The #1 Albums: “Hello Dolly!”

Detail From the Cover of the "Hello Dolly" Original Cast Album, 1964

Soundtrack albums featuring the songs from Broadway shows dominated the album chart from the beginning of the rock era in 1955. Some of the most famous shows in the history of the American theater come from the years 1955 through 1964: Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, South Pacific, Flower Drum Song, The Sound of Music, Camelot, West Side Story, and a couple of others. Hello Dolly! opened in January 1964, and people who couldn’t see the show on Broadway soon flocked to buy the soundtrack. And it took down the Beatles.

Hello Dolly!‘s original cast soundtrack knocked The Beatles’ Second Album from the #1 spot on June 6, 1964. But it lasted only a week at #1 because another album, also titled Hello Dolly!, was right behind it. Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong had quickly recorded a vocal version of the musical’s title song to help promote the show, but his record label decided to release it as a single. With all things Dolly raging nearly as hard as all things Beatle that summer, “Hello Dolly” knocked “Can’t Buy Me Love” out of the #1 spot on the singles chart in May, and a rushed-out album mostly of Broadway songs by Armstrong, also called Hello Dolly!, spent six weeks at #1 in June and July 1964.

The original cast album of Hello Dolly! was the last Broadway soundtrack of its kind to hit #1. In years to come, other soundtracks would scale the heights of the Billboard 200, but they would be movie or TV soundtracks. As for Louis Armstrong, he wasn’t fond of “Hello Dolly,” but its success meant he would have to perform it until his death in 1971.

Rather than giving you straight-up old Broadway, here’s something different. Marvin Gaye recorded Hello Broadway in 1964, which contained several old-school standards, songs Marvin enjoyed singing. He does ‘em with his own distinctive style, but be advised: it’s not “Let’s Get It On.”

The #1 Albums spotlights each album to hit #1 on Billboard‘s main album chart, starting in 1964 and continuing until we decide to stop. Read them all.