16 Candles (song)

Track listing

7" vinyl

1. "16 Candles"
2. "Beside You"

Chart performance

The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while "Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price was at No. 1. "16 Candles" also went No. 4 on the US R&B chart for 21 weeks in 1959. In Canada it reached No. 5.

In popular culture

This song has appeared prominently in several 'entertainment' contexts, including at least two major Hollywood [motion picture] productions. It was an example of a typical doo-wop song in the 1973 movie American Graffiti and it had somewhat of a 'title role' in the 1984 movie Sixteen Candles.

Covers

• A cover by Jerry Lee Lewis peaked at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1986.
• The Jackson 5 did a cover of this song for their album, Maybe Tomorrow. This cover has since been re-released along with their greatest hits albums.
• A rockabilly cover by Stray Cats was used as the title song to the eponymous movie. This version was also featured in the soundtrack of the first season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
• A cover by Sha Na Na was performed live and recorded on their album *Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll * in 1973.

References

References

1. "Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart".
2. Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004". Record Research.
3. "CHUM Hit Parade - January 26, 1959".
4. See e.g. [[41_Original_Hits_from_the_Soundtrack_of_American_Graffiti#Track_listing. the "Track listing" section]] of [[41_Original_Hits_from_the_Soundtrack_of_American_Graffiti. the article about the soundtrack]] of the movie [[American Graffiti]]
5. See e.g. [[Sixteen_Candles#Soundtrack_and_songs. the "Soundtrack and songs" section]] of the article about the movie [[Sixteen Candles]]
6. Whitburn, Joel. (2013). "Hot Country Songs 1944–2012". Record Research, Inc.
7. "Sixteen Candles".
8. (5 April 2019). "Альбом «Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Season 1 (Original Television Soundtrack)» (Разные артисты)".
9. "Sha Na Na - The Golden Age Of Rock 'n' Roll".