Francis Craig - Near You

[vastar iner]

American chart expert Joel Whitburn's approach of separating the American charts into two - before and after "rock & roll" - has long struck me as being odd.  Not least as there are more obvious breaks.  Such as when the Hot 100 starts and sweeps up all the preceding charts, or perhaps when airplay-only tracks were allowed, or more recently for the download era.  If you're going to split, pick a choice that is independent of the music, or not at all.

One consequence this has is that when people look at the all-time chart achievements, they can be misled.  Because those before 1955 are neatly expelled from history.  Which means people forget just how dominant Bing Crosby was, compared to, say, Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong in the 1940s. 

And you have the idiotic situation that people think the longest-reining no. 1 hit is a dire Mariah Carey track that was put there by her infatuated husband.  Well, it wasn't.

This one was number 1 for seventeen weeks.



Perhaps it's embarrassment that a total unknown has one of the hardiest chart records.  But it's a shame it's forgotten; this is rather a fun tune, and it still sounds rather fresh.  It could be put out today and would sound like a pastiche of its time, sure, but it is still strong enough to grab the attention.  Unlike many other big hits from that era (I dare any of you to remember "Frenesi", which had 13 weeks on top, after having heard it).

On an indie label to boot.

[raliverpool]

Is this the start of one your threads, possibly for previous to July 9th 1955?



As I think it would be interesting to review the era from Billboard's first "Music Popularity Chart" started on July 20th 1940 to nearly 15 years later.

[vastar iner]

Heh, no, I have one in mind but I'm still trying to dig out the raw data. Just that "Near You" is a good track that has lost its merited place in history for no logical reason.

[superman]

Check out the 16th of May Chart on the following website:
therealchart.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-charts-1948-to-1949.html

I think you will find your record selling well in the UK.