Back to the Wayback Machine...
20 - "(I Believe) There's Nothing Stronger Than Our Love," Paul Anka and Odia Coates
19 - "Dance With Me," Orleans
18 - "Solitatire," The Carpenters
17 - "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady," Helen Reddy
16 - "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)," James Taylor
The second half begins with starts with Canada's own Paul Anka, who started as a teen idol, morphed into the songwriting pro behind Johnny Carson's Tonight Show theme and "My Way," then became a hit machine all over again with duet partner Odia Coates. Of course, the most famous of those hits was the smash "(You're) Having My Baby," which would win Anka the "Male Chauvinist Pig of the Year" award from Ms. magazine. I was going to mention the company he was in as a winner of that award, but I can't find a list of winners anywhere. The internet does have its limits, believe it or not.
Next is "Dance With Me," a soft rock ballad that I thought was by the Doobie Brothers. Actually, it's from the group who later did "Still The One." And their singer is now in the U.S. Congress.
Then come the Carpenters again, this time with one of my favorites. Karen isn't singing this tale of loneliness and isolation in the first person, but she conveys the pain so well that she might as well be. Fun fact: "Solitaire," is also the name of a story in The Devil You Know, the latest collection by Jenn Farrell, a good friend and a great writer. I just got my hands on it today. You should too.
Helen Reddy's back, but no crazy ladies in this one. But it's still a rich ballad about a woman who's leaving a man who's too into himself to give her what she needs. Her first hit was "I Don't Know How To Love Him;" this is sort of a sequel: "He Doesn't Know How To Love Me."
Rounding out this group is James Taylor covering Marvin Gaye. Not a fan of Mr. Taylor's takes on R&B, as I've mentioned before. So I'll just skip to the fact that Sweet Baby James singing the title of this song (sans the part in parentheses) was the answer Jaws gave when Dickie Goodman what he was thinking when he ate a swimmer.
15 - "Jive Talkin'," The Bee Gees
14 - "Third Rate Romance," The Amazing Rhythm Aces
13 - "That's the Way of the World," Earth Wind And Fire
12 - "Ballroom Blitz," Sweet
11 - "Feel Like Makin' Love," Bad Company
The last set before the top ten kicks off with the Brothers Gibb beginning their stunningly successful venture into disco. There's no way this should have worked, but did it ever. I know I always perked up when I heard that scratchy guitar opening, and I still love it today. And this is the third song on this week's chart that was sampled in "Mr. Jaws."
Then it's the Amazing Rhythm Aces with a catchy little tune about a one-night stand. This was as high as it got on the 40, but apparently it went to #1 in Canada on both the pop and country charts. And they weren't even Canadian. Impressive.
Next are Earth Wind and Fire with a soul ballad promoting peace and love. Nothing much to say about it. It's just a nice song to hear on the radio.
This is the highest appearance so far of a Classic Rock Double Shot. It starts with England's Sweet, offering an edgier sound than the glam rock that made them famous. Myself, I still prefer those songs: "Little Willy," "Fox on the Run," and the politically incorrect "Wig Wam Bam." Following that, and closing the last fivesome before the Top Ten, are Bad Company with what one might classify as one of the first power ballads. You haven't lived until you've heard it covered by South Park's Ned Gerblansky. He sings it much better than Kid Rock did.
And now, the Top Ten:
10 - "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," Freddy Fender
This was poised to become the first hit for Hispanic country singer Fender fifteen years fifteen years earlier, but a marijuana bust just as the song was starting to catch on caused radio stations to drop the record immediately. He finally broke through earlier in '75 with the #1 hit "Before the Next Teardrop Falls," and this new recording of his should-have-been followed it into the top ten. There are so many things about this story that make it unthinkable today.
9 - "Run Joey Run," David Geddes
This is an almost operatic story song about how Joey's girlfriend Julie, whom he has gotten pregnant, calls him because her father is enraged, crazy, and has got a gun. She tells him to run, but instead, he rushes to her house, where he finds her outside and sees that she's been hit by her dad. Then her father comes out to shoot Joey, but as he does, Julie jumps in front of him, takes the bullet, and dies. Just as cheery as it sounds. I don't remember ever having heard the original before yesterday, but I did see it acted out a few months ago on an episode of Glee. That's right, I watch Glee. Wanna fight about it?
8 - "I'm Sorry," John Denver
The erstwhile Mr. Deutschendorf is apologizing to a woman for what he did during their relationship, though why he felt the need to be "sorry for the way things are in China," I'll never know. This was what they used to call a "double-sided" hit, because both sides of the 45 rpm single received significant airplay. The other side of this one, for the record, was the Jacques Cousteau tribute "Calypso."
7 - "Could It Be Magic?" Barry Manilow
Another 70s icon finally shows up here. Barry's music became kind of a "Feelings"-esque punchline for a while after the hits dried up, but his reputation has recovered somewhat, and I think deservedly so. To me, nothing tops "Mandy," but this is a suitably desperate-sounding plea for love. I like it.
6 - "Fight the Power," The Isley Brothers
More great funk from the Isleys. Plus, instead of inspiring creepy Swiffer commercials, it inspired Public Enemy's fantastic contribution to the Do The Right Thing soundtrack. A much more worthy contribution to society.
5 - "Fame," David Bowie
I remember that this sounded so ahead of this time even to my 4-year-old ears. I know I especially liked that part where Bowie repeated the word "fame" over and over with his voice all distorted. See, I did have some taste back then.
4 - "Get Down Tonight," KC and the Sunshine Band
Yeah, you know we're in the disco years when KC and the boys show up, This was their first, and perhaps their best, hit. And people have been doing little dances and making a little love to this ever since. Plus, it made "Mr. Jaws."
3 - "At Seventeen," Janis Ian
A gentle little folk ditty about the pain and tribulation of high school that somehow became a huge hit. It's been used in two Simpsons episodes: once as the ironic theme to a beauty pageant, then later as Homer wandered Springfield trying to figure out the meaning of a message given to him by a Johnny Cash-voiced coyote in a hot-pepper-induced hallucination. I'm sure Ms. Ian saw that coming.
2 - "Fallin' In Love," Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds
One of the weirder stories in pop history. They had a #4 hit in 1971 with "Don't Pull Your Love," then faded into obscurity. Then Reynolds left the group. Then the band got another record deal, but it was on the condition that they remained Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. They agreed, and despite their Reynoldslessness, they got themselves a Number One with this slick bit of MOR. Reynolds must have been pissed.
And the toppermost of the poppermost 35 years ago was...
1 - "Rhinestone Cowboy," Glen Campbell
We all know this, right? Some of you may have even perfored karaoke versions of it. It's just awesome. Country boy goes to the city and dreams of hitting the big time, even though he knows getting there will take "a load of compromisin'" Well, at least he's realistic. And yes, this is the last of the songs here that was sampled in "Mr. Jaws."
The Extras this week were "Who Loves You," the Four Seasons' comeback hit that is probably being performed right now somewhere in a production of Jersey Boys; "Bad Blood," a rockin' Neil Sedaka song that featured backing vocals by Elton John; and another Eagles staple, "Lyin' Eyes."
Another week down. Join me next week as I return to the Me Decade and roll around in the sound.
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