This Week In Billboard Chart History: ‘Penny Lane’ Marks Beatles’ Route To No. 1
This week in 1967, the Fab Four beat a path to the top of the Hot 100. Plus, remembering key chart feats for Wilson Phillips, Joan Jett and Diddy.
Your weekly recap celebrating significant milestones from more than seven decades of Billboard chart history
March 17, 1990
Wilson Phillips made its chart debut, as “Hold On” entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 74. It would top the June 9, 1990, tally and become the No. 1 song of the year, as well as the trio’s first of three No. 1s. Adding to the song’s legacy, Wilson Phillips sang it in “Bridesmaids,” while, earlier this month, the cast of Fox’s “Glee” covered it. “I have my Billboard magazine laminated plaques on the wall of ‘Hold On,’ ‘Release Me’ and ‘You’re in Love,’ our No. 1 records,” Carnie Wilson told Billboard in 2012. “Honestly, I walk by every single day and I practically want to kiss them.”
March 18, 1967
The Beatles score their first of three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s in 1967, as “Penny Lane” strolls to the top. “All You Need Is Love” and “Hello Goodbye” would also reign before the end of the year.
March 19, 1988
Belinda Carlisle’s “I Get Weak” rose to its No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 peak. It marked her third visit to the top two: as part of the Go-Go’s, she reached No. 2 in in 1982 with “We Got the Beat.” In 1987, she topped the chart with her own “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.”
March 20, 1982
We loved it, too! Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” began a seven-week command of the Billboard Hot 100 32 years ago today.
March 21, 1981
Billboard’s first rock chart launches: the Mainstream Rock Songs survey. Who led the first list? Eric Clapton and His Band with “I Can’t Stand It.” (The Pretty Reckless’ “Heaven Knows” currently reigns.) Since, rock genre charts have expanded to include Alternative Songs (1988), Adult Alternative Songs (1996) and a host of album and digital songs surveys.
March 22, 1997
Diddy, then billed as Puff Daddy, tallied his first of five Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s to date, as “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” featuring Mase, began a six-week rule. The song incorporates Matthew Wilder’s 1984 top five hit “Break My Stride.”
March 23, 1996
Celine Dion’s ballad “Because You Loved Me” settled in for a six-week stay atop the Billboard Hot 100. It became one of nine No. 1s for writer extraordinaire Diane Warren, who’s also penned leaders for Chicago, Toni Braxton and Aerosmith, among others (as well as Belinda Carlisle’s “I Get Weak,” above).
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