Bobby Vinton was #1 the day I was born

Today is my birthday, so just for kicks I checked to see what song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on this day in 1964. I expected it might be The Beatles, since ’64 was the year the Fab Four made their first trip to the States. I was surprised to learn that on this day way back then, it was actually Stanley Robert (Bobby) Vinton at the top of the charts with “There! I’ve Said It Again.”

Originally a big band leader like his father, Bobby Vinton had four pop-vocal #1s from 1962 to 1964, and while “There! I’ve Said It Again” isn’t as memorable as “Blue Velvet,” “Roses are Red (My Love),” or “Mr. Lonely” (also #1 in ’64), it still brings back memories of holiday nights as a kid in the basement at my grandmother’s house in Flint, Michigan.

My father’s family were Slavs and the smell of pierogies and cabbage would be in the air, and the adults would be drinking Stroh’s beer. We cousins would be running and playing, and when this song came on with its opening declaration, “I love you, there’s nothing to hide,” the uncles would take the aunts in the their arms and dance a little cheek-to-cheek.

Written by Redd Evans and David Mann, Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra had a hit in 1945 with their version of “There! I’ve Said It Again.” Notably, Vinton’s version was the last US-made Billboard #1 of the pre-British Invasion era. Vinton would be toppled from the Hot 100 summit by The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The Beatles would eventually have seven #1s in ’64, and the Animals and the Zombies would also notch #1 hits that year.

I remember watching The Bobby Vinton Show in the mid-’70s in the golden age of celebrity variety shows, and we loved that he would feature polka tunes, like “Beer Barrel Polka,” and would often sing in Polish. So tonight, on my special night, I’ll tilt a shot of Slivovitz (plum brandy), and toast, not only my birthday, but also “The Polish Prince.” Na zdrowie!