The Chicago Band Greatest Hits

The Chicago Band Overview

Chicago Band Group Picture
The Chicago Band Group Picture

A review of the Chicago Band greatest hits as a musical group and their rise to fame. They have been releasing singles for over three decades. This is their story…

The band was formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. They are known as the “rock and roll band with horns” and generated several hit ballads. They are second only to “The Beach Boys” in Billboard singles and albums chart success among American bands. Chicago is one of the longest-running and most successful rock groups in history.

They have sold over 38 million units in the United States, with 22 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums. Over the course of their long career they have had five number-one albums and 21 top-ten singles including 3 number one hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 and eight #1’s on the Adult Contemporary charts. The group charted 50 singles from 1969 through 1997 on the Hot 100 chart.

Chicago Beginnings

Chicago Band Group PictureOriginally they called their group “Chicago Transit Authority”. Making up this group consisted of saxophonist “Walter Parazaider”, guitarist “Terry Kath”, drummer “Danny Seraphine”, trombonist “James Pankow”, trumpet player “Lee Laughnane”, and keyboardist/singer “Robert Lamm”. They all met while students at DePaul University accept for Lamm who was recruited from Roosevelt University. The called themselves “The Big Thing”, and played top 40 hits.

In June 1968, they moved to Los Angeles, California and signed with Columbia Records. After signing, James Guercio became their manager and changed their groups name to “Chicago Transit Authority” from “The Big Thing”. During this time they realized the need for a tenor and added Peter Cetera to the group.

Their first record, April 1969, the eponymous “The Chicago Transit Authority”, was a double album and sold over one million copies by 1970, and was awarded a platinum disc. Because of the success of this album, the actual “Chicago Transit Authority” threatened legal action against the group and they changed their name to “Chicago” and this name has stuck with the group ever since. The album gave the group two top-ten hits “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” #7, and “Beginnings” #7 on Hot 100 chart. The first charted single for the group Chicago was “Questions 67 And 68” #71 on the Hot 100 in 1969.

Musical Career

Their next album release was “Chicago II” and this album would yield the group three additional top-ten hits “Make Me Smile” #9 and “Colour My World” #7 and “25 Or 6 to 4” #4 on the Hot 100. The albums Chicago III and IV, yielded no additional top-ten hits for the group. The album Chicago V, added one more top-ten hit “Saturday In The Park” a number three hit. Albums Chicago VI through VIII, yielded the group five more top ten hits: “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” – #10 June, 1973 Chicago VI, “Just You And Me” September, 1973 #4 Chicago VI, “(I’ve Been) Searching So Long” February, 1974 #9 Chicago VII, “Call On Me” June, 1974 #6 Chicago VII, and “Old Days” April, 1975 #5 Chicago VIII. With the release of Chicago X, this album yielded them their first number one hit “If You Leave Me Now” in 1976, and stayed at the top position for two weeks.
Chicago Band Group Photo Along Chicago SkylineIn 1982, they released Chicago 16 and this album yielded Chicago their second #1 hit “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” and it stayed at the top of the Hot 100 chart for 2 weeks. They released Chicago 17 in 1984, and this album yielded them two top-ten hits “Hard Habit To Break” #3 hit, and “You’re The Inspiration” a #3 hit. The Chicago 18 album was released in 1986, and yielded one more top-ten hit “Will You Still Love Me?” at #3. Then in 1988, Chicago 19 was released and provided the groups last #1 hit “Look Away” and stayed in the top position for two weeks. It also yielded three more top ten hits “I Don’t Want To Live Without Your Love” #3, “You’re Not Alone” #10 and “What Kind of Man Would I Be?” #5 hit.

Achievements

Their last top 40 hit song was “Chasin’ The Wind” in 1991 at #39. The group’s last Hot 100 single was “Here In My Heart” #59 in 1997. The group had a total of 50 singles to chart with 3 #1’s, 21 top ten, 28 top 20, and 34 top 40 hits. They also had 12 top ten albums. The group released a total of thirty four albums. Billboard ranks the group Chicago as the #5 artist from 1970-1979, #21 artist from 1980-1989, and #20 artist of all-time from 1955-2010. The group was also ranked the #14 artist of all-time on the Adult Contemporary chart. On that chart they scored 8 #1’s, 23 top 10, 29 top 20, 37 top 40 hits.

Top Ten Hits and Number One Songs

Below is a complete list of all of Chicago’s top ten hits on the Hot 100 chart and all of their number ones on the Adult Contemporary chart. The list will consist of the title, date, peak position #, and number of weeks at peak position in (). The number one hits on the Hot 100 will be in bold.

Look Away Single On Album CoverHot 100

  1. Make Me Smile – April 4, 1970 #9
  2. 25 Or 6 To 4 – July 25, 1970 #4
  3. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? – November 7, 1970 #7
  4. Beginnings – July 26, 1971 #7
  5. Colour My World – July 26, 1971 #7
  6. Saturday In The Park – August 5, 1972 #3
  7. Feelin’ Stronger Every Day – June 23, 1973 #10
  8. Just You N’ Me – September 29, 1973 #4
  9. (I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long – March 16, 1974 #9
  10. Call On Me – June 22, 1974 #6
  11. Old Days – April 26, 1975 #5
  12. If You Leave Me Now – October 23, 1976 #1 (2)
  13. Baby, What A Big Surprise – September 24, 1977 #4
  14. Hard To Say I’m Sorry – September 11, 1982 #1 (2)
  15. Hard Habit To Break – August 4, 1984 #3
  16. You’re The Inspiration – November 17, 1984 #3
  17. Will You Still Love Me? – November 15, 1986 #3
  18. I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love – June 4, 1988 #3
  19. Look Away – December 10, 1988 #1 (2)
  20. You’re Not Alone – January 21, 1989 #10
  21. What Kind Of Man Would I Be? – December 2, 1989 #5

Adult Contemporary

  1. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? – November 21, 1970 #5
  2. Beginnings – August 28, 1971 #1 (1)
  3. Saturday In The Park – August 19, 1972 #8
  4. Just You N’ Me – October 16, 1973 #7
  5. (I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long – April 20, 1974 #8
  6. Call On Me – August 24, 1974 #1 (1)
  7. Wishing You Were Here – December 21, 1974 #1 (1)
  8. Old Days – May 3, 1975 #3
  9. Another Rainy Day In New York City – July 4, 1976 #2 (1)
  10. If You Leave Me Now – September 25, 1976 #1 (1)
  11. Baby, What A Big Surprise – October 1, 1977 #8
  12. No Tell Lover – January 13, 1979 #5
  13. Hard To Say I’m Sorry – August 21, 1982 #1 (3)
  14. Love Me Tomorrow – October 2, 1982 #8
  15. Hard Habit To Break – August 11, 1984 #3
  16. You’re The Inspiration – January 26, 1985 #1 (2)
  17. Will You Still Love Me? – November 29, 1986 #2 (3)
  18. If She Would Have Been Faithful – April 11, 1987 #9
  19. I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love – June 11, 1988 #5
  20. Look Away – December 3, 1988 #1 (1)
  21. You’re Not Alone – February 4, 1989 #9
  22. What Kind Of Man Would I Be? – December 9, 1989 #2 (4)
  23. Here In My Heart – July 12, 1997 #1 (1)

Shop Chicago Greatest Hits

The Chicago Band are still performing with four members of the original band making up the group. If you are a Chicago Band fan, now you can own all of their number one songs on both the Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts with the album The Best Of Chicago 40th AnniversaryThe Best Of Chicago 40th Anniversary. Check it out today!

Now, you can shop for individual The Chicago Greatest Hits by clicking on the link. You will be taken to the Amazon Try Prime Digital Music page where you can download individual Chicago’s greatest hit songs for a small fee.

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