This post is part of a series examining the Billboard Hot 100 from 1958 to 2023 and how time and technology has changed our understanding of hit music.
Thanks for this, but short correction on one point. Two jazz-era vocalists continued to have Top 10 hits: Barbra Streisand (two of her three #1s were ballads) and Johnny Mathis (who hit #1 in 1978.) Mathis recorded his first album the same year Andy Williams did.
Thank you for this level of detail and you're right - Barbra did not have any hits in the pre-rock era, yet she established her career on the Broadway stage before shiting to pop rock in 1969 with What About Today? And it was not for lack of trying that those crooners did not have hits: Clive Davis at Columbia insisted his pop artists record contemporary tunes and results ranged from respectable (Andy's early 70s albums were pleasant soft rock although his disco version of the Love Story theme is over the top) to laughable (pretty much everything on Tony Bennett's "Tony Sings The Great Hits of Today" or Jerry Vale's "Alone Again, Naturally.") All of these available on less than pristine vinyl at a thrift store near you.
As much as Greta Van Fleet does their hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan proud, (and as much as I now want a chicken dinner from the Bavarian Inn for mentioning Frankenmuth), they have not in fact had a top 10 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, which is what we're valuating here.
Thanks for this, but short correction on one point. Two jazz-era vocalists continued to have Top 10 hits: Barbra Streisand (two of her three #1s were ballads) and Johnny Mathis (who hit #1 in 1978.) Mathis recorded his first album the same year Andy Williams did.
Two notes regarding Ms. Streisand:
1) Here are all of her top 10 songs, with year and chart position, including her duets: "People"(1964) #5,
"Stoney End"(1971) #6,
"The Way We Were"(1974) #1,
"Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)"(1977) #1,
"My Heart Belongs to Me"(1977) #4,
"You Don't Bring Me Flowers"(1978) #1,
"The Main Event/Fight"(1979) #3,
"No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)"(1979) #1,
"Woman in Love"(1980) #1,
"Guilty"(1980) #3,
"What Kind of Fool"(1981) #10,
"I Finally Found Someone"(1996) #8,
I would argue that the only song among them that's a genuine Standards title is "People." The rest are Pop, Pop Rock or Disco.
2) Unlike Como or Sinatra, she wasn't already an established artist in the pre-Rock era.
Apropos Ms. Streisand, if you're a fan, stop whatever you're doing and listen to Chris Molanphy's Hit Parade podcast episode, "Hello, Gorgeous": https://slate.com/podcasts/hit-parade/2024/02/how-barbra-became-the-original-taylor
Thank you for this level of detail and you're right - Barbra did not have any hits in the pre-rock era, yet she established her career on the Broadway stage before shiting to pop rock in 1969 with What About Today? And it was not for lack of trying that those crooners did not have hits: Clive Davis at Columbia insisted his pop artists record contemporary tunes and results ranged from respectable (Andy's early 70s albums were pleasant soft rock although his disco version of the Love Story theme is over the top) to laughable (pretty much everything on Tony Bennett's "Tony Sings The Great Hits of Today" or Jerry Vale's "Alone Again, Naturally.") All of these available on less than pristine vinyl at a thrift store near you.
Sorry man but seriously ... Greta Van Fleet has 3 top 10 songs: 2018, 2021, 2023. A truly solid ROCK band.
As much as Greta Van Fleet does their hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan proud, (and as much as I now want a chicken dinner from the Bavarian Inn for mentioning Frankenmuth), they have not in fact had a top 10 hit on Billboard's Hot 100, which is what we're valuating here.