August 27, 1977 Part One

Okay, this week might be better as far as provoking memories. It's the summer I was 6 and about to start Grade 1. And we're in the heart of the disco era. This shapes up to be a fun one. So here we go...


40 - "Boogie Nights," Heatwave
39 - "Nobody Does It Better," Carly Simon
38 - "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band," Meco
37 - "My Heart Belongs To Me," Barbra Streisand
36 - "Hard Rock Cafe," Carole King
35 - "It Was Almost Like A Song," Ronnie Milsap
34 - "So You Win Again," Hot Chocolate
33 - "You Made Me Believe In Magic," The Bay City Rollers
32 - "Slide," Slave
31 - "Undercover Angel," Alan O'Day


Yeah, quite a few of these tunes are hard-wired into my brain, for better or worse.


We'll start with three songs that have connections to the 1973 chart I reviewed last week. First, there's "Nobody Does It Better." Last week Paul McCartney's Bond theme was second the top, this week Carly Simon's is second from the bottom. Then there's Carole King, who was not who I expected to be the first artist from the last chart to reappear here, with "Hard Rock Cafe," a song that for some reason she decided should sound a lot like "La Bamba." And finally, there's Hot Chocolate, whose "Brother Louie," was last week's #1 for the American band Stories (A correction: Hot Chocolate's "Brother Louie" did not go to number one in Britain. Their only U.K. charttopper was, it so happens, the song here, "So You Win Again.")


Disco, of course, is present and correct in this group, starting right off the bat with "Boogie Nights," a song which for some reason was saved for the second volume of the soundtrack of a certain late-90s Mark Wahlberg movie. Two spots later, there's Meco's discofied version of the "Star Wars" theme, which, given its combination of two such dominant phemomena, would go all the way to the top. And this quarter's last four entries all have the disco sound to some degree; the Hot Chocolate; "You Made Me Believe In Magic," one of the last gasps of success for Scotland's bubblegum heroes, the Bay City Rollers; Slave's "Slide," more funk than straight-up disco, but I'm sure many a Hustle was done to its strains; and Alan O'Day's not-as-sexy-as-it-thinks-it-is, "Undercover Angel." I must admit that the latter was one of my favorite songs at the time of it's popularity. I think I liked the "I said WHOA!/She said "Ooh-ooh-ooh-wee." part best. My taste has always been questionable.


The other two songs in this group are "My Heart Belongs To Me," a big Barbra Streisand ballad in the "The Way We Were"/"Evergreen" vein, and "It Was Almost Like A Song," a tender love song by blind country singer Ronnie Milsap.


30 - "That's Rock n' Roll," Shaun Cassidy
29 - "Don't Worry Baby," B.J. Thomas
28 - "Edge of the Universe," Bee Gees
27 - "Christine Sixteen," Kiss
26 - "You're My World," Helen Reddy
25 - "You and Me," Alice Cooper
24 - "Keep It Comin' Love," KC and the Sunshine Band
23 - "Do Ya Wanna Make Love?" Peter McCann
22 - "Swayin' To The Music (Slow Dancing)," Johnny Rivers
21 - "On and On," Stephen Bishop

This quarter is dominated by the middle of the road. B.J. Thomas sucks everything interesting out of a Beach Boys classic. Helen Reddy's back, but this cover of a sixties hit by Cilla Black is no "Angie Baby" (yes, I'm going to mention that song every time she comes up until the song itself shows up and I can celebrate its awesomeness. And if she hadn't been on this chart, I would have mentioned it anyway, because it was written by Alan "Undercover Angel" O'Day). Peter McCann asks an important question, Johnny Rivers' causes narcolepsy and makes one long to hear "Secret Agent Man," and Stephen Bishop warns us all about thieving, heartbreaking Jamaican women.

Two heavily made-up rock acts appear here. Kiss, with reality TV and branded condoms and caskets still far in the future, turn in a nice rocker in "Christine Sixteen." But Alice Cooper was only reaching the charts with ballads at this point, and his entry here is a sweet ode to someone to whom he can come home from a long day and just watch TV and eat popcorn with. Not exactly what one expects from the man who used to decapitate himself onstage nightly, but then again, Frank Sinatra apparently sang this once at the Hollywood Bowl, and that probably was never going to happen to, say, "Dead Babies." Oh yes, and Alice did this on that Muppet Show episode I mentioned last week. I wonder if there will always be so many week-to-week connections like this.

There are two acts known for disco in this group, but only one actually brings the dancing shoes. Harry Casey and his Miami-based hit machine kept the booties shaking with "Keep It Comin' Love." As for the Bee Gees, this wasn't one of their more memorable moments. "Edge of the Universe," was a forgettable track that was the only single off of a live album. But to say that bigger things were right around the corner would be an understatement.

I'll end my discussion of this section with the beginning: "That's Rock n' Roll," a faux-retro rocker by the teen idol du jour, Shaun Cassidy. I don't remember which of the Hardy Boys he played, and I refuse to look it up. David was the better singer anyway.

Okay, there's the first half of the chart. Tune in tomorrow (probably) when I cover the second half of the countdown, which proved to be more of a challenge than I'd imagined.