May 19, 1979

We're at the end of the decade, which means a shortened show and just one entry for the week. I kind of like the change of pace, but if they decided to start playing the extra hour on these, I wouldn't complain. So with that, here goes.

32 - "Makin' It," David Naughton
31 - "I Got My Mind Made Up," Instant Funk
30 - "Old Time Rock and Roll," Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
29 - "Get Used to It," Roger Voudouris
28 - "Ain't Love a Bitch," Rod Stewart
27 - "Such a Woman," Tycoon
26 - "Honesty," Billy Joel
25 - "You Take My Breath Away," Rex Smith

We start with disco. David Naughton, who was a familiar face in the 70s singing and dancing in Dr. Pepper commercials ("I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper...") attempted a major breakthrough by playing a young disco dancer in a sitcom somewhat inspired by Saturday Night Fever. The show went nowhere, but the title song, performed by Naughton himself, would go Top Ten. It's brainless, dated disco. No need to seek it out. And Instant Funk's only major hit is your basic innuendo-fest, asking the ladies to "push it to me, baby," and "slide it to me, honey." That is, "if you want my money." Subtle.

Next is rock. You might imagine, given its iconic status as the soundtrack to Tom Cruise's Risky Business dance (and its many knockoffs) the Styx of Detroit's anthemic rebuke of disco, the tango, and other things that don't fit his description of rock n' roll was at the very least a Top 10 smash. Truth is, it only reached #28, which in my opinion is about right. It gets old quickly. Rod Stewart followed up his successful disco venture with a more typical effort, a midtempo rocker about the travails of romantic love. It even includes a callback to his breakthrough single in lines like "Oh Maggie, if you're still out there, the rest is history. And the New York group Tycoon scored their only hit with a big-chorused pop-rocker about searching for love. It was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who would go on to produce acts like AC/DC, Def Leppard, Billy Ocean, and Shania Twain. However, only one of those relationships would lead to marriage

We finish this section with the easy stuff. There isn't much remarkable about the only hit by Mr. Voudouris, except that he sounds kind of like a (presumably) Greek Lionel Richie. Billy Joel had what would be his last hit of the decade with a ballad pleading for truthfulness. Would you settle for "truthiness," William? And Rex Smith began his career as a teen heartthrob with this drippy ballad in which he really does sound like he is actually having breathing difficulties during parts of it. I imagine this was better acting than what he did in the TV-movie this song comes from. Oh yes, and he completes our set of artists who would go on to host Solid Gold, joining Marilyn McCoo, Andy Gibb. Dionne Warwicke, and Rick Dees. And before you ask, yes, that show did have some hosts during its run that never hit the charts. But who cares about them.

24 - "Hot Number," Foxy
23 - "She Believes in Me," Kenny Rogers
22 - "Chuck E.'s in Love," Rickie Lee Jones
21 - "Knock on Wood," Amii Stewart
20 - "Rock n' Roll Fantasy," Bad Company
19 - "Renegade," Styx
18 - "Deeper Than the Night," Olivia Newton-John
17 - "Disco Nights (Rock Freak)," G.Q.


Again, we begin on the dance floor. Florida's Foxy had their second and final hit about trying to look attractive so someone will "get a zing in your fling." Sounds painful. Amii Stewart returns to turn an R&B nugget into something unrecognizable, yet wonderful in its own way. And G.Q. had the biggest of their two hits with a smooth little evocation of an idyllic evening when "the feeling's right and the music's tight." Some nice bass work in the middle. A must for any truly representative disco mixlist.

Then there's soft stuff. Kenny Rogers reached the top ten for the second time in his career with a song about the woman who believes he will make it big one day in spite of the odds. It's sweet, but nothing different. Which cannot be said about Rickie Lee Jones or her signature hit, a laid-back, jazzy ode to a hepcat smitten with someone, possibly "the little girl who's singing this song." I remember being impressed with how unlike everything else on the radio this was even as a child. Still fantastic. Rickie Lee gets this week's Uneasy Rider award. And Olivia Newton-John took a break from her disco reinvention with a song more in her old country-pop vein about how strong her love is. At one point, she pledges "I'll stay the same." For better or for worse, she would break that promise.

Rock concludes this group. Bad Company made the radio again with a song about the joys of rock concerts: the lights, the noise, the crowds, etc. The kinds of things that tend to seem less appetizing as we age. Anyway, I don't mind this one, but the Kinks have a much better song with that title. And Chicago's Bob Seger (I think this may be the first chart I've covered that they're both on), are here with one of their hardest rockers, a Wild West-ish tale of a captured fugitive who's about to be executed. This could be the best song they ever did, and it's now used as a theme song by the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers.

16 - "I Want Your Love," Chic
15 - "Just When I Needed You Most," Randy Vanwarmer
14 - "The Logical Song," Supertramp
13 - "We are Family," Sister Sledge
12 - "Love Takes Time," Orleans
11 - "Love is the Answer," England Dan and John Ford Coley

This last pre-top ten sextet opens with the disco masters and a song that has to live in the long long shadows of "Le Freak" and "Good Times." But on its own, it's still a solid floor filler. Apparently, the Black Eyed Peas sample it on their latest album. I'll let you make up your own mind whether or not that's a good thing.

Next is a guy whose name sounds like it should be on a product that keeps certain vehicles at an ideal tempetature for lovemaking. Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, I remember this song and the guy's high voice. I suppose it's sweet to the right ears, but I get nothing from it.

Then it's Supertramp with their biggest American hit, a ballad about how children are molded from carefree, imaginative, open souls into dull, cautious comformists. But some of us manage to retain a bit of our unique humanity. I'd like to think I'm one, but the jury's still out.

Kim, Debbie, Kathy and Joni Sledge, granddaughters of an opera singer, put their voice together and gave the world this immortal disco celebration of blood ties, with a little help from Chic masterminds Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. Later in the year, it would be used as a rallying song by the Pittsburgh Pirates on their way to the World Series championship. This turns out to be a big week for Pittsburgh sports references. You never know what themes will emerge when you tackle these. Also, it was sung by the Simpson family once after completing a family co-operation exercise, in spite of the fact that "wolves and cougars ate our roast beef."

Next are Orleans with their last hit, an upbeat, unmemorable song. By this time, future (and now former) congressman John Hall had left the band. Good move.

Finally we have Dan and John, who would be poster boys for faceless 70s MOR but for the fact that no one would ever want to have a poster of them. This song is a bit interesting in that it's a cover of a song by Todd Rundgren's band Utopia. Which is a material upgrade, but still, they're England Dan and John Ford Coley, so you still end up bored to tears.

They're the Top Ten, they're the Tower of Pisa:

10 - "Heart of Glass," Blondie
Deborah Harry and her band made their U.S. Top 40 debut with this smash that brought punk attitude to the discotheques and made us all better for it. You can't help but get caught up in the swirl and madness of this one. Dance floor nirvana. Oh, and in another confession you didn't ask for, I once went out for Halloween dressed as Debbie from the Autoamerican album cover. I don't know why, it just seemed like a cool idea to ten-year-old me. And it still does, for what it's worth.

9 - "He's the Greatest Dancer," Sister Sledge
The Sledges again, this time with their first hit, a tribute to a man particularly skilled in the terpsichorean arts. Plus he's hot and dresses well. I wonder which one of the sisters won the inevitable catfight for his affections. For no reason at all, I'll guess Kathy.

8 - "Take Me Home," Cher
Looking to end a five-year hit drought, Sonny's ex tried disco on for size and found that at least for one song, it fit her like a Bob Mackie gown. Her voice works surprisingly well for the genre, and she was rewarded with a Top Ten. But after this, she'd be without chart action for another eight years until she discovered power ballads.

7 - "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)," The Jacksons
Michael and his brothers not named Jermaine return with a cool little disco track. Of course, it would get smoked months later when Michael made the genre's definitive statement on "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." On a bittersweet note, "Shake Your Body" would be the last song the brothers would ever perform together, at Madison Square Garden in 2001.

6 - "Love You Inside Out," The Bee Gees
Even though this was a #1, I don't remember it from childhood. And when I heard it later, it left me cold. Didn't sound like much at all. But then Feist covered it as "Inside and Out," and I thought her version was the greatest thing ever. As far as I'm concerned, hers is the definitive version, and this is just a weak cover. I know those aren't the facts, but that's what feels true to me. Sorry Gibbs, you know I love you, but that's how I feel about this one.

5 - "Goodnight Tonight," Wings
Paul and his band tried some latin-flavored disco on this single, and for me, it's just a bad bad idea. The beat sounds like something guys were playing in malls five years later, the lyrics are nothing special, and the whole enterprise seems cynical and tossed off. Not Macca's finest hour.

4 - "Stumblin' In," Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman
Here they are again, Leather Tuscadero and the guy from Smokie (whose "Living Next Door to Alice" is apparently an enduring hit in Slovakia, as it was played frequently in arenas during the recent World Hockey Championships there), "foolishly laying (their) hearts on the table." This set the bar for raspy-voiced rock duets that Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty would later try to clear on "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." I think they did, but only just.

3 - "In the Navy," The Village People
The costumed party band with their last biggie, another song that subversively explores the homoerotic possiblities of a manly American institution, this time the branch of the armed forces that Bin Laden's assassins represented. Can't lie, the 45s for both this and "Y.M.C.A." were in our house, and we played them a lot. "But...but...I'm afraid of water!" In retrospect, though, it is a tad humorous that the flip sides for those singles were "Manhattan Woman" and "The Women" respectively. Don't think the group put their hearts into those.

2 - "Hot Stuff," Donna Summer
The Queen of Disco added a rock edge to her sound on this stomper about going out on the prowl. Possible her best single. Well-sung, sexy, and irresistible to the hips. Hot stuff indeed.

1 - "Reunited," Peaches and Herb
Peaches III and the one and only Herb with their biggest hit, a ballad about how great it is to get back together. Apparently, David Hasselhoff sang this at the Berlin Wall as it fell. And yet, no one turned their hammers on him. A missed opportunity.

Just one NotCasey this week: The Doobie Brothers' "Minute by Minute" which was #36 that week. But Casey played a bunch. There was "I Will Be in Love with You," by James Taylor's brother Livingston. And there were two #1's from early '74: "Love's Theme" by the Love Unlimited Orchestra, and "Season in the Sun" by Terry Jacks. Plus there were two Long Distance Dedications. The first came from a woman in Seattle, who wanted to send out Henry Mancini's "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" to her Iraqi fiance, whom she hadn't seen in eight years. The second was from an 82-year-old retired lawyer who was in a nursing home after suffering a stroke when a woman he went to high school with visited him out of the blue and took him on a movie date. The movie was A Star is Born, and so the man dedicated "Evergreen" to his lady love.

I'll be back soon. Visit if you find the time.