The song at number 13 marked the invasion of the British music industry into America: I want to hold you hand by the Beatles.
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English pop and rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963.
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" was the band's first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, starting the British Invasion of the United States music charts. The song entered the chart on January 18 1964 at number 45 before it became the number one single for 7 weeks and went onto last a total of 15 weeks in the chart. It also held the top spot in the United Kingdom charts. A million copies of the single had already been ordered on its release. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" became The Beatles' best-selling single worldwide.
Brian Epstein was getting worried about The Beatles' lack of commercial success in America—their earlier singles had flopped there—and so he encouraged Lennon and McCartney to write a song that would appeal to American listeners.
McCartney had recently moved into 57 Wimpole Street, London W1, where he was living as a guest of Dr. Richard and Margaret Asher. Their daughter, actress Jane Asher, had become McCartney’s steady girlfriend since first meeting earlier in the year. This location briefly became Lennon and McCartney’s new writing base, taking over from McCartney’s Forthlin Road home in Liverpool. Margaret Asher taught the oboe in a "small, rather stuffy music room" in the basement and it was here that Lennon and McCartney sat at the piano and composed 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'.
Capitol threatened to seek a court order banning airplay of "I Want to Hold Your Hand", which was already being spread by [Carroll] James [WWDC DJ] to a couple of deejays in Chicago and St. Louis. James and WWDC ignored the threat, and Capitol came to the conclusion that they could well take advantage of the publicity, releasing the single two weeks ahead of schedule on 26 December.
Read more at Wikipedia - a great entry which gives the full story of how The Beatles conquered America and left the door open for the Rolling Stones, The Kinks and a whole host of other British exports.
Labels: James G, The Summer of Love Countdown
From "The Kinks" article on Wikipedia:
Following the summer 1965 American tour, the American Federation of Musicians refused permits for the group to appear in concerts in America for the next four years, cutting the Kinks off from the main market for rock music at the height of the British Invasion. Although neither the Kinks nor the union gave a specific reason for the ban, at the time it was widely attributed to their rowdy on-stage behaviour.
I've never understood specifically what the Kinks did to deserve a ban, but it probably cost them a bigger role in the British Invasion.