“Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys (1966)
OK, if you want to get technical, the Beach Boys cover of the Regents’ “Barbara-Ann” hit number two on the charts before the Beatles’ double single. I just wanted to start you off with a two-fer. Besides, it was the same year. The Beach Boys released “Barbara Ann” at the very end of 1965, but it didn’t claim its number two position until the following year.
The “Barbara Ann” that the Beach Boys put out is a much more vocally dynamic version than the somewhat drone-like Regents’ song. The instrumentation is minimal, but it allows for some cool harmonies, and an undeniable paired lead from Brian Wilson and the Boys' pal Dean Torrence, of Jan and Dean fame. The Beach Boys already had a couple of number ones in the bank and would get there again with “Good Vibrations.”
Not many subsequent groups would try to outdo the Beach Boys’ version, but both the Who and John Travolta – as Vinnie Barbarino – would give it a try. Oh, and the song that prevented “Barbara Ann” from hitting number one? The Supremes” “You Can’t Hurry Love.” If you have to be a runner-up, that’s not a bad song to follow.
“Bad Moon Rising” by Credence Clearwater Revival (1969)
CCR was the king of the number twos. (That kind of sounds like it should be a Bloodhound Gang title, doesn’t it?) John Fogerty and the boys had five releases reach number two (seven, if you count both sides of the double-sided singles) without ever having a chart-topper. “Proud Mary” came first, and then later in the same year, it was “Bad Moon Rising,” one of their definitive swamp rockers.
Perhaps surprising to today’s audiences, Henry Mancini’s lovely piano-based arrangement of the “Love Theme from ‘Romeo and Juliet’” kept “Bad Moon Rising from number one. But don’t feel too bad – it showed up big time on the soundtrack of John Landis’ 1981 cult favorite “American Werewolf in London.”
“Kodachrome” by Paul Simon (1973)
“Kodachrome” was one of two songs that fell short of the top spot from Simon’s second solo album after breaking away from Art Garfunkel. The other near miss from There Goes Rhymin’ Simon was “Loves Me Like a Rock.” With Art Garfunkel, he had gotten to number one three times, but he would have to wait two more years to do it on his own, with 1975’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.”
Billy Preston’s “Will It Go ‘Round in Circles” was the song that blocked “Kodachrome.” That is a better fate than that of “Loves Me Like a Rock.” Cher’s “Half Breed” played the villain in that story.