"Stay" (Four Seasons) #16 4/4/1964 Bonus

The week of April 4, 1964 was just amazing in pop music history, with the Beatles holding down the entire Top 5, etc. We'll touch on that from time to time in the coming weeks as I still play catch-up on stuff I missed in putting my blog together. The Four Seasons had recently jumped labels, so their former label Vee-Jay decided to cash in and release as much of their old material as possible, as was done previously with Beatles songs they licensed. This would be the last hit under that arrangement, however. It's a remake of the 1960 Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs original, which was the shortest #1 record of the rock era at 1:36. Jackson Browne also re-did this tune in the late 70's with his "Running On Empty" live album.

"My Heart Belongs To Only You" #9 3/28/1964 Bonus

We fire up the Wayback Machine once more for late March 1964 and the fifth Top 10 record for Bobby Vinton. Among others, Jackie Wilson previously recorded this.  It was the followup to "There! I've Said It Again" which was the final #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 before the Beatles conquered America and forever altered Western civilization. You could tell the music scene was changing right before our eyes. Bobby's career withstood the British onslaught and he came out relatively OK.

"God Only Knows" #39 9/24/1966

If anyone needed further evidence that Brian Wilson is an absolute musical genius, just listen to this record - and he and Tony Asher wrote the song in 45 minutes. The arrangement and recording took far, far longer, but it might be the most perfectly constructed song ever. Critics compared it to classical works by Handel and Chopin. From "Pet Sounds," this was the B-side to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in the US (causing this to barely make the Top 40 on its own) but the A-side in most other countries. It was a rock music rarity in that it mentions God very prominently. Paul McCartney said this record directly inspired the Beatles' "Here, There And Everywhere." An amazingly beautiful arrangement with numerous Wrecking Crew members involved.

"7 And 7 Is" #33 9/24/1966

The highest charting record for the group Love. According to Wikipedia, this tune was covered by the likes of Rush, Alice Cooper, the Ramones and many others. Love was one of the ultimate 60's underground bands - not a lot of commercial success but very influential. They lived in a communal house called "The Castle." Far out, man.

"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" #18 9/24/1966

Marvin Gaye had the original hit in '64 of this Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown classic. James Taylor did a splendid, more laid back cover in the 70's and had a slightly bigger hit. In between, Junior Walker and the All-Stars did a pretty fine version here as well, punctuated as always by the smokin' sax of Mr. Walker.

"Eleanor Rigby" #11 9/24/1966

When Paul first conceived this tune, the woman's name was Daisy Hawkins. Boy, that would've turned out differently, eh? There was a real-life Eleanor Rigby who may have subliminally influenced his songwriting; she's buried at the church where Paul and John first met at a fair in 1957. He originally called the minister Father McCartney, but Paul felt people would interpret it as being about his dad, so he lifted the surname McKenzie out of a phone book. There really hadn't been any rock songs to date using only an octet (eight piece string section - four violins, two violas and two cellos) and vocals. Once again, the Beatles didn't just break the rules - they wrote new ones for everyone else to follow. The video is from the animated "Yellow Submarine" movie.

"Cherish" #1 9/24/1966

The first of two #1 hits for the Association, with lots of help from the Wrecking Crew. Their record label originally didn't want to release this as a single, saying it sounded "too old and archaic." I suppose too old and archaic worked! Many people think this is a cool wedding song, but the lyrics are actually about a guy wanting a girl he can't have. The Association became the first band to ever perform at any major rock music festival when they were the opening act at Monterey Pop in 1967.