40 - "Sweet Understanding Love," The Four Tops
39 - "Ramblin' Man," The Allman Brothers Band
38 - "Nutbush City Limits," Ike and Tina Turner
37 - "We May Never Pass This Way Again," Seals and Crofts
36 - "D'yer Mak'er," Led Zeppelin
35 - "Half Breed," Cher
34 - "Be," Neil Diamond
33 - "Show and Tell," Al Wilson
32 - "Who's in the Strawberry Patch with Sally," Tony Orlando and Dawn
31 - "Why Me Lord," Kris Kristofferson
We start with R&B. The Four Tops are back with another one that reminds me that they had more early 70s hits then I'd imagined. It's nice, because it's got Levi Stubbs. Ike and Tina Turner had their last hit together with a rollicking ode to Tina's very tiny hometown that made such an impression on the area that a nearby stretch of Tennessee freeway was renamed "Tina Turner Highway." And Al Wilson takes the perennial grade-school activity and turns it to some sort of sex metaphor. Well, someone had to.
A couple classic rock bands are in the mix. The Allman Brothers Band return with a song from our last visit to '73. I must admit I like it, but I'd like it better if I could confirm if someone in the band was actually born on a Greyhound bus. And Led Zeppelin finally make their first of what will likely be quite rare appearances (they were never much of a singles band) with a song whose title is frequently mispronounced (it's "Jer-MAY-ker," like "Jamaica," due to it's reggae-influenced sound.)
Easy listening's monsters of mild are well-represented. Seals and Crofts are here with another song that makes me wish they really would never pass this way again. Neil Diamond didn't even crack the Top 30 with his epic-sounding contribution to the soundtrack of the film version of the mega-selling spiritual novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull. And Tony O. & Co. take down the Uneasy Rider Award with a song that's so old-fashioned and odd, except for when Tony sings that Sally was "the best love-maker that I ever had." Tony, you player you!
We close this set with two artists who went on to have substantial film careers. Cher's tale of a woman's half-Cherokee heritage and society's negative reaction to it reappears. I wonder if her diva powers helped that Christina Aguilera movie to a good opening. And Kris Kristofferson, star of Heaven's Gate and Blade, makes BGC history as "Why Me, Lord" becomes the first song to appear in three countdownd covered here. Congrats, Kris.
30 - "Mind Games," John Lennon
28 - "Ooh Baby," Gilbert O'Sullivan
27 - "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," Bob Dylan
26 - "My Music," Loggins and Messina
25 - "Come Get to This," Marvin Gaye
24 - "Rockin' Roll Baby," The Stylistics
23 - "All I Know," Art Garfunkel
22 - "The Joker," The Steve Miller Band
21 - "You're a Special Part of Me," Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye
Sixties rock legends are here in abundance. John Lennon's offering here offers many messages of peace and spirituality (not surprisingly, the song's original title was "Make Love Not War,"), but contrasting it with the image of "mind guerillas" was, shall we say, an interesting choice. Bob Dylan had his biggest hit of the decade with this mournful number from the soundtrack from the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. And Art Garfunkel had his biggest solo hit with a sweet love song written by Jimmy Webb of "Wichita Lineman" and "MacArthur Park" fame. It's the one time that I heard him and didn't miss Paul.
Soul always seems to have a lot of representatives, and this section is no exception. Stevie Wonder is present with what might be my favorite song of his, a suitably gritty depiction of struggle and strife in the urban jungle. The Stylistics, who were best known for ballads like "You are Everything" and "You Make Me Feel Brand New," show up with this upbeat tune that is actually about a baby, a child of travelling musicians who was "born in a theater in Bluefield, West Virginia." And Marvin Gaye shows up twice in this section, once by himself with a peppier, less sultry follow-up to "Let's Get it On," and a decent but not spectacular duet with Diana Ross.
We'll end this half with two MOR acts and the beginning of a commercial-rock dynasty. Gilbert O'Sullivan had his fifth and final U.S. hit with "Ooh Baby." I wasn't a fan of the other songs of his I've covered here, but at least those were lyrically interesting. This isn't. Future 80s soundtrack king Kenny Loggins and pal Jim Messina are here with "My Music," which comes off as a crappy imitation of their earlier hit "Your Mama Don't Dance." And Steve Miller and his band made their first big impact with their space-blues number about space cowboys, midnight tokers, and the "pompatus of love." It may be the only song of theirs I would admit to liking without being under oath.
Tomorrow: two hits by a guy who'd just died, three family acts, and the one song from a certain "trilogy" I haven't covered yet.
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