The Miracles only hit #1 once during the entire time Smokey Robinson led the group. That was in 1970, when “The Tears Of A Clown,” which they’d recorded four years earlier, finally made its ascent.

The pre-Beatles era, 1960-1963, had some odd singles ascend to the number one position on the Billboard Magazine Pop Singles Chart. In retrospect, none may have been odder than “Calcutta” by Lawrence ...