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Post by doomsdaymachine on Dec 30, 2011 0:29:40 GMT -5
My vote goes to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and their 1972 bagpipe instrumental, "Amazing Grace." Who ever would have guessed that that thing would climb all the way to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100?!
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Post by tarobe on Dec 30, 2011 10:46:15 GMT -5
"Amazing Grace" was a novelty, although certainly not the funny kind like Ray Stevens' records or Dickie Goodman's break-ins. The 1970s were full of them.
I think "The Entertainer" by Marvin Hamlisch was a strange song for its time. It was totallly different from anything on the radio in 1974. And it went top ten!
The same can be said for Eric Weisberg and Steve Mandell's "Dueling Banjos" from a year earlier.
Both songs, of course, benefitted from being included in best-selling movie soundtracks.
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Post by saltrek on Dec 30, 2011 12:22:07 GMT -5
How about "Music Box Dancer" by Frank Mills in 1979?
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Post by dukelightning on Dec 30, 2011 12:31:03 GMT -5
All instrumentals so far. How bout either version of "Americans"?
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Post by donwa001 on Dec 30, 2011 13:26:57 GMT -5
Considering alot of stations wouldn't play this song and it came with a warning from Tom Rounds on 2/19/72 when it debuted at #35 on American Top 40, I was surprised that "Jungle Fever" - Chakachas was such a big hit - peaking at #8.
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on Dec 30, 2011 13:42:36 GMT -5
"Rubber Duckie" by Ernie from Sesame Street. I'm absolutely shocked it peaked at #16 in 1970!
Kermit The Frog's "The Rainbow Connection" seemed more likely to become a top 40 hit than "Rubber Duckie" - but even more surprisingly, "Rubber Duckie" peaked much higher than "The Rainbow Connection". If I remember correctly, I think the latter peaked at #36 in 1979.
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Post by saltrek on Dec 30, 2011 19:25:26 GMT -5
All instrumentals so far. How bout either version of "Americans"? I was thinking of nominating "Americans". As for the other instrumentals, they were either from movies or in the case of "Amazing Grace" a long standing christian hymn. So, they were all at least familiar in some way to the general public. But "Music Box Dancer" really came out of left field.
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Post by at40petebattistini on Dec 30, 2011 20:08:47 GMT -5
While I have to agree with those mentioned -- including "Jungle Fever" -- I can't think of a more unlikely pop hit than Bloodrock's "D.O.A."
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Post by doomsdaymachine on Dec 30, 2011 23:26:00 GMT -5
While I have to agree with those mentioned -- including "Jungle Fever" -- I can't think of a more unlikely pop hit than Bloodrock's "D.O.A." Good call! Didn't that one only peak at #39, though? I know I didn't specify in my original post, but I was thinking more along the lines of stuff that cracked the top twenty. Otherwise, I would've mentioned Hotlegs' "Neanderthal Man!"
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Post by Michael on Dec 31, 2011 12:43:59 GMT -5
All instrumentals so far. How bout either version of "Americans"? I was thinking of nominating "Americans". As for the other instrumentals, they were either from movies or in the case of "Amazing Grace" a long standing christian hymn. So, they were all at least familiar in some way to the general public. But "Music Box Dancer" really came out of left field. Now what about Nadia's Theme? It was used for the Olympics and course as the theme song for the soap the Young and the Restless.
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Post by mrjukebox on Dec 31, 2011 15:31:09 GMT -5
I thought of two songs:"The Lord's Prayer" by Sister Janet Mead (1974) & "Once You Understand" by Think (1972).
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Post by Mike on Dec 31, 2011 15:52:35 GMT -5
Kermit The Frog's "The Rainbow Connection" seemed more likely to become a top 40 hit than "Rubber Duckie" - but even more surprisingly, "Rubber Duckie" peaked much higher than "The Rainbow Connection". If I remember correctly, I think the latter peaked at #36 in 1979. Ah...no. That would be selling it quite short. It actually got up to #25.
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Post by jmack19 on Sept 25, 2015 11:51:52 GMT -5
The above metioned "Music Box Dancer", which was sent out to Top 40 stations by accident & "Chick-A-Boom" by Daddy Dewdrop since it was intended for a Saturday morning cartoon program.
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Post by djjoe1960 on Sept 25, 2015 12:14:17 GMT -5
Two come to mind for me:
Sister Mary Elephant (or any 'song') by Cheech & Chong. I remember when I was a teenager in the 70's that it was almost a rite of passage to listen to a Cheech & Chong album.
The other song that was an 'unlikely' hit was My Ding A Ling by Chuck Berry (a #1 hit in 1972). I remember my Mom had some Chuck Berry records and let me listen to them before this song came out. Then when the song became a hit, my mother wouldn't let me buy the 45 because she thought it was too risque. Now when I hear the song I think it's kinda funny but I think it is kinda sad that none of Chuck Berry's better songs (Rock n Roll Music, Johnny B Goode, etc) ever were #1 hits.
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