20 - "I'm a Woman," Maria Muldaur
19 - "Can't Get it Out of My Head," Electric Light Orchestra
18 - "Have You Never Been Mellow," Olivia Newton-John
17 - "Lady," Styx
16 - "Laughter in the Rain," Neil Sedaka
We start with Maria "Midnight at the Oasis," Muldaur's only other hit, a funk-pop take on a song written by the legendary team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller and first popularized by Peggy Lee. This was around the time the song was being used in commercials for Enjoli perfume, which I remember almost as well as those for Windsong by Prince Matchabelli. Later, Racquel Welch would perform it with Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show. "W-O.......P...I...G."
Then its ELO with a song about seeing "the ocean's daughter" after robbing a bank. At least I think that's what it's about. Anyway, it was their first hit in the U.S. There would be many more, including one from the movie Xanadu on which they were joined by...
...Olivia Newton-John, that film's star, who appears right after them with my favorite song of hers. It just felt so comforting and warm back when I was a child, and it still does. "I was...like yooooooooou!" She understands!
The Bob Seger of Chicago returns with their Top 40 breakthrough. It doesn't have the cheese appeal of "Come Sail Away," but it's much less gooey than "Babe." I give it a 67.
Finally we have Neil Sedaka's comeback hit. As I've said before, I'm a "Bad Blood" man all the way, but this is all right. Why wouldn't I be surprised to hear Kurt sing this on Glee someda
15 - "Nightingale," Carole King14 - "Get Dancin'," Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
13 - "Sweet Surrender," John Denver
12 - "Doctor's Orders," Carol Douglas
11- "Look in My Eyes Pretty Woman," Tony Orlando and Dawn
We start with Neil Sedaka's ex-high school sweetheart, singing about a "foolish dreamer" who needs some comfort. Aren't we all, and don't we all, sometimes?
Then it's Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes with a song that's simultaneously less lascivious and more goofy than the group's name. It's not quite Uneasy Rider material, but it's fun as hell. Everyone needs to hear this once. In full.
John Denver is back with more proof that he was his generation's John Denver. Sorry, but all the rest of these are repeaters from the last '75 list, so I'm not going to always have new and exciting things to say. But I'll try not to do too much phoning in.
Then it's Carol Douglas, around where she was the last time with her song about consulting a physician for problems that aren't really medical. Listening again, I like it a lot more. Maybe I'm just in a more receptive mood for silly, frothy disco.
Finally it's Tony O. and his lovely backup singers. This is probably the most discoish of their hits, at least the ones that I can remember right now. Tony, as I remember, had kind of a discoey look before disco even broke, so I'm sure this wasn't much of a stretch for him.
Top Ten, y'all:10 - "#9 Dream," John Lennon
The Walrus returns with his last Top 10 of the decade, nonsense chorus and all. It was also the last time he was this high on the charts while alive. I remember when my mother told me he had been killed while she woke me up for school. I was such an idiot, I thought she was talking about Jack Lemmon. I wasn't the hippest kid, that's for sure.
9 - "My Eyes Adored You," Frankie Valli
Casey tells the story of how Valli bought out the rights to this song from Motown, for whom he was recording at the time. They didn't think it was a hit. They were mistaken. This is one I like a lot less now than I did as a kid.
8 - "Boogie On Reggae Woman," Stevie Wonder
I'm not as big on this one as I am on most of his big 70s hits. Don't know why. But I think it's growing on me.
7 - "Lonely People," America
"Don't give up until you drink from the silver cup." I still say that's great advice for everyone. Except the Toronto Maple Leafs. You guys can go ahead and give up. God expanded the NHL so that would never happen again.
6 - "Fire," The Ohio Players
Another song that I don't like as much as I think I should. It's decent, but nothing special. I understand how "Love Rollercoaster" hit #1, but I see this more as a #5 or #6 than the charttopper it was.
5 - "Black Water," The Doobie Brothers
First of all, The Doobie Brothers is a much better name than their original moniker, Pud. That's even worse than Chocolate Hair. And I definitely do see this one as a #1, and a great one at that. The whole blues/bluegrass hybrid sounds so different than 99.9% of what's been on pop radio for the past 45 years or so. It's cool when #1s have a genuinely special quality that you can identify.
4 - "Some Kind of Wonderful," Grand Funk Railroad
Pretty much the last hurrah for Farner, Schacher and Brewer. Can I get a witness? Can I? A witness to what, you ask? Umm...I'll have to get back to you on that.
3 - "Best of My Love," The Eagles
They're the Eagles, they were huge, this is a nice little country ballad about a couple fighting a losing battle trying to keep a relationship alive. They're a band I can't imagine not existing, but I wouldn't be scared to live in a world where they didn't.
2 - "Pick Up the Pieces," The Average White Band
The song that gives the phrase "Scottish funk" the good name you might not have thought it could have. One of the iconic instrumentals of what Casey used to call "the rock era."
And on top of the Old Smokey that was the Billboard Hot 100 that week was...
1 - "You're No Good," Linda Ronstadt
Linda's second Top 40, and only Number One. This week, my Ronstadtometer is in positive territory. Great song, great performance, nothing but love for this one.
This weeks NotCaseys were Queen's "Killer Queen," "Shining Star" by Earth, Wind and Fire, and "Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley and Company.
Whether you're an old follower or new, I'll be back next week for you.
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