June 17, 1978

So here's my truncated look at this 1978 countdown. As I've done before, I'll list songs 40-11, bolding the songs that weren't on the chart three weeks ago, and write about them, with maybe a bit on some of the holdovers. Then, we'll go through the Top Ten.

40 - "Warm Ride," Rare Earth
39 - "Grease," Frankie Valli
38 - "Everybody Dance," Chic
37 - "Only the Good Die Young," Billy Joel
36 - "This Time I'm In it for Love," Player
35 - "Disco Inferno," The Trammps
34 - "I Can't Stand the Rain," Eruption
33 - "Wonderful Tonight," Eric Clapton
32 - "Cheeseburger in Paradise," Jimmy Buffett
31 - "Miss You," The Rolling Stones
30 - "Almost Summer," Celebration
29 - "Follow You, Follow Me," Genesis
28 - "I Was Only Joking," Rod Stewart
27 - "The Closer I Get to You," Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
26 - "Baby Hold On," Eddie Money
25 - "Oh What a Night for Dancing," Barry White
24 - "Heartless," Heart
23 - "Last Dance," Donna Summer
22 - "Even Now," Barry Manilow
21- "You're the Love," Seals and Crofts
20 - "Bluer than Blue," Michael Johnson
19 - "Deacon Blues," Steely Dan
18 - "Every Kinda People," Robert Palmer
17 - "With a Little Luck," Wings
16 - "Still the Same," Bob Seger
15 - "Because the Night," Patti Smith
14 - "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," Meat Loaf
13 - "The Groove Line," Heatwave
12 - "Use Ta Be My Girl," The O'Jays
11 - "Dance With Me," Peter Brown

So, 14 songs that weren't here the last time. And as Casey pointed out, nothing by The Bee Gees, for the first time in nine months.

So we'll start our look at the newbies with rock. Rare Earth hadn't been heard from since the end of their Motown run, but they made a very brief return to the charts with a version of a Gibb-brothers penned disco number about sex. But they don't bring much heat to it, and that may be why this song faded quickly and the band was never heard from again. Eric Clapton made a lot of boring stuff in this part of the decade, but there's nothing at all bland or unremarkable about this gorgeous, sincere ballad he wrote while waiting for his then-wife Patti Boyd. to get ready for a party. Boyd, of course, was also the woman Eric wrote "Layla" for when she was married to George Harrison. And that, my friends, is the definition of a muse. The Rolling Stones, like many rock acts, took a stab at disco, but "Miss You," retains enough of the sleaze and soul of the band's regular sound that it just seems like a natutal turn in the band's sonic direction. Plus, it has one of the greatest wordless choruses of all time. Prog rock vets Genesis, following the departure of Peter Gabriel, began to move in more of a pop direction, and this, their first single sung by drummer Phil Collins, and were immediately rewarded with their first Top 40 hit. Under bubbling synths, Phil makes a simple declaration of appreciation for his beloved. No knights, no lambs lying down on Broadway, just the usual pop subject matter. Well, you can't fault success, I suppose. And the Styx of Detroit would crack the Top Five for the second time in his career with a piano-driven semi-ballad that appears to be about a travelling gambler, but I get the feeling that the whole thing is a metaphor for a woman who plays with men's hearts while risking her own. I'm right, aren't I?

A couple of 60s pop veterans are among the new blood. Frankie Valli, at the height of his return to hitmaking, was tapped to record the theme to the film version of the hit stage musical Grease. Bizarrely, it's an unabashed disco number, penned and co-produced by Barry Gibb. Strange choice for a film set in the 1950s. But it was catchy, it sold, and as a kid, I enjoyed beatboxing that one part that's just drums (even though I had no idea that it was called "beatboxing"). And Beach Boy Mike Love created a side project called Celebration to do the soundtrack to a film called Almost Summer (the second most famous 1978 high school movie starring Didi Conn). Co-written with his regular bandmates Brian Wilson and Al Jardine,the title song sounds pretty much like you'd expect a midtempo number from those three to. The lyrics, celebrating the coming of the hottest season, have their moments of cheese ("Susie wants to be a lady director?" Was that necessary? No, and neither was the pandering mention of a "Little Deuce Coupe."), but all in all, it probably served as a nice break between disco hits for radio listeners of the time.

Of course, we've got plenty of straight disco. Chic followed up their first hit "Dance, Dance, Dance" with another call to booty-shaking arms. Maybe its similarity to that previous song was the reason it stalled at #38, but I think it's strong enough on its own to have deserved a better fate. Plus, if you listen closely, you can hear Luther Vandross singing on the choruses. Eruption were another vocal group shepherded by German Frank Farian, who was also the man behind Boney M. and, later, Milli Vanilli. They had their only American hit with this cover of a 1973 song by Ann Peebles that was a minor pop hit at the time but has come to be recognized as a soul classic. I'm ashamed to say I've never heard Peebles' original, but the song itself holds up well even among the Eurodisco trappings, so I will definitely look it up. Do fnna Summer had her first Top 5 hit with a song on which she asks for one more spin across the floor with her lover, who sticks with her even though, "when I'm bad, I'm so, so bad." It's a very good song, but I was surprised to learn that it won an Academy Award (it was written for the soundtrack of the disco film Thank God It's Friday, whose ensemble cast included then-unknowns Jeff Goldblum and Debra Winger, as well as Summer herself). Heatwave are here with their third and final hit, a steady groover that asks you to board a metaphorical train on which there "ain't no seats, all we got is dancin' feet." Where do I buy my ticket? And the O'Jays had their last major pop hit with this one about a man regretting what he did to lose his lady. It's recognizably disco, but the smooth vocals and the instrumentation make sure you know its by one of the leading lights of Philly Soul. A reminder that you didn't have to be entirely artifice and flash to survive in the genre if you had real chops.

Rouding out our tour of the stuff that wasn't there last time are offerings from two of the decade's piano-playing pop giants. Billy Joel comes out swaggering as a ne'er do well trying to corrupt an innocent Catholic girl named Virginia (just in case some people didn't get the point). "The stained glass curtain you're hiding behind never lets in the sun," he argues. Billy makes sin sound so much fun that if I were Virginia, I'd probably go out with him. But I wouldn't let him drive. And Barry Manilow added to his ball of big ballads with this song about still thinking about a previous lover even while with a new one. The sort of thing he could come up with in his sleep. Who knows, maybe he did.

I don't really have anything to say about the holdovers, except for the fact that it still warms my heart to know that "Because the Night" became such a big hit. Also, in both charts this weekend, a Springsteen-penned song helped someone who might not have otherwise done so get onto pop radio (see also: Gary U.S. Bonds)

Ten for the money:

10 - "Love is Like Oxygen," Sweet
The last U.S. hit for the U.K. glam legends. A little more abrasive musically and serious lyrically than most of the stuff that made them famous, but still catchy enough that it caught my seven-year-old ears. And I'm still singing along.


9 - "You Belong to Me," Carly Simon
Carly goes disco. It goes Top 10. No one remembers it now, because it's not very good.


8 - "On Broadway," George Benson
The jazz guitarist remained in the Top Ten with his Drifters cover. It's a little better than I gave it credit for last time.

7 - "Feels So Good," Chuck Mangione
Chuch again, flugelhorning his heart out. Flugelhorn flugelhorn flugelhorn. That may now be my third favorite English word, behind "vicar" and "turnbuckle."

6 - "Take a Chance on Me," ABBA
Do you think it would be a good idea to, in the middle of a job interview, just suddenly burst out and start singing this song? It expresses the required sentiment, and it would certainly make one stand out. Do you think it would work? No? Me neither...just being silly...heh heh.

5 - "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late," Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams
What would we do, baby, without them? No, seriousy, what would we do, baby, without them? Sha la la la.

4 - "It's a Heartache," Bonnie Tyler
I just have to say, in case I didn't make it clear the last time, that this song is fantastic. It's been, shall we say, "eclipsed" by a certain hit she had in the 80s, and while I like that one quite a bit as well, this will always be her high point as far as I'm concerned.

3 - "Baker Street," Gerry Rafferty
The sax-drenched classic named after Sherlock Holmes' stomping grounds. "The sun is shining, it's a new morning." That's kind of how I feel about my life right now.

2 - "You're the One that I Want," John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
The song that finally brings Danny and Sandy together. She was distracted by Lorenzo Lamas, and he by...whoever it was that played Cha Cha DiGregorio. But this is the movies, so those crazy kids finally overcame all obstacles and rekindled their romance of the previous summer. Then they flew up into the clouds in a car. Just like in real life.

And the hit of hits this particular week was...

1 - "Shadow Dancing," Andy Gibb
The song that made the littlest Bee Gee the first solo singer to go to Number One with his first three singles. The man was just in the right place in the right time. Can't be mad at him for that.

This week's NotCaseys were "Stay" by Jackson Browne, "Just What I Needed" by The Cars, and "Magnet and Steel" by Walter Egan.

Back next week with the usual 70s two-parters. For those of you already looking forward to the 80s, Bobby say "Relax." Just two more months.