October 17, 1970 Part Two

20 - "It's Only Make Believe," Glen Campbell
19 - "(I Know) I'm Losing You," Rare Earth
18 - "Still Water (Love)," The Four Tops
17 - "Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma," The New Seekers
16 - "Snowbird," Anne Murray

The second half begins with Glen Campbell covering a 1958 #1 by Conway Twitty. Completely unnecessary. Neither Glen nor the production add anything. The original is great, though.

Rare Earth's Temptation's cover isn't essential either, but at least it's more distinct from the original. But they went overboard with the echo effects at the beginning. I'm glad they won't be performing the theme song to the revolution.

The Four Tops were still with Motown when they recorded "Still Water (Love)." Smooth R&B balladry sung by Levi Stubbs is a can't-miss proposition.

Next are The New Seekers. You might be asking, "Mr. Glovehead, was there an old Seekers?" As a matter of fact, there was. They had several hits in their native Australia, and had a massive worldwide smash with the title song from the movie Georgy Girl. But then they broke up, and one of them decided to form a new group and give it a familiar name. This isn't usually a successful move, but the group scored with this cover of a wonderfully weird song by Melanie "Brand New Key" Safka (we never do find out what "they" did to her song, but whatever it was, it cooked her brain "like a chicken bone), and later, they had an even bigger hit by trying to teach the world to sing and buying it a Coke.

Last in the group is Anne Murray, wishing that she could fly away with a snowbird after her lover cheats on her. Who would cheat on Anne? She seems so nice.

15 - "Out In The Country," Three Dog Night
14 - "It's A Shame," The Spinners
13 - "Express Yourself," Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
12 - "Lola," The Kinks
11 - "Indiana Wants Me," R. Dean Taylor

First we have Three Dog Night. Never heard this song before, and I found it unremarkable. Did you know the band's name comes from a term for a really cold evening in the Australian outback? Well, now you do.

Next are The Spinners. Does anybody remember a female British rapper from the early 90s named Monie Love? I remember that she had a minor hit with a song in which she borrowed the chorus from this song (with her singing it). Isn't that fascinating?

Then there's Charles Wright et al. You've certainly heard this song in commercials. Or perhaps you've heard the N.W.A. song of the same name that samples it. And like Freda Payne's entry from yesterday, this also shares it's name with a Madonna hit. I'll take this song over Madge's, and the "Express Yourself"'s cumulatively over the "Deeper and Deeper"'s.

I love the Kinks. They were literate, but not pretentious, and they wrote great songs, like this one, which wins this week's Uneasy Rider Award by being a song about a guy who is cool about finding out his date is a transvestite and still racking up enough pop radio airplay to crack the U.S. Top Ten in 1970. An underrated achievement.

Finally, there's Canadian R. Dean Taylor, who in his only U.S. hit killed a guy that talked shit about his wife and was trying to write a letter to her when the cops caught up to him. I especially like the sirens and the cop with the bullhorn at the end. And apparently, this song came out on the Motown subsidiary Rare Earth. I did not expect that.

Here's the ten biggest:

10 - "Fire and Rain," James Taylor
The first big hit for this 70s folk hero. Two decades later, he would perform this song for three astronauts on a troubled Space Shuttle mission: Race Bannion, Buzz Aldrin, and Homer Simpson. He made a faux pas when he sang the inappropriate-to-the-occasion line about "flying machines in pieces on the ground," but he quickly realized the mistake and improvised a more pleasant image. That's why he was once President.

9 - "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" Bobby Sherman
Really, teen girls of 1970, this did it for you?

8 - "Lookin' Out My Back Door," Creedence Clearwater Revival
Hey, all you happy creatures, get off my lawn! Nah, you can stay. John Fogerty says you're cool, and who am I to argue with him?

7 - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," Diana Ross
I suppose the more epic scope of this version conveys the sentiment more accurately than Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's, but still, I'm not a fan.

6 - "Candida," Dawn
Question for the ladies: If Tony Orlando told you a gypsy predicted that you and he would get married and have children, would that be enough to convince you to run away with him? Remember, it's Tony Orlando we're talking about. And I just him refer to you as "first prize." He's objectifying you! Do you trust some possibly non-existent fortune teller enough to overlook that?

5 - "We've Only Just Begun," The Carpenters
We just can't get away from these two, can we? Not that I'm complaining. Besides, it's good to hear Karen sounding so optimistic on this wedding staple.

4 - "All Right Now," Free
I love how this song subverts the cliche by having the guy involved in the one-night stand wanting to talk about where the relationship is going and the woman not be interested in that shit. I wonder if people thought about that, or were just too busy rocking out.

3 - "Green-Eyed Lady," Sugarloaf
This song is pretty slinky, with the bass and the organ and all. And yet it's kind of dated-sounding, in that when I hear it, I picture go-go dancers dressed as mermaids doing The Swim. Overall, it's still pretty cool, but my memories of this band are more about their 1975 tale of record-industry frustration, "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You." And I must add that Sugarloaf is a much better band name than their first one, Chocolate Hair.

2 - "Cracklin' Rosie," Neil Diamond
I'm sure people hearing this song for the first time now hear the phrase "store-bought woman" and think Neil's singing about some sort of blow-up sex doll. No, kids, he's talking about wine. Get your minds out of the gutter.

And the most popular song of that time was...

1 - "I'll Be There," The Jackson 5
The brothers from Gary, Indiana were on an incredible hot streak, with their first three singles going straight to the top. But "ABC," "I Want You Back," and "The Love You Save," were all upbeat, danceable tunes. Some may have questioned whether or not slowing it down and putting out a ballad would keep the streak alive. But I'm sure all skeptics were silenced the moment they heard Michael deliver the opening lines to this one. The kid was something special right from the start.

There were no NotCasey Extras this week. Instead, Casey played the following older songs for various reasons: the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash;" the Ventures' instrumental "Walk Don't Run;" Eddy Arnold's counry classic "Make The World Go Away;" and "Twixt Twelve and Twenty," Pat Boone's not very angsty take on teen angst. Also, they twice played this little clip that sounded like a commercial touting "Billboard's regional breakout hit of the week, Number Three in New Orleans, 'Burning Bridges' by the Mike Curb Congregation. On MGM. In stores now." I'd never heard that song before, but I knew Mike Curb was a record executive and producer. What I didn't know until minutes ago was that Mike Curb was Lieutenant Governor of California at the same time Jerry Brown was Governor. Wow, another connection to yesterday's entry. Funny how these things work out.

So there's another one in the books. I've got a good feeling that next week will bring a chart from later in the decade. What am I basing that on? Nothing!