20 - "I (Who Have Nothing)," Tom Jones
19 - "Snowbird," Anne Murray
18 - "Candida," Dawn
17 - "Hand Me Down World," The Guess Who
16 - "Overture from Tommy," The Assembled Multitude
This section kicks off with Marge Simpson's favorite. In a line that is dated in so many ways, Casey describes Mr. Jones as a man who "could stop the women's liberation movement with a shake of his hips." In spite of that cringeworthy introduction, the Welshman delivers a strong performance of this oft-covered "poor boy longs for rich girl," number.
The first of three Canadians in this quarter of the chart is the woman who was once referred to by Eric Cartman's mother as "that bitch Anne Murray." This gentle slice of Carpenters-esque MOR was her first big hit, and it does have a certain appeal. But I have no idea whether or not she is actually a bitch.
Dawn are here again with a much better song than "Gypsy Rose." Not a classic, but strong, singalong pop. If "Knock Three Times" isn't their best single, this is.
More CanCon at 17 with Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, and the rest of the Guess Who. It's your basic peace-and-love plea, but it's memorable for the phrase "fuzzy wuzzy loving cup explosion." The imagination could run wild for hours pondering that one.
Lastly in this group we have The Assembled Multitude, a group of studio musicians who for some reason recorded a faithful (if shortened and slightly watered down) version of the overture from The Who's rock opera Tommy, and for some reason it was a hit. Why radio stations couldn't have just played the Who version and cut it off before the lyrics start, I can't say.
15 - "Just Can't Help Believin'," B.J. Thomas
14 - "Hi-De-Ho," Blood, Sweat and Tears
13 - "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" Bobby Sherman
12 - "Don't Play That Song," Aretha Franklin with the Dixie Flyers
11 - "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours," Stevie Wonder
This group starts with B.J. Thomas, who this time isn't massacring the Beach Boys, so he gets points for that. But for not much else. He is the sound of paint drying.
Blood, Sweat and Tears are next, with their Canadian lead singer David Clayton-Thomas. They weren't quite as big as Chicago as far as jazz-pop-rock bands go, but they had a few hits. I remember this one because a Buffalo formal wear store called Heidi used it in their radio ads.
Next is teen idol Bobby Sherman with and old-fashioned, big-bandish number. Apparently, he went on to become a deputy sheriff. So could we be seeing Sgt. Bieber of the RCMP in 10-20 years?
Aretha Franklin teams up with session band the Dixie Flyers for some solid soul. I wish I had something smart and insightful to add, but I don't.
And finally, there's Steveland Morris with a song we all know. This was the first single Stevie produced himself, and thus the beginning of the era in which he would find his own voice and be more innovative musically and lyrically. There were few clues of what was to come here, but it's still an undeniable classic.
And now the Top Ten...
10 - "Lookin' Out My Back Door," Creedence Clearwater Revival
I've loved CCR as long as I can remember, and this is one of my favorites. It's happy and fun, and it contains a shout-out to Buck Owens, who I remember as the co-host of Hee Haw. In my earlier years, it was just something my parents and grandparents watched, but in later years, I began to appreciate it. Maybe my taste in music matured to appreciate country, or maybe it was Misty Rowe's cleavage. I'm not sure.
9 - "Spill the Wine," Eric Burdon and War
The former lead singer of the Animals and the future performers of "Low Rider" teamed up for this funky tune about a guy dreaming about being in a movie in which he was taken, naked, to a mountaintop and surrounded by women. Then one of them comes up to him with a bottle and a glass and tells him to, um, spill the wine. I can't be certain, but this could possibly be some sort of sex metaphor, so be sure to cover your children's ears whenever this comes on the radio.
8 - "(If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?" Ronnie Dyson
I'd never heard this one before, and it hasn't stuck with me at all after a day. It's an R&B song, and the first radio hit for Dyson, who was already somewhat famous for being in the original Broadway cast of Hair. Hey, that`s more than I`ve done
7 - "Patches," Clarence Carter
This is probably one of only a handful of weeks when Stevie Wonder had a song in the Top 40 that wasn't the highest-charting hit by a blind R&B singer. Clarence Carter beat him by four places this week with this story song about a boy who perserveres through his hard life working on the family farm and struggling through school to keep his promise to his late father, who called him "Patches" with a mixture of derision and shame because the child had to wear ragged clothes because that's all the family could afford. It's definitely more moving than his late 80s cult hit "Strokin'"
6 - "25 or 6 to 4," Chicago
Another week, another Chicago hit. It's been speculated that this one's mysterious title is either some sort of drug reference, a cricket score, or a reference to an occasion when someone wasn't sure if the time was 3:34 or 3;35. It's probably the most boring one.
5 - "Close to You," The Carpenters
Here they are again, Karen and Richard, with their first biggie, a Burt Bacharach/Hal David pop gem that still holds up to overfamiliarity. I still feel like Karen could be singing to me. I'm such a sap.
4 - "In The Summertime," Mungo Jerry
You probably know this jaunty bit of sunny fluff. It's on oldies radio all the time, and has frequently been used in commercials. But did you know that the band's name was taken from the same T.S Eliot book that inspired the musical Cats? I didn't, but now that I do...I'm not sure, but that feels like information that could come in handy someday.
3 - "Make It With You," Bread
Okay, this is the kind of yawn-inducing stuff I think of when I think of Bread, not like last week's might-as-well-have-been-speed-metal "The Guitar Man." But I guess this must have been effective panty-dropping material 40 years ago, because look where it is.
2 - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," Diana Ross
There's that missing supreme, vamping it up high above her old groupmates with this almost cinematic cover of a Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell hit. It's good and all, but I wonder what she was thinking when she approved the photo for the 45 sleeve: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diana-anmhe.jpg Not exactly flattering.
So what topped the charts those four long decades ago. Why, none other than...
1 - "War," Edwin Starr
"Huuh! Good God, y'all!" You know what comes next. Like I said yesterday, easily the best charttopper of the four we've had so far. Say it again!
There were no Extras this week from Mr. NotCasey, because during the chart, Casey himself played three seemingly random "oldies:" "Second Hand Rose" by Barbra Streisand, "Dominique" by the Singing Nun (a Belgian Bride of Christ who somehow hit Number 1 in 1964 in the midst of Beatlemania), and "Mr. Businessman" by Ray Stevens (a surprisingly lefty-sounding number by the guy whose more recent political songs have made him many fans among Fox News viewers). Also, at the end of the second hour, he played CCR's cover of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," because it was on that week's best-selling album, Cosmo's Factory.
Another one in the books. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for a chart from the second half of the decade next week. But whatever gets aired, I'll be listening and taking notes.
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