Here is my last list of the renewing hit single. I define it as that pop single that lifts the artist to that place on the Billboard pop charts to where they had been in the past.
Upside Down – Diana Ross. In 1980, her first #1 since 1976’s Love Hangover.
Walk Away From Love – David Ruffin. He had two Top Ten songs, each reaching #9. This one from 1976, and his first solo hit, My Whole World Ended in 1969.
Winning – Santana. This track hit #17 in 1981. The previous Top 20 single was Everybody’s Everything, #12 in 1971.
Laughter In The Rain – Nel Sedaka. This song in 1975 was his first #1 since Breaking Up Is Hard To Do in 1962.
The Simons
Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon. The song from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me reached #2 in 1977. Her previous Top Five was Mockingbird in 1974, with James Taylor. Before that, You’re So Vain, #1 in 1973.
My Little Town – Simon and Garfunkel. This one-off reunion appeared on both Simon’s and Garfunkel’s solo albums as it went to #9 in 1975. Cecilia was their last Top Ten track, hitting #4 in 1970.
Strangers In The Night – Frank Sinatra. Went to #1 in 1966. His last Top Ten was Witchcraft, #6 in 1958. His previous #1, Learnin’ the Blues in 1955.
Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me, Girl – the Spinners. It was #2 in 1980. The Rubberband Man was #2 in 1976.
Streets of Philadelphia – Bruce Springsteen. Before this #9 track from the movie Philadelphia, he most recently reached the Top Ten in 1988 with Tunnel of Love, which also got to #9.
She Works Hard For The Money – Donna Summer, With ten Top Five songs between 1976 and 1980, at least one a year, ending with the #3 The Wanderer in 1980, it wasn’t until 1983 before she got her next one, a #3 smash.
Tee to Zee
Her Town Too – James Taylor. His track with J D Souther reached #11. His previous Top 20 track was Your Smiling Face, #20 in 1977.
My Melody of Love – Bobby Vinton. the last Top Song for him was I Love How You Love Me, #9 in 1968. His last Top 20 hit reached #3 in 1974. It’s sung partially in Polish, and I have a great deal of affection for it. For years, almost every time I’d visit my hometown of Binghamton, I’d hear this song on the radio.
What Does It Take – Jr. Walker and the All-Stars. Like his big hit, Shotgun in 1965, this song too reached #1, in 1969. On one of those Motown compilations, Junior complained that the songwriter kept pitching it, but that Junior didn’t think it was his style. The voiceover: “But the songwriter won out.” That would have been Johnny Bristol, Vernon Bullock, or Harvey Fuqua.
Higher and Higher – Jackie Wilson. the #6 single in 1967 was his first Top Ten finish since Baby Workout, #5 in 1963.
Just the Two of Us – Bill Withers. The collaboration with Grover Washington, Jr. reached #2 in 1981, as did Use Me in 1972.
Smell Like Nirvana – Weird Al Yankovic. He was not a singles success in the 20th century, but this song got to #35 in 1992. Previously, Fat hit #99 in ’88, and Like A Surgeon, #47 in 1985.
Time of the Season – the Zombies. The group had its previous Top 10 hit with Tell Her No, #6 in 1965. It had to break up to get another one, #3 in 1969.
