#1 This Week In 1992

Saint Etienne's first single, a cover of Neil Young's Only Love Can Break Your Heart, topped the Billboard dance chart for two weeks in late February 1992. The song was Young's first Top 40 hit as a solo artist, reaching #33 in 1970. The vocals on Saint Etienne's version are by Moira Lambert of Faith Over Reason, current lead singer Sarah Cracknell joined the band later. I was fortunate enough to attend one of Saint Etienne's rare U.S. performances in 2006 at NYC's Irving Plaza, my review is here.

CATALOG: While Saint Etienne has long been a gay favorite in the U.S., they have had scant chart success here, only hitting the dance charts with a handful of singles, most notably with 1993's Who Do You Think You Are? (#5) and 2006's Stars Above Us (#6). Only Love Can Break Your Heart was their sole entry on the pop charts, petering out at a miserable #97. However in the UK the band has been tremendously popular, scoring 17 Top 40 pop singles to date. One of their biggest UK hits was my personal favorite Saint Etienne track, 1995's gay nightclub anthem He's On The Phone (#11 UK pop.) If you are a Saint Etienne newbie, I recommend checking out their 1994 album Tiger Bay, which is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. And for fun, check out their cover of Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy, which was done as an AIDS fundraiser for the Terrence Higgins Trust.

TRIVIA: Only Love Can Break Your Heart has been covered by several noted artists such the Mint Juleps, the Corrs (lovely!), Elkie Brooks (in 1978 and kinda disco-y) and Psychic TV. Australian act Damien Leith took his version to #1 there. My favorite cover (aside from Saint Etienne's) is by former House Of Pain lead singer Everlast, which was on the Big Daddy soundtrack.

#1 This Week In 1966

This week in 1966, Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy scored her only solo #1 hit when These Boots Are Made For Walkin' spent one week at the top of Billboard's pop chart. Songwriter Lee Hazelwood told Sinatra to sing the song as if she were a 16 year-old giving the kiss-off to a 40 year-old man. The song's memorable bass line was played by jazz sessionist Chuck Berghofer, who played on numerous classic albums such as the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and Charlie Parker's Bird. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' was adopted as a theme song by American troops in Vietnam, leading to its inclusion in several war movies such as Full Metal Jacket. Nancy Sinatra continue to record and perform. In 1995 at age 54 she appeared topless in Playboy. In 2006 she recorded Another Gay Sunshine Day, the theme from Another Gay Movie.

CATALOG: Nancy Sinatra's only other #1 pop hit was the duet with her father, 1967's Something Stupid. I think this is the only father-daughter #1 pop hit ever. Anybody? Among Nancy's total of ten Top 40 hits are Sugar Town (#5, 1966), the These Boots ripoff How Does That Grab You, Darlin? (#7, 1966), and her duet with Lee Hazelwood, Jackson (#14, 1967), which was the flip side of her theme from the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. I love Shirley Bassey, but Nancy's Bond theme is my absolute favorite. As for Jackson, you're probably more familiar with Johnny Cash and June Carter's version, which won them a Grammy in 1968.

TRIVIA: These Boots Are Made For Walkin' has been covered by hundreds of artists, most successfully by Jessica Simpson for the soundtrack of The Dukes Of Hazzard (#14, 2005). Lee Hazelwood sued Megadeth for their version, calling it a "perversion of the original." Other notable covers were recorded by Loretta Lynn, the Supremes, 70's disco artist Amanda Lear, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, Jewel, and Boy George.

#1 This Week In 1985

This week in 1985, Smalltown Boy, the debut single from UK gay dance trio Bronski Beat, hit #1 on the Billboard dance chart for its only week. The tortured lyrics, haunting melody and heartbreaking video (which depicts a gay bashing) made the song an immediate gay anthem worldwide and it remains a staple of gay nightclubs today. My roommate and I happened across the import 12" of Smalltown Boy in the summer of 1984 and spent the next year collecting every possible mix and 12" sleeve from around the world. I can vividly recall the first day we brought it home and played it dozens of times, pronouncing each playing more profound that the last. Quite simply, there had never been anything remotely like it. The video was directed by Bernard Rose, who also did Relax and Two Tribes for Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It got scant airplay on MTV, no doubt to its content, and we took to recording MTV overnight until we finally captured it. It's 25 years later and I'd still put Smalltown Boy in my lifetime Top 10.

CATALOG: Smalltown Boy hit #3 on the UK pop chart, #48 on the U.S pop chart. Its follow-up, Why?, was also about gay-bashing and reached #5 in the UK. Other notable singles were their cover of It Ain't Necessarily So (1984), and their collaboration with Soft Cell's Marc Almond on a cover of Donna Summer's I Feel Love (#3 UK, 1985). Lead singer Jimmy Sommerville left that year - after only one album with Bronski Beat - to form the Communards, but several months later Bronksi Beat had another hit with new lead singer John Jon in Hit That Perfect Beat (#3 UK, #3 US dance). I recall being so overcome by hearing Hit That Perfect Beat at Washington DC's Lost & Found that summer, that I actually co-howled the "ow ow owoooo!" part on the dance floor, much to the embarrassment of my dance partner. John Jon also left Bronksi Beat after one album and in 1989 the band had their last big hit with their third lead singer, Jonathan Hellyer, when they collaborated with Eartha Kitt on Cha Cha Heels, which was based on a line from John Water's Female Trouble. Cha Cha Heels was intended to be recorded with Divine, but she died in 1988 before the record could be made.

TRIVIA: Smalltown Boy has been covered by handful of pop artists such as Tori Amos, but for some reason it has become a popular song for heavy metal bands. Check out cover versions by Depressive Age, Paradise Lost, The Fire, and a fairly faithful take on the song by the Atomic Bees.

RELATED: Bronski Beat was one of the first pop acts to tackle LGBT rights in their lyrics, from the stage, and in their liner notes. The liner notes on their debut album, The Age Of Consent, listed the disparity between heterosexual and homosexual ages of consent in countries around the world, although MCA Records deleted the information from the U.S. version in its second pressing once they realized what it was about. The 12" of Smalltown Boy had the phone number for London's gay teen switchboard scratched into its center.

#1 This Week In 1977

This week in 1977, the Trammps, an 11-member disco/R&B band from Philadelphia, were in the middle of their six week run at the top of Billboard's dance chart with Disco Inferno, a song that went on to be one of the famous and enduring singles of the entire disco era. Originally released in 1976, the single did not have much success on the pop charts, reaching an anemic #53 despite its popularity in the clubs. At the end of 1977, Disco Inferno was included on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, which I remember thinking at the time was an odd choice, since the song was so played out in the clubs by then. (There were a couple of other relative oldies on the SNF soundtrack, such as the Bee Gees' Jive Talkin' from 1975.) Due to the success of the soundtrack, Disco Inferno was re-released in 1978 and reached #11 on the pop chart that May, almost two years after its initial release. In 1979 the Trammps shared the Grammy for Best Soundtrack with the other artists on the album. Surviving members of the Trammps continue to tour today, with Double Exposure's Jimmy Williams now on lead vocals.

CATALOG: Disco Inferno is my least favorite Trammps song. You should check out their other hits, such their 1972 cover of Judy Garland's Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart. Other chart successes: 1973's Love Epidemic, 1974's fantastic Hold Back The Night (#40 pop, #10 R&B), 1975's That's Where The Happy People Go (#27 pop), and 1977's tribute to the first NYC blackout, The Night The Lights Went Out. There doesn't appear to be a YouTube clip for Feels Like I've Been Livin' (On The Dark Side Of The Moon), but that's a really great track as well.

TRIVIA: Disco Inferno has been covered by a number of acts, some ironically, some in tribute. Tina Turner reached #8 on the dance chart with her cover in 1993, as did Cyndi Lauper in 1999. Here's a great performance clip of Tina Turner doing Disco Inferno in 1979, back when she was still a Vegas lounge act. Madonna also incorporates Disco Inferno into her live shows.

RELATED: It should be noted that a large portion of Disco Inferno's success should be credited to pionering gay remixer and Fire Island DJ Tom Moulton, whose 11-minute 12" take on the song was so strangely EQ'd for its day, that DJs often used it to test their equipment. It should also be noted that I learned my first line dance to Disco Inferno over 33 years ago and I can still do the dance today.

#1 This Week In 1968

This week in 1968, Paul Mauriat's instrumental cover of Greek singer Vicky Leandros' Love Is Blue spent the last of its five weeks at #1 on the Billboard pop chart. Representing Luxembourg, Leandros finished 4th with her French version of the song at the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. Leandros went on to win Eurovision for Luxembourg in 1972 with Apres Toi.

Mauriat's version is the biggest U.S. success ever for a song that was a Eurovision entry. (I believe ABBA's 1974 Eurovision-winning Waterloo, which reached #6 here, is the second-most successful, though I might be wrong about that.) Mauriat is also the only French artist ever to have a #1 single on the U.S. pop chart. In 1976 Mauriat released a disco version called Love Is Still Blue, which I consider to be the worst single in the history of the revered Salsoul Records. Mauriat died in 2006 at age 81. Vicky Leandros continues to perform and had moderate success in the late 90's with a dance version of the theme from Titanic.

TRIVIA: The vocal version of Love Is Blue has been covered in English by numerous artists including Johnny Mathis, Mitzi Gaynor, Marty Robbins, and gay singer Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. Jeff Beck's cover was a minor hit the same year as Mauriat's.

RELATED: Like millions of others, I had to perform Love Is Blue for my fifth grade piano recital.

UPDATE: Totally wrong about ABBA. See comments!

#1 This Week In 1986

This week in 1986, Grace Jones topped the Billboard dance chart for one week with Slave To The Rhythm. Producer Trevor Horn originally intended the record to be Frankie Goes To Hollywood's follow-up single to Relax, but had Jones provide the vocals after he created an eight song concept album in which each cut was a completely different interpretation of Slave To The Rhythm. (I would still love to hear Holly Johnson take it on.) The version which was the hit single (which features British actor Ian McShane) is actually titled Ladies And Gentleman: Miss Grace Jones, which led to complaints years later when a greatest hits package was issued with the wrong track. Three months ago Jones released her tenth studio album, the well-received Hurricane, after a 19 year break from recording. Slave To The Rhythm continues to be a late-night/morning music staple of gay DJs.

TRIVIA: Despite her worldwide chart success and fame in U.S., Grace Jones has never hit the American Top 40. Her most successful pop single was her first, Sorry, which reached #71 in 1976 and was included on her 1977 debut album of discofied showtunes, Portfolio. Over on the dance chart, Jones has scored 11 top tens, including 1977's I Need A Man (#1), 1977's La Vie En Rose (#10 and my personal favorite Jones track), 1978's Do Or Die (#3), 1981's Pull Up To The Bumper (#2 dance/#5 R&B), 1982's Nipple To The Bottle (#2), 1986's I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You) (#4 dance, #9 R&B), 1989's Love On Top Of Love (#1), and 1993's Sexdrive (#1).

#1 This Week In 1972

Fifty years ago today, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash in rural Iowa. And this week in 1972, Don McLean's tribute song to the three and to rock-n-roll in general, American Pie, spent the last of its four weeks at #1 on Billboard's pop chart. Clocking in at more than eight and a half minutes, American Pie is longest song to ever hit #1. The lyrics to American Pie, considered to be an almost exhaustive examination of then young history of rock-n-roll and the counterculture, are among the most studied of any song in rock history and have been the subject of countless college theses. Directly name-checked in American Pie are John Lennon, Karl Marx, the Byrds, and James Dean. But far more numerous are the allusions to counterculture touchstones such as Bob Dylan, Woodstock, the Beatles, Charles Manson, Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger, Altamont, the Hell's Angels, marijuana, and the 1968 Democratic convention. The Songs Of The Century Project lists American Pie as the fifth most significant song of the 20th century

TRIVIA: Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly is about Don McLean. American Pie has been covered and parodied by numerous artists. Amusingly, the first cover appeared in 1972 on the Brady Bunch's Meet The Brady Bunch. Other noted artists to cover American Pie include Weird Al Yankovic, Catch 22, Tori Amos, Chris de Burgh, and Garth Brooks, who performed the song at Barack Obama's inauguration concert. In 2000, Madonna's dance take on American Pie reached #29 on the pop chart and #1 on dance. Incidentally, Don McLean considers the expression "cover version" to be racist, as its origin came in the versions of hit R&B songs that white artists hastily recorded in order to, in McLean's words, "keep black artists on black radio where they belonged." McLean is technically right, of course, but decades later the expression has lost its original meaning.

RELATED: At this writing, I cannot think of another song that I dislike as passionately as American Pie.

#1 This Week In 1966

This week in February 1966, Loretta Lynn scored her first of eleven #1 songs on Billboard's country chart with Don't Come Home A'Drinkin' (With Lovin' On Your Mind). Her album of the same title went on to be the first by a female country artist to be certified gold. Although Lynn hit the country Top 40 almost fifty times in her career, she never once had a cross-over pop hit. Her most successful foray onto the pop singles chart was 1975's controversial The Pill, which only reached #70. Said to be the first record about birth control, The Pill was banned from country radio but still reached #1 on the country chart. (The lyrics are a riot.) Loretta Lynn continues to record and perform and in 2004 released the fantastic Van Lear Rose, which was produced by the White Stripes' Jack White. Highly recommended and my favorite album from that year.

TRIVIA: Also in 1966, Loretta Lynn's brother Jay Lee Webb released an answer record to Don't Come Home A'Drinkin called I Come Home A'Drinkin' (To A Worn Out Wife Like You). In 1967 Tammy Wynette included a cover of Don't Come Home for her classic album Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad.

#1 This Week In 1977

In January 1977 Rose Royce took their debut single Car Wash, the theme from the blaxploitation movie of the same name, to #1 on the pop chart for one week. The single was written and produced by Motown's legendary Norman Whitfield, who took Rose Royce with him when he jumped ship for MCA Records. Rose Royce scored three more Top 40 singles: I Wanna Get Next To You (#10 and also from Car Wash), 1977's Do Your Dance (#39 and a total rip off of Car Wash), and 1978's Love Don't Live Here Anymore (#32). The group continues to be popular in the UK, where they have scored nine Top 40 hits, including the #18 remake titled Car Wash '98.

TRIVIA: Rose Royce covers abound. The Cover Girls hit #9 in 1992 with Wishing On A Star, which was also covered by Teena Marie, Paul Weller, and Beyonce. In 1996 Madonna had small success with Love Don't Live Here Anymore (#78), which was also covered by Faith Evans, Joe Cocker, and Patti Labelle. My favorite Rose Royce track, the minor hit I'm Going Down (#70), was covered by Mary J. Blige, reaching #14 in 1995. Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliot's cover of Car Wash reached #63 in 2004.

RELATED: Antonio "Huggy Bear' Fargas' gay character in Car Wash was one of the first loud and proud queens I'd ever seen in a movie. "Honey, I'm more man than you'll ever be and more woman than you'll ever get!" Suh-NAP.

UPDATE: World famous and legendary DJ Jerry Bonham points out that S'Express' monster 1988 hit, Theme From S'Express, is mostly based on a lengthy sample of Rose Royce's 1978 song, Is It Love You're After.

# This Week In 1974

Ringo Starr's cover of Johnny Burnette's 1960 #8 hit, You're Sixteen, hit #1 for one week in January 1974. It was Starr's second of two #1's as a solo artist, the other being 1973's Photograph. Paul McCartney plays the kazoo, making You're Sixteen the only #1 record in history to feature a kazoo solo. You should be able to identify the now world famous 16 year-old in this video, although I'm thinking that these days people would take a dim view of a scruffy-looking 33 year-old rock star singing about his 16 year-old lover.

TRIVIA: As a solo artist, Ringo Starr scored ten Top 40 hits, his last in 1981. In addition to the two #1's listed above, his biggest hits were 1971's It Don't Come Easy (#4), 1972's Back Off Boogaloo (#9), 1974's Oh My My (#5), 1974's Only You (And You Alone) (#6), and 1975's No No Song (#3).

#1 This Week In 1982

In January 1982, Wordy Rappinghood and Genius Of Love, two tracks from the debut album of the Talking Heads' side project, Tom Tom Club, shared the #1 slot on Billboard's dance chart for one week. Comprised of Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Franz, Tom Tom Club has released six albums to date, the most recent a live set in 2003. These two tracks, Genius Of Love in particular, have become among the most influential and heavily sampled records in dance history. Genius Of Love only reached #34 on the pop singles chart, but Mariah Carey's take on the song, Fantasy, topped the pop charts in 1995 for eight weeks and the remix hit #1 on the dance chart as well. Of the two however, Wordy Rappinghood is my favorite. It's OK, I've overstood.

TRIVIA: Among the zillion rap acts that have sampled Genius Of Love are Tupac Shakur, Cam'Ron, Redman, and P.M. Dawn. My favorite is Genius Rap by Dr. Jeckyll And Mr. Hyde. In 2004, Chicks On Speed put out a decent version of Wordy Rappinghood.

#1 This Week In 1970

This week in 1970, the first single by the Jackson 5, I Want You Back, topped the singles chart for one week. It was the only single released from their debut album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, although the group was actually brought to Motown by Gladys Knight after she saw them perform at Amateur Night At The Apollo in NYC. Motown was in the process of separating Diana Ross from the Supremes in the public's mind and and even had Ross introduce the group in concert and on television to help in that process. (I Want You Back was originally written as I Wanna Be Free and was intended for Ross to record.) In another bit of deception, Motown fudged Michael Jackson's age to the press, claiming him to be 8, not 11, and therefore, cuter. Foreshadowing, anyone?

TRIVIA: I Want You Back was the first of four consecutive #1's for the Jackson Five. It was followed by ABC, The Love You Save, and I'll Be There, all of which hit #1 in 1970 as well. The Jackson Five was the first act to hit #1 with their first four singles.

#1 This Week In 1971

In 1971 Knock Three Times was the first #1 single for Dawn, topping the chart for three weeks after the #3 success with their debut single in 1970, Candida. Comprised of Tony Orlando, Telma Hopkins, and Joyce Vincent Wilson, the group's name later morphed to Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando and finally, Tony Orlando And Dawn. Hopkins and Wilson didn't actually sing on Knock Three Times, having only been hired to tour the record with Tony Orlando after it had become a hit. The group had a total of 14 top 40 singles, including two more #1's: 1973's Tie A Yellow Ribbon and 1975's He Don't Love You (Like I Love You).

TRIVIA: The Tony Orlando And Dawn Show ran for two seasons on CBS beginning in 1974 when it replaced the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. Telma Hopkins went on to a successful career in sitcoms with lengthy runs in many shows including Family Matters and Gimme A Break. Joyce Vincent Wilson has recently been touring with FLOS, Former Ladies Of the Supremes, of which she is not one.

COOL TRIVIA: Telma Hopkins is the woman who shouts "Shut your mouth!" in Isacc Hayes' Theme From Shaft. Well, I can dig it.

#1 This Week In 1965

Two months after she took it to #2 in the UK, this week in 1965 Petula Clark topped the U.S. pop charts for two weeks with Downtown, becoming the first British woman to have a #1 single in America. The first of 15 consecutive U.S. top 40 hits for Clark, Downtown won the 1965 Grammy for Best Rock And Roll Song and in 2004 was listed in the Grammy Hall Of Fame. Originally intended for the Drifters, Downtown was composed by British songwriter Tony Hatch after his first visit to New York City.

TRIVIA: Downtown has been covered by numerous artists, most successfully in the U.S. by Dolly Parton, who in 1984 took it to #27 on the country charts. The disco remix of Parton's cover was a particular favorite of gay T-dance DJs. In 2006, Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton took her version to #3 on the UK charts. Of course, the all time greatest cover of Downtown was recorded by the B-52s in 1978.

UPDATE: By popular demands in the comments, here's Mrs. Miller's cover of Downtown.

#1 This Week In 1975

In 1975 Shirley Goodman and Jesus Alvarez teamed up to create Shirley And Company, taking their disco record Shame, Shame, Shame to #1 on the dance chart for four weeks. The single, which featured a cartoon of Shirley and Richard Nixon on the cover, peaked at #12 on the pop chart. You may know Shirley Goodman better from the early rock-n-roll and New Orleans classic, (C'mon Baby)Let The Good Times Roll, which as Shirley & Lee, she and Leonard Lee took to #1 in 1956. Goodman died of a stroke in 2005 at age 69. Jesus changed his name to Jason and is now pastor of the Love Of Jesus Church in West Orange, New Jersey. (Note: I'm pretty sure that some other guy is lip-syncing Alvarez in this video, but the dude IS very entertaining).

TRIVIA: Shirley Goodman sang backup on the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street, as well as on records for Sonny & Cher, Dr. John, and many others. Even though they weren't a couple in real life, Shirley & Lee had a long string of hits with novelty "answer records": Shirley Come Back To Me, Shirley's Back, The Proposal, and Lee Goofed.

#1 This Week In 1991

This week in 1991, Love Will Never Do (Without You), the seventh and final single from Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814, topped the Billboard pop chart for one week. It was written and produced by the now legendary team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, both formerly of Prince's opening act, The Time. The video was directed by famed fashion photographer Herb Ritts and was the second of his iconic trio of sexy black & white + sand music videos, the first being Madonna's Cherish, the third being Chris Isaak's Wicked Game. The video for Love Will Never Do (Without You) featured appearances from Calvin Klein underwear models Antonio Sabato Jr. and Djimon Hounsou, both of whom went on to acting careers, the latter somewhat more successfully.

TRIVIA: With Love Will Never Do (Without You), Janet Jackson became the only artist in chart history to score seven Top Five singles from one album. The clip won three MTV Music Awards that year: Best Female Video, Best Choreography, and Best Art Direction.

#1 This Week In 1980

With the help of legendary disco diva Loleatta Holloway, in 1980 gay-but-closeted rocker Dan Hartman took Vertigo/Relight My Fire to the top of Billboard's dance chart for six weeks. For the last three decades the tracks has remained a popular staple of gay dance clubs worldwide. Craig Peyton's jazzy electric vibe solo on Vertigo is my favorite bit, but I also love the strings and horns provided by MFSB in Relight My Fire. Prior to his foray into dance music, Hartman was a member of the hard rocking Edgar Winter Group, writing and singing lead vocal on their classic 1972 smash Free Ride, and playing guitar on their monster #1 instrumental anthem from the same year, Frankenstein. Hartman died of AIDS in 1994, never having come out.

TRIVIA: Hartman's other dance classic, 1978's #1 charting Instant Replay, is frequently used by nightclubs on New Year's Eve due to its countdown opening. As a solo artist Hartman scored six Top 40 singles on the pop charts, the biggest of which was I Can Dream About You which reached #6 in 1984 as the lead single from the soundtrack of Streets Of Fire. In 1993 British boy band Take That took their cover of Relight My Fire to #1 in the UK, with Lulu singing Loleatta Holloway's part.

#1 This Week In 1969

In 1969, Marvin Gaye took his version of I Heard It Through The Grapevine to the top of the pop charts for seven weeks, far eclipsing the #2 position achieved by Gladys Knight & The Pips two years earlier. It was Gaye's first #1 single and the biggest hit of his career, not to mention the biggest hit for Motown Records in all of the 1960's. (And that's saying something.) Songwriter/producer Norman Whitfield had test recorded the song with several top acts in the Motown stable, including Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and the Isley Brothers, but label head Berry Gordy nixed the release of their versions in favor of Gaye's and Gladys Knight's. The legendary Funk Brothers played the music on both versions.

TRIVIA: I Heard It Through The Grapevine is one of the most-covered records in Motown history, with well-received versions made by Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Temptations, Undisputed Truth, and Average White Band. And let us not forget the California Raisins. However, my favorite version is easily that of The Slits.

#1 This Week In 1993

In 1992, producers David Cole and Robert Clivilles of C&C Music Factory hired Michelle Visage (the white chick in the freestyle girl group Seduction) to create the annoyingly punctuated group S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. Their rap/dance cover of Bill Wither's 1976 hit Lovely Day spent two weeks at the top of Billboard's dance chart in 1993 as It's Gonna Be (A Lovely Day), but was the only track ever released as S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. The Palladium Remix was the most popular version in the clubs, there's an audio-only clip here. It's Gonna Be (A Lovely Day) was included on the soundtrack to The Bodyguard, winning S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M a Grammy and selling more than 40 million units worldwide, probably earning them more money for this single track than any of their other projects.

TRIVIA: Michelle Visage went to become a NYC radio personality and the co-host of RuPaul's short-lived VH1 talk show. Currently she's a radio DJ in South Florida. As C&C Music Factory, Cole and Clivilles scored six #1 dance singles and three Top Five pop singles including the #1 pop record Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now). Tragically, in 1995 David Cole died of spinal meningitis.

RELATED: I remember sitting in Hombre in South Beach around 4am, watching this video in a room full of men as beautiful as the ones in the clip and thinking, "Man, I hope South Beach lasts forever." I always think of this clip when I walk past the hotel where it was shot, but can't remember its name at the moment. Anyone? UPDATE: It's the Shelborne Hotel.

#1 This Week In 1971

In 1971 George Harrison's My Sweet Lord became the first single by an ex-Beatle to go to #1, staying there for three weeks. It's the only #1 song in chart history with Hindi lyrics, as the background singers sing the traditional Hare Krishna prayer. Harrison provided lead vocals and engineered the recording, with frequent Beatles sideman Billy Preston playing all instruments, except for eventual Yes member Alan White who played drums. The record was listed on a charts as a double-sided single with Isn't It A Pity, although Pity was much less played.

My Sweet Lord entangled Harrison in a years-long plagiarism battle due to its striking similarity to the Chiffon's 1963 smash He's So Fine. Harrison claimed the song had been inspired by the Edwin Hawkins Singers' Oh Happy Day, but a federal judge found Harrison to have unintentionally copied He's So Fine and he had to surrender most of the royalties. Ironically, the Chiffons later covered My Sweet Lord and Harrison bought the rights to He's So Fine.

TRIVIA: After My Sweet Lord, Harrison went on to land 12 more Top 40 singles as a solo artist including two more #1's: 1973's Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) and 1987's Got My Mind Set On You. In 2002 a posthumous release of My Sweet Lord returned to #1 in the UK.