on the same island was part of the magic of editing.
68. “Moves Like Jagger” – Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (2011): After their success in the spotlight on the hit TV show “The Voice,” Maroon 5 frontman and Aguilera teamed up for this hit. It is Maroon 5’s biggest hit to date.
67. “Whoomp! (There It Is)” – Tag Team
Hot 100 Peak: No. 2 (1993): Another song on this list that never made it to number 1 but had such a long chart presence that it is one of the biggest hits of all time. The title was already a catchphrase in the South when Steve (Roll’n) Gibson and Cecil (DC) Glenn recorded this bassline-heavy hip-hop track. Glenn was a cook and a DJ at Magic City in Atlanta and played the song in the club, creating the initial demand for the single.
66. “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” – the 5th Dimension
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (1969): When group member Billy Davis, Jr, left his wallet in a New York taxi, it was found by one of the producers of the Broadway musical “Hair.” A grateful Davis invited him to see the 5th Dimension live and the producer reciprocated by inviting the group to see “Hair.” Before they left the theater, they agreed they had to record “Aquarius.” Producer Bones Howe said it was “half a song” and suggested a medley with the show’s “The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In).” (From Billboard)
65. “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” – Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for seven weeks (1982): Jake Hooker and Alan Merrill wrote the song to refute the Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It),” which they felt was a put-down. They recorded it with their group the Arrows in the U.K. and Jett saw them perform it on TV. She asked Hooker if she could record it, but couldn’t get her group the Runaways to cut the song. She finally recorded it as a solo artist, first as a B-side in Holland in 1979 and then again in 1981 with the Blackhearts. (From Billboard)
64. “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” – Stevie B
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for four weeks (1990): Warren Allen Brooks write this song many years before he met Stevie B. When Stevie heard Brooks sing it he stated that song would be a hit. 5 years later it was and Stevie was the one singing it.
63. “The Boy Is Mine” – Brandy & Monica
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for 13 weeks (1998): When Brandy and Monica were first paired up the sing “The Boy is Mine” neither of them had a number 1 Hot 100 hit under their belt. That changed immediately, as the song was wildly successful and gave both women their first number 1 hit.
62. “(Just Like) Starting Over” – John Lennon
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for five weeks (1980): After a five year hiatus to raise his son Lennon went back and recorded. This song was actually number 6 when he was assisinated and climbed to number 1 shortly after.
61. “Centerfold” – J. Geils Band
Hot 100 Peak: No. 1 for six weeks (1982): You gotta just keep at it. Nothing proves that saying as true as the J. Geils Band. Their first 12 songs failed to even crack the top 10, then they released “Centerfold” and it became one of the biggest hits of all time.
See #’s 60 – 51 on Next Page
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