The Four Seasons: "Rag Doll"

July 13, 1964 (4 weeks)

As I have mentioned previously, the early years of the RPM chart were dominated by single week number ones. For fourteen straight weeks at the end of 1964 and well into '65, there was a run of one-week wonders and that was by no means an isolated case. There were a total of forty-four chart toppers in the first full year of RPM as the national singles listing with just seven singles hitting a fortnight or more on top. A year later, a there were a whopping forty-seven number ones. It wouldn't be until '68 when three weeks became the norm rather than the exception.

The Four Seasons' mighty "Rag Doll" somehow managed to hit the top and remain there for four weeks, an accomplishment no one would equal or better for exactly four years. It must have been something special to have done so, right? To quote the great Ron Nasty of The Rutles, yes, it must have been.

"Rag Doll" is the fourth Canadian number one for The Four Seasons — making them the first act other than Elvis Presley to rack up more than three chart toppers — but just the first of their's to do so with a degree of subtlety. I really like Frankie Valli's incredible falsetto but he could overdo it. "Sherry" had been such a fantastic debut hit that it might have been easy to overlook that high pitch but clearly by follow-up "Big Girls Don't Cry", this was beginning to grate. Whatsmore, this is their first hit to make good use of the other three Seasons Tommy DeVito, Bob Gauido and Nick Massi. Valli had been hogging the spotlight and it seems likely that fans were going to tire of his shtick before long. That distinctive pitch is still there but it operates alongside the others and the effect is outstanding.

Strangely, while "Rag Doll" is unquestionably their finest moment to date, oldies radio did not seem to agree. All three of "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man" would be played with some regularity on sixties' stations but the much more measured "Rag Doll" has languished in relative obscurity. This is despite the fact that it was a major hit at the time (four weeks!). The toning down of those distinctive Valli vocals would be one big reason why it hasn't managed to remain relevant in subsequent decades but probably the biggest point against it is it doesn't have the hooks of its predecessors. For annoying and slight though it may be, "Big Girls Don't Cry" is certainly not something you're likely to forget.

The same cannot be said for "Rag Doll" which is really the sole knock against it. Its near three minutes is just about perfect but it comes up short as an earworm. (Honestly, though, is that really such a problem anyway? If a song isn't able to stay in the mind for any length of time then it also won't get stuck there) Yet, it proved popular enough to be a summer smash and listeners nowadays who may find that a little Frankie Valli goes a long way should be pleasantly surprised by it. A hidden gem in plain sight. (That said, the New York City radio station WCBS-FM named "Rag Doll" the number one song of all time in a listener's poll so there were some who still loved it and rightly so; maybe it wasn't as forgotten as I seem to think)

Score: 9

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Hey! Where's...?

You know what? There aren't enough number ones by Dusty Springfield. Not even close to enough. She had a chart topper in her native Britain with "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and she would eventually reach the summit of the Irish charts with Pet Shop Boys on their single "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" but that's pretty much it. Maybe she had a stray number one in, say, Argentina or Hong Kong at some point there are only two I know of. The utterly brilliant "I Only Want to Be with You" only managed to make it to number twenty-one on the CHUM chart (how that song wasn't a worldwide number one is beyond me) but "Wishin' and Hopin'" was her first Canadian near miss and, it would turn out, her highest charting hit of her life. Originally a Dionne Warwick B side, the Bachrach and David composition was dusted (so to speak) off for Dusty. Both versions are first rate but this one is a little more sultry so it gets the edge. It would have been a toss up as well choosing between it and "Rag Doll" but it's a shame it couldn't have taken one of those four weeks for itself. A little more Dusty in people's lives never hurt anyone.