THE FIRST NUMBER ONE single of the rock ’n’ roll era was “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets. What could be more appealing than a number one hit? Every aspiring musician dreams of it.
Some of the biggest names in pop music history have never scored a number one single. Bob Dylan, for instance. Or Van Morrison. Or, believe it or not, Creedence Clearwater Revival. That’s right. One of the biggest hit-making machines of the late ’60s and early ’70s never had a number one single.
Then too, there are the so-called super one hit wonders whose fifteen minutes of fame rest entirely on putting one single song at the top of the Top 40.
These harsh realities just magnify the accomplishments of that rare and select group of artists who manage to score multiple number one hits over the course of their career. Count the Rolling Stones in that hallowed group.
After the meteoric success of “Satisfaction,” the Stones found themselves with a new problem.
KEITH RICHARDS: I remember after “Satisfaction” got to number one—bang, bang at the door. “Where’s the follow-up?” I mean, every twelve weeks you had to have another one ready. The minute you put out a single, you had to start working your butt off on the next one, and the bigger the hit, the more pressure there was on the follow-up. But it was an incredibly good school for songwriting in that you couldn’t piss around for months and months agonizing about the deeper meaning of this or that. No matter what else you were doing, you had to make damn sure you didn’t let up on the writing. It made you search around and listen for ideas. It made you very aware of what was going on around you, because you were looking for that song. It might come in a coffee shop, or it might come on the street or in a cab. You might hear a phrase at a bus stop. You’re listening for it every moment, and anything could be a song, and if you don’t have one you’re up the creek without a paddle.
Richards’s next act after “Satisfaction” turned out to be “Get Off of My Cloud”—a blistering, primal scream about the pressures attached to manufacturing that next big hit single. Another delicious irony about “Get Off of My Cloud” is that it toppled the Beatles’ vise-like, four-week grip at number one with “Yesterday.” “Hey you! Get off of my cloud,” indeed!