The Beatles Dominate the Top 4 Slots of the Billboard Singles Charts On This Date in 1964
The Beatles achieved many extraordinary feats as recording artists through their years in the music industry. However, none was more stunning than the day they dominated the top four slots of the Billboard singles charts on Mar. 28, 1964.
The Beatles’ debut album dropped in 1963 in Great Britain and 1964 in the US
The Beatles’ debut album, Please Please Me, debuted in 1963. It recently celebrated the 60th anniversary of its release.
Before the release of Please Please Me, The Beatles released two singles. “Love Me Do” hit the charts on Oct. 5, 1962, and “Please Please Me” debuted on Jan. 11, 1963.
The Please Please Me album was not released in America and was a UK hit. Instead, the group’s debut album was rebranded Introducing The Beatles, and debuted in the United States on Jan. 10, 1964, with a different tracklisting. Americans had to wait a year before their introduction to the Fab Four; John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, whose stars had skyrocketed in thier home country.
Please Please Me‘s 14 tracks included eight by Lennon-McCartney. Other songwriters featured on the band’s debut album were Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Arthur Alexander, Luther Dixon, and Wes Ferrell. Also songwriter, Mack David, Barney Williams, Burt Bacharach, Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow and Phil Medley, and Burt Russell.
The Beatles dominated the top 4 singles slots on Mar. 28, 1964
On Mar. 28, 1964, The Beatles dominated the top 4 slots on the Billboard singles chart. This previously unheard-of feat showed just how famous the Fab Four had become in the early 1960s.
Holding on to the top spot was “She Loves You.” The number two position was “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
The Third was “Twist and Shout,” and in fourth place was “Please Please Me.” The fifth position was held by The 4 Seasons with “Dawn (Go Away).”
Rounding out the top 10 singles chart on this day in 1964 was Terry Staford’s “Suspicion,” “Hello, Dolly!” by Louis Armstrong, “My Heart Belongs to Only You” by Bobby Vinton, and the Dave Clark Five’s “Glad All Over.”
The Beatles’ Billboard record would stand for 60 Years
Drake and The Beatles are now the only artists to ever occupy the entire top five of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the same week
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) September 13, 2021
The Beatles first set this record just over 57 years ago, in April of 1964
Two weeks after The Beatles achieved this outstanding feat, the band would occupy the top five spots on the Billboard chart. Historically, this was the first time a band had ever achieved that status.
The top spots on Apr. 4, 1964, were occupied by “Can’t Buy Me Love,” followed by “Twist and Shout” and “She Loves You.” They completed this feat with spots four and five occupied by “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me.”
With two years worth of back catalog to dive into, Americans bought up and listened to as many Beatles songs as possible. The popularity of The Beatles’ music proved just how unmatched the band was in their popularity at that time.
It would also take nearly 60 years for this dominance of the top five positions of the Billboard charts to occur again. In 2021, Drake tied The Beatles’ record with five Certified Lover Boy tracks occupying the top five slots. Before that, the only person to ever threaten The Beatles’ record was Ariana Grande when she landed three songs in the top three positions in 2019.
