Spring '78 this week. I was in Grade 1, and excitement for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Edmonton filled the air. Well, not really. Anyway, here we go.
40 - "Imaginary Lover," Atlanta Rhythm Section
39 - "Disco Inferno," The Trammps
38 - "Boogie Shoes," KC and the Sunshine Band
37 - "The Circle is Small," Gordon Lightfoot
36 - "You Really Got Me," Van Halen
35 - "Count on Me," Jefferson Starship
34 - "It's You that I Need," Enchantment
33 - "How Deep is Your Love," The Bee Gees
32 - "Feels So Good," Chuck Mangione
31 - "Name of the Game," ABBA
We start with easy listening. The Atlanta Rhythm Section, a group that included members of Classics IV (the 60s band best known for "Spooky," which ARS would later redo) were classified as "Southern Rock," but all the stuff of theirs I remember,including this song about a fictional paramour, would not be confused with ZZ Top or Skynyrd. I have them as MOR all the way. Gordon Lightfoot follows, employing his typical gentle folk to tell his lady friend to just admit she's cheating on him, dammit! You wouldn't know it unless you paid close attention to the lyrics. Come on, Gord, drop the Canadian reserve and get angry, man! The much-hated (by me at least) Jefferson Starship are back with another lump of gooey doctor's office crap. They are terrible. That is all. The world's best-known flugelhorn player, Chuch Mangione had his biggest hit by far with this poppy instrumental, which, while hardly great, kicks the ass of anything Kenny G would go on to do. And Sweden's biggest non-Volvo or IKEA import had another hit with this midtempo ballad that doesn't really do it for me like some of their other stuff. It just lacks a certain spark, a certain drama.
There were three tracks from the then red-hot Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The Trammps originally put out "Disco Inferno" in 1976, but it wasn't until it was included on the SNF record that it became the ubiquitous touchstone it is now. Burn the mother down, indeed. There's a similar story about "Boogie Shoes," but that first came out in '75. Not one of their bigger hits, but it might be my favorite. Lastly there are the soundtrack's centrepiece act with the monster ballad that was actually written for the movie. We would hear more of them, and this album, later.
We end with a rocker and a soul ballad. The first incarnation of the Van Halen brothers' band made their chart debut with an enjoyable but inconsequential cover of a Kinks classic. Valerie Bertinelli, lead singer roulette, and "no brown M&Ms" were still to come. And Enchantment were a Detroit R&B group who hit the top of the soul charts with this solid but hardly memorable ballad. There always seems to be at least one of these.
30 - "Thank You for Being a Friend," Andrew Gold
29 - "Hot Legs," Rod Stewart
28 - "The Closer I Get to You," Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
27 - "Lady Love," Lou Rawls
26 - "Before My Heart Finds Out," Gene Cotton
25 - "Sweet Talkin' Woman," Electric Light Orchestra
24 - "Flash Light," Parliament
23 - "Which Way is Up," Stargard
22 - "Goodbye Girl," David Gates
21 - "Always and Forever," Heatwave
Only three MOR nuggets here. First of all, yes, that song at #30 is the same tune that would go on to be the theme for the legendary sitcom The Golden Girls. But before it was re-recorded for Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia, it was the second and last hit for the son of Marni Nixon, a singer best known for providing the singing voices for Natalie Wood in West Side Story and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, among others. Gene Cotton his biggest hit with this one about being left by a woman. But it only hit #23, I don't remember it, it was bland, so who cares. And the former lead singer of Bread had his biggest solo hit with this title song from a Richard Dreyfuss movie based on a Neil Simon play. It's a ballad (surprise), but you know what, it's pretty good. Definitely better than a lot of the Bread crumbs.
A couple of rock numbers here. Rod Stewart is here singing about his favorite subject. This time it takes the form of a lady who gives him such a workout that he requires "a shot of Vitamin E." Although I guess he likes that, because he then asks her to "bring your mother too." Oh Rod, you scallawag you. ELO are here again with another of their many pieces of tasty ear candy. This one is notable for those string breaks that are there seemingly to justify them calling themselves an "orchestra."
We close out with a big batch of R&B/funk/soul. Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway had their last and biggest hit together with this smooth ballad. Sadly, Hathaway, who struggled with depression through much of his life, would die of an apparent suicide a year later. Lou Rawls had one of the smoothest voices ever, and this ode to a woman whose love is "tender as a baby's touch" would be his last Top 40 hit. But his voice would still be heard in songs he wrote and performed for Garfield animated specials, including, of course, the Christmas special. Parliament, one of George Clinton's two space-funk collectives, had their second Top 40 hit with this booty-mover that reminds us that "Everybody's got a little light under the sun." I don't remember this from childhood, however. Maybe George was considered too far out for Canadian ears. Stargard were a female vocal trio who made their biggest impression with this fantastically funky title song to a Richard Pryor movie about the romantic entanglements of an orange picker. At least that's what Wikipedia says. And Heatwave, the group best known for the disco-funk smashes "Boogie Nights" and "The Groove Line," are here with a tender, slow-dance ready ballad. Did you know that they had members from the U.S., the U.K., Jamaica, Switzerland, and Czechoslovakia? Well, now you do. What you do with this information is entirely up to you.
Tomorrow: a famous duo plus one, a man who was sued by Huey Lewis, and Gibbs galore.
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