POPULAR MUSIC AND MUSICIANS

Alphebetical index of songs that earned a GOLD RECORD or PLATINUM RECORD

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

DON'T BE CRUEL / HOUND DOG

For 11 straight weeks (August 18, 1956 through October 27, 1956) on the Best Sellers charts, and for 11 consecutive weeks (September 1, 1956 through November 10, 1956) on the Juke Box charts, the biggest two-sided single in history held down the number #1 spot.

 

"Hound Dog" debuted the top side with "Don't Be Cruel" listed later as the top side. Their combined total stay at #1 makes it the biggest charted single of the rock era.

Popular bands that achieved GOLD RECORD status (sales of one million units) or PLATINUM RECORD status (sales of two million units) can be an inspiration to all that follow.

As of Jan. 1, 1989, the RIAA lowered the certification for gold singles to the sale of 500,000 units and platinum to one million units. Achieving high acceptance among the population makes these bands and their songs the most popular.

Musical taste will differ with each individual, but if the collective good is voting on bands and songs by buying their records and cds, then we can not ignore their popularity, even if we do or did not like their style.

See if your favorite artist from the past got a gold or platinum record during the time vinyl records were the main way we consumed music. Once we review these listings of all that went gold and platinum prior to 1992, it is amazing how many songs we remember or how many songs are still playing today.

Here is a sampling of top selling singles that earned a GOLD Record or PLATINUM Record prior to 1992 when CDs squeezed out Vinyl and a new metric was born - there are many more popular songs that have received substantial airplay, but did not meet the sales figures.

This month, August 2009 we feature through to S's of all of the songs that went Gold and Platinum.

. These timeless favorites serve as a sampling of the elite when records were made of vinyl. Reviewing their song structure and lyrics as well as their pertinence in their time may inspire our creative juices.

Index of Gold and Platinum Artists, Records and Songs:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

---

A-B                                              TOP SELLING GOLD AND PLATINUM RECORDS

ARTIST                                        SONG TITLE                                             SHEET MUSIC AVAILABLE     STATUS

Abba	Dancing Queen (2 Tracks), Take a Chance On Me	ABBA: It's Easy to Play ABBA For voice and piano. Format: easy piano/vocal/chords songbook. See more info...	2 gold
Abdul, Paula	Straight Up*,Forever Your Girl, Cold Hearted,Opposites Attract, Rush,Rush		4 gold, *1 platinum
Adams, Bryan	(Everything I Do) I Do It For You	Bryan Adams: (Everything I Do) I Do It for You Performed by Bryan Adams For voice and piano. Format: piano/vocal/chords single. See more info...	1 platinum (1991)
Aerosmith	Love in an Elevator		1 gold (1989)
After 7	Ready or Not, Can't Stop		2 gold
Air Supply	All Out Of Love, The One That You Love, Making Love Out Of Nothing At All		3 gold
Albert, Morris	Feelings		1 gold (1975)
Alpert, Herb/The Tijuana Brass	This Guy's in Love With You ('68), Rise('79)		2 gold
America	A Horse with No Name America's 1972-1983: Comp Greatest Hits		1 gold (1972)
American Breed	Bend Me, Shape Me		1 gold (1967)
Anderson, Lynn	Rose Garden		1 gold (1970)
Anka, Paul	(You're) Having My Baby		1 gold (1974)
Another Bad Creation	Iesha		1 gold (1991)
Archies, The	Sugar,Sugar ('69), Jingle Jangle (69) the Archies		2 gold
Association, The	Cherish ('66), Windy ('67), Never My Love('67)		3 gold
Astley, Rick	Never Gonna Give You Up		1 gold (1988)
Austin, Patti	Baby, Come to Me		1 gold (1982)
Average White Band	Pick Up The Pieces (3 Tracks)		1 gold (1974)
Bachman-Turner Overdrive	You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet		1 gold (1974)
Bad Company	Rock N Roll Fantasy		1 gold (1979)
Bad English	When I See You Smile		1 gold (1989)
Badfinger	Day After Day		1 gold (1971)
Baez, Joan	The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down		1 gold (1971)
Bailey, Philip	Easy Lover		1 gold (1984)
Band Aid	Do They Know It's Christmas		1 gold (1985)
Bangles	Walk Like an Egyptian('86), Eternal Flame: Best Of The ('89)		2 gold
Basil Tony	Mickey		1 platinum (1982)
Bay City Rollers	Saturday Night		1 gold (1975)
Beach Boys	I Get Around ('64),Good Vibrations: ('66),Kokomo (platinum '88)	The Beach Boys: Best of The Beach Boys For voice, piano and guitar chords. Format: easy piano/vocal/chords songbook. See more info...	2 gold, 1 platinum
Beatles, The      1962-1966 (Red Alb)      1967-1970 (Blue Alb)	I Want To Hold Your Hand ('64), Can't Buy Me Love ('64),A Hard Day's Night ('64), I Feel Fine ('64), Eight Days a Week ('65), Help! ('65), Yesterday ('65), Penny Lane ('67), We Can Work It Out ('65), Nowhere Man ('66), Paperback Writer ('66), Yellow Submarine ('66), All You Need is Love ('67), Hello Goodbye ('67), Lady Madonna ('68), Hey Jude ('68), Get Back ('69), The Ballad Of John and Yoko ('69), Come Together ('69), Something ('69), Let It Be ('70)	The Beatles: 1962-1966 For guitar and voice. Format: guitar tablature songbook. See more info...	21 gold records
Bee Gees	Lonely Days ('70), How Can You Men a Broken Heart ('71), Jive Talkin' ('75), You Should Be Dancing ('76), Lov So Right ('76), How Deep Is Your Love ('77), Staying Alive (plat.'77), Night Fever (plat. '78), Too Much Heaven (plat. '78), Tragedy (plat '79), Love You Inside Out ('79)	Best of the Bee GeesEasy Piano. 56 pages. See more info...	7 gold, 4 platinum
Bell, Archie/The Drells	Tighten Up		1 gold (1968)
Bell, William	Tryin To Love Two		1 gold (1977)
Bell&James	Livin' It Up (Friday Night)		1 gold (1979)
Benatar, Pat	Hit Me With Your Best Shot ('80), Love Is A Battlefield ('83)    Very Best Of		2 gold
Benton, Brook	Rainy Night In Georgia		1 gold (1970)
Berry, Chuck	My Ding A Ling		1 gold (1972)
B-52's, The	Love Shack ('89), Roam ('90)		2 gold
Bilk, Mr. Acker	Stranger on the Shore		1 gold (1962)
Bishop, Elvin	Fooled Around and Fell In Love		1 gold (1976)
Biz, Markie	Just A Friend		1 platinum (1990)
Blondie	Heart of Glass ('79), Call Me ('80), The Tide is High ('80), Rapture ('81)      Blondie		4 gold
Bloodstone	Natural High		1 gold (1973)
Blood, Sweat and Tears	You've Made Me So Very Happy ('69), Spinning Wheel ('69), And When I Die ('69)  Greatest Hits (Remastered) (W/)		3 gold
Blue Magic	Sideshow		1 gold (1974)
Blues Image	Ride Captain Ride		1 gold (1970)
Blue Swede	Hooked On a Feeling		1 gold (1974)
Bon Jovi	Blaze Of Glory		1 platinum (1990)
Booker T. & the MGs	Green Onions		1 gold (1962)
Boone, Debby	You Light Up My Life:		1 platinum(1977)
Bowie, David	Fame ('75), Lets Dance ('83)		2 gold
Box Tops, The	The Letter ('67), Cry Like a Baby ('68)		2 gold
Branigan, Laura	Gloria		1 gold (1982)
Bread	Make It With You ('70), Baby I M A Want You'71	Songs Made Famous by Bread Performed by Bread. Tune 1000 (General MIDI software). Floppy disk only. Published by Tune 1000. (631089) See more info...	2 gold
Brighter Side of Darkness	Love Jones		1 gold (1973)
Brooklyn Bridge	Worst That Could Happen		1 gold (1969)
Brooklyn Dreams	Heaven Knows		1 gold (1979)
Brothers Johnson, The	I'll Be Good To You(76), Strawberry Letter23(77)		2 gold
Brown, Arthur, The Crazy Wrld of	Fire		1 gold (1968)
Brown, Bobby	Dont Be Cruel ('88),M Prerogative (88),Every Little Step ('89), On Our Own (plat.'89),Rock Wit'cha ('89), She Ain't Worth It ('90)		5 gold, 1 platinum
Brown, Chuck/Soul Searchers	Bustin'Loose Part I		1 gold (1979)
Brown, James	Get On The Good Foot P1, The Payback P1 20 All Time Greatest Hits!		2 gold
Brownsville Station	Smokin' In The Boy's Room		1 gold (1973)
B.T. Express	Do It (Till Your Satisfied)('74), Express ('75)		2 gold
Buckner&Garcia	Pac-Man Fever		1 gold (1982)
Burdon, Eric/WAR	Spill The Wine		1 gold (1970)
Butler, Jerry	Only The Strong Survive ('69), Ain't Understanding Mellow ('72)		2 gold
QUICKLY LEARN TO PLAY THE MOST POPULAR COUNTRY SONGS		The Ultimate Country Fake Book - 4th Edition Fake Book (Includes melody line and chords). Size 9x12 inches. 568 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (240049) See more info...
QUICKLY LEARN TO PLAY THE MOST POPULAR POP/ROCK SONGS		The Ultimate Pop/Rock Fake Book - 4th Edition Fake Book (Includes melody line and chords). Size 9x12 inches. 584 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (240099) See more info...
QUICKLY LEARN TO PLAY THE MOST POPULAR SONGS	Sheet Music for quickly playing many popular tunes	The Best Fake Book Ever - 3rd Edition C Edition. Fake Book (Includes melody line and chords). Size 9x12 inches. 864 pages. Published by Hal Leonard. (290239) See more info...