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Tonight's bill, in the order the country bought it

The records, in the order they charted. Six sides across two years. What the chart records is the order the country bought them in, not the order they were cut.

A control room of about 1960 with a tape machine running and the monitor lamp lit — **The bill, in order**Six sides across two years. What the chart records is the order the country bought them in, not the order they were cut.Generated image

6 pages in this section

Will You Love Me Tomorrow
Number one in January 1961, the first by a Black girl group, and a lyric frank enough that some stations would not play it.
Tonight's the Night
The record before the number one, and the one that proved the group could carry a session of their own.
Dedicated to the One I Love
A cover that charted twice, two years apart, and did better the second time.
Mama Said
A hook built out of a spoken phrase, and the arrangement that carried it.
Baby It's You
Bacharach's melody, a celeste, and a vocal recorded closer than the era usually allowed.
Soldier Boy
Their second number one, cut quickly at the end of a session with time left on the clock.

Highest position reached on the Hot 100. The bar runs longer the higher the record charted; the two number ones are marked in petrol. Tonight’s the Night, the side before the breakthrough, is the outlier that made the breakthrough possible.

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