This week, we see what was on the charts about a week after the first Watergate break-in. It turned out so nice, they tried it twice. But sequels are hard to pull off, and when things don't work as well as they did the first time, heads usually roll. But here's what was on the radio when all those CREEPs knew was success.
40 - "Automatically Sunshine," The Supremes
39 - "Long-Haired Lover from Liverpool," Little Jimmy Osmond
38 - "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)," Don McLean
37 - "Living in a House Divided," Cher
36 - "Doctor My Eyes," Jackson Browne
35 - "Day Dreaming," Aretha Franklin
34 - "Love Theme from The Godfather," Andy Williams
33 - "I've Been Lonely for So Long," Frederick Knight
32 - "Rocket Man," Elton John
31 - "Old Man," Neil Young
R&B opens the proceedings. The Supremes had their next-to-last Top 40 with a jangly, peppy number about the joy of love. I liked it much more than any of the other post-Diana material I've heard from them. Find it and add it to your next summer mix. Aretha's laid-back reverie about thinkning about her lover would be a good add too, but it would work pretty much any time of the year. Just fantastic. And Alabama soul man Frederick Knight had a late-period hit for the legendary Stax label with this lament to his lonesome. Apparently, part of his predicament involves people "throwing rocks in my bed." So he's kind of like the romantic equivalent of Charlie Brown on Halloween. But I love his falsetto, and this is another gem I've discovered on this journey.
Then it's MOR. The youngest of the Osmond brothers made his only chart dent at age 9 with a silly, old-fashioned-sounding novelty. Like all things Osmond then, it was huge in the U.K., going all the way to #1. On this side of the pond, however, it was a lot less successful. I think we're the ones who got it right. Don McLean returns with his pretty Van Gogh tribute. Sonny's wife brings the drama on a ballad about divorce, territory she'd covered earlier (and to greater chart successs) on 1967's "You Better Sit Down Kids." I haven't heard that one, so I can't compare, but this one reflects the heartache and turmoil quite nicely. Andy Williams had his last Top 40 with his version of the love theme from Francis Ford Coppola's phenomenal gangster epic. Funny, but romance isn't the first thing I associate with the movie. Oh well. I wonder if Andy sang it that day when Nelson Muntz forced Bart, Milhouse and Martin to go with him to Williams' show in Branson, Missouri.
The group ends with singer-songwriter pop-rock. Jackson Browne scored his first hit with this piano driven shuffle about optical issues that a physician just can't fix. Good song, but I would like to hear that Jackson 5 version someday. Elton's back again with what would be his biggest hit to date, a ballad about being just a simple workaday astronaut worrying about what planet to raise his kids on. And yes, I have heard the William Shatner version. And Neil Young followed up the #1 "Heart of Gold" with what would be his last Top 40, a song comparing the needs of different generations that Neil wrote after his first meeting with the caretaker of a ranch he had just purchased. It's a pretty damn good last impression to leave on the mainstream, I would say.
30 - "Isn't Life Strange," The Moody Blues
29 - "Ask Me What You Want," Millie Jackson
28 - "Someday Never Comes," Creedence Clearwater Revival
27 - "I Need You," America
26 - "Lean on Me," Bill Withers
25 - "Slippin' Into Darkness," War
24 - "Taxi," Harry Chapin
23 - "Amazing Grace," The Pipes and Drums and the Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
22 - "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," Paul Simon
21 - "Betcha By Golly, Wow," The Stylistics
Rock kicks off the second half of the first half. The Moody Blues are here with a big rumination on the absurdity of existence. It alternates between sleepy and bombastic, and it's pretentious all the way through. Not my cup of tea. CCR had their last hit with this song about how the things we are told to expect one day sometimes don't end up happening at all. Kind of a down note for them to end on, but unquestionably a good, good song. And as Casey pointed out, one "someday" that never came for Creedence was the occasion of a #1 single. A few #2s, but no charttoppers. Too bad. War return with a haunting, reggae-inflected song that doesn't specify the horrors that the singer nearly succumbed to, but effectively gets the point across that it was something he doesn't want to go back. And if you listen closely, you'll hear a bit of the tune of Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" in there. And Paul Simon had his second solo Top 40 with this bouncy, acoustic-guitar-driven song about two boys who broke some sort of law and were jailed until a sympathetic man of the cloth gets them not only released, but on the cover of Newsweek magazine. What did they do? No one knows exactly, and I won't speculate further. I just dig the song, especially the whistling section. Which is funny, because I can't whistle myself.
Just three from the soul millieu in this section. Millie Jackson offers to try her best to acquire what you desire on her spirited first pop hit. She would only have ome more, and would later become better known to most people for her appearances on "worst album cover" lists with sleeves like this. And Bill Withers had his one #1 with his warm and wonderful offer of rocklike frienship. It's probably not surprising that such a sturdy soul was born in a town named Slab Fork, West Virginia. And the Stylistics still sound like Beaver Cleaver when they sing about how in love they are, and it still doesn't make this song any less great.
We end with the softies. America, apparently, needs you. This song sounds like a bad imitation of the Bee Gees. Not annoying or anything, but there is no reason at all for it to be in the world. Harry Chapin hit the chart for the first time with this story song about a cabbie who picks up a fare who turns out to be an old lover of his. The two of them find that their lives have changed drastically since they parted, and not necessarily for the better. Not a pleasant listen, but well worth revisiting from time to time. One of the most unlikely hitmakers ever, the musical arm of a Scottish army regiment had a massive international smash with their version of the same hymn Judy Collins charted with not long before. I'm not sure how it happened, but for their valor and daring in infiltrating the pop world with bagpipes and religion, I award the Guards with the highest honor I can give them, the Uneasy Rider.
Tomorrow: prehistoric romance, reckless driving, and candy! Sweet, sweet, candy!
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