B.J. Thomas' 1975 Hit Broke the Record for Longest Title on Billboard Hot 100

Jacqueline Burt CoteSun, April 26, 2026 at 5:20 AM UTC

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If you're looking for a good tune to listen to while sitting at a bar, crying into your beer, you can't do better than "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," which is about doing just that. The country classic hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 51 years ago today on April 26, 1975, marking the second (and last) time singer B.J. Thomas would top that particular chart. (The first time was with "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" in 1970.)

Written by Larry Butler and Chips Moman, "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" is sung from the perspective of someone whose misery needs a little company:

"Hey, won't you play another / Somebody done somebody wrong song / And make me feel at home / While I miss my baby / While I miss my baby / So play, play for me / A sad melody / So sad that it makes everybody cry / A real hurtin' song / About a love that's gone wrong / 'Cause I don't want to cry all alone"

Pretty straightforward stuff.

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As Tom Breihan of Stereogum pointed out, "This is not a complicated song, and it doesn't have all the sharp and finely observed storytelling touches of the best country music. There's a bit of mid-'70s dinkiness to it — the ukulele-sounding guitar strum, the weirdly jaunty trumpet that sometimes pops up. But the arrangement mostly nails the Nashville countrypolitan sound, with its welled-up strings and its consoling pedal-steel murmurs. And Thomas sells it all, his tough baritone keeping things conversational but still sounding wounded."

Not only did "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" make it all the way to #1, it broke a record when it got there by having the longest title of any Hot 100-topping single ever, according to Joel Whitburn's Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Six years later, however, the song known as "Stars on 45" broke the same record (the song's official charting title is actually 41 words long.

Tom Breihan sang the 'Growing Pains' theme song

Even though Breihan's #1 hits obviously put him on the map, he might be most famous for singing one of the most popular sit-com songs of the '80s, the Growing Pains theme song, "As Long As We Got Each Other."

Thomas performed the song solo for the first season, with Jennifer Warnes joining him for a duet featured in most of the other seasons (other versions included one with Dusty Springfield accompanying Thomas).

Related: 1969 Tearjerker Ranked Among 'Greatest Songs in Country Music' Was a No. 1 Hit 57 Years Ago Today

This story was originally published by Parade on Apr 26, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”