Oh, Pretty Woman

Fifty years ago this week, the number one song in the United States was Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman."

When I was a freshman in college I got my first credit card. My father co-signed for it, and then told me to buy something relatively cheap with it and then pay it off on the first bill. That way I would start to create a good credit record. I bought the book The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits by Fred Bronson. And this is where I found out that the week I was born, Roy Orbison was at the top of the chart.The week before the Number One song had been "The House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals.

Here is the actual chart:
1. Oh, Pretty Woman
2. Bread & Butter by The Newbeats
3. House of the Rising Sun
4. (Little) GTO by Ronny & the Daytonas
5. Remember (Walkin' In The Sand) by The Shangri-Las

You can find all of these on youtube if you are interested. If you are a fan of music from this era you will recognize all of them. The point of this post, however, is that every time I hear "Oh, Pretty Woman" I think, "That Number One song is as old as I am!" (I think that about "House of the Rising Sun," too, but that song has less of a pop cultural carbon foot-print than Roy's classic does.)

So to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Roy Orbison's last number one song, here is "Oh, Pretty Woman" written by Roy Orbison and Bill Dees.  Hopefully from now on, every time you hear it you'll think of me....well, me and your own pretty woman.