When Melanie’s “Model New Key” debuted in 1971, some folks had been confused. What did the singer, who died on Tuesday at 76, imply when she sang about having a brand-new pair of curler skates and another person having a brand-new key?
Melanie informed interviewers that she wrote the track in quarter-hour, after ending a 27-day quick, and that it was meant to be cute. The people singer stated that it didn’t have a deeper which means, although many thought its playful lyrics about biking and curler skating had been actually about intercourse (“Don’t go too quick however I’m going fairly far”). It sounded unusual, like a track out of time — Melanie stated she meant it to take heed to the Thirties — sung with what may now be referred to as a warbling “indie woman voice.” And it one way or the other hit No. 1 on the Billboard Scorching 100.
The track has lingered in popular culture, from a lip sync battle between Jimmy Fallon and Melissa McCarthy to a post-apocalyptic DJ taking part in it endlessly on “Children within the Corridor.”
“Model New Key” wasn’t the primary No. 1 track to perplex listeners, and it wouldn’t be the final.
Listed here are a number of the strangest, and properly, truly, let’s be sincere, enjoyable songs to prime the U.S. Billboard chart through the years:
“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Bryan Hyland
A girl afraid and nervous to go away a locker room and be seen in a brand-new tiny bikini is the topic of this track that debuted in 1960 and was within the prime spot for one week. The track may not have aged properly, however it was resurrected in a Yoplait Gentle business in 2005 a couple of lady who, after consuming the yogurt for months, was lastly in a position to put on her personal yellow polka dot bikini.
“Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett
It wouldn’t be Halloween time with out this track, which reached the highest spot in 1962, sounding in all places from grocery shops to dwelling audio system. Elvis Presley reportedly informed one pal that he hated the track and thought it was the stupidest he’d ever heard, Bobby Pickett stated in an interview with Billboard. Within the observe, Pickett sang a couple of monster in his lab rising and dancing the “Monster Mash.”
“Fly Robin Fly” by Silver Connection
This European disco track solely has six phrases and spent three weeks within the prime spot after it debuted in 1975. Should we are saying extra?
“Convoy” by C.W. McCall
A bizarre 12 months, 1975. This track a couple of truck debuted then and spent one week at No. 1. It’s about, properly, a convoy crossing the nation and have become an anthem for truckers (and, later, Homer Simpson). “We bought an excellent large convoy,” the track goes. “Ain’t she a gorgeous sight?”
“Disco Duck” by Rick Dees and His Solid of Idiots
This track truly contains the sound of geese quacking within the background. It was within the prime spot for 4 weeks in 1976 and the video contains a dancing duck. “I used to be on the dance flooring appearing unusual,” the lyrics go, “flapping my arms I started to cluck, have a look at me, I’m the disco duck.”
“Mickey” by Toni Basil
The track debuted in 1982 and spent one week within the prime spot. The cheer anthem, which was featured within the 2000 film “Carry It On,” is repetitive: “Mickey” is alleged over 60 occasions.
“I’m Too Horny” by Proper Mentioned Fred
This earworm, which debuted in December 1991, held the highest spot for 3 weeks. The brothers who made up the English pop band sang about what they had been too horny for: shirts, Milan, New York, Japan, different folks’s our bodies, automobiles, their hats, the checklist goes on. Within the music video, the shirtless brothers dance on a catwalk whereas ladies in bikinis snap pictures of them.
“Macarena (Bayside Boys Combine)” by Los del Rio
This track debuted on the chart in 1995 and spent 14 weeks on the prime spot. The dance that accompanies this track remains to be carried out at weddings.
“Harlem Shake” by Baauer
This track, made by a Brooklyn-based digital producer, topped the chart in 2013, the identical 12 months Billboard added YouTube streaming knowledge to its methodology. It unleashed a worldwide dance craze, with accompanying movies.
“Previous City Highway” by Lil Nas X that includes Billy Ray Cyrus
The bizarre collaboration between the rapper Lil Nas X and nation music star Billy Ray Cyrus debuted in 2019 and spent 19 weeks within the No. 1 spot. In July of that 12 months, it turned the longest-running No. 1 single within the 61-year historical past of Billboard’s Scorching 100 chart. The track sparked intense debate over what might be thought-about nation music.
