The rest of it:
20 - "Never Never Gonna Give You Up," Barry White
19 - "Angie," The Rolling Stones
18 - "Time in a Bottle," Jim Croce
17 - "Let Me Serenade You," Three Dog Night
16 - "I Got a Name," Jim Croce
We kick off with Barry White, doing his usual thing, pledging devotion and guaranteeing satisfaction, presumably of the carnal kind. Of course, drop one "Never" and you get that Rick Astley song that has recently regenerated as something even more annoying than it was in the first place. Maybe RickRolling should be replaced by BarryRolling. The world would be a much sexier place.
According to that always-reliable source, Wikipedia, "Angie" was not, contrary to legend, written about David Bowie's wife. Rather, the title came from the middle name of Keith Richards' recently-born daughter. But I'm suspicious, because according to the article, the child's name is Dandelion Angela. And everyone knows celebrities never give their kids weird-ass names likie that. Nice try, Wikipedia.
For the first time, one of these sections of five contains two songs by the same artist: Jim Croce, who had been killed in a plane crash that September. "Time in a Bottle," from his first album, had been used in a TV movie about a couple dealing with cancer that aired just a week before Croce's death, and the interest in the song became great enough that it was put out as a single. Obviously, lines like "there never seems to be enough time" took on greater resonance, and that propelled the song to Numbe One. "I Got a Name," meanwhile, is the statement of a man who has a lot he wants to say and do before life passes him by, a declaration that would take on a sad irony. All in all, I think this decade could have used a few more hits from this man.
And in between the Croce songs, there is Three Dog Night. Like I've said before, they had a few good songs, but I think this decade could have used a few less hits from them. They keep cluttering up these charts with songs I'd never heard before and never want to hear again.
15 - "Cheaper to Keep Her," Johnnie Taylor
14 - "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)," The Staple Singers
13 - "Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)," Helen Reddy
12 - "Paper Roses," Marie Osmond
11 - "Hello It's Me," Todd Rundgren
We start with Johnnie Taylor and his jazzy bit of advice to married men who are considering divorce: Don't. She'll take you for all you've got, and even if you find another woman you like better, she won't want you because you're broke. Yes, romance was alive and well back then.
The Staple Singers hold truer to their gospel roots this time with "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)." Lyrically and musically, it's very similar to "I'll Take You There." But if the lyric sites I'm looking at are accurate, it may have been the first pop song to contain the word "terrorists." So that's something.
Then it's Helen Reddy with the second (and last to be touched on here) installment of the "Crazy Lady Trilogy." This particular woman wanders around town talking to herself and saying "Leave me alone," to anyone who dares approach her. The reason for this is because years ago, some farm boy "taught it all" to her, then left her, and this caused her breakdown. Probably the least exciting entry in the series, though not without its charms. Still. "Angie Baby" FTW.
Marie Osmond had reached the ripe old age of 14 before she finally joined her brothers in the hitmaking business with this cover of a song that was originally a hit for orange-pitchwoman/homophobe Anita Bryant. She doesn't do too bad with a country song that equates fake flowers with inscere expressions of love. In fact, I like it better than any of Donny's covers that I've heard so far.Y
This section ends with Todd Rundgren's biggest hit. He had a few others, but he had even more success as a producer, working on such records as Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell, XTC's Skylarking, and the first two albums by the criminally underappreciated Canadian group The Pursuit of Happiness. Oh yes, and until she was nine, Liv Tyler thought he was her father.
Top Ten fever, catch it...
10 - "The Most Beautiful Girl," Charlie Rich
An aching country classic from the Silver Fox. Few singers have packed as much pain into a single line that Charlie does when he sings "Tell her I need my baby."
9 - "Heartbeat, It's A Lovebeat," The DeFranco Family
Not only is this sibling act Canadian, their easily the most local-to-me act I'll cover here. Their biggest hit by far is prime bubblegum. It's pretty cool musically, with an almost gothic-sounding opening and some spacey keyboards on the instrumental bridge. And Tony DeFranco easily out-Donny Osmonds Donny Osmond on lead vocals. Apparently, he sells real estate now.
8 - "The Love I Lost," Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
An early disco number by the group most famous for singing "If You Don't Know Me by Now" and introducing the world to Teddy Pendergrass. Didn't do much for me.
7 - "Midnight Train to Georgia," Gladys Knight and the Pips
Man, what can you say? A classic about a man who decides to ditch the hassle of Los Angeles to return to the comforts of home, and the woman so in love with him that she has no choice but to follow. Gladys gives one of the all time great vocals, and no backup singers have contributed more to a song's awesomeness than the Pips do here.
6 - "Just You 'N' Me," Chicago
A Chicago ballad that contains the phrase "you are the inspiration," yet doesn't suck. Imagine that. They were still themselves back then.
5 - "Keep on Truckin'" Eddie Kendricks
A Number One from a former Temptation, whose title is a phrase popularized by cult comic artist R. Crumb. It's another song that is considered an early precursor to disco. I think I should like it more than I do.
4 - "Space Race," Billy Preston
An instrumental by one of the "Fifth Beatles." Suitably cosmic and keyboard drenched. I'm sorry I don't have much to say, but neither did the song.
3 - "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," Elton John
Elton again, with a song in which the narrator decides to get off of the fast track and go home to plow and hunt "the horny back toad." Kind of like the opposite to "Honky Cat." I think the real Elton was always more likely to follow the latter storyline. This song was played at the prom where Marge Simpson was accompanied by Artie Ziff rather than her future husband.
2 - "Photograph," Ringo Starr
Marge Simpson's favorite Beatle reached the top with this song about remembering better times with an old lover by looking at a picture. Meh, I'm a "It Don't Come Easy" man myself.
And the song that was rockin' America's world back then was...
1- "Top of the World," The Carpenters
Karen and Richard scored their second Number One with this countryish number about how love can make you euphoric. As a child, this got confused in my mind with Anne Murray's "Snowbird" for some reason. But I know it was this song that Cecil Terwilliger was singing to himself while wiring the Springfireld Dam with explosives. (Yes, I had Simpsons references for each of this week's top three. And I could have made more. There's several openings for them every week.)
Three NotCasey Extras this week. I'd only heard the Motley Crue cover of Brownsville Station's "Smokin' in the Boys' Room" before last night. I must say, the original is way better. "Let Me be There" sparked the initial stirrings of the musical crush on Olivia Newton-John that fully flowered on "Have You Never Been Mellow." And Barry White's 40-piece backing group The Love Unlimited Orchestra would go on to have a #1 with the sumptuous "Love's Theme"
Back next week with another one. I'd like '78, but for some reason, I'm thinking '71.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
December 1, 1973 Part One
Back to 1973, where we started...
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
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.
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.
Monday, November 22, 2010
November 22, 1975 Part Two
More from the year the Flyers last won the Cup:
20 - "Calypso," John Denver
19 - "I Only Have Eyes for You," Art Garfunkel
18 - "18 with a Bullet," Pete Wingfield
17 - "Saturday Night," The Bay City Rollers
16 - "Heat Wave," Linda Ronstadt
We begin with the flip side of John Denver's hit from the last '75 list, "I'm Sorry." This is a tribute to the ship from which oceanographer Jacques Cousteau based his undersea research. For you kids out there, his underwater TV documentaries were very popular at the time. I remember my parents took me and my brother out by either Lake Erie or Ontario to catch a glympse of the Calypso when I was a kid. I don't think I was very impressed. Anyway, I enjoyed John's yodelling here.
Art Garfunkel had his first solo hit with this cover of a song even older than "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain." "I Only Have Eyes for You" dates back to a 1934 movie called Dames, but it's most famous version was by the Flamingos in 1959. Art did nothing to change that here, but he did okay, I guess.
Because of radio reception problems, I didn't hear "Eighteen with a Bullet" very well. What I did hear was high-voiced soul rock that seemed all right. Looking up the lyrics, Wingfield uses record-industry metaphors to describe his plans for his relationship with a woman: He's a "single" looking for an "A-side" with whom he can start "raising a whole LP." Romantic. For those of you who don't know, chart magazines like Billboard place marks known as "bullets" on the position numbers of the songs that are seeing the greatest airplay and/or sales increases that week. Incidentally, on this particular chart, "Eighteen with a Bullet" was at Number 18...with a bullet.
I've trashed the Bay City Rollers both times they've come up here, but now it's time to praise them. All together now: "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y...Night!" This song just refuses to let you do anything but love it. If only they'd stopped then...
Last in this group we have Linda Ronstadt covering Martha and the Vandellas. She does pretty well, but her version is completely unnecessary. The vast majority of the songs that made her a superstar were covers. You couldn't get away with that today...unless you were a member of the cast of Glee.
15 - "My Little Town," Simon and Garfunkel
14 - "Miracles," Jefferson Starship
13 - "(They Just Can't Stop It The) Games People Play," The Spinners
12 - "Lyin' Eyes," The Eagles
11 - "Nights on Broadway," The Bee Gees
Hey, Garfunkel's back, and this time, he's got Simon! This was a one-off reunion that appeared on both men's then-current albums. For the most part, songs where the singer reminisces about the little burg they grew up in either portray those places as idyllic or toxic. If you're looking for the former, go find John Mellencamp's "Small Town," because this one is definitely the other kind. The place described here contains "nothing but the dead and dying." Harsh.
Uh oh, there's that Jefferson Starship pusbag from our last trip back to this year. Eww, I'm starting to break out in a rash just thinking about it. Better find an antidote...
And there it is. Oh, "Games People Play," I'm thrilled to see you again. You're so good to me and my ears. *stares disdainfully at "Miracles" from a safe distance*
Next are the Eagles with their very country song about a young girl who marries a rich old man then makes frequent visits to "the cheatin' side of town." Money doesn't buy happiness, apparently. So the Eagles have done all those reunion tours just for the love of performing with each other, right?
Finally, we have my favorite Bee Gees song, bar none. Don't ask me why, but I latched onto this song at four years old and have loved it ever since. It's funky, Barry's falsetto backup singing on the choruses is tight, and the way the bridge sounds like a completely different, unfinished song yet somehow blends seemlessly with the rest of it...magnifique! You can begin assailing my taste any time now.
Now we're talkin' Top Ten:
10 - "Let's Do it Again," The Staple Singers
The Staples' always considered themselves a gospel group that happened to do pop songs on the side, but I'm sure they got a few sideways looks at church after releasing this unabashed ode to "the flesh." Why a song so sexy was written as the theme for a Bill Cosby-Sidney Poitier comedy about fixing a boxing match, I'll never understand.
9 - "Sky High," Jigsaw
This bit of string-heavy rock was also written for a movie, an action film called The Man from Hong Kong co-starring one-Bond wonder George Lazenby. It was also used as ring-entrance music by Mexican wrestling superstar Mil Mascaras. I remember thinking it was okay back in the day.
8 - "Low Rider," War
This wasn't written for a movie, but it's been used in several, from Cheech and Chong flicks to Beverly Hills Chihuahua. You're all probably humming it in your head now, so I'll stop and give you a moment...
Okay, that's enough.
7 - "Feelings," Morris Albert
This time, I tried listening to this song without the baggage of its infamy. And...it's just as ham-fisted and cheesy as its reputation. Sorry Morris, you deserved what you got.
6 - "This Will Be," Natalie Cole
I know this jazzy debut single by Nat King Cole's daughter less from its time as a hit than from it's use in commercials for products like jewellery and online dating services. She would go on to do one thing I really enjoyed (having her brain taken over by cabbage in the "Zontar" episode of SCTV) and one thing I really hated (duetting with her dead father on "Unforgettable." I'm sorry, but that was just creepy).
5 - "The Way I Want to Touch You," The Captain and Tenille
Daryl and Toni aren't nearly as awesome a MOR duo as The Carpenters, but I must admit, when they weren't singing about the mating habits of rodents, they weren't that bad. This song is pretty damn sexy, truth be told.
4 - "Island Girl," Elton John
Elton sings about a (fictional) Jamaican prostitute, who some have speculated might not be a girl at all, since she's apparently 6 foot 3, and the boy who wants to get her out of the life. Basically, a more interesting version of "Roxanne." But of course I didn't know that at four. It was just that crazy Elton John on the radio again with another song that was fun to sing along with.
3 - "Who Loves You," The Four Seasons
Frankie Valli shows up again, this time with the rest of the group he had so many 60s hits with. I guess it's all right. I have to say I hate "Oh What a Night (December 1963)" waaaaay more.
2 - "Fly, Robin, Fly," Silver Convention
This German group introduced North America to "eurodisco," and in doing so, hit Number 1. It's a pretty catchy tune, nicely orchestrated, and the lyrics, while sparse, do their job. I don't think this was the U.S. single cover, but if it had been, it might have been on top for longer than three weeks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_Convention.jpg
And if you've recently turned 35 and are looking up what was Number 1 the day you were born, you will find that it was...
1 - "That's the Way (I Like It)," KC and the Sunshine Band
Them again, with the one big hit of theirs I haven't covered yet. Of their Big Three, I have it ranked right in the middle, below "Get Down Tonight" and above "Shake Your Booty." Uh huh, uh huh.
The two NotCasey extras were Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" and Nazareth's "Love Hurts." Casey also played Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," because it was a rare instance of an artist scoring his first #1 after his death.
Another one bites the dust. Next week we're due for something earlier in the decade, but that's okay. I'm ready to go back a bit.
20 - "Calypso," John Denver
19 - "I Only Have Eyes for You," Art Garfunkel
18 - "18 with a Bullet," Pete Wingfield
17 - "Saturday Night," The Bay City Rollers
16 - "Heat Wave," Linda Ronstadt
We begin with the flip side of John Denver's hit from the last '75 list, "I'm Sorry." This is a tribute to the ship from which oceanographer Jacques Cousteau based his undersea research. For you kids out there, his underwater TV documentaries were very popular at the time. I remember my parents took me and my brother out by either Lake Erie or Ontario to catch a glympse of the Calypso when I was a kid. I don't think I was very impressed. Anyway, I enjoyed John's yodelling here.
Art Garfunkel had his first solo hit with this cover of a song even older than "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain." "I Only Have Eyes for You" dates back to a 1934 movie called Dames, but it's most famous version was by the Flamingos in 1959. Art did nothing to change that here, but he did okay, I guess.
Because of radio reception problems, I didn't hear "Eighteen with a Bullet" very well. What I did hear was high-voiced soul rock that seemed all right. Looking up the lyrics, Wingfield uses record-industry metaphors to describe his plans for his relationship with a woman: He's a "single" looking for an "A-side" with whom he can start "raising a whole LP." Romantic. For those of you who don't know, chart magazines like Billboard place marks known as "bullets" on the position numbers of the songs that are seeing the greatest airplay and/or sales increases that week. Incidentally, on this particular chart, "Eighteen with a Bullet" was at Number 18...with a bullet.
I've trashed the Bay City Rollers both times they've come up here, but now it's time to praise them. All together now: "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y...Night!" This song just refuses to let you do anything but love it. If only they'd stopped then...
Last in this group we have Linda Ronstadt covering Martha and the Vandellas. She does pretty well, but her version is completely unnecessary. The vast majority of the songs that made her a superstar were covers. You couldn't get away with that today...unless you were a member of the cast of Glee.
15 - "My Little Town," Simon and Garfunkel
14 - "Miracles," Jefferson Starship
13 - "(They Just Can't Stop It The) Games People Play," The Spinners
12 - "Lyin' Eyes," The Eagles
11 - "Nights on Broadway," The Bee Gees
Hey, Garfunkel's back, and this time, he's got Simon! This was a one-off reunion that appeared on both men's then-current albums. For the most part, songs where the singer reminisces about the little burg they grew up in either portray those places as idyllic or toxic. If you're looking for the former, go find John Mellencamp's "Small Town," because this one is definitely the other kind. The place described here contains "nothing but the dead and dying." Harsh.
Uh oh, there's that Jefferson Starship pusbag from our last trip back to this year. Eww, I'm starting to break out in a rash just thinking about it. Better find an antidote...
And there it is. Oh, "Games People Play," I'm thrilled to see you again. You're so good to me and my ears. *stares disdainfully at "Miracles" from a safe distance*
Next are the Eagles with their very country song about a young girl who marries a rich old man then makes frequent visits to "the cheatin' side of town." Money doesn't buy happiness, apparently. So the Eagles have done all those reunion tours just for the love of performing with each other, right?
Finally, we have my favorite Bee Gees song, bar none. Don't ask me why, but I latched onto this song at four years old and have loved it ever since. It's funky, Barry's falsetto backup singing on the choruses is tight, and the way the bridge sounds like a completely different, unfinished song yet somehow blends seemlessly with the rest of it...magnifique! You can begin assailing my taste any time now.
Now we're talkin' Top Ten:
10 - "Let's Do it Again," The Staple Singers
The Staples' always considered themselves a gospel group that happened to do pop songs on the side, but I'm sure they got a few sideways looks at church after releasing this unabashed ode to "the flesh." Why a song so sexy was written as the theme for a Bill Cosby-Sidney Poitier comedy about fixing a boxing match, I'll never understand.
9 - "Sky High," Jigsaw
This bit of string-heavy rock was also written for a movie, an action film called The Man from Hong Kong co-starring one-Bond wonder George Lazenby. It was also used as ring-entrance music by Mexican wrestling superstar Mil Mascaras. I remember thinking it was okay back in the day.
8 - "Low Rider," War
This wasn't written for a movie, but it's been used in several, from Cheech and Chong flicks to Beverly Hills Chihuahua. You're all probably humming it in your head now, so I'll stop and give you a moment...
Okay, that's enough.
7 - "Feelings," Morris Albert
This time, I tried listening to this song without the baggage of its infamy. And...it's just as ham-fisted and cheesy as its reputation. Sorry Morris, you deserved what you got.
6 - "This Will Be," Natalie Cole
I know this jazzy debut single by Nat King Cole's daughter less from its time as a hit than from it's use in commercials for products like jewellery and online dating services. She would go on to do one thing I really enjoyed (having her brain taken over by cabbage in the "Zontar" episode of SCTV) and one thing I really hated (duetting with her dead father on "Unforgettable." I'm sorry, but that was just creepy).
5 - "The Way I Want to Touch You," The Captain and Tenille
Daryl and Toni aren't nearly as awesome a MOR duo as The Carpenters, but I must admit, when they weren't singing about the mating habits of rodents, they weren't that bad. This song is pretty damn sexy, truth be told.
4 - "Island Girl," Elton John
Elton sings about a (fictional) Jamaican prostitute, who some have speculated might not be a girl at all, since she's apparently 6 foot 3, and the boy who wants to get her out of the life. Basically, a more interesting version of "Roxanne." But of course I didn't know that at four. It was just that crazy Elton John on the radio again with another song that was fun to sing along with.
3 - "Who Loves You," The Four Seasons
Frankie Valli shows up again, this time with the rest of the group he had so many 60s hits with. I guess it's all right. I have to say I hate "Oh What a Night (December 1963)" waaaaay more.
2 - "Fly, Robin, Fly," Silver Convention
This German group introduced North America to "eurodisco," and in doing so, hit Number 1. It's a pretty catchy tune, nicely orchestrated, and the lyrics, while sparse, do their job. I don't think this was the U.S. single cover, but if it had been, it might have been on top for longer than three weeks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Silver_Convention.jpg
And if you've recently turned 35 and are looking up what was Number 1 the day you were born, you will find that it was...
1 - "That's the Way (I Like It)," KC and the Sunshine Band
Them again, with the one big hit of theirs I haven't covered yet. Of their Big Three, I have it ranked right in the middle, below "Get Down Tonight" and above "Shake Your Booty." Uh huh, uh huh.
The two NotCasey extras were Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" and Nazareth's "Love Hurts." Casey also played Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," because it was a rare instance of an artist scoring his first #1 after his death.
Another one bites the dust. Next week we're due for something earlier in the decade, but that's okay. I'm ready to go back a bit.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
November 22, 1975 Part One
Back to '75. Another week in my sweet spot. Nice.
40 - "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)," Glen Campbell
39 - "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," Diana Ross
38 - "I Write the Songs," Barry Manilow
37 - "For the Love of You," The Isley Brothers
36 - "The Last Game of the Season (The Blind Man in the Bleachers)," David Geddes
35 - "Fox on the Run," Sweet
34 - "Love Rollercoaster," The Ohio Players
33 - "Brazil," The Ritchie Family
32 - "I'm on Fire," 5000 Volts
31 - "Something Better to Do," Olivia Newton-John
We'll start off by talking about the easy-listening squad. Glen Campbell follows up the #1 "Rhinestone Cowboy" with a sequel of sorts. This is the story of a good ol' boy who finds that even though he's reached the pinnacle of fame, there still, in the words of Glen's previous hit, "a load of compomisin'." Barry Manilow is here yet again, claiming that he is music, and he writes the songs. Ironically, he didn't write this one. Beach Boy Bruce Johnston did. And at long last, Olivia Newton-John makes her BGC debut. I had a crush on her voice as a child, years before I saw her in Grease. Unfortuntately, I don't remember "Something Better to Do" very well, and it's pretty trifling and throwaway. But I'm sure she'll be back again, and I can sing her praises more extensively.
R&B has three representatives here. Diana Ross would get her third solo charttopper with the theme from her film follow-up to Lady Sings the Blues. Motown head Berry Gordy directed Mahogany. I never knew that. The Isley Brothers slow things down from their usual funk workouts with the smooth, Al Green-sounding "For the Love of You." And the Ohio Players compare your love to a rollercoaster, and they want to ride. And they make it sound like fun, so I would advise you to let them.
There are a couple pure disco records here. The Ritchie Family's version of "Brazil," was in our last '75 chart, and I have no more to say about it. British group 5000 Volts offer the okay "I'm on Fire." It's fast, the female lead singer has a nice rasp to her voice, and there's a deep male voice that jumps in on the choruses. If I were rating this record on American Bandstand, I'd give it a 73.
Rock's one rep in this section is Sweet with the incredibly catchy glam rocker "Fox on the Run." For singalong fun, only "Little Willy" beats it.
Finally, we have David Geddes. You might remember on our last trip to this year, he had the teenage melodrama "Run Joey Run." Well, that song is "Don't Worry, Be Happy" compared to this tearjerker. Set in the quintessentially American realm of high school football, it tells the story of a blind man who sits in the bleachers for all of his local team's games, by the loudspeaker, because he wants to hear the P.A. announcer call his son's name. But his son is one of the scrubs who never gets in the game, so the man's dream goes unfulfilled. The last game of the season comes around, and...the blind man isn't there. The home team are losing and being decimated by injuries when halftime comes around. During the break, the man's son receives a phone call, and is late coming back out for the second half. The coach is mad at him, but the kid tells him he was just getting ready, because now is finally his time to play. He gets on the field, and his inspired play helps the team come back to win. Later, the coach asks him what made him play like that all of a sudden, to which the kid answers that it's because his blind father died, and because he's in heaven, he finally got a chance to see his son play. Wow. This is this week's clear winner of the Uneasy Rider Award. It's hardly the only story song that aims to tug at the listener's heartstrings, but, to paraphrase one Lisa Simpson, this one pumps you so full of sap you feel like you need to blow your nose with a pancake.
30 - "I Love Music," The O'Jays
29 - "Bad Blood," Neil Sedaka
28 - "Secret Love," Freddy Fender
27 - "Venus and Mars/Rock Show," Wings
26 - "Do it Any Way You Wanna," The People's Choice
25 - "Our Day Will Come," Frankie Valli
24 - "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You," Leon Haywood
23 - "S.O.S." ABBA
22 - "Operator," The Manhattan Transfer
21 - "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," Willie Nelson
This time, R&B kicks us off, although in all three cases, it has a strong disco hint to it. But I don't think the O'Jays would mind, since in this song, they claim to love all kinds of music "as long as it's groovin'" And the O'Jays never fail to groove. The People's Choice song is another repeater, and it's still just by-the-numbers disco-funk. And Leon Haywood has something in mind for you. The title doesn't quite make that something clear, but lyrics about wanting to "slide down into your canyon" might help.
Three 60s survivors are here. Neil Sedaka scored the second #1 of his mid-70s comeback by getting a little help from Elton John on one of the many songs that specifically reminds me of childhood car rides, "Bad Blood." Paul McCartney's other band is here with a bombastic ode to the huge concerts The Beatles stopped doing in 1966. If there's an example of the kind of "rock" punk sprung up as a reaction to, you can't do much better than a song that actually opens with the line "Sitting in the stand of the sports arena." And Frankie Valli (without the Four Seasons) decided to to a disco version of Ruby and the Romantics 1963 classic "Our Day Will Come." I guess you can't blame him, because it did go to #11. Oh hell, I'll blame him anyway.
1975 was a banner year for country artists on the pop charts, and there are two examples here. Freddy Fender ended his comeback year by following two Top Tens with a Top 20 remake of an Oscar-winning 1953 Doris Day hit. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is an even older song, dating back to the 40s, but it didn't come to prominence until Willie Nelson recorded it for his breakthrough Red-Headed Stranger album. The headband, the duet with Julio Iglesias, and the legend of his funny-smelling tour bus would follow.
We end with a couple of two-man, two-woman vocal groups. ABBA return with one of their most famous numbers, a distress call in the midst of a dying relationship. And the jazzy Manhattan Transfer made their breakthrough with the gospelly "Operator." They want the title professional to "get Jesus on the line." Of course, nowadays He only reads texts.
Tomorrow: one of my favorite songs from this year, the one good song by a band I otherwise have nothing good to say about, and the rare and elusive "double Garfunkel."
40 - "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)," Glen Campbell
39 - "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," Diana Ross
38 - "I Write the Songs," Barry Manilow
37 - "For the Love of You," The Isley Brothers
36 - "The Last Game of the Season (The Blind Man in the Bleachers)," David Geddes
35 - "Fox on the Run," Sweet
34 - "Love Rollercoaster," The Ohio Players
33 - "Brazil," The Ritchie Family
32 - "I'm on Fire," 5000 Volts
31 - "Something Better to Do," Olivia Newton-John
We'll start off by talking about the easy-listening squad. Glen Campbell follows up the #1 "Rhinestone Cowboy" with a sequel of sorts. This is the story of a good ol' boy who finds that even though he's reached the pinnacle of fame, there still, in the words of Glen's previous hit, "a load of compomisin'." Barry Manilow is here yet again, claiming that he is music, and he writes the songs. Ironically, he didn't write this one. Beach Boy Bruce Johnston did. And at long last, Olivia Newton-John makes her BGC debut. I had a crush on her voice as a child, years before I saw her in Grease. Unfortuntately, I don't remember "Something Better to Do" very well, and it's pretty trifling and throwaway. But I'm sure she'll be back again, and I can sing her praises more extensively.
R&B has three representatives here. Diana Ross would get her third solo charttopper with the theme from her film follow-up to Lady Sings the Blues. Motown head Berry Gordy directed Mahogany. I never knew that. The Isley Brothers slow things down from their usual funk workouts with the smooth, Al Green-sounding "For the Love of You." And the Ohio Players compare your love to a rollercoaster, and they want to ride. And they make it sound like fun, so I would advise you to let them.
There are a couple pure disco records here. The Ritchie Family's version of "Brazil," was in our last '75 chart, and I have no more to say about it. British group 5000 Volts offer the okay "I'm on Fire." It's fast, the female lead singer has a nice rasp to her voice, and there's a deep male voice that jumps in on the choruses. If I were rating this record on American Bandstand, I'd give it a 73.
Rock's one rep in this section is Sweet with the incredibly catchy glam rocker "Fox on the Run." For singalong fun, only "Little Willy" beats it.
Finally, we have David Geddes. You might remember on our last trip to this year, he had the teenage melodrama "Run Joey Run." Well, that song is "Don't Worry, Be Happy" compared to this tearjerker. Set in the quintessentially American realm of high school football, it tells the story of a blind man who sits in the bleachers for all of his local team's games, by the loudspeaker, because he wants to hear the P.A. announcer call his son's name. But his son is one of the scrubs who never gets in the game, so the man's dream goes unfulfilled. The last game of the season comes around, and...the blind man isn't there. The home team are losing and being decimated by injuries when halftime comes around. During the break, the man's son receives a phone call, and is late coming back out for the second half. The coach is mad at him, but the kid tells him he was just getting ready, because now is finally his time to play. He gets on the field, and his inspired play helps the team come back to win. Later, the coach asks him what made him play like that all of a sudden, to which the kid answers that it's because his blind father died, and because he's in heaven, he finally got a chance to see his son play. Wow. This is this week's clear winner of the Uneasy Rider Award. It's hardly the only story song that aims to tug at the listener's heartstrings, but, to paraphrase one Lisa Simpson, this one pumps you so full of sap you feel like you need to blow your nose with a pancake.
30 - "I Love Music," The O'Jays
29 - "Bad Blood," Neil Sedaka
28 - "Secret Love," Freddy Fender
27 - "Venus and Mars/Rock Show," Wings
26 - "Do it Any Way You Wanna," The People's Choice
25 - "Our Day Will Come," Frankie Valli
24 - "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You," Leon Haywood
23 - "S.O.S." ABBA
22 - "Operator," The Manhattan Transfer
21 - "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain," Willie Nelson
This time, R&B kicks us off, although in all three cases, it has a strong disco hint to it. But I don't think the O'Jays would mind, since in this song, they claim to love all kinds of music "as long as it's groovin'" And the O'Jays never fail to groove. The People's Choice song is another repeater, and it's still just by-the-numbers disco-funk. And Leon Haywood has something in mind for you. The title doesn't quite make that something clear, but lyrics about wanting to "slide down into your canyon" might help.
Three 60s survivors are here. Neil Sedaka scored the second #1 of his mid-70s comeback by getting a little help from Elton John on one of the many songs that specifically reminds me of childhood car rides, "Bad Blood." Paul McCartney's other band is here with a bombastic ode to the huge concerts The Beatles stopped doing in 1966. If there's an example of the kind of "rock" punk sprung up as a reaction to, you can't do much better than a song that actually opens with the line "Sitting in the stand of the sports arena." And Frankie Valli (without the Four Seasons) decided to to a disco version of Ruby and the Romantics 1963 classic "Our Day Will Come." I guess you can't blame him, because it did go to #11. Oh hell, I'll blame him anyway.
1975 was a banner year for country artists on the pop charts, and there are two examples here. Freddy Fender ended his comeback year by following two Top Tens with a Top 20 remake of an Oscar-winning 1953 Doris Day hit. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is an even older song, dating back to the 40s, but it didn't come to prominence until Willie Nelson recorded it for his breakthrough Red-Headed Stranger album. The headband, the duet with Julio Iglesias, and the legend of his funny-smelling tour bus would follow.
We end with a couple of two-man, two-woman vocal groups. ABBA return with one of their most famous numbers, a distress call in the midst of a dying relationship. And the jazzy Manhattan Transfer made their breakthrough with the gospelly "Operator." They want the title professional to "get Jesus on the line." Of course, nowadays He only reads texts.
Tomorrow: one of my favorite songs from this year, the one good song by a band I otherwise have nothing good to say about, and the rare and elusive "double Garfunkel."
Monday, November 15, 2010
November 12, 1977 Part Two
The second half.
20 - "We Just Disagree," Dave Mason
19 - "Dusic," Brick
18 - "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me," Peter Brown
17 - "You Make Lovin' Fun," Fleetwood Mac
16 - "Help is on Its Way," The Little River Band
We start with former Traffic member Dave Mason and his countryish ode to level-headed approaches to differences of opinion. Not a popular topic in song lyrics, but it somehow worked here.
Next are funksters Brick with "Dusic," which, near as I can figure, stands for "dance music." This is just your basic "get up and boogie" number. Fine, but nothing earth-shattering.
Disco footnote Peter Brown has a question for you, and for some reason, he's asking it in a rather angry tone. Or maybe he's just overcome with lust. Or possessed, because he does mention the devil a few times in this song. Whatever, I think this was played once on SCTV, so points for that.
Fleetwood Mac are here with one of the massive hits from Rumours. As I've said before, the Christine McVie hits were always my least favorites, but this is one of her better ones.
Ending this section are Australia's Little River Band with their first U.S. hit. Their bland pop/rock stylings let to a string of Top 40 records. I remember them, they were always on the radio for a four or five year period, then they went away and I didn't miss them. All I can say is that this one is much better than that "Reminiscing" song or the one where the guy says albatrosses and whales are his brothers.
15 - "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band," Meco
14 - "Brick House," The Commodores
13 - "That's Rock n' Roll," Shaun Cassidy
12 - "Just Remember I Love You," Firefall
11 - "Blue Bayou," Linda Ronstadt
Ah, Meco, we meet again. After his success with this, he would score three more Top 40 hits with discofications of music from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Wizard of Oz, and, yes, The Empire Strikes Back. But by the time he did Ewok Celebration, it was all over.
Next are The Commodores with another song that's become a cliche. But somehow, I can strip away all the cheesy contexts I've heard it in before and just give up to the funk. Ow! Mighty Migh-tay!
Shaun Cassidy is here again with his bland, teen idol take on 50s-style rock. Apparently, Eric Carmen wrote it. That man really lost all his cool after The Raspberries ended.
Firefall had their second-biggest hit with "Just Remember I Love You." Whoever the singer was singing this to probably didn't if all he did for her was write this boring-ass song.
Finally, Linda Ronstadt is back again, this time covering Roy Orbison. Obviously, she was never going to top the perpetually-sunglassed legend, but she did pretty well. She "made the song her own," as they say on Idol. Yeah, I watch that too.
Ici les Top Ten, mes amis...
10 - "We're All Alone," Rita Coolidge
Last time we visited this year, Rita was in the top ten covering Jackie Wilson. This time, she's back covering Boz Scaggs. I've never heard Boz's version, but it's gotta be better than this blandwich.
9 - "How Deep is Your Love," The Bee Gees
The first single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that would soon take over the airwaves and dance floors of the world. A bit surprising that they'd lead off with the ballad, but it worked, because it went to #1. It would have to wait a while to get there, though, as you'll learn later.
8 - "Heaven on the 7th Floor," Paul Nicholas
Basically, this is the disco precusor of Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator," performed by British singer/actor Nicholas, who played Cousin Kevin in the movie version of Tommy and was the original Rum Tum Tugger in Cats. Now that's a career.
7 - "Baby, What a Big Surprise," Chicago
The band shows a little more spunk here than they did on "If You Leave Me Now," but still, they were well in bland ballad territory. No "Big Surprise" here.
6 - "I Feel Love," Donna Summer
The uberdiva of disco and producer Giorgio Moroder went electronic on this track that sounded to many like something out of the future at the time. Donna also stepped out of her vocal comfort zone by going with a falsetto. Can't deny it, it's one of her best.
5 - "Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue," Crystal Gayle
Ah yes, Crystal Gayle, Loretta Lynn's baby sister with the hair that went down to her heels. After a few coutry hits, she crossed over to pop with this jazzy ballad one imagines Patsy Cline would have recorded had she been around at the time. Of course, if you had a dirty mind, you might remove the "s" from "Eyes" and give the song a whole new meaning. But you're not that disgusting, are you?
4 - "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me," Barry White
Barry's last Top Ten. Very disco, but not quite up to some of his earlier hits. His voice just doesn't sound quite as smooth. Maybe it's just me.
3 - "Nobody Does it Better," Carly Simon
The then Mrs. James Taylor might not have been the most obvious choice to do a Bond theme, but she made it all the way to #2 with it, so it worked. Thom Yorke from Radiohead has said that this is the sexiest song ever written. With all due respect, Thom, no.
2 - "Boogie Nights," Heatwave
Last time we were in 1977, this led things off. This time, it almost closes the show. But in spite of its zeitgeist-friendly title, it fell short, partly because the top spot was in the process of being reserved exclusively for...
1 - "You Light Up My Life," Debby Boone
Pat's daughter's only Top 40 hit, the title song from a long-forgotten movie starring Didi "Frenchie" Conn, was in the fifth week of a then-record ten week run at the top. Debby, her dad, and country singer Red Foley (Pat's father-in-law) became the first three-generation dynasty of charttoppers. This song was playing when young couple Homer and Marge Simpson got engaged. Homer remarked that the guy Debby was singing about must be the happiest guy in the world. Marge said she thought that Debby was singing about God, to which Homer replied, "Oh, he's always happy. No wait, he's always mad." Anyway, this song is actually pretty good. Especially when performed by Patti Smith : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agl4IvNnQPo
There were two NotCasey Extras: Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," and Queen's "We Are the Champions." There were also a couple from Casey himself: "Mr. Bojangles," in honor of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's then-recent tour of the Soviet Union; and Freddy Fender's "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," before which he once again told the story of how that song became a hit sixteen years after it was supposed to be.
Ah, another week done, and for once, I heard the whole countdown. I'm game for anything next week.
20 - "We Just Disagree," Dave Mason
19 - "Dusic," Brick
18 - "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me," Peter Brown
17 - "You Make Lovin' Fun," Fleetwood Mac
16 - "Help is on Its Way," The Little River Band
We start with former Traffic member Dave Mason and his countryish ode to level-headed approaches to differences of opinion. Not a popular topic in song lyrics, but it somehow worked here.
Next are funksters Brick with "Dusic," which, near as I can figure, stands for "dance music." This is just your basic "get up and boogie" number. Fine, but nothing earth-shattering.
Disco footnote Peter Brown has a question for you, and for some reason, he's asking it in a rather angry tone. Or maybe he's just overcome with lust. Or possessed, because he does mention the devil a few times in this song. Whatever, I think this was played once on SCTV, so points for that.
Fleetwood Mac are here with one of the massive hits from Rumours. As I've said before, the Christine McVie hits were always my least favorites, but this is one of her better ones.
Ending this section are Australia's Little River Band with their first U.S. hit. Their bland pop/rock stylings let to a string of Top 40 records. I remember them, they were always on the radio for a four or five year period, then they went away and I didn't miss them. All I can say is that this one is much better than that "Reminiscing" song or the one where the guy says albatrosses and whales are his brothers.
15 - "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band," Meco
14 - "Brick House," The Commodores
13 - "That's Rock n' Roll," Shaun Cassidy
12 - "Just Remember I Love You," Firefall
11 - "Blue Bayou," Linda Ronstadt
Ah, Meco, we meet again. After his success with this, he would score three more Top 40 hits with discofications of music from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Wizard of Oz, and, yes, The Empire Strikes Back. But by the time he did Ewok Celebration, it was all over.
Next are The Commodores with another song that's become a cliche. But somehow, I can strip away all the cheesy contexts I've heard it in before and just give up to the funk. Ow! Mighty Migh-tay!
Shaun Cassidy is here again with his bland, teen idol take on 50s-style rock. Apparently, Eric Carmen wrote it. That man really lost all his cool after The Raspberries ended.
Firefall had their second-biggest hit with "Just Remember I Love You." Whoever the singer was singing this to probably didn't if all he did for her was write this boring-ass song.
Finally, Linda Ronstadt is back again, this time covering Roy Orbison. Obviously, she was never going to top the perpetually-sunglassed legend, but she did pretty well. She "made the song her own," as they say on Idol. Yeah, I watch that too.
Ici les Top Ten, mes amis...
10 - "We're All Alone," Rita Coolidge
Last time we visited this year, Rita was in the top ten covering Jackie Wilson. This time, she's back covering Boz Scaggs. I've never heard Boz's version, but it's gotta be better than this blandwich.
9 - "How Deep is Your Love," The Bee Gees
The first single from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that would soon take over the airwaves and dance floors of the world. A bit surprising that they'd lead off with the ballad, but it worked, because it went to #1. It would have to wait a while to get there, though, as you'll learn later.
8 - "Heaven on the 7th Floor," Paul Nicholas
Basically, this is the disco precusor of Aerosmith's "Love in an Elevator," performed by British singer/actor Nicholas, who played Cousin Kevin in the movie version of Tommy and was the original Rum Tum Tugger in Cats. Now that's a career.
7 - "Baby, What a Big Surprise," Chicago
The band shows a little more spunk here than they did on "If You Leave Me Now," but still, they were well in bland ballad territory. No "Big Surprise" here.
6 - "I Feel Love," Donna Summer
The uberdiva of disco and producer Giorgio Moroder went electronic on this track that sounded to many like something out of the future at the time. Donna also stepped out of her vocal comfort zone by going with a falsetto. Can't deny it, it's one of her best.
5 - "Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue," Crystal Gayle
Ah yes, Crystal Gayle, Loretta Lynn's baby sister with the hair that went down to her heels. After a few coutry hits, she crossed over to pop with this jazzy ballad one imagines Patsy Cline would have recorded had she been around at the time. Of course, if you had a dirty mind, you might remove the "s" from "Eyes" and give the song a whole new meaning. But you're not that disgusting, are you?
4 - "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me," Barry White
Barry's last Top Ten. Very disco, but not quite up to some of his earlier hits. His voice just doesn't sound quite as smooth. Maybe it's just me.
3 - "Nobody Does it Better," Carly Simon
The then Mrs. James Taylor might not have been the most obvious choice to do a Bond theme, but she made it all the way to #2 with it, so it worked. Thom Yorke from Radiohead has said that this is the sexiest song ever written. With all due respect, Thom, no.
2 - "Boogie Nights," Heatwave
Last time we were in 1977, this led things off. This time, it almost closes the show. But in spite of its zeitgeist-friendly title, it fell short, partly because the top spot was in the process of being reserved exclusively for...
1 - "You Light Up My Life," Debby Boone
Pat's daughter's only Top 40 hit, the title song from a long-forgotten movie starring Didi "Frenchie" Conn, was in the fifth week of a then-record ten week run at the top. Debby, her dad, and country singer Red Foley (Pat's father-in-law) became the first three-generation dynasty of charttoppers. This song was playing when young couple Homer and Marge Simpson got engaged. Homer remarked that the guy Debby was singing about must be the happiest guy in the world. Marge said she thought that Debby was singing about God, to which Homer replied, "Oh, he's always happy. No wait, he's always mad." Anyway, this song is actually pretty good. Especially when performed by Patti Smith : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Agl4IvNnQPo
There were two NotCasey Extras: Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are," and Queen's "We Are the Champions." There were also a couple from Casey himself: "Mr. Bojangles," in honor of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's then-recent tour of the Soviet Union; and Freddy Fender's "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights," before which he once again told the story of how that song became a hit sixteen years after it was supposed to be.
Ah, another week done, and for once, I heard the whole countdown. I'm game for anything next week.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
November 12, 1977 Part One
Our second trip to the year of a famous blizzard in my area. But enough time has passed that there won't be a huge amount of overlap, and I always like covering charts where I can actually remember hearing most of the songs on pop radio, so bring it on:
40 - "Swingtown," The Steve Miller Band
39 - "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," Peter Frampton
38 - "Thunder in My Heart," Leo Sayer
37 - "Here You Come Again," Dolly Parton
36 -"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)," The Carpenters
35 - "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again," L.T.D.
34 - "Gone Too Far," England Dan and John Ford Coley
33 - "The King is Gone," Ronnie McDowell
32 - "Your Smiling Face," James Taylor
31 - "I Go Crazy," Paul Davis
We kick off with two corporate rock heavyweights. "Swingtown" is one of the few Steve Miller Top 40 hits to not crack the Top 10, but it's still pretty well-remembered, and may have inspired the title of a recent short-lived CBS series about wife-swapping in the Me Decade. Meanwhile, Peter Frampton followed up the title track from his first studio album as a superstar by covering Stevie Wonder. "I'm in You," was his biggest hit single, reaching #2. This one just scraped into the Top Twenty. The decline had begun
A lot of easy-listening stars in this bunch. After "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," Leo Sayer took another stab at disco. He didn't go to the falsetto on "Thunder in My Heart," however, and that may or may not be the reason this attempt was much less successful. England Dan and John Ford Coley return with a song that isn't "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight, so who cares? James Taylor shows up with a late 70s hit that isn't an R&B cover, so that's refreshing. And "Your Smiling Face," is actually pretty nice. And Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy," is certainly familiar, and it obviously had some sort of staying power, because it spent a then-record forty straight weeks in the Billboard Hot 100.
Two of the three new entries on the chart are at 37 and 35. After establishing herself as a country star, Dolly Parton began a concerted effort to cross over to pop with "Here You Come Again." It worked, as it reached Number Three. Soon afterward, Dolly was profiled in Rolling Stone, and in conjunction with that was photographed by Annie Liebovitz being cradled in the arms of the then little-known bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. Funk band L.T.D. don't have a similarly sexy story attached to them, but their hit didn't need it. It's just good music, and the singer sounds a little like Tom Jones.
I end this section with the battle for this week's Uneasy Rider Award. I was certain that if I ever came across "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft," it would take home an Uneasy Rider in a walk. I mean, come on. It's The Carpenters, the poster-siblings of safe, unthreatening MOR, covering a trippy, unwieldily-titled song about trying to contact extra-terrestrials which was originally performed by a band many people thought were a cover for a reunited Beatles. Surely it would take some Herculean feat of cheesiness to top that, right? Well, it did, and then-unknown country singer Ronnie McDowell was the man to perform it. As the title and the date would probably indicate to you, it's a tribute to the recently-deceased Elvis Presley. If that's all this song was, it wouldn't be that remarkable. But trust me, it isn't. It starts out with McDowell, in spoken word form, proclaiming that he grew up listening to and emulating Elvis to the point where his greatest dream was for people to say that he sounded just like The King. And then McDowell decides to use the occasion of his idol's death to try to make that dream a reality by singing a bombastic ode to the man in a very good Vegas-years Elvis voice. McDowell's choice to mourn his hero by imitating him, combined with the reverent, almost hymnlike lyrics (McDowell even sings "Long live his name" in a way which suggests that in his mind he envisioned an uppercase "H" on "his"), make "The King is Gone" an extraordinary artifact of its moment. How no one did this for Michael Jackson (at least not with this level of commercial success) is beyond me.
30 - "Slip Slidin' Away," Paul Simon
29 - "My Fair Share," Seals and Crofts
28 - "She Did It," Eric Carmen
27 - "Keep it Comin' Love," KC and the Sunshine Band
26 - "Come Sail Away," Styx
25 - "Isn't it Time" The Babys
24 - "Daybreak (Live)," Barry Manilow
23 - "Send in the Clowns," Judy Collins
22 - "It's So Easy," Linda Ronstadt
21 - "Cold as Ice," Foreigner
Here's where we first start encountering repeaters from the last '77 chart. KC and the Sunshine Band were hanging in with their first Top 40 hit not to go all the way to the top, while Foreigner we're still around with one of their most memorable rock staples.
A couple of 60s survivors are here. Paul Simon had yet another hit with a rumination on life and love that can currently be heard (in Canada at least) in a commercial for snow tires. Judy Collins, meanwhile, had two Top 40 runs with her version of a number from Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music; it got to #36 in 1975, then came back two years later and made it to #19. Not bad for a song from a musical based on an Ingmar Bergman film.
The easy-listening squad is never far away in this decade. Seals and Crofts, fortunately for all of us, were near the end of their run when they had this hit from a Robby Benson movie called One on One (by the way, are there any more truly 70s phrases than "Robby Benson movie?") which contains odd lyrics about Lady Justice and actually has Seals and/or Crofts singing "Sleep with me if you dare." I don't dare. Not under any circumstances. Meanwhile, Eric Carmen is here with something a little more upbeat than his other, more maudlin solo hits. That's nice and all, but still, without the Raspberries, he sucks. And Barry Manilow didn't chart much higher than where he is here with this live bit of peppy positivity, but I definitely remember it.
We end this half with three examples of rock in the forms it took at the time. Styx, who you'll recall are the Bob Seger of Chicago (still scratching my head about that one, Casey) are here with this week's chart's second tale of alien encounters. But I didn't realize that at six. I was too busy rockin' out and trying to sing as high as Dennis DeYoung. The gramatically-incorrect-and proud Babys are here with the first of their two U.S. number 13 hits. It's lightweight pop rock; catchy, yet hardly classic. Their singer, John Waite, would go on to score two Number Ones in the 80s: "Missing You" by himself, and "When I See You Smile" with the "supergroup" Bad English. Finally, Linda Ronstadt is at 22 with her second hit Buddy Holly cover (after '76's "That'll Be the Day). And in case you didn't hear, yes, her ex Jerry Brown will once again be the governor of California. I wonder if Linda regrets not having the chance to fill the shoes of Maria Shriver.
So there's Part One. Tomorrow: somebody doubles up on their hit count for the week, two hits from two of the decade's biggest albums, and one of the biggest hits EVAH!
40 - "Swingtown," The Steve Miller Band
39 - "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," Peter Frampton
38 - "Thunder in My Heart," Leo Sayer
37 - "Here You Come Again," Dolly Parton
36 -"Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)," The Carpenters
35 - "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again," L.T.D.
34 - "Gone Too Far," England Dan and John Ford Coley
33 - "The King is Gone," Ronnie McDowell
32 - "Your Smiling Face," James Taylor
31 - "I Go Crazy," Paul Davis
We kick off with two corporate rock heavyweights. "Swingtown" is one of the few Steve Miller Top 40 hits to not crack the Top 10, but it's still pretty well-remembered, and may have inspired the title of a recent short-lived CBS series about wife-swapping in the Me Decade. Meanwhile, Peter Frampton followed up the title track from his first studio album as a superstar by covering Stevie Wonder. "I'm in You," was his biggest hit single, reaching #2. This one just scraped into the Top Twenty. The decline had begun
A lot of easy-listening stars in this bunch. After "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," Leo Sayer took another stab at disco. He didn't go to the falsetto on "Thunder in My Heart," however, and that may or may not be the reason this attempt was much less successful. England Dan and John Ford Coley return with a song that isn't "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight, so who cares? James Taylor shows up with a late 70s hit that isn't an R&B cover, so that's refreshing. And "Your Smiling Face," is actually pretty nice. And Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy," is certainly familiar, and it obviously had some sort of staying power, because it spent a then-record forty straight weeks in the Billboard Hot 100.
Two of the three new entries on the chart are at 37 and 35. After establishing herself as a country star, Dolly Parton began a concerted effort to cross over to pop with "Here You Come Again." It worked, as it reached Number Three. Soon afterward, Dolly was profiled in Rolling Stone, and in conjunction with that was photographed by Annie Liebovitz being cradled in the arms of the then little-known bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. Funk band L.T.D. don't have a similarly sexy story attached to them, but their hit didn't need it. It's just good music, and the singer sounds a little like Tom Jones.
I end this section with the battle for this week's Uneasy Rider Award. I was certain that if I ever came across "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft," it would take home an Uneasy Rider in a walk. I mean, come on. It's The Carpenters, the poster-siblings of safe, unthreatening MOR, covering a trippy, unwieldily-titled song about trying to contact extra-terrestrials which was originally performed by a band many people thought were a cover for a reunited Beatles. Surely it would take some Herculean feat of cheesiness to top that, right? Well, it did, and then-unknown country singer Ronnie McDowell was the man to perform it. As the title and the date would probably indicate to you, it's a tribute to the recently-deceased Elvis Presley. If that's all this song was, it wouldn't be that remarkable. But trust me, it isn't. It starts out with McDowell, in spoken word form, proclaiming that he grew up listening to and emulating Elvis to the point where his greatest dream was for people to say that he sounded just like The King. And then McDowell decides to use the occasion of his idol's death to try to make that dream a reality by singing a bombastic ode to the man in a very good Vegas-years Elvis voice. McDowell's choice to mourn his hero by imitating him, combined with the reverent, almost hymnlike lyrics (McDowell even sings "Long live his name" in a way which suggests that in his mind he envisioned an uppercase "H" on "his"), make "The King is Gone" an extraordinary artifact of its moment. How no one did this for Michael Jackson (at least not with this level of commercial success) is beyond me.
30 - "Slip Slidin' Away," Paul Simon
29 - "My Fair Share," Seals and Crofts
28 - "She Did It," Eric Carmen
27 - "Keep it Comin' Love," KC and the Sunshine Band
26 - "Come Sail Away," Styx
25 - "Isn't it Time" The Babys
24 - "Daybreak (Live)," Barry Manilow
23 - "Send in the Clowns," Judy Collins
22 - "It's So Easy," Linda Ronstadt
21 - "Cold as Ice," Foreigner
Here's where we first start encountering repeaters from the last '77 chart. KC and the Sunshine Band were hanging in with their first Top 40 hit not to go all the way to the top, while Foreigner we're still around with one of their most memorable rock staples.
A couple of 60s survivors are here. Paul Simon had yet another hit with a rumination on life and love that can currently be heard (in Canada at least) in a commercial for snow tires. Judy Collins, meanwhile, had two Top 40 runs with her version of a number from Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music; it got to #36 in 1975, then came back two years later and made it to #19. Not bad for a song from a musical based on an Ingmar Bergman film.
The easy-listening squad is never far away in this decade. Seals and Crofts, fortunately for all of us, were near the end of their run when they had this hit from a Robby Benson movie called One on One (by the way, are there any more truly 70s phrases than "Robby Benson movie?") which contains odd lyrics about Lady Justice and actually has Seals and/or Crofts singing "Sleep with me if you dare." I don't dare. Not under any circumstances. Meanwhile, Eric Carmen is here with something a little more upbeat than his other, more maudlin solo hits. That's nice and all, but still, without the Raspberries, he sucks. And Barry Manilow didn't chart much higher than where he is here with this live bit of peppy positivity, but I definitely remember it.
We end this half with three examples of rock in the forms it took at the time. Styx, who you'll recall are the Bob Seger of Chicago (still scratching my head about that one, Casey) are here with this week's chart's second tale of alien encounters. But I didn't realize that at six. I was too busy rockin' out and trying to sing as high as Dennis DeYoung. The gramatically-incorrect-and proud Babys are here with the first of their two U.S. number 13 hits. It's lightweight pop rock; catchy, yet hardly classic. Their singer, John Waite, would go on to score two Number Ones in the 80s: "Missing You" by himself, and "When I See You Smile" with the "supergroup" Bad English. Finally, Linda Ronstadt is at 22 with her second hit Buddy Holly cover (after '76's "That'll Be the Day). And in case you didn't hear, yes, her ex Jerry Brown will once again be the governor of California. I wonder if Linda regrets not having the chance to fill the shoes of Maria Shriver.
So there's Part One. Tomorrow: somebody doubles up on their hit count for the week, two hits from two of the decade's biggest albums, and one of the biggest hits EVAH!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
November 3, 1979
Well, this is probably the one I've been waiting for since I started this. We're right at the end of the decade. I was three months shy of 9. In the world around me, I was about to hear the word "Ayatollah" a lot (in fact, the American embassy was taken hostage the day after this countdown originally aired). Musically, disco was still stong but on the downside of its run. New wave was starting to make inroads. And the old-school showbiz element that one could usually find some trace of on Top 40 radio was pretty much gone (perhaps it died with Elvis). Anyway, this is the scene we're about to enter into:
This section opens up with what is to date...oh, who am I kidding, what is Bob Dylan's last Top 40 hit; the slow, bluesy laundry list of different types of people who are going to have to serve either the Devil or the Lord. This song and the rest of the Slow Train Coming announced to the world that Robert Zimmerman had converted to Christianity. Artistically and commercially, it didn't help his career. The 80s did not treat Bobby well.
Three acts that weren't quite one-hit wonders but probably had less than ten hits between them are in this group. Robert John had been searching for a number one record since the age of 12. He finally cracked the Top 40 with a cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in 1972, but there were no more hits until this retro-sounding ballad, which finally topped the chart. Good for him, I suppose. Michael Johnson had three country-pop hits in the late 70s, the biggest of which was "Bluer than Blue." I remember that one, but the one here is also familiar to me. I also remember "I Know a Heartache When I See One." That and "Right Time of the Night" are the only Jennifer Warnes solo singles I know not written by Leonard Cohen. But of course, she is best remembered for two monster hit duets from 80's movies: "Up Where We Belong" with Joe Cocker (from An Officer and a Gentleman), and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" with Bill Medley (from Dirty Dancing).
Two more prolific hitmakers make the scene. Anne Murray opened the decade singing about lost love with "Snowbird," and damnit, that's how she was going to finish it. And The Commodores confused me. For some reason, in my head, I thought "Sail On" came before "Easy" and "Three Times a Lady." I guess age does that to you.
We end with 18 and 17 by two genuine one-hit wonders. Ian Gomm co-wrote "Cruel to be Kind," with his Stiff Records labelmate Nick Lowe. Lowe went to #12 with it. Gomm was slightly less successful with his own similarly punchy, poppy hit. And France Joli could be seen as sort of a precursor to Celine Dion, as this Quebecoise broke through with this disco floor-filler when she was just 16. However, neither further hits nor a creepy marriage to her manager followed for young France.
16 - "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," Journey
15 - "Ships," Barry Manilow
14 - "Good Girls Don't," The Knack
13 - "I'll Never Love This Way Again," Dionne Warwick
12 - "Dirty White Boy," Foreigner
11 - "Please Don't Go," KC and the Sunshine Band
Okay, I feel like doing this all in one shot tonight.
We start out with those arena rock monsters Journey. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" was likely the first Journey song I ever heard, and it's still probably my favorite. Although I also appreciate the way Larry Burns was able to spontaneously start a party in downtown Springfield with "Any Way You Want It."
Next is Barry Manilow again. This is his spin on the "ships passing in the night" cliche. Nothing special.
The Knack are back with a slightly more innuendoriffic take on British Invasion-era pop-rock. Lightweight, forgettable, and a clear sign that the band wasn't built to last.
The song at 13 is the first thing I ever heard from Dionne Warwick. It's MOR mush, but the voice elevates it. And at least I had so much more from her past to discover.
Foreigner show up with one of their harder-rockin' pop hits. Lou Gramm doesn't quite pull off the tough-guy persona he tries on here, but I still think he's an underrated singer.
Finally, KC and the Sunshine band appear with what would be their final #1. Unlike the rest of their hits, "Please Don't Go" is a goopy ballad. It would take over a decade and a British group called KWS to add dance beats to it.
It's the tippity-top, the Top Ten.
10 - "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)," Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer
One of the great diva duels of all time. La Streisand and the Disco Queen, trying to outbelt each other while simultaneously declaring their freedom from no good men. Who won? We all did!
9 - "You Decorated My Life," Kenny Rogers
Kenny started the decade with the sorta rock First Edition, and ended it with a sappy ballad that was that week's #1 country song. For the record, I also saw his movie Six Pack in a movie theatre.
8 - "Tusk," Fleetwood Mac
This was the world's first taste of the band's follow-up to the gajillion-selling Rumours. It was probably jarring to those expecting another "Dreams" or "Don't Stop," to hear this drum-heavy track fronted by a mumbly lead vocal. And then...the University of Southern California marching band shows up. It was not the most commercial move, and probably (along with the high price of the double-album and people being able to tape a syndicated, top-to-bottom broadcast premiere of the album prior to its release) led to Tusk selling only four million copies. Whatever. This song's awesome.
7 - "Babe," Styx
This ballad was the band's biggest hit. Disappointingly, it lacks the weirdness of "Come Sail Away" or "Mr. Roboto." In a classic Casey non sequitir, he said Styx were to Chicago what Bob Seger is to Detroit. If you say so, Casey.
6 - "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," Michael Jackson
One of the holy trinity of absolutely unfuckwithable MJ solo hits, with "Ben" and "Billie Jean." Just a monster of a song. This may have actually killed disco, because this was the last word on how to do the genre right. Unbeatable. I'm dancing just thinking about it.
5 - "Still," The Commodores
Lionel Richie and the boys are back with their second and final Number One, a sweet ballad that I don't like as much as some of their others for some reason. Don't ask me why.
4 - "Rise," Herb Alpert
Trumpeter, leader of the Tijuana Brass, and the "A" in A&M Records, Herb scored a #1 hit with this disco instrumental. The song contributed to two future pop culture phenomena: the General Hospital "Luke and Laura" storyline (the song is playing in the disco in which Luke rapes Laura. Yeah, this great romance started with a rape. Gotta love soap operas) and the Notorious B.I.G.'s hip hop classic "Hypnotize" (the song is built on a sample from "Rise").
3 - "Dim All the Lights," Donna Summer
Despite its lofty chart position, this is one Summer song I didn't really know. It follows the pattern of some of her other hits (including "Last Dance," and, yes, "No More Tears") in that it starts slow and then the beats kick in. But there's nothing here that makes me want to hear it again.
2 - "Heartache Tonight," The Eagles
The band was on its way to a breakup (for 14 years, at least) when they put out this sturdy rocker. I always liked the Eagles, but not to the point where I would ever purchase or even download for free one of their songs. They exist, I appreciate that, but that's it.
And 31 years ago, as a decade waned, the top song in America was...
1 - "Pop Muzik," M
Ah, here's you're New Wave, in the form of Brit Robin Scott's jaunty, synth-driven ode to the majesty and universality of pop. He even includes a line about "listen(ing) to the countdown," which I appreciated a bit more hearing in this context. Fun, fluffy stuff, and certainly a harbinger of things to come. For music in general, not M.
The two NotCasey extras this week were songs from the hour we missed. #40 was Dr. Hook's "Better Love Next Time," and #34 was "Lonesome Loser" by the Little River Band. Also, as part of the show at the time, Casey was going through all of the Number Ones of the 70s in chronological order. This week he was up to two from January of '76: Diana Ross' "Theme from Mahogany," and the Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster. And yes, there was indeed a Long Distance Dedication. A 22-year-old woman asked Casey to play Mary Wells' "My Guy," and dedicate it to her third husband. No, I did not write that down wrong.
Well that was fun. And I heard the whole show...sort of. But it'll be nice to hear a full 40 next week, regardless of the year.
32 - "Please Don't Leave," Lauren Wood
31 - "Take the Long Way Home," Supertramp
30 - "So Good, So Right," Brenda Russell
29 - "Rainbow Connection," Kermit the Frog
28 - "Heaven Must Have Sent You," Bonnie Pointer
27 - "You're Only Lonely," J.D. Souther
26 - "My Sharona," The Knack
25 - "If You Remember Me," Chris Thompson
First of all, let me state that I didn't know this was just going to be a Top 32 until the show started. Apparently, sometime in late 1978, the show was expanded to four hours, to make room for full versions of more songs, as well as what would become one of the most popular and best-remembered segments of the show, the "Long Distance Dedication," where Casey would read a listener's letter and dedicate a requested song to someone. I'm not sure if we'll get one of those on this edited countdown, but we can only hope.
One consistent thing about the decade was the amount of bland pop that made the charts. This abbreviated list kicks off with one-hit wonder Lauren Wood with a chunk of disco-lite featuring the man who's blanded up everything from the Doobie Brothers to Motown classics, Michael McDonald. I did remember Brenda Russell's inconsequential-but-pleasant "So Good, So Right," but I'm sure the most money she made from her music came from writing what became the theme for families awaiting the return of their loved ones from Operation Desert Storm, "Get Here." And Chris Thompson had sung lead for Manfred Mann's Earth Band (most famous for their hit cover of Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light,") before having a solo hit with his song here, which was the theme to the remake of the 30s movie The Champ. You know, the movie that introduced the world to Ricky Schroeder.
I'm grouping Supertramp and J.D. Souther together because I want to. The former is here with one of the hits from their American breakthrough Breakfast in America. Meh, I still much prefer "The Logical Song," Meanwhile, Mr. Souther co-wrote some hits for the Eagles before breaking through with his only solo hit. Listening to it, it's no surprise to learn that Roy Orbison was a major influence on him.
Two songs here are by artists who were somewhat upstaged by their siblings. Bonnie Pointer was in a group with sisters Ruth, June and Anita when they had their first few hits, but then she went out on her own. This disco number was solid enough, but she didn't follow it up with more, while her siblings went on to have a strong run of smashes up until the mid-80s. As for The Knack's Doug Fieger, it's hard to imagine having to live in anyone's shadow when your first hit goes to #1 for six weeks and some are proclaiming you "the new Beatles," but the band's fame didn't last, and his brother Geoffrey, the lawyer in the family, gained notoriety for representing "Dr. Death" Jack Kevorkian and suing The Jenny Jones Show. As for "My Sharona," it's still as unmercifully catchy as ever, even with the creepy lyrics about the mystery running down the length of his thigh and always getting it up for "the touch of the younger kind." Oh yeah, and Sharona went on to be a successful Hollywood real estate agent. Look it up.
And then there's "The Rainbow Connection." Well, a Muppet scored a hit in the first year of the decade, so of course it happened again in the last. And both won Uneasy Rider Awards. This, of course, was from The Muppet Movie, which I'm pretty sure I saw at the movie theatres at the Seaway Mall in Welland (it's the location I'm unsure about it, not the seeing it at the movies part). I know I loved it then, and I know they haven't topped it. The new muppet movie they're working on nowsounds promising, but I'm still probably going to always like the original best.
24 - "Gotta Serve Somebody," Bob Dylan
23 - "Sad Eyes," Robert John
22 - "This Night Won't Last Forever," Michael Johnson
21 - "Broken Hearted Me," Anne Murray
20 - "I Know a Heartache When I See One," Jennifer Warnes
19 - "Sail On," The Commodores
18 - "Hold On," Ian Gomm
17 - "Come to Me," France JoliThis section opens up with what is to date...oh, who am I kidding, what is Bob Dylan's last Top 40 hit; the slow, bluesy laundry list of different types of people who are going to have to serve either the Devil or the Lord. This song and the rest of the Slow Train Coming announced to the world that Robert Zimmerman had converted to Christianity. Artistically and commercially, it didn't help his career. The 80s did not treat Bobby well.
Three acts that weren't quite one-hit wonders but probably had less than ten hits between them are in this group. Robert John had been searching for a number one record since the age of 12. He finally cracked the Top 40 with a cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in 1972, but there were no more hits until this retro-sounding ballad, which finally topped the chart. Good for him, I suppose. Michael Johnson had three country-pop hits in the late 70s, the biggest of which was "Bluer than Blue." I remember that one, but the one here is also familiar to me. I also remember "I Know a Heartache When I See One." That and "Right Time of the Night" are the only Jennifer Warnes solo singles I know not written by Leonard Cohen. But of course, she is best remembered for two monster hit duets from 80's movies: "Up Where We Belong" with Joe Cocker (from An Officer and a Gentleman), and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" with Bill Medley (from Dirty Dancing).
Two more prolific hitmakers make the scene. Anne Murray opened the decade singing about lost love with "Snowbird," and damnit, that's how she was going to finish it. And The Commodores confused me. For some reason, in my head, I thought "Sail On" came before "Easy" and "Three Times a Lady." I guess age does that to you.
We end with 18 and 17 by two genuine one-hit wonders. Ian Gomm co-wrote "Cruel to be Kind," with his Stiff Records labelmate Nick Lowe. Lowe went to #12 with it. Gomm was slightly less successful with his own similarly punchy, poppy hit. And France Joli could be seen as sort of a precursor to Celine Dion, as this Quebecoise broke through with this disco floor-filler when she was just 16. However, neither further hits nor a creepy marriage to her manager followed for young France.
16 - "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," Journey
15 - "Ships," Barry Manilow
14 - "Good Girls Don't," The Knack
13 - "I'll Never Love This Way Again," Dionne Warwick
12 - "Dirty White Boy," Foreigner
11 - "Please Don't Go," KC and the Sunshine Band
Okay, I feel like doing this all in one shot tonight.
We start out with those arena rock monsters Journey. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" was likely the first Journey song I ever heard, and it's still probably my favorite. Although I also appreciate the way Larry Burns was able to spontaneously start a party in downtown Springfield with "Any Way You Want It."
Next is Barry Manilow again. This is his spin on the "ships passing in the night" cliche. Nothing special.
The Knack are back with a slightly more innuendoriffic take on British Invasion-era pop-rock. Lightweight, forgettable, and a clear sign that the band wasn't built to last.
The song at 13 is the first thing I ever heard from Dionne Warwick. It's MOR mush, but the voice elevates it. And at least I had so much more from her past to discover.
Foreigner show up with one of their harder-rockin' pop hits. Lou Gramm doesn't quite pull off the tough-guy persona he tries on here, but I still think he's an underrated singer.
Finally, KC and the Sunshine band appear with what would be their final #1. Unlike the rest of their hits, "Please Don't Go" is a goopy ballad. It would take over a decade and a British group called KWS to add dance beats to it.
It's the tippity-top, the Top Ten.
10 - "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)," Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer
One of the great diva duels of all time. La Streisand and the Disco Queen, trying to outbelt each other while simultaneously declaring their freedom from no good men. Who won? We all did!
9 - "You Decorated My Life," Kenny Rogers
Kenny started the decade with the sorta rock First Edition, and ended it with a sappy ballad that was that week's #1 country song. For the record, I also saw his movie Six Pack in a movie theatre.
8 - "Tusk," Fleetwood Mac
This was the world's first taste of the band's follow-up to the gajillion-selling Rumours. It was probably jarring to those expecting another "Dreams" or "Don't Stop," to hear this drum-heavy track fronted by a mumbly lead vocal. And then...the University of Southern California marching band shows up. It was not the most commercial move, and probably (along with the high price of the double-album and people being able to tape a syndicated, top-to-bottom broadcast premiere of the album prior to its release) led to Tusk selling only four million copies. Whatever. This song's awesome.
7 - "Babe," Styx
This ballad was the band's biggest hit. Disappointingly, it lacks the weirdness of "Come Sail Away" or "Mr. Roboto." In a classic Casey non sequitir, he said Styx were to Chicago what Bob Seger is to Detroit. If you say so, Casey.
6 - "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," Michael Jackson
One of the holy trinity of absolutely unfuckwithable MJ solo hits, with "Ben" and "Billie Jean." Just a monster of a song. This may have actually killed disco, because this was the last word on how to do the genre right. Unbeatable. I'm dancing just thinking about it.
5 - "Still," The Commodores
Lionel Richie and the boys are back with their second and final Number One, a sweet ballad that I don't like as much as some of their others for some reason. Don't ask me why.
4 - "Rise," Herb Alpert
Trumpeter, leader of the Tijuana Brass, and the "A" in A&M Records, Herb scored a #1 hit with this disco instrumental. The song contributed to two future pop culture phenomena: the General Hospital "Luke and Laura" storyline (the song is playing in the disco in which Luke rapes Laura. Yeah, this great romance started with a rape. Gotta love soap operas) and the Notorious B.I.G.'s hip hop classic "Hypnotize" (the song is built on a sample from "Rise").
3 - "Dim All the Lights," Donna Summer
Despite its lofty chart position, this is one Summer song I didn't really know. It follows the pattern of some of her other hits (including "Last Dance," and, yes, "No More Tears") in that it starts slow and then the beats kick in. But there's nothing here that makes me want to hear it again.
2 - "Heartache Tonight," The Eagles
The band was on its way to a breakup (for 14 years, at least) when they put out this sturdy rocker. I always liked the Eagles, but not to the point where I would ever purchase or even download for free one of their songs. They exist, I appreciate that, but that's it.
And 31 years ago, as a decade waned, the top song in America was...
1 - "Pop Muzik," M
Ah, here's you're New Wave, in the form of Brit Robin Scott's jaunty, synth-driven ode to the majesty and universality of pop. He even includes a line about "listen(ing) to the countdown," which I appreciated a bit more hearing in this context. Fun, fluffy stuff, and certainly a harbinger of things to come. For music in general, not M.
The two NotCasey extras this week were songs from the hour we missed. #40 was Dr. Hook's "Better Love Next Time," and #34 was "Lonesome Loser" by the Little River Band. Also, as part of the show at the time, Casey was going through all of the Number Ones of the 70s in chronological order. This week he was up to two from January of '76: Diana Ross' "Theme from Mahogany," and the Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster. And yes, there was indeed a Long Distance Dedication. A 22-year-old woman asked Casey to play Mary Wells' "My Guy," and dedicate it to her third husband. No, I did not write that down wrong.
Well that was fun. And I heard the whole show...sort of. But it'll be nice to hear a full 40 next week, regardless of the year.
Monday, November 1, 2010
November 2, 1974 Part Two
Here's the second half of our voyage back to the year Nixon resigned and Evel Knievel made it less than halfway across the Snake River Canyon
20 - "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," The Raspberries
19 - "Everlasting Love," Carl Carlton
18 - "The Need to Be," Jim Weatherly
17 - "My Melody of Love," Bobby Vinton
16 - "Do It Baby," The Miracles
20 - "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," The Raspberries
19 - "Everlasting Love," Carl Carlton
18 - "The Need to Be," Jim Weatherly
17 - "My Melody of Love," Bobby Vinton
16 - "Do It Baby," The Miracles
We kick off with the last hit for the Raspberries, and thus the last time Eric Carmen did anything cool. It's basically the story of an artist aching for that first hit song, from making a demo to hoping radio program directors will like it. Though those radio guys might not have liked this one so much, because at the end it contains that bugaboo of DJs everywhere, the fake fadeout.
Next is Carl Carlton with the most successful version of a song that apparently hit the U.S top 40 in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. It's another clear disco forebear, and much better than the song of the same title that Andy Gibb would hit with later in the decade.
Then there's "The Need to Be." In the decade where the term "going off to find myself," first gained traction, this could have been the theme song of those seekers. It's filled with self-actualization sloganeering and touchy-feeliness. You very much had to be there. Fortunately for Jim Weatherly, he also has writing "Midnight Train to Georgia" on his resume.
As we saw a few weeks ago, 60s star Bobby Vinton had a mini-comeback a couple years earlier with "Sealed with a Kiss." But his real return to prominence came with an adaptation of a German song that he gave a polka arrangement and lyrics in English and Polish. Somehow, this added up to a #3 smash. A few years ago, there was a mid-ranked Belarussian female tennis player named Olga Barabanschikova, and whenever I heard her name, I would hear it sung to the tune of the chorus of "My Melody of Love." Just thought you should know.
Finally, we have the Miracles and their first post-Smokey Robinson hit. They were going in the disco direction, and it worked for them on this one, and later even better on "Love Machine" (as in , "I'm just a..." Come on, you know it) which went all the way to the top.
15 - "Then Came You," Dionne Warwick and The Spinners
14 - "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)," BT Express
13 - "Carefree Highway," Gordon Lightfoot
12 - "Life is a Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)," Reunion
11 - "Back Home Again," John Denver
This section opens with another appearance by The Spinners, accompanied by a woman who was in the midst of the years between her time as one of the most prominent interpreters of Burt Bacharach songs and her spokespersonship for The Psychic Friends Network. The woman could sing, there's no doubt about it, and The Spinners were on a roll at this time, so of course this went straight to #1.
BT Express' biggest hit was more straight-up funk than pre-disco, but given the title and the vibe of the song, I'm sure it was a hit at the clubs where the disco age dawned. It hedges its bets regarding what you're supposed to be doing until you achieve satiation by having the deep-voiced guy chime in "Whatever it is," but let's just say I don't think this song inspired many people to weave baskets or rake leaves until they were satisfied.
Gordon Lightfoot is here again, singing about starting over and hitting the road. As nasally as his voice is, it's still a Canadian national treasure. I can't explain it. It just is.
Then there's "Life Is A Rock (But the Radio Rolled Me)," a song that would have surely grabbed the Uneasy Rider Award if not fot the mighty "Angie Baby." Reunion were a thrown-together group of studio musicians fronted by Joey Levine, who had previously sung lead on the late-60s bubblegum hits "Yummy Yummy Yummy" and "Chewy Chewy." Over a bouncy pop track, Levine delivers a rapid fire laundry list of DJs, song titles, record labels, artists, and other touchstones from the preceding 20 or so years of popular music. It's catchy and oddly charming. I mean, how can you not love a song that namechecks ZZ Top, "Camptown Races," and the man who developed primal scream therapy?
Last in this bunch is John Denver, singing a gentle country-folk tune about how good it is to be back on the farm. A couple years later, he's celebrate the rural lifestyle much more exuberantly with "Thank God I'm A Country Boy." Ah, John Denver, 70s radio's version of comfort food.
Top Ten Time:
10 - "Tin Man," America
I wasn't a fan of the guy who sang lead on this song. I much preferred the dude who sang "Sister Golden Hair." And of this guy's performance, I'd much rather hear "A Horse with No Name." And where the hell is "the tropic of Sir Galahad?"
9 - "Stop and Smell the Roses," Mac Davis
That curly-haired sex symbol returns advising us all to appreciate the little things in life. Nothing special, but a hell of a lot better than "Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me."
8 - "Sweet Home Alabama," Lynyrd Skynyrd
Skynyrd's biggest hit, and the first thing that comes to most people's minds when they hear the phrase "southern rock." And despite the lyrics, they didn't hate Neil Young, they just thought he was tarring too many people with the same brush. But feuds make much better legends.
7 - "Steppin' Out (Gonna Boogie Tonight)," Tony Orlando and Dawn
I wasn't familiar with this one at all. Just the usual lightweight pop from arguably the most old-fashioned pop act of the decade. If I was giving an Uneasy Rider Lifetime Achievement Award for the oddest artist or group to have multiple hit singles, Tony and co. just might be the recipients.
6 - "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night," John Lennon
A heavily R&B-influenced raveup, featuring piano and harmony vocals from Elton John. This was to be the only U.S #1 John would have while alive. He was also the last of the four Beatles to top the charts on his own. Yes, even Ringo beat him. But I'm sure he didn't give a shit.
5 - "Can't Get Enough," Bad Company
Singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke had experienced success with Free and the hit "All Right Now." Then they hooked up with a guitarist from Mott the Hoople and the bassist from King Crimson and formed and even bigger band. This straight-ahead rocker was their first big single. I'd say more about it, but...
Halfway through the song, the station I was listening cut out. And it didn't come back until after the countdown ended. So once again, I relied on my old friend the Internet to get the rest of the chart. And so, we resume with...
4 - "The Bitch is Back," Elton John
Apparently, this song was inspired when Elton threw a tantrum and collaborator Bernie Taupin's wife uttered this phrase, inspiring Taupin to build a song around it. Apparently, the word "bitch" caused many radio stations to ban this song. But not the part about getting "high every evening sniffing pots of glue." Hmmmm.
3 - "Jazzman," Carole King
Despite it being a #2 smash, I'm not very familiar with Carole's version of this song. Fortunately, I have heard Lisa Simpson's version of it several times, and it was powerful enough to cause a surgeon to sew "I Love Jazz" on a patient, so it has that going for it. RIP Bleeding Gums.
2 - "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet," Bachman-Turner Overdrive
After three singles that failed to crack the Top Ten in the U.S., ex-Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman's new band would go all the way to Number One with this song best known for all the stuttering in the chorus. Some have claimed that both the stuttering (a la "My Generation) and the guitar chord changes (very similar to "Baba O'Riley) mean that The Who should get partial credit for this song. Meh, there are worse people to steal from.
And the biggest song in all the US of A was...
1 - "You Haven't Done Nothin'" Stevie Wonder
By this time, Richard Nixon had been out of office for three months, but that didn't stop Stevie's stining criticism of Tricky Dick and his cronies from topping the chart. And even if he'd known, Stevie probably wouldn't have had any qualms about kicking the man when he was down. "You brought this on yourself!" he sings. His anger is set to some bouncy, bumping funk, and features backup vocals from the Jackson 5 (a lot of big time collaborations on this week's list). This just might be the best Number 1 we've come across so far.
I imagine there was a third NotCasey Extra, but I didn't get to hear it. But the first two were Barry White's seducterrific "You're the First, the Last, My Everything," and a sure contender for an Uneasy Rider Award should I come across it in the future, Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting."
So there we go. Frankly, I don't care what year I cover next week, as long as I get to hear the whole thing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)