'Glory' From 'Selma' Enters Hot 100; Echoes Civil Rights Classics
"Glory" by Common & John Legend enters the Hot 100 at #92. The song is from the movie Selma, which chronicles the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. in March 1965. The song won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song on Jan. 11. It’s the clear front-runner to win the Oscar in that category on Feb. 22.
How can I be so sure? The Grammys announced today that Legend and Common will perform “Glory” on this year’s Grammy telecast on Feb. 8 (even though it was released after the Sept. 30 cut-off for eligibility; the Grammys occasionally step outside of the nominations to spotlight what they call “event” recordings). The Grammy performance will give the song a big boost in Oscar voting, which will be conducted from Feb. 6 through Feb. 17. The song was probably headed for a win anyway, but now it’s hard to see how it can lose.
"Glory" is the fourth of this year’s five Oscar nominees for Best Original Song to crack the Hot 100. "Everything Is Awesome!!!" by Tegan & Sara featuring The Lonely Island reached #57. “Lost Stars” by Matt McAndrew with Adam Levine (from The Voice) hit #83. Glen Campbell's “I'm Not Gonna Miss You” reached #90. The only nominee that has yet to chart is Rita Ora's “Grateful.” (These songs are from The Lego Movie, Begin Again, Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me and Beyond The Lights, respectively.)
Two songs that have become civil rights anthems (as well as pop and R&B classics) were on the Hot 100 on March 7, 1965, the day of the first march. (That date has come to be known as “Bloody Sunday.”) For the week ending March 13, The Impressions' “People Get Ready” (which was written by the group's Curtis Mayfield) jumped from #35 to #21 in its fifth week (on its way to a #14 peak). Sam Cooke's “A Change Is Gonna Come” slipped from its #31 peak to #41 in its seventh week. Both songs have been voted in to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
As you might expect, both songs were top 10 hits on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart, as it was then called. “A Change Is Gonna Come” reached #9 on Feb. 13. “People Get Ready” hit #3 on March 27. (I’m giving you the exact dates so you can see that these songs were on the radio as these events were unfolding. If any of the marchers had transistor radios with them, they probably heard the songs.)
This week’s big Hot 100 news is Maroon 5 landing its 11th top 10 hit—and its eighth in a row—with “Sugar,” which debuts at #8. That was the lead of a Chart Watch blog which we posted earlier today. If you missed it, here’s a link. This blog will deal with the week’s other top new entries.
Kelly Clarkson's “Heartbeat Song” is the week's second-highest new entry at #37. It's the first single from Clarkson's upcoming album, Piece by Piece, which is due in March. That will be her sixth non-holiday studio album; her first since Stronger, which reached #2 and won a Grammy as Best Pop Vocal Album. Each of Clarkson’s first five non-holiday studio albums spawned at least one top 10 hit. Will Piece by Piece keep that streak going? Stay tuned.
Several “Heartbeat” songs have reached the top five, including Herman’s Hermits's “Can't You Hear My Heartbeat” (#2 in March 1965), DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco's “Heartbeat—It's a Lovebeat” (#3 in November 1973) and Don Johnson's “Heartbeat” (#5 in October 1986). Note: Celine Dion's “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” (#4 in March 1991) is a “Heart Beat” song, not a “Heartbeat” song.
Zac Brown Band's “Homegrown” debuts at #48. It's the first single from the band's upcoming fourth studio album.
Fall Out Boy's “Uma Thurman” debuts at #73. It's from the group's sixth studio album, American Beauty/American Psycho, which is set to enter The Billboard 200 at #1 next week, with sales in the 190K range (and overall consumption in the 220K range). “Uma Thurman” samples the theme song from the 1964-‘66 TV show The Munsters. Its title is a reference to Uma Thurman dancing with John Travolta in an iconic scene of the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.
Dierks Bentley's “Say You Do” debuts at #96. It's the third chart hit from Bentley's seventh studio album, Riser, which is a Grammy finalist for Best Country Album.
"The Body" by Wale featuring Jeremih debuts at #98. It’s from Wale’s fourth studio album, The Album about Nothing, which is due March 31.
"I Mean It" by G-Eazy featuring Remo re-enters the chart at #100, the same position it debuted at two weeks ago.
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