(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
The 5th Dimension - "Wedding Bell Blues"
Hit Number 1: November 8, 1969
Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks
The 5th Dimension got a lot of help from Laura Nyro in the early days of their careers. Nyro was mostly associated with the jazz genre, and overall is one of the more underappreciated artists from the 1960's. The 5th Dimension previously had hits with Nyro's material in 1968 with "Stoned Soul Picnic" that made it to #3 (It's a 6), and with "Sweet Blindness" which got to #13. (It's a 4) But while the group was in the midst of recording their next album The Age of Aquarius, their producer, Bones Howe, suggested that they record another Nyro song. I guess you could say that the timing was right, because 5th Dimension members Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. were engaged, but hadn't come up with a date for their wedding. They decided to record Nyro's song "Wedding Bell Blues".
Nyro wrote the song when she was only 18, and from what I can tell, her song had no real-life meaning to it. "Wedding Bell Blues" is a song about a woman who expresses her love for her male lover, but at the same time, is frustrated with him, because she fears that he will never ask her to marry him. She tells him that she's been there for him through all of his hard times, and that they belong together. Again, Davis and McCoo were already engaged when they recorded the song, but I guess it seemed to have some sort of close meaning with them. "Wedding Bell Blues" wasn't originally planned to be released as a single, but after a disc jockey in San Diego started to play it, the band's label, Soul City Records, decided that the song had potential. They subsequently released it as a single, and it didn't take long for the song to shoot up to #1 on the pop charts.
"Wedding Bell Blues" proved to be something of a turning point for the band, as afterwards they stuck with McCoo singing lead on all of their songs, and weren't so much of an ensemble anymore. Not that there was anything wrong with the rest of the band, but I think it was a good call. I've always been a fan of McCoo's voice but I haven't always been a fan of the 5th Dimension's 1960's music. Yes, that includes "Wedding Bell Blues". If you remember the last time the 5th Dimension were in this blog with "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", you'd know that song just didn't click with me. It wasn't bad, but it will never be a song I go out of my way to listen to. "Wedding Bell Blues" is exactly that, albeit a more clumsier song. McCoo's voice is the only great quality it has. There's a piano riff and a horn section, but where they had a golden opportunity to make them sound grand, they instead fall flat. It's my definition of a "mediocre song". It's not something that will ruin my day, but I have to question how it ever became a #1 hit, and dethroned Elvis' masterpiece "Suspicious Minds" after just one week.
Things got better for the 5th Dimension in the 1970's though. They never hit #1 again, but they still created hit music. In 1970, they almost got to #1 with "One Less Bell to Answer", but it stalled out at #2. (It's an 8), and in 1972, they made it to #8 with "(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep At All". (That one is a 7) Even though the 5th Dimension won't appear in here again, we will hear from McCoo and Davis in a duet down the line. There won't be any wedding bell blues then.
GRADE: 4/10
JUST MISSED:
R.B. Greaves' sunshiny, soulful and fun "Take a Letter Maria" peaked at #2 behind "Wedding Bell Blues". It's an 8.
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