Hear Five Seconds Of Every #1 Pop Single: 1956 to 1992

Hugo Keesing is an academic and a pop music archivist who created a project called Chartsweep in which 5 seconds of every charting #1 American pop song starting from the year 1956 to 1992 has been compiled into a short form historical mixtape of sorts. It starts off with 1956’s “Memories Are Made of This” by Dean Martin and ends with 1992′s Whitney Houston’s cover of “I Will Always Love You”. No word whether the project will continue on but it would be cool to listen to check out the #1′s of 1992-2011 and beyond as well.  
The concept and term “Chartsweep” both originated in the late 60s with a syndicated radio show called “The History of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” I listened to it on WOR-FM in New York and recorded portions of it on an old Wollensack reel-to-reel tape recorder. As you know, the ‘sweep presented segments of every Billboard #1 single starting with “Memories Are Made of This” (Jan 1956). I don’t recall where it stopped, but it was around 1968/69. Six years later I began teaching an American Studies course at the University of Maryland called “Popular Music in American Society.” To provide a setting for each class I dusted off the concept, took it back to January 1950, added a number of songs based on Joel Whitburn’s re-definition of #1 songs, and continued where the original had stopped. I added each new #1 until fall, 1991 when I stopped teaching the course.
   Five Seconds Of Every #1 Pop Single Part 1
   Five Seconds Of Every #1 Pop Single Part 2 
photo: oemebamo
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