Concluding 1972. In July. Yes, I can do that.
20 - "Alone Again (Naturally)," Gilbert O' Sullivan
19 - "Where is the Love," Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway
18 - "I Wanna Be Where You Are," Michael Jackson
17 - "Take it Easy," The Eagles
16 - "School's Out," Alice Cooper
This bunch begins with Gilbert O'Sullivan's hugely successful depiction of a man who feels abandoned by the world around him, and even God. So he's decided to kill himself. And by the end of the song, we're given no comforting assurance that he changed his mind. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: 1972 must have been the most depressing summer ever.
Next are Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, singing out their frustrations over lovers who won't leave their current partners for them. Again, not a happy song, but coming right after that downer Gil, it sounds postively sprightly.
Then it's young Michael with a jazzy little gem about a guy who now realizes he was wrong to leave his beloved. And despite his youth, you believe his passion. The kid had it right from the womb.
The Eagles had their first hit with this country song about scolds, girls in Ford trucks, and lovers who won't blow covers and possess love sweet enough to save a life. Glenn Frey co-wrote it with fellow California easy rocker Jackson Browne. It's a nice little nugget, with little hint of the pretentions to come. The time when they could still lighten up was starting to run out.
Last in this set are Alice Cooper (it was still the original band at this point, not just the former Vincent Furnier, going by that name), with the song that surely got its annual bump in airplay a couple weeks ago. If you try to listen with fresh ears, you can hear the menace that people probably sensed upon its intial release. But of course, Alice is a cartoon character now. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes one needs a reminder that this guy was once considered genuinely threatening.
15 - "Layla," Derek and the Dominos
14 - "Too Young," Donny Osmond
13 - "How Do You Do," Mouth and MacNeal
12 - "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)," The Looking Glass
11 - "Nice to Be With You," Gallery
We begin this group with the band that was really just Eric Clapton and some of his friends, with the song known for three things: the iconic opening guitar riff, the epic piano breakdown at the end (cut off on this version), and the fact that it was written about Patti Boyd, who was then married to Clapton's friend George Harrison. Not much more to say about it. Good song, and much better in this version than that unplugged one from the 90s that got played to death.
Then it's the child cover machine from Utah, this time taking on Nat King Cole. Can't blame Donny, he sings it all right. But the arrangement is much too bombastic for my taste. The song would have been better served if they'd toned it down for once.
Next are Dutch male-female duo of Mouth and MacNeal (shockingly, neither's real name) with their only American hit, a song about a couple that decides the best way to rescue their relationship is to literally reintroduce themselves to each other. The structure of the song is quite interesting: the verses are blues-rock, then the choruses open with a kind of classical violin sound and then morph into almost a German oompah band thing. Oddly cool.
Ah, "Brandy," we meet again. If you go back here, you'll discover the depth of my distaste for this song, and my suggestions on how it could have been improved. I have nothing more to add. The lest time I spend thinking about that song, the better.
This quintet concludes with Gallery and their song that I thought I hated, but it's growing on me. The singer's even pretty good for a poor man's Neil Diamond. I think I confused it with "Precious and Few," which, for the record, still sucks.
And now, the ten pillars that held up pop this particular week:
10 - "If Loving You is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right," Luther Ingram
Soul music and adultery: Two great tastes that taste great together. This is definitely a challenger for "Me and Mrs. Jones"' place on top of that particular heap.
9 - "I Need You," America
But I don't need you, America. Not on this slab of raw boredom.
8 - "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast," Wayne Newton
The Vegas icon with his biggest pop hit, a melodrama about a guy whose stopped from leaving his wife by the cries of his daughter. Too overwrought to provoke genuine tears. But I bet Wayne kills this live.
7 - "Rocket Man," Elton John
One of Elton's standards, a ballad that re-imagines astronauts as blue collar wage slaves who don't know how they get to space, they just do their jobs and miss their wives and decry the lack of good intergalactic child care. Genius.
6 - "Troglodyte (Cave Man)," The Jimmy Castor Bunch
These funk jesters return with their "history lesson" about how the earliest men found mates. Almost certainly inaccurate, because science has yet to prove the existence of Bertha Butt or her sisters. But fun nonetheless.
5 - "The Candy Man," Sammy Davis Jr.
Sammy's back, swingin' and paying tribute to the magical powers of the confectioner. I don't know about you, but I could go for a groovy lemon pie right about now.
4 - "Too Late to Turn Back Now," Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose
This smooth little love song was the biggest hit for Carter, Eddie and Rose Cornelius. I don't feel passionate about it either way. Sorry.
3 - "Song Sung Blue," Neil Diamond
Neil's not-so-sad tribute to sad songs. Although, contrary to his assertion here, I've never known any gardens that grew one.
2 - "Outa-Space," Billy Preston
The Fifth Beatle gets cosmic. I haven't been able to come up with much to say about it the first couple times it's come up, and the streak continues.
And the song that rocked more worlds than any other 39 years ago was...
1 - "Lean on Me," Bill Withers
Good old Bill and his warm, timeless assurance of rock-solid friendship, no matter what the future brings. The immediate future would bring tons and tons of airplay for Gilbert O.'s glorified suicide note, so I suspect this song was leaned on pretty hard in the months that followed.
The NotCaseys this week were "You Dont Mess Around with Jim" by Jim Croce, "It's Too Late" by Carole King, and "Popcorn" by Hot Butter.
Back with more Me Decade madness next week.
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