I posted this in another thread, but I wanted others opinions and decided to make its own thread...
In your opinion, what is the greatest chart feat of all time. It could be length of time on the charts, weeks at number one. Amount of chart hits, Amount of number ones. CCR's 5 hits at number 2 but none at number one, or mine....
4-4-64: The Beatles hold the top 5 positions, breaking the record of 4 set the previous weeks by themselves. Its a chart feat that I'm betting will NOT be broken... EVER! Its held for almost 50 years!
The Beatles' chart feat probably will not be broken, but when looked at in its proper perspective, we can see how it happened and it's not really that amazing. It was simply records competing against each other, but in this case, they were all by the same act. What is truly amazing is that Beatles held down the top 2 spots on the Hot 100 for ten consecutive weeks. It's also amazing that were so many hits.
When Capitol released "I Want to Hold Your Hand" it became a smash and opened a floodgate. Here's the highlights:
January 18, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" debuts at #45 on the Hot 100, beginning a period of 39 consecutive weeks in which at least one Beatles record is on the chart.
January 25, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" moves up 42 notches to #3, beginning a period of 37 consecutive weeks in which there is a Beatles record in the Top 40 and 22 consecutive weeks weeks in which there is one in the Top 10. Meanwhile, the Beatles previous release, "She Loves You" (on Swan Records) which has now begun to sell and has had increased airplay, debuts at #69.
February 1, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" moves into the #1 slot, beginning a period of 14 consecutive weeks in which a Beatles record is the #1 song in the U.S. "She Loves You" enters the Top 40 at #29, and the Beatles' first U.S. single, "Please Please Me," which Vee-Jay Records has recently reissued, debuts at #68.
February 8, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" holds at #1 for its second week; "She Loves You" moves into the Top 10 at #7; "Please Please Me" moves up to #57; and "I Saw Her Standing There" (the flip side of "I Want to Hold Your Hand"), enters the Hot 100 at #68.
February 15, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is at #1 for its third week and "She Loves You" is at #3. Elsewhere on the Hot 100, "Please Please Me" moves up twelve notches to #45; "I Saw Her Standing There" moves up to #54; and a fifth Beatles record, "My Bonnie" an early recording from 1961 with Tony Sheridan on lead vocals (released by MGM Records), debuts at #67.
February 22, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" spends its fourth week at #1. "She Loves You" is right behind it at #2. this begins a period of ten consecutive weeks in which the Beatles occupy both the #1 and #2 positions on the Hot 100. "Please Please Me" moves up to #29 and "I Saw Her Standing There" moves up to #35. There are now four Beatles records in the Top 40. "My Bonnie" moves up #54.
February 29, 1964: The Beatles continue to hold down the two top spots with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You." "Please Please Me" enters the top 10, moving up 23 notches to #6, and "I Saw Her Standing There" climbs to #28. "My Bonnie" is just under the Top 40, at #42.
March 7, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" are still the top two records in the country, and "Please Please Me" moves up to #4. "I Saw Her Standing There" moves up to #18 and "My Bonnie" moves into the Top 40 at #31, bringing the total number of Top 40 hits to five. Meanwhile, the flip side of "Please Please Me," "From Me to You," debuts at #86.
March 14, 1964: "I Want to Hold Your Hand" holds at #1 for its sixth consecutive week; "She Loves You" is at #2 for its fourth consecutive week, and now "Please Please Me" moves into the #3 spot. This begins a period of four consecutive weeks in which the Beatles have the top 3 songs on the chart. In the rest of the Top 40, "I Saw Her Standing There" climbs to #15 and "My Bonnie" moves up to #26. Below the Top 40, a "new" Beatles record released by Vee-Jay on their Tollie label, "Twist and Shout" debuts on the Hot 100 at #55, and "From Me to You" moves up to #73. The Beatles now have seven records on the chart.
March 21, 1964: "She Loves You," after spending four weeks at #2, finally moves into the #1 position on the Hot 100. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" drops to #2; "Please Please Me" holds at #3. "Twist and Shout" catapults into the Top 10, climbing 48 notches to #7. "I Saw Her Standing There" moves up one to #14, while "My Bonnie" drops out of the Top 40 to #42. "From Me to You" continues its rise on the chart, to #58, and a Canadian release, "Roll Over Beethoven," sells enough copies and gets enough airplay to enter the Hot 100 at #79.
March 28, 1964: The Beatles continue to make chart history. "She Loves You" holds at #1 for a second week in a row, and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" holds at #2; "Twist and Shout" moves up four notches to #3, and "Please Please Me" drops to #4. The group now have the top four songs in the U.S. "I Saw Her Standing There" drops to #26, but directly under it the Beatles' brand new single "Can't Buy Me Love" debuts on the Hot 100 at #27. Elsewhere on the chart, "From Me to You" climbs to #50; "All My Loving" (another Canadian release), enters the chart at #71; "Roll Over Beethoven" moves up to #75; and the new Vee-Jay release, "Do You Want to Know a Secret," debuts at #78. "My Bonnie" drops off the chart.
April 4, 1964: This is it. The one that everybody talks about. "Can't Buy Me Love" zooms up 26 notches past "Twist and Shout" to become the new #1 song. "Twist and Shout" has to settle for the #2 spot. "She Loves You" drops from #1 to #3, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" drops to #4; and "Please Please Me" drops to #5. The Beatles occupy the Top Five, but somehow it seems so anticlimactic. On the Hot 100, the group had a total of twelve records that week. The others were: "I Saw Her Standing There" still in the Top 40, at #31; "From Me to You," climbing to #41; "Do You Want to Know a Secret," moving up to #46; "All My Loving," climbing to #58; "You Can't Do That" (the flip side of "Can't Buy Me Love"), debuting at #65; "Roll Over Beethoven," moving up to to #68; and "Thank You Girl" (flip side of "Do You Want to Know a Secret"), debuting at #79.
April 11, 1964 - The Beatles didn't occupy the entire Top Five anymore, although they still had the top two songs, and still owned half of the Top 10. What is fascinating aboout this week is that two more records charted, bringing the group's total to 14 charted hits. In other words, 14% percent of the entire Hot 100 was by the Beatles.
That's a record that will unlikely never be broken. The records were: "Can't Buy Me Love," holding at #1; "Twist and Shout," still at #2; "She Loves You," falling to #4; "I Want to Hold Your Hand," dropping to #7; "Please Please Me," moving down to #9; "Do You Want to Know a Secret," entering the Top 40 at #14; "I Saw Her Standing There," dropping to #38; "You Can't Do That," climbing to #48; "All My Loving," moving up to #50; "From Me to You," dropping to #52; "Thank You Girl," climbing to #61; "There's a Place" (flip side of "Twist and Shout"), debuting at #74; "Roll Over Beethoven," dropping to #78; "Love Me Do" (yet another Canadian release, this one from early February 1963), debuting at #81.