A Trivia game I played with senior citizens recently focused on musical songs that contained numbers in their titles. The experience stayed with me and later woke me at 3 am while I laid in bed unable to dismiss the songs not mentioned some 12 to 13 hours earlier at the Upper Merion Senior Service Center in King of Prussia, PA.
The songs we played included “One, Two Three” by Len Barry, “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford, “Nine to Five” by Dolly Parton, “One is the Loneliest Number” by Three Dog Night, “December ‘63 (Oh What a Night” by the Four Seasons, and “When I’m 64” and “Eight Days a Week” by the Beatles. I began to add more songs in my awakened state of mind and knew I’d get no further sleep until I get the songs out of my system and onto paper.
Here are a few I came up with:
“The First Time I Saw Your Face” Roberta Flack ”5 Will Get You 10” We Five
“10 Things I Hate About You” Leah Kate ”15 Miles on Erie Canal” Seeger
“A Hundred Pounds of Clay” Gene McDaniels “A Thousand Stars” Young
“ Thousand Miles Away” the Heartbeats “A Million to One” Jimmy Charles
- The Number 16 had a great number of songs. My favorite was “16 Candles” by the Johnny Maestro and the Crests. The Sound of Music composers Rodgers and Hammerstein gave us “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” while Chuck Berry provided “Sweet Little Sixteen.”
- “Sixteen Reasons” was offered by Connie Stevens while Ringo singing without the Beatles gave us an updated version of “You’re Sixteen, You’re Beautiful and You’re Mine.” Meanwhile, Neil Sedaka recorded “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen.”
- My favorite number three song was “Quarter to Three” by Gary “U.S. Bonds and as well as the Frank Sinatra song “One for My Baby (and One More for The Road) which started off with the lyrics: “It’s quarter to three, there’s no one in the place but you and me.”
- “Three Times a Lady” was also offered by the Commodores, while the Four Aces gave us “Three Coins in a Fountain.”
“One” was by far the most used number in songs I recalled and double-checked on Google.
Check ’em out:
“One and Only You” the Platters ”Wonderful One” Marvin Gaye
“Once in a While” the Chimes “One Summer Night” the Danleers
“One Hand, One Heart” West Side Story “One of Us” Abba
“One More Night” Phil Collins ”One for the Money” Escape the Fate
“One Fine Day” the Chiffons “One Voice” Barry Manilow
“One Way of Another” Blondie “One Tin Soldier” Billy Jack film
Number songs also included these offerings:
“Beechwood 4-5789“by the Marvelettes ”Do the 81” Candy and the Kisses
“It Takes Two” Marvin Gaye and Kin Weston “1001 Arbian Nights” ChipZ
“Land of 1,000 Dances” Wilson Pickett “1812 Overture” Tchaikovsky
“Five O’Clock World” the Vogues ”Three Blind Mice” Nursery Rhyme
“Five Will Get You Ten” We Five “Fourth of July” Sufjan Stevens
“Ten Things I Hate About You” Leah Kate “Take Five” Dave Brubeck
“Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest“– Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island
“Twenty-four Hours from Tulsa” Gene Pitney “Eight Miles High” by the Byrds
“19th Nervous Breakdown” Rolling Stones “In the Year 2525” by Zager & Evans
“The 12th of Never” by Johnny Mathis “50 Ways to Leave Lover” Paul Simon
“Ninety-Nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall“ – Traditional drinking song
“I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five and Ten-Cent Store“ - Fanny Brice
“60 Minute Man” Billy Ward and Dominoes “High Noon” Tex Ritter
“Midnight at the Oasis” Maria Muldaur ”Cloud 9” the Temptations
“In the Midnight Hour” Wilson Pickett ”Love Potion Number 9” The Clovers
“Midnight Train to Georgia” Gladys Knight ”10,000 Kisses” Jackie Edwards
“A Thousand Kisses Deep” Leonard Cohen
And finally, “Number-Like” Last Titles:
“Save the Last Dance For Me” The Drifters “The Last Song” by Edward Bear
“The Last Thing on My Mind” by Tom Paxton.
Contoveros 
The following are comments made on Facebook:
Sheryl Serratta LaBar
500 Miles, Peter Paul and Mary
Michael J Contos
Sheryl, I had this listed but with another group singing the ballad.
Here is the Peter, Paul and Mary version of “Five Hundred Miles!”
Sheryl Serratta LaBar
Do you sing?
Michael J Contos
Yes, I used to sing with a Doo Wop group in the late 1960s. We were called “The Five Jaunts.” We appeared on a Rock & Roll Dance Show that was televised.
Sheryl Serratta LaBar
Michael J Contos I love to sing, anything and I think Doo Wop is a lot of fun!! You went pretty far with it, sounds like. I’m just a middling singer who just sings for the joy it brings, but it’s hard to find occasions to sing. I sometimes drag Joe out for karaoke.
— I’m out running errands right now and ironically was singing “Under the Boardwalk” in the parking lot
Michael J Contos
You could have been performing “Up On the Roof“if you’re really a true Drifter loyalist!
Sheryl Serratta LaBar
Michael J, Well, it IS peaceful as can be on the roof!
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Jim Drum
123 by the Dovell’s and Beechwood 45789 by the Shirelles
Michael J Contos
Jim – “0ne, Two Three” was performed by the former lead singer for the Dovell’s – Len Barry, while the Marvelettes performed the “Beechwood-4” song.
Jim Drum
You’re right Mike. I should have called my sister first. She knows all that oldies trivia.
Michael J Contos
You got that right. Theresa knew all of the songs and the lyrics too! Still does I bet.
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Sheryl Serratta LaBar
A Thousand Years, Cristina Perri from the movie Twilight
Michael J Contos
At your command, Sheryl here is “A Thousand Years”
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thank you for the new playlist! I appreciate it.
I don’t know many of these songs, but I do know quite a few and haven’t heard them in a long time. Just took me back. Like Three Times a Lady by the Commodores? Hahaha! I mean….it just hit me that it’s Lionel Richie! How did I not know that!! Of course, I knew he was part of the Commodores, but I just didn’t recall it… so much fun. Thank you again for the playlist. I appreciate all the work and will enjoy it. I’m excited to also hear some new old songs. Stay blessed my friend! You. Are. Amazing!
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Lionel Ritchie was part of the Commodores? Must have forgot that but I am glad you enjoyed some of these old songs. One of my favorites was by the Drifters, “Save the Last Dance for Me” whose lead singer was Ben E King who sang my all-time favorite song: “Stand By Me!”
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I will check it out! Thank you! I love Stand By Me! 🤗
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Goodness me! The list will never end….
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Thanks, I guess.
Your comment just opened my crazy mind to yet another song that seemed to never end when we were kids:
The Song that Never Ends” by Shari Lewis.
(Click to enjoy this never-ending tune.)
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Never heard this song before! It brought a smile to my face this morning!
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I am surprised you did not include “26 miles” across the sea.
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You have brought a smile to my Blog post because I was hoping that someone would recall a few songs with numbers that I overlooked.
“Twenty Six Miles” was a great song and still can hymn along with it whenever I hear it!
Like, right now: TWENTY SIX MILES
(Click on the link to hear the Four Preps sing the song.)
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