These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. In some respects, it’s not all that surprising that country singer Tracy Lawrence’s sole experience with the Billboard Top 40 came with a single he released at the tail end of 1999. The title cut to the then forthcoming album Lessons Learned, his sixth studio release, came out at the peak of pop radio’s embrace of country-western music, fueled by major hits from … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Lessons Learned”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Jamaican-born Millie Small was just sixteen years old when she had a smash hit with “My Boy Lollipop,” a cover of a song originally performed by Barbie Gaye. The track went all the way to #2 on both the U.K. and U.S. charts (held out of the top spot on the latter by the first #1 single by the Beach Boys), and insinuated … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Sweet William”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Given on the full-on hysteria for all things Beatles that began in the early nineteen-sixties, it’s a little surprising that the unique subgenre of rock ‘n’ roll that stood as their earliest, most profound influence never gained much of a foothold on this side of the Atlantic. Skiffle is the music that all four of the moptops loved, to one degree or another, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Freight Train”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Coldplay was already a significant band on the pop culture firmament when they released their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, in the summer of 2008, in part because they had spent years signalling with all their collective being that they were prepared to be the next iteration of U2. What’s more, they were clearly ready to … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Violet Hill” and “Lost!”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Apt Records was started in the late nineteen-fifties as a subsidiary of ABC-Paramount, which itself is widely considered to be the first major label to be formed after the rock ‘n’ roll era truly got underway. Whether by design of happenstance, Apt Records stuck solely with singles, apparently releasing not one one full-length album during its eight years of existence. In that span, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Crazy Eyes for You”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. I think it’s fair to type that the Champs are known for one song: “Tequila.” That song was originally issued as the B-side to “Train to Nowhere,” a single released on Challenge Records, the label started up in part by Gene Autry. The song was recorded in late December of 1957 and released less than a month later. Once DJs flipped the record … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Limbo Rock”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Jeffrey Osborne was the lead singer for the R&B band L.T.D. when they had a Top 5 hit in 1977 with the song “(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again.” He put out his first solo album in 1982, doing well on the R&B charts but struggling to generate the some heat on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, one of … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “The Last Time I Made Love”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. “Tell Her She’s Lovely” was the third and final single from the California band El Chicano to appear on the Billboard charts. In 1970, they made it into the Top 30 with “Viva Tirado, Pt. 1,” essentially the title cut from their debut album. Two years later, they just missed the Top 40 with a cover of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.” “Tell … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Tell Her She’s Lovely”

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. In 1960, the year that Jackie Wilson’s “Your One and Only Love” peaked at #40, the phenom singer had six songs that made the Billboard Top 40. That tally included “Alone at Last,” which went to #8, and “Night,” which made it all the way to #4, his career best. Wilson was known as “Mr. Excitement,” but the music he was using to … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Your One and Only Love”