"Love Is A Many Splendored
Thing"
FOUR ACES
#1, 6 Weeks - Top 40, 21 Weeks
First Charted 08/27/55
Gold Record & Monster Hit
Disc Jockey #1 for 6 Weeks |
Top 100 #1 for 3 Weeks
Juke Box #1, 3 Weeks | Best Seller
# 1, 2 Weeks
Theme Song to the movie of the same title
starring William Holden & Jennifer Jones
Though The Four Aces' chart history was brief... spanning from January
1955 to October 1956, their "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing," far surpassed the ranking of any other "Fours"
hits, including the Four Lads, from Canada, who had two gold records and a chart history of 36 months, not the 22 of The Aces.
The Four Preps bridged the years from 1958 to late 1961.
Regardless, the great harmonies of the '50s groups with their often
thin instrumental backgrounds (Love Is A Many Splendored Thing is an exception a one of the reasons for its longevity) fell
victim to rock'n roll's broadening electric "wall of sound."
In 1961, The Miracles featuring Smokey Robinson broke into the charts
with their #2 hit "Shop Around." However, in 1962, The Four Seasons, led by Frankie Valli's falsetto
and catchy rhythms set a new course with "Sherry," which charted #1 for five full weeks and he
Top 40 for 12. "Sherry" went Gold. It was followed just one month latter with even a bigger hit, "Big Girls
Don't Cry." It, too, went Gold. And the Four Season would have two more Golds in "Rag Doll"
which charted #1 for two weeks and "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)" which charted #1 for 3 weeks.
Compared to the chart longvity of The Seasons (9/62 to
7/76 with yet a re-release of December 1963 in 9/94 which charted #14) and the Miracles (12/60 to 12/75), the Fours of the Fifities were but moths having a short life. Notwithstanding, the music of the Fiftie's Fours
remains today and is finding regained popularity.
In 1964, The Four Tops and The Temptations, both from
Detroit, joined in the chart race with a new sound that was to become known as "Motown!" The Temptations
made it into the Rock'n Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, with the Four Tops following in 1990. Both
groups along with The Supremes, who made the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and The Miracles were the Big Four
of the 60's Big Fours which help to establish Motown's sound and enduring popularity.
Of course in 1964, there was also "the other Four, "THE FAB FOUR,"
a.k.a The Beatles (21 GOLD HITS... 20, #1 HITS... 14, Others in the Top 10... 51 in the Top 40, all together). And that's
a whole other webpage of notes! Oddly, The Beatles music... other than wedding tunes "When I'm 64" and John Lennon's
"Grow Old With Me," are sparsely requested at the dj booth.
Overall, the Legacy of the Fours and four/five-part harmony is
remarkable; from Doo-Wop... through Motown and the British Invasion... to then on to what was to become know and the "Boyz"
and "Boy Bands." And while history may prove me wrong... I'll offer that the resurgence started right here
in BOSTON with the New Edition (a quintet) which was formed in 1982 by the same gent, Maurice Starr, who would then form
New Kids On The Block, (another quintet) also known as NKOTB. New Edition had a GOLD record in 10/84 titled
"Cool It Now." In August of 1988, NKOTB became the envy of NASA, for every song they launched from then on went
into "space" until 8/90. "Fasten You Seat Belts" for the report: 9
out of 9 songs made the Top 10... 4 of those 9 went GOLD... 2 of those 9 went PLATINUM. The "Kids" reached the apogee
of their launch all within 21 MONTHS! As NKOTB started their decent, BOYZ II Men (a Philadelphia
quartet, of course) launched with an even more impressive ascent though over a longer trajectory of 54 months:
8 of 11 tunes in the Top 10. Only 2 of those tunes went GOLD...
THAT'S B-E-C-A-U-S-E... 6 WENT PLATINUM! This was all accomplished in 54 months. Their songs "End Of The
Road," (#1, 13 Weeks - Top 40, 28 Weeks) and "I'll Make Love To You" ( #1, 14 Weeks - Top 40, 31 Weeks), plus "One Sweet Day"
with Mariah Carey (#1, 26 Weeks!) alone, occuppied the #1 position for 53 WEEKS without counting "It's So Hard To SayGoodbye To Yesterday," which held #1 for 4 weeks and "On Bended
Knee, which charted #1 for 6 weeks. Friends... that's 4 guys... singing 5 songs... to #1 for 64 WEEKS!
Fours - and Fives - will surely come and go...
but they will always be FOREVER FABULOUS!
Johnny
