October 9, 1971

This is ridiculous. We're back to 1971 after just two weeks. There are ten years in a decade, Premier Radio Networks. Oh well, I'll just follow the pattern of the last time we were in this situation. Here's 40-11, with the ones that weren't around two weeks ago in bold:


40 - "Only You Know and I Know," Delaney and Bonnie
39 - "Breakdown Part 1," Rufus Thomas
38 - "MacArthur Park (Part 2), " The Four Tops
37 - "Saturday Morning Confusion," Bobby Russell
36 - "One Fine Morining," Lighthouse
35 - "Easy Loving," Freddie Hart
34 - "Peace Train," Cat Stevens
33 - "Won't Get Fooled Again," The Who
32 - "The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)," The Dells
31 - "Stagger Lee," Tommy Roe
30 - "Never My Love," The 5th Dimension
29 - "Birds of a Feather," The Raiders
28 - "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," Cher
27 - "Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)," Kris Kristofferson
26 - "I Just Want to Celebrate," Rare Earth
25 - "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)," Paul Stookey
24 - "What'cha See Is What'cha Get," The Dramatics
23 - "The Story In Your Eyes," The Moody Blues
22 - "Make It Funky," James Brown
21 - "Thin Line Between Love and Hate," The Persuaders
20 -"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep," Mac and Katie Kissoon
19 - "Rain Dance," The Guess Who
18 - "Trapped by a Thing Called Love," Denise LaSalle
17 - "I've Found Someone of My Own," Free Movement
16 - "I Woke Up In Love This Morning," The Partridge Family
15 - "Stick Up," The Honey Cone
14- "So Far Away/Smackwater Jack," Carole King
13 - "Tired of Being Alone," Al Green
12 - "Spanish Harlem," Aretha Franklin
11 - "Smiling Faces Sometimes," The Undisputed Truth

An eight song turnover. A little low, but whatever

First of the newcomers are Eric Clapton pals Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. The song didn't make much of an impression on me. Bonnie played a waitress on Roseanne for five years. But you may have known that.

Next are the Four Tops with their version of the most famous song ever written about a cake wreck, "MacArthur Park." I remember the Donna Summer version from the latter half of this decade. Then I discovered the truly strange original version by actor Richard Harris. Then I saw Dave Thomas lip-sync and dance spastically to it on SCTV's "Mel's Rock Pile." And finally, today, I heard this. Nothing great in and of itself, but hearing Levi Stubbs sing is never a waste of time.

Then it's Canada's Lighthouse with "One Fine Morning," It's not quite as much of a CanCon staple as "Sunny Days," but it's still embedded in my brain. I just learned two things looking this up: a) the cover of the One Fine Morning album looks like it should be on a Yes record, and b) their sax player was Howard Shore, who won three Oscars for scoring the Lord of the Rings movies. So I guess he's Canada's Danny Elfman.

The man now known as Yusuf Islam is here with his first U.S. Top Ten. There have been controversies surrounding him in the last 20 years or so, but right now, it seems like things are okay between him and overall Western culture. Whatever, "Peace Train," is a really good song.

The 5th Dimension are here with a cover of a song by The Association. I like it better than the original, but then again, I hate The Association. "Cherish," "Windy," "Along Comes Mary," ugh. They're just so the opposite of anything cool about music. Plus, I just learned that they turned down "MacArthur Park," which is how it got to Richard Harris. So there's one hit they missed out on. Good.

Then it's the Raiders (formerly Paul Revere and...). This is a lite-rock Romeo and Juliet story that was their follow-up to their wildly successful crack at protest music, "Indian Reservation." Meh, I'll take "Kicks" over either of them any day.

The then-Mrs. Sonny Bono brings us her immortal tale of travelling outcasts and the suave drifters who impregnate them. I was listening to this once, and for some reason, when it came to the chorus, I decided to try singing along in my best Cher voice. As it turned out, my Cher voice is a very good imitation...of Don Knotts. I sounded like Barney Fife running to Andy Taylor: "We've got to nip these gypsies, tramps and thieves in the bud! I caught Opie throwing money at one of them dancing girls! What'll I tell Aunt Bee?"

Finally, it's Kris Kristofferson poetically recalling an old lover. This song was on the album that Robert De Niro buys for Cybill Shepherd in Taxi Driver. Yeah, that's my brilliant insight on this song.

Let's see, anything to say about the holdovers? Well, I liked "Breakdown Part 1," a lot better the second time around. "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep," becomes the first repeat winner of the Uneasy Rider Award, again edging "Saturday Morning Confusion." I still have no idea what "Rain Dance" is about. And this time for the Carole King single, Casey played "Smackwater Jack," a song about a guy who shoots up a church full of people and then gets hanged. Not generally what I expect from her.

So now, the top 10:

10 -"Sweet City Woman," The Stampeders
Once again, it's this banjo-driven Canuck classic. You know, I could stand to have someone feed me "love and tenderness and macaroons" right about now. Anybody know anybody?

9 - "If You Really Love Me," Stevie Wonder
We love you, Stevie. We really love you.

8 - "Ain't No Sunshine," Bill Withers
Has anybody ever repeated two words several times to greater effect in song than Bill does with "I know" in this one? Can't think of anyone right now.

7 - "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," Paul and Linda McCartney
I don't have anything to add to my last post about this song, so I'll use this space for two purposes: to wish a belated happy 70th birthday to Paul's late bandmate John Lennon, and to recall Paul and Linda's appearance on The Simpsons. I never did get around to finding out if playing "Maybe I'm Amazed," backwards gives you a recipe for "a really ripping lentil soup."

6 - "Do You Know What I Mean," Lee Michaels
I've never had a woman leave me for my best friend, so fortunately, Lee, I don't. But at least you got a hit out of it.

5 - "Yo-Yo," The Osmonds
You know what? Listening to this again, it's really not bad. A pretty good stab at soul for Mormons. It's certainly less of a flat out Jackson 5 rip than "One Bad Apple."

4 - "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Joan Baez
Did you know that Joan had a tumultuous relationship with Bob Dylan? Oh, you did? Sorry to bother you.

3 - "Superstar," The Carpenters
Maybe someday I'll hunt down the biopic of Karen named after this song where her life is acted out with Barbie dolls.

2 - "Go Away Little Girl," Donny Osmond
No, this didn't grow on me the way "Yo-Yo" did. It's still as limp and disposable as ever.

And the song that ruled all of popdom in the USA 39 years ago was...

1 - "Maggie May," Rod Stewart
This song is about a May/December relationship. On a completely unrelated note, his current wife was almost seven months old when this countdown first aired.

There was one standard NotCasey Extra, "One Tin Soldier" by Coven. Then there were two Casey-introduced "Specials:" Rod Stewart's cover of "(I Know) I'm Losing You" from the then #1 album Every Picture Tells a Story; and the number one song from ten years ago that week, Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack."

So that's it for this week. How about a new year next time, whoever's in charge of these things?