# A Capella Top 40 Hits **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577 "2001-09-03T22:19:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/21 "2014-09-27T16:02:35Z")
> [@jpettigove](#): > > Longest time by Billie Joel in the 80’s - Awesome song As pointed out earlier, this song has a bass line, and so is not _a capella_. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/22 "2014-09-27T16:52:33Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > You beat me to this. Only by 13 years. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/23 "2014-09-27T17:03:42Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Only by 13 years. Wow, I really do have to learn to pay more attention to the posting dates in these threads! :o ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/24 "2014-09-28T02:29:29Z")
I thought “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega might be a contender, but a quick look at Wikipedia indicates it never cracked the Top 40 (although the D&A remix certainly did). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/25 "2014-09-28T03:00:13Z")
There should be a helpful little zombie icon attached to these old threads. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/26 "2014-09-28T03:25:20Z")
Take 6’s “Spread Love” won a Grammy – does it have to be pop Top 40? ---
**Author:** ![Sharp\_Kid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sharp\_Kid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sharp_Kid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/27 "2016-07-19T14:02:53Z")
Very old thread. Struggling for the right answer to “other than Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin, have any other a capella songs gone to number one both sides of the Atlantic?” Found this thread in my Google searching and had to mention that Because I got High is not a capella. It has instrumental accompaniment. Can anyone help me with my question while I’m here? I am such a loser. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/28 "2016-07-19T16:27:02Z")
Huey Lewis & the News did a fair number of a capella songs. None made the top 40? ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/29 "2016-07-19T20:39:16Z")
Pentatonix got to number one here, did they do it in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/30 "2016-07-20T05:34:31Z")
Here’s a real oddity–[Cheech and Chong’s “Sister Mary Elephant”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWIxCbB9-JA), which hit the top 40 in early 1974 despite the fact it has no music OR singing. According to chart expert Joel Whitburn, it’s the only top 40 record with neither. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577/31 "2016-07-20T17:33:46Z")
I don’t know if it was the a cappella version that charted, I can’t really tell from [the Wiki article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_It), but the _ **Yes** _ song _**[Leave It](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5RdFByIQH8)**_ was released in an a cappella version that I remember hearing on the radio more often than the album version (probably because it’s much, much better performed a cappella)… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-capella-top-40-hits/79577.md?page=1)