Cleaning up.
20 - "You and I," Rick James
19 - "Love is in the Air," John Paul Young
18 - "Life's Been Good," Joe Walsh
17 - "My Angel Baby," Toby Beau
16 - "Hot Child in the City," Nick Gilder
The second half begins with the first hit by Buffalo funk-rocker Rick James. This ia a solid slab of disco in which he says his relationship is so great, "our love has greater wealth than Hughes himself." Howard Hughes, presumably. Anyway, this guy was a prolific R&B chart regular whose past includes being in bands with Neil Young, and it's kind of a shame that he's know best known as a drugged out Dave Chappelle character. Actually, it's a bitch.
Next is the only American hit for Aussie John Paul Young. This is a terrible example of what could happen when easy-listening met disco. It ended up in commercials for flower shops. A deservedly ignoble fate.
Then it's then-Eagle Joe Walsh and his memorable breakdown of what the typical life of a multimillionaire rockstar entailed circa 1978: trashing hotel rooms on the road, owning expensive homes you never set foot inside and fancy sports cars you're not allowed to drive anymore, getting shitfaced drunk at parties, etc. The attitude is perhaps best summed up in the line "I can't complain, but sometimes I still do." This song undoubtedly paved the way for This is Spinal Tap.
Like Alice Cooper (at least at first), Toby Beau were a band, not one guy. But unlike Alice Cooper, they weren't named after a person, but rather a shrimp boat. That's much more interesting than this generic rock ballad.
This section finishes with Vancouverite Nick Gilder and his glam-rock #1 about a young lady who attracts quite a bit of attention. I must have heard this song a thousand times, but I still have a hard time believing that the voice on this song belongs to a man. It just doesn't sound even the slightest bit masculine.
15 - "Fool (If You Think it's Over)," Chris Rea
14 - "Copacabana," Barry Manilow
13 - "Got to Get You into My Life," Earth, Wind and Fire
12 - "Shame," Evelyn "Champagne" King
11 - "Kiss You All Over," Exile
We begin with the only U.S. Top 40 by Englishman Chris Rea. His record label originally wanted to change his name to Benny Santini, but not only would Rea not agree to that, he called his debut LP Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? Anyway, this song is a catchy but unspectacular bit of MOR about a guy who just can't get over a teenage love affair. And the name is pronounce "REE-uh," not "Ray."
Next is Barry Manilow and arguably his most memorable hit, a disco melodrama about young lovers Lola and Tony, a dancer and bartender, respectively, at the titular nightclub. Then one night, a gangster named Rico came to the club and decided to get fresh with Lola. Tony stepped in, the two men began fighting, and then there was a gunshot. "But just who...shot...who?" We learn the answer to that question in the last verse, where we find Lola still at the Copa years later, still dressed in her costume from her dancing days, unaware that the club is now a disco as she sits and gets sloppy drunk every night, because "she lost her youth and she lost her Tony, now she's lost her mind." An earworm from the word go, and this week's 70s winner of the Uneasy Rider.
Then it's Earth, Wind and fire with another Beatles cover from the Sgt. Pepper movie. They do much better than Robin Gibb, but probably because the original's R&B-influenced groove is right in the band's wheelhouse.
Bronx-born, Philly-raised Evelyn King was only 18 when she scored her first and biggest hit with this disco classic about wild, uncontrollable desire. And isn't that what disco itself was all about?
Why, yes it was, answer Kentucky's Exile on their biggest hit, a #1 dance-rocker about wanting to apply ones lips to the entirety of a lover's body. This is a song that I probably like more than I should. Anyway, Exile eventually would change tack and become a big country band in the 80s. Wouldn't have predicted that at the time.
Top Ten, the most effectual Top TenL
10 - "Last Dance," Donna Summer
Disco's monarch returns with her Oscar-winning hit from the forgotten film Thank God it's Friday. I still say she seems a little too enthusiastic when she sings about needing someone to scold her. I think, I think I know her kink.
9 - "An Everlasting Love," Andy Gibb
A nice little midtempo ballad from the other brother. This was his first Top 40 not to go to #1, but I think it's my favorite of his. Like I said, Andy's growing on me.
8 - "Magnet and Steel," Walter Egan
This guy's only hit is this solid rock ballad about finding love with a woman he can feel comfotable sharing secrets with. Part of this song's success must be attributed to Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, who co-produced the song. The Mac could do no wrong at this time.
7 - "Hopelessly Devoted to You," Olivia Newton-John
The song Sandy sings after leaving the slumber party where Rizzo and the rest of the Pink Ladies made fun of her with "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee." She realizes that in spite of everything, she still loves Danny Zuko. Yeah, I've seen that movie too many times.
6 - "Love Will Find a Way," Pablo Cruise
The second and final Top Ten for this faceless MOR machine. I'll be all right once I get past the pain of having to hear this song again.
5 - "Hot Blooded," Foreingner
The third Top Ten in the then-young career of this Anglo-American band finds Lou Gramm on the make, asking a female fan "Do you do more than dance?" and asking what her post-show plans are. Later, Homer Simpson sang a version of this, retitled "Hot Butter," while covered in unpopped popcorn and blasting himself with a hair dryer. I believe it was for a radio station contest of some sort.
4 - "Boogie Oogie Oogie," A Taste of Honey
The only #1 for this L.A. disco band who named themselves after a Herb Alpert song. It issues a command to get up and danced "till you just can't boogie no more." And with this groove, you can't help but obey.
3 - "Miss You," The Rolling Stones
The Stones return with their best foray into disco, in which Mick is so despondent over his lost love that he doesn't even care when his friends offer to visit with "some Puerto Rican girls that are just dyin' to meet you." Somehow, I don't think that was the kind of offer Mr. Jagger refused too often in real life.
2 - "Three Times a Lady," The Commodores
Lionel Richie and co.'s first #1, apparently inspired by Richie's parents' relationship. Later, it, like "Looking for Love," was performed by Eddie Murphy as Buckwheat, retitled "Fee Times a Mady."
And 33 years ago, America had its charts topped by...
1 - "Grease," Frankie Valli
Yes, this ex-Four Season's anachronistic disco contribution to a movie about the 50s made it all the way to the top. But the animated sequence at the beginning of the film that this song accompanies still holds a special place in my heart.
There was only one NotCasey extra this week, The Who's "Who are You." The other two spots where NotCaseys normally go were occupied by modern day-Casey himself. You see, this episode contained the first ever Long Distance Dedication: A boy named James dedicate Neil Diamond's "Desiree" to a girl named Desiree he knew for a week before she had to move to Germany with her military family. Casey interviewed both James and Desiree about the dedication and its aftermath. Yes, he did go visit her in Germany. But the relationship didn't last due to the distance.
So that's it for this week. Next week, I'm only doing the 80s full on, but there are a few songs on next week's 70s chart that I haven't covered yet and find interesting, so I'll just tack my thoughts on those on to one of the 80s entries. And that will be the normal pattern moving forward. See how that works out next week.
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