I recently discovered that a local radio station was playing reruns of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 from the 1970s every Sunday night. This captured my attention for two reasons. First, the music of this decade was the soundtrack of my first eight years and ten months of existence, and many of its songs are associated in my mind with car rides, family gatherings, mornings before school, etc., etc. Secondly, in the summer of 1980, I started listening to Casey's coast-to-coast countdown of the biggest hits in the USA every week. Why? Probably a mixture of things; a fascination with lists and rankings, hearing a few songs that didn't get to Canada (where I live) because of homegrown content quotas, general nerdiness, and of course, the smooth, strangely familiar voice of Casey himself (It was a few years before I figured out that the same guy who counted down the hits every week was also the voice of Shaggy on Scooby Doo and Robin on Super Friends).
So I've been listening for the last few weeks, and now I've gotten the bright idea that I should do weekly recaps of the show while sharing my thoughts about the songs and the artists and the memories they invoke in me, along with interesting tidbits I look up, as well as my general thoughts about 70s music, countdowns and charts, and Casey Kasem himself. I'm not sure who I think the audience for this would be, but I'm never really sure of anything, so why would that stop me?
So here goes. This one's a little late, so forgive me. I'm breaking it up into two parts, which is probably going to be standard operating practice.
On with the countdown...
4o - "Future Shock," Curtis Mayfield
39 - "So Very Hard to Go," Tower of Power
38 - "There It Is," Tyrone Davis
37 - "Natural High," Bloodstone
36 - "Behind Closed Doors," Charlie Rich
35 - "My Maria," B.W. Stevenson
34 - "Theme from 'Cleopatra Jones,'" Joe Simon and the Main Streeters
33 - "Nobody Wants You When You're Down and Out," Bobby Womack
32 - "Why Me?" Kris Kristofferson
31 - "The Hurt," Cat Stevens
Interesting. I had expected this chart to contain a lot of middle-of-the-road stuff, but this first quarter is dominated by soul and R&B, with country riding shotgun.
On the soul front, there's two legendary voices in Mayfield and Womack, bringing there usual brilliance. I'd never heard of Tyrone Davis and Bloodstone before, and neither of their songs here compelled me to dig further into their catalogues. I'd also never heard the theme from the blaxploitation flick Cleopatra Jones. It's quite good, although unlike similar odes to Shaft and Superfly, this one's less about the title subject's badassness than the singer's infatuation with her. As for Tower of Power, I don't have much to say, except that I can't think of them without being reminded of a former bass player of theirs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Conte
As for the country, you've got "Behind Closed Doors," a sensual classic from the man known as the Silver Fox; Kristofferson's anguished prayer for redemption, and the much-lesser-known Stevenson's biggest hit, featuring a chorus in which he practically yodels the name of his titular object of desire.
There is one representative of the decade's easy-listening brigade, but this particular Cat Stevens song is quite uptempo and R&B-influenced. "Moonshadow" it ain't. So that leaves this quarter of the chart surprisingly MOR-free. Where's John Denver when you need him?
30 - "Believe In Humanity," Carole King
29 - "I Was Checkin' Out, She Was Checkin' In," Don Covay
28 - "Shambala," Three Dog Night
27 - "That Lady, Parts 1 and 2," The Isley Brothers
26 - "Yesterday Once More," The Carpenters
25 - "Young Love," Donny Osmond
24 - "Diamond Girl," Seals and Crofts
23 - "Smoke on the Water," Deep Purple
22 - "How Can I Tell Her?" Lobo
21 - "Angel," Aretha Franklin
Ah, here we go. Carole King, Seals and Crofts, Lobo, and those eternal titans of dentist office waiting rooms everywhere, Karen and Richard Carpenter.
Seriously, though, the first three I mentioned didn't do much for me. This is a boring, hippy-dippy post-Tapestry King track. Lobo (who was apparently one guy, not a group) only matters to me when he's singing about a dog named Boo. And Seals and Crofts...ugh. However, I am unapologetic about digging the Carpenters. Karen is on my list of what I call "phone book singers," and they usually chose songs like this one that she could really hit out of the park and sell. It's not my favorite of theirs, though. That honor goes to their fantastically out-of-character cover of Klaatu's "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft."
R&B makes its presence felt again in this batch with three songs. Another legend shows up in the form of Aretha's gorgeous ballad "Angel." The Isley Brothers are no less legendary, but their contribution to this week's chart loses many points for its current ubiquity in Swiffer commercials, particularly a very disturbing one which implies impending sexual intercourse between a mop and a pink bowling ball. And then there's a hidden gem in Don Covay's "I Was Checkin' Out, She Was Checkin' In." I'd never heard it before, but now I rank it right up there with "Me and Mrs. Jones" in the annals of R&B adultery ballads. And perhaps it should get extra points, because in it, both Mrs. and Mr. Jones have things going on.
Classic rock makes its first appearance with "Smoke on the Water." We all know the riff, and most people also know that the lyric was inspired by a fire at a Swiss casino where Deep Purple were recording. I have nothing to add.
Then there's Donny Osmond, the Justin Bieber of his day (perhaps not, but if menitoning that nane gets one extra page view, I'll stand by the comparison. This is a cover of an old country song, and Donny's voice is starting to change, so it's no surprise that this wasn't one of his bigger hits.
Finally, there's Three Dog Night. To me, they were the forerunners to a band like Matchbox Twenty, in that they were a hugely successful "rock" group, but I have trouble finding one instance in their popular catalogue (and I have no intention of digging into either band's deep tracks, sorry) where they actually "rocked" by any stretch of the imagination. However, I must admit that 3DN (as I'm sure they would be frequently referred to if they were new today) had several catchy hits, and some of them put money into the pockets of songwriters like Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman. So those guys are all right by me. I'll gladly take "Shambala" over anything by Rob Thomas and his bland, I mean band, no, wait, I had it right the first time.
And on that note, I'll end Part One. If you liked this, or just want to know what happens in the second half of the chart, be back here sometime tomorrow for the conclusion. And to quote the man himself, "Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars."
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