# No. 1 Instrumentals **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2001, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465 "2001-11-27T06:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Candlemas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Candlemas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candlemas)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/1 "2001-11-27T06:11:03Z")
Since 1950, how many instrumentals have claimed the # 1 spot on Billboard’s weekly list? Have any ever done it twice, either by the same or a different artist? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/2 "2001-11-27T07:09:28Z")
This will probably get better results in Cafe Society. Off to Cafe Society. **DrMatrix** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/3 "2001-11-27T14:07:31Z")
In the UK, as far as I am aware, we have: _O Mein Papa_ Eddie Calvert (Jan 1954) _Let’s Have Another Party_ Winifred Atwell (Dec 1954) _Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White_ Perez Prado (Apr 1955) _Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White_ Eddie Calvert (May 1955) _Poor People Of Paris_ Winifred Atwell (Apr 1956) _Side Saddle_ Russ Conway (Mar 1959) _Roulette_ Russ Conway (Jun 1959) _Apache_ The Shadows\* (Aug 1960) _On The Rebound_ Floyd Cramer (May 1961) _Kon-Tiki_ The Shadows (Oct 1961) _Wonderful Land_ The Shadows (Mar 1962) _Nut Rocker_ B Bumble & The Stingers (May 1962) _Telstar_ The Tornados (Oct 1962) _Dance On!_ The Shadows (Jan 1963) _Diamonds_ Jet Harris & Tony Meehan (Jan 1963) _Foot Tapper_ The Shadows (Mar 1963) _The Good The Bad & the Ugly_ Hugo Montenegro (Nov 1968) _Albatross_ Fleetwood Mac (Jan 1969) _Amazing Grace_ Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Apr 1972) _Eye Level_ Simon Park Orchestra (Sep 1973) The above list may contain errors & omissions for which I apologise in advance. I was unable to locate a definitive breakdown of No. 1 instrumentals. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/4 "2001-11-27T14:25:31Z")
_ **Love Is Blue** _ by Paul Mauriat in 1968 comes to mind… ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/5 "2001-11-27T14:27:35Z")
Also _ **Wonderland by Night** _ by Bert Kampfert in 1961. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/6 "2001-11-28T00:37:15Z")
Thanks to my handy dandy Joel Whitburn collection, including “Top Pop singles 1940-1955” and “Top Pop Artists & Singles 1955-1978” and “Top 40 hits 1955-1995,” here’s what we get, including the week it peaked at #1 (or the middle of its run at the top if it stayed longer) 1950 - 4/21 “Third Man Theme” Anton Karas 1952 - 5/9 “Blue Tango” LeRoy Anderson 1952 - 6/7 “Delicado” Percy Faith 1953 - 5/9 “Song from Moulin Rouge” Percy Faith 1955 - 4/20 “Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White” Perez Prado 1955 - 5/4 “Unchained Melody” Les Baxter 1955 - 10/19 “Autumn Leaves” Roger Williams 1956 - 2/15 “Lisbon Antigua” Nelson Riddle 1956 - 3/7 “The Poor People of Paris” Les Baxter 1956 - 5/23 “Moonglow and Theme from ‘Picnic’” Morris Stoloff 1958 - 3/8 “Tequila” The Champs 1958 - 7/19 “Patricia” Perez Prado 1959 - 5/17 “The Happy Organ” Dave “Baby” Cortez 1959 - 9/27 “Sleep Walk” Santo & Johnny 1960 - 2/28 “The Theme from ‘A Summer’s Place’” Percy Faith 1961 - 1/15 “Wonderland by Night” Bert Kaempfert 1961 - 2/19 “Calcutta” Lawrence Welk 1962 - 5/26 “Stranger on the Shore” Mr. Acker Bilk 1962 - 7/7 “The Stripper” David Rose 1962 - 12/22 “Telstar” The Tornadoes 1968 - 2/10 “Love is Blue” Paul Mauriat 1968 - 7/20 “Grazing in the Grass” Hugh Masekela 1969 - 6/28 “Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet” Henry Mancini 1974 - 2/9 “Love’s Theme” Love Unlimited Orchestra 1975 - 2/8 “Fire” Ohio Players 1975 - 2/22 “Pick Up the Pieces” AWB 1975 - 7/26 “The Hustle” Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony 1976 - 2/28 “Theme from S.W.A.T.” Rhythm Heritage 1976 - 10/9 "A Fifth of Beethoven " Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band 1977 - 7/2 “Gonna Fly Now (Theme from ‘Rocky’)” Bill Conti 1977 - 10/1 “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” Meco 1978 - 12/09 “Le Freak” Chic 1979 - 10/20 “Rise” Herb Alpert 1982 - 5/08 “Chariots of Fire” Vangelis 1985 - 11/09 “Miami Vice Theme” Jan Hammer To be honest, I’m not sure if “Deliciado” has lyrics. And some of the others are open to interpretation. How much vocal disqualifies a song as an instrumental? Surely the occaisional shouted “Tequila” shouldn’t remove The Champs from the list, but how about the chorus on “Calcutta,” which remains (IMHO) primarily an instrumental? Then there are disco era tunes like “The Hustle,” “Le Freak,” etc. and others, with some proportion of lyrics. I may have missed some other disco era songs I have tried to block out. As always, YMMV. Hometownboy P.S. On this side of the pond, “Apache” made it to #2 ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/7 "2001-11-28T01:44:53Z")
by **The Ventures** didn’t make it? Damn! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/8 "2001-11-28T01:52:22Z")
I think that **Tubular Bells** may have been at #1 in 1974. ---
**Author:** ![cleops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@cleops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleops)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/9 "2001-11-28T02:32:37Z")
Last Date by Floyd Cramer? And Wipeout? No? Bongo Rock by Preston Epps? Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/10 "2001-11-28T03:47:29Z")
Not _Billboard_, but Horst Jankowski’s unforgettable **A Walk in the Black Forest** occupied the number 1 spot for several weeks in Australia in the Summer of 1965 :eek: (thereby blocking “Help” by the Beatles) [sub][sup]Note that various revisionist factions Down-Under would prefer that this fact remain suppressed.[/sup][/sub] ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/11 "2001-11-28T12:29:47Z")
My limited resources suggest that \* Washington Square \* by The Village Stompers made #1 on Billboard, 10/5/63 (Neat thread!) ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/12 "2001-11-28T15:12:28Z")
Below, in bold, I’ve added a couple more songs to the list of U.S. #1 instumental hits: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hometownboy \* > Thanks to my handy dandy Joel Whitburn collection, including “Top Pop singles 1940-1955” and “Top Pop Artists & Singles 1955-1978” and “Top 40 hits 1955-1995,” > here’s what we get, including the week it peaked at #1 (or the middle of its run at the top if it stayed longer) > > 1950 - 4/21 “Third Man Theme” Anton Karas > > 1952 - 5/9 “Blue Tango” LeRoy Anderson > 1952 - 6/7 “Delicado” Percy Faith > > 1953 - 5/9 “Song from Moulin Rouge” Percy Faith > > 1955 - 4/20 “Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White” Perez Prado > 1955 - 5/4 “Unchained Melody” Les Baxter > 1955 - 10/19 “Autumn Leaves” Roger Williams > > 1956 - 2/15 “Lisbon Antigua” Nelson Riddle > 1956 - 3/7 “The Poor People of Paris” Les Baxter > 1956 - 5/23 “Moonglow and Theme from ‘Picnic’” Morris Stoloff > > 1958 - 3/8 “Tequila” The Champs > 1958 - 7/19 “Patricia” Perez Prado > > 1959 - 5/17 “The Happy Organ” Dave “Baby” Cortez > 1959 - 9/27 “Sleep Walk” Santo & Johnny > > 1960 - 2/28 “The Theme from ‘A Summer’s Place’” Percy Faith > > 1961 - 1/15 “Wonderland by Night” Bert Kaempfert > 1961 - 2/19 “Calcutta” Lawrence Welk > > 1962 - 5/26 “Stranger on the Shore” Mr. Acker Bilk > 1962 - 7/7 “The Stripper” David Rose > 1962 - 12/22 “Telstar” The Tornadoes > > 1968 - 2/10 “Love is Blue” Paul Mauriat > 1968 - 7/20 “Grazing in the Grass” Hugh Masekela > > 1969 - 6/28 “Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet” Henry Mancini > > **1973 - 5/26 “Frankinstein” The Edgar Winter Group** > > 1974 - 2/9 “Love’s Theme” Love Unlimited Orchestra > **1974 - 4/20 “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” MFSB featuring the Three Degrees** > > 1975 - 2/22 “Pick Up the Pieces” AWB > 1975 - 7/26 “The Hustle” Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony > > 1976 - 2/28 “Theme from S.W.A.T.” Rhythm Heritage > 1976 - 10/9 "A Fifth of Beethoven " Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band > > 1977 - 7/2 “Gonna Fly Now (Theme from ‘Rocky’)” Bill Conti > 1977 - 10/1 “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” Meco > > 1979 - 10/20 “Rise” Herb Alpert > > 1982 - 5/08 “Chariots of Fire” Vangelis > > 1985 - 11/09 “Miami Vice Theme” Jan Hammer > > To be honest, I’m not sure if “Deliciado” has lyrics. > > And some of the others are open to interpretation. How much vocal disqualifies a song as an instrumental? Surely the occaisional shouted “Tequila” shouldn’t remove The Champs from the list, but how about the chorus on “Calcutta,” which remains (IMHO) primarily an instrumental? Then there are disco era tunes like “The Hustle,” “Le Freak,” etc. and others, with some proportion of lyrics. I may have missed some other disco era songs I have tried to block out. > > As always, YMMV. > > Hometownboy Also, the following two songs, from the original list, are not listed as instrumentals in Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, and I agree with him: \*\*1975 - 2/8 “Fire” Ohio Players 1978 - 12/09 “Le Freak” Chic \*\* Answering some other questions, The Ventures’ biggest hit, “Walk-Don’t Run” only got to #2 in the U.S., as did “Last Date”, “Wipe Out” and “Washington Square”. “Bongo Rock” and “A Walk in the Black Forest” both peaked at #14. “Tubular Bells” got no higher than 7th. ---
**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/13 "2001-11-28T15:23:51Z")
How high did Harold Faltermeyer’s “Axel F” reach on the charts? That was the first one I thought of (I’m such a child of the '80s). ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/14 "2001-11-28T16:17:46Z")
“Axel F” made it to #3 on the Billboard U.S. Hot 100 chart. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/15 "2001-11-28T18:38:18Z")
Many thanks to **whitetho** for his smoothly-done amaendments. I knew I would miss a few and I really was not sure of the lyrical content of some of the disco numbers. Also thanks for looking up some of the other likely supects. Very nicely done. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-1-instrumentals/95465/16 "2001-11-28T18:48:20Z")
You know, I really ought to use that Preview feature. It’s so handy.:wally