40 - "All Right Now," Free
39 - "Summertime Blues," The Who
38 - "Neanderthal Man," Hotlegs
37 - "Peace Will Come (According To Plan)," Melanie
36 - "Joanne," Michael Nesmith and the First National Band
35 - "Closer to Home," Grand Funk Railroad
34 - "I Want To Take You Higher," Ike and Tina Turner
33 - "It's a Shame," The Spinners
32 - "I've Lost You," Elvis Presley
31 - "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine," James Brown
Well, this week classic rock doesn't wait to go back to back on our asses. Free kick off with the immortal "All Right Now," then before we can recover from the sheer rockosity, The Who pile on with their still awe-inspiring hard rock version of Eddie Cochrane's 1958 teenage lament. Grand Funk railroad, lightweights that they are, have the good sense to wait a few spots before showing up with their first hit, a much more serious effort than their later party jams. "Closer to Home," has strings on it and everything!
R&B/Soul/Funk dominates the second half of this group. The Sly and the Family Stone version of "I Want To Take You Higher" was in Ike and Tina's sweet spot soundwise, so they covered it straight up instead of reinventing it the way they would with "Proud Mary." The Spinners are here with a very good Stevie Wonder-written effort, but there days on Motown were numbered, and they'd go on to bigger success later in the decade. And then, there's James Brown. Nothing more to be said.
Folkie Melanie shows up with a ponderous, earnest song that sounds like something Donovan would have crumpled up in his wastebasket. This was a letdown over the more genuinely moving "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)," but she would soon rebound by going the novelty route with "Brand New Key."
Elvis appears with one of his forgotten 7os songs. "I've Lost You," tells of a relationship that's ended before it's physically over. It's not bad at all, but when it comes to Elvis hits from this year, I much prefer "Kentucky Rain."
Finally, we have two acts at opposite ends of their career trajectories. "Neanderthal Man," is a strange little number, consisting of four lines repeated over and over again (all of which contain the word "neanderthal.") over a sort-of primitive-sounding backing track that reminded me a little of "Give Peace A Chance." The band wouldn't have any more hits as Hotlegs, but they would return later with more success as 10cc, of "I'm Not In Love" and "The Things We Do For Love" fame. On the other end is Michael Nesmith, just coming off of his time with the Monkees and trying to reinvent himself as a country-rocker with a new band. "Joanne," is a decent song, but in the long run, Nesmith's past with the Pre-Fab Four proved too much to break away from. Interestingly, both Nesmith and two members of Hotlegs would play integral parts in the music video explosion of the 80s: Nesmith created a TV show called Pop Clips that was later sold and expanded into what would become MTV, while Kevin Godley and Lol Creme teamed up to direct videos for such early MTV stalwarts as The Police and Duran Duran.
30 - "Lay A Little Lovin' On Me," Robin McNamara
29 - "Cracklin' Rosie," Neil Diamond
28 - "Tighter, Tighter," Alive N Kickin'
27 - "(I Know) I'm Losing You," Rare Earth
26 - "Rubber Duckie," Ernie
25 - "Tell It All, Brother," Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
24 - "Groovy Situation," Gene Chandler
23 - "Solitary Man," Neil Diamond
22 - "Band Of Gold," Freda Payne
21 - "Everybody's Got A Right To Love," The Supremes
I know, one of these songs sticks out. Some would even say it's "not like the others." But I'll save it for the end.
Another thing that catches the eye is the presence of not one but two Neil Diamond chestnuts: "Cracklin' Rosie," the song he wrote about wine that wasn't later covered by UB4o; and the dark by his standards "Solitary Man." I'll take the latter.
There are two very "of their time," pop songs by one-hit wonders. Both "Lay A Little Lovin' on Me" and "Tighter, Tighter" somehow manage to sound like rock, soul and country at various points during their running times. Neither are classics, but the latter was the bigger hit, and deservedly so.
There's another "one going up, one going down," situation in this quarter, but this time, there are two acts in the second category. Gene Chandler was years removed from "Duke of Earl" when he scored with the smooth "Groovy Situation," The Supremes carried on after that Diana chick left for a few years, and they had plenty of hits like the one here, but although it sounds okay, there's clearly something missing. But if you're looking for someone for whom bigger things were in the future, there's First Edition frontman Kenny Rogers, who would go on from having a decent career with hits like "Just Dropped In," "Ruby," and this surprisingly cool, almost hymnlike call for sinners to repent, to superstardom, plastic surgery, chicken restaurants, and the movie Six Pack (which I'll cop to actually seeing in a theater back in the day.)
Rare Earth were a white group that were signed to Motown, and had their first hits with covers of earlier hits from the label like this one and "Get Ready." Freda Payne also has a Motown connection, as she recorded her huge hit document of an ill-fated-from-the-start marriage for Invictus Records, a label founded by the longtime Hitsville U.S.A. writing/production team of Holland-Dozier-Holland.
Okay, now I'll get to that song, the obvious winner of this week's Uneasy Rider award for biggest oddity of the week. Yes, Bert's roommate on Sesame Street had an actual hit record with his ode to his chubby yellow bathtime buddy. That's just...I don't know what it is. But it's certainly catchy, and it's stood the test of time, so whey you think about it, why the hell shouldn't it have been a hit?
Twenty down, twenty more to come in the next day or so. Part Two will have some Canadian content, some musical heavyweights, and easily the best #1 so far. Be there.
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