Finishing up the list of the biggest singles acts of the 70s with eighteen months to go, according to Casey K. and the Billboard crew.
20 - THE SPINNERS
To this point of the decade: The Motown castoffs-turned-Atlantic hitmakers were a chart staple for much of the 70s, putting together a group of 13 Top 40 hits that included five Top Fives but just one #1, the Dionne Warwick collaboration "Then Came You."
My favorite of theirs from this time: It's close, but I've got the smooth shuffle "(They Just Can't Stop it the) Gsmes People Play," (#5, 1975) just fractionally above the springy "Rubberband Man" (#2, 1976). The latter is the song Casey played
How they finished the decade: With a couple minor R&B hits, then releasing the future #2 "Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me Girl" in November of '79.
19 - MARVIN GAYE
To this point: After being a steady hitmaker for Motown in the 60s, Marvin matured artistically in the new decade, but was still commercial enough to hit the Top 40 twelve times. 6 of those hits went Top Ten, and two made it all the way: 1973's "Let's Get it On" and 1977's "Got to Give it Up."
My favorite: Casey played it, 1971's groundbreaking #2 "What's Going On."
How he finished: No hits, but he did get attention in late '78 by releasing the album Here, My Dear to raise money to pay his divorce settlement.
18 - BARRY MANILOW
To this point: Until 1974, Barry Alan Pincus was known for writing commercial jingles and playing bathhouses with Bette Midler. But then "Mandy" came out and shot to #1, and he became a steady radio presence. His totals at this time: eleven Top 40s, seven Top Tens, and two more #1s: "I Write the Songs" and "Looks Like We Made It."
My favorite: "Mandy," of course. It allowed Barry to unleash all of his Barryness like he never would again.
How he finished: Four more hits, including three top tens, the best of which was the #8 "Copacabana."
17 - ARETHA FRANKLIN
To this point: Her late 60s roll continued into the 70s, with fifteen Top 40 hits. No #1s, but five Top Tens, including the 1971 #2 "Spanish Harlem" and the song Casey played "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (#3, 1973).
My favorite: The sunny, lovey-dovey "Day Dreaming" (#5, 1972).
How she finished: Only a few minor R&B hits. Her last Top 40 of the decade was '76's "Something He Can Feel."
16 - NEIL DIAMOND
To this point: The ex-college fencing star also continued a run from the 60s. Seventeen Top 40 hits. Just four Top Tens, but all of those were Top Fives, and two went to #1: "Cracklin' Rosie" (which Casey played) and "Song Sung Blue."
My favorite: The 1970 re-release of 1966's "Solitary Man," which missed the Top 40 the first time but went to #20 in its second chance.
How he finished: With the #1 duet with Barbra Streisand "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," and the Top 20 "Forever in Blue Jeans."
15 - JOHN DENVER
To this point: Henry John Deutchendorf emerged as the bespectacled, nature-boy folkie superstar the decade had to have. He hit the Top 40 twelve times, with seven Top Tens and four #1s: "Sunshine on My Shoulders," "Annie's Song," "Thank God I'm a Country Boy," and the double-sided "I'm Sorry/Calypso." Casey played his first hit, the #2 "Take Me Home, Country Roads."
My favorite: "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." It's the only hoedown song you need.
How he finished: No hits after 1976's "Like a Sad Song" (#36), but he was on TV a lot, including the classic 1979 special John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.
14 - THE EAGLES
To this point: The L.A. folk-rockers cranked out the hits beginning in 1972 with "Take it Easy" (#12). The tally thus far: Eleven Top 40s, seven Top Tens, and four #1s: "Best of My Love," "One of These Nights," "Hotel California," and the one Casey played, "New Kid in Town."
My favorite: As I've said before, I don't really feel strongly about Eagles songs, but I'll say "Take it to the Limit," (#4, 1975).
How they finished: They ended '78 with the #18 holiday single "Please Come Home for Christmas," and the next year ended with them near the top of the charts with "Heartache Tonight."
13 - AL GREEN
To this point: He was the decade's smoothest soul man, with thirteen Top 40 singles. Seven made the Top Ten, and the song Casey played, "Let's Stay Together" was his only #1.
My favorite: Yes, it's the one I've known the longest, but still, I'm sticking with "Let's Stay Together."
How he finished: No more pop hits after 1976's #37 "Keep Me Cryin'." He kept recording and touring, but after a stage accident in 1979, he abandoned secular music to concentrate on being a pastor and recording gospel.
12 - DIANA ROSS
To this point: The turn of the decade coincided with the beginning of her post-Supremes career. The haul so far:fourteen Top 40s. Only four Top 10s, but all of those were #1s: "Touch Me in the Morning," "Theme from Mahogany," "Love Hangover," and her first, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," which Casey played.
My favorite: Ummm...I guess "Last Time I Saw Him," (#14, 1974) because I remember her doing it on The Muppet Show.
How she finished: A #19 in '79 with "The Boss," and a starring role in the 1978 movie musical The Wiz.
11 - TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN
To this point: Orlando, who hadn't had much success on his own in the 60s, became a star after hooking up with backup singers Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent. They hit the Top 40 fourteen times, the Top Ten six times, and Number One three times with "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree," "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)," and, conveniently enough, the one Casey played, "Knock Three Times."
My favorite: "Knock Three Times." Silly fun.
How they finished: Broken up.
10 - HELEN REDDY
To this point: The Australian dynamo who was a little too feisty to be called "middle-of-the-road" was the decades biggest solo female, racking up fourteen Top 40s, six Top Tens, and three #1s: "I Am Woman," "Delta Dawn," and "Angie Baby." Casey, however, decided to play it safe by going with the sweet song that featured a cameo from her daughter Traci, "You and Me Against the World" (#9, 1974).
My favorite: Do you really have to ask? If you do, you're living in a world of make believe...well, maybe.
How she finished: The hits dried up after 1977's "You're My World (#18.) But in the fall of '78, I'm sure many a rocker was surprised to find her singing backup on "True Confessions," a track from the Gene Simmons solo album.
9 - GLADYS KNIGHT AND THE PIPS
To this point: Hailing from Atlanta, Ms. Knight, her brother "Bubba," and two of their cousins had some hits in the 60s, but it was in this decade when they really became superstars, registering fifteen Top 40s, six Top Tens, and the #1 Casey played, "Midnight Train to Georgia."
My favorite: I've got to go, I've got to go, I've got to go with "Midnight Train to Georgia."
How they finished Forced apart by contractual issues for the last few years of the decade, Gladys recorded solo records, and the Pips put out their own albums. The were able to get back together by the time the 80s began, fortunately.
8 - THREE DOG NIGHT
To this point: For the first few years of the seventies, 3DN were a dominant chart force. The numbers: Seventeen Top 40s, eight Top Tens, and three #1s: "Joy to the World," "Black and White," and the one Casey played, "Mama Told Me Not to Come."
My favorite: "Joy" just edges out "Mama Told Me."
How they finished: They broke up in '76, a year after their last hit, "'Til the World Ends" (#32).
7 - CHICAGO
To this point: The jazz-pop megaband were inescapable for much of the decade, picking up nineteen Top 40s and twelve Top Tens. But it wasn't until they let Peter Cetera unleash his inner sapmeister that they scored a #1 with 1976's "If You Leave Me Now."
My favorite: The pure joy of the song Casey played, 1972's "Saturday in the Park (#3).
How they finished: With the Top 20s "Alive Again" and "No Tell Lover."
6 - THE JACKSON 5/THE JACKSONS
To this point: Diana Ross' discoveries were arguably the greatest boy band ever, and the last genuine superstars produced by Motown. At Hitsville U.S.A., they went to #1 with their first four singles: "ABC," "The Love You Save," "I'll Be There," and the one Casey played, "I Want You Back." They didn't top the charts again for Motown, but they hit the Top 40 twelve more times, and made it to #2 three times. After leaving Motown and replacing Jermaine with younger brother Randy, they added two more top 40s, including a #6 in 1976's "Enjoy Yourself."
My favorite:One of the #2s, 1971's "Never Can Say Goodbye."
How they finished: One hit in '79, the Top Ten "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground). And at the end of that year, Michael released a little solo album called Off the Wall, which did okay as I recall.
5 - STEVIE WONDER
To this point: The former Steveland Morris took greater control of his career at the start of the decade, and this led to the greatest artistic and commercial run he'd ever have. His seventies stats to this date: Seventeen Top 40s, eleven Top Tens, and five #1s: "You are the Sunshine of My Life," "You Haven't Done Nothin'." "I Wish," "Sir Duke," and the one Casey played, "Superstition."
My favorite: So much good to choose from, but the one I love best is "Living for the City" (#8, 1974)
How he finished: One more Top Five in 1979 with "Send One Your Love."
4 - THE CARPENTERS
To this point: Siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter were the king and queen of easy listening in the 70s, soft-rocking their way to eighteen Top 40 singles, including eleven Top Tens and three #1s: "Top of the World," "Please Mr. Postman," and the one Casey played, "(They Long to Be) Close to You."
My favorite: Their last Top 40 of the decade, 1977's delightfully strange "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" (#32).
How they finished: With their chart fortunes waining, they put out a Christmas album which sold well. Richard took 1979 off to recover from drug addiction, while Karen worked on a solo album that wouldn't be released until 1996.
3 - PAUL MCCARTNEY
To this point: Combining singles credited to himself alone, him and Linda, and Wings, the Cute Beatle's 70s output had thus far reaped nineteen Top 40s, fourteen Top Tens, and six #1s: "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," "My Love," "Silly Love Songs," "Listen to What the Man Said," "With a Little Luck,' and the one Casey played, "Band on the Run."
My favorite: There are four or five that swap the top spot amongst themselves, but at the moment, I'm feeling "Let 'em In" (#3, 1976)
How he finished: With five more Top 40s, the biggest by far being "Goodnight Tonight" (#5)
2 - THE BEE GEES
To this point: The Brothers Gibb had a mere five top 40s in the first half of the decade, but then over next three-and-a-half, they added ten. The totals thus far: Fifteen Top 40s, nine Top Tens, and six #1s: "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart," "You Should Be Dancing," "How Deep is Your Love," "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever," and the one Casey played, "Jive Talkin'."
My favorite: The funky strut "Nights on Broadway" (#7, 1975).
How they finished: Extremely strong. Three hits, all #1s: "Too Much Heaven," "Tragedy," and "Love You Inside Out." On the strength of those, they would end up finishing first for the whole decade, overtaking...
1 - ELTON JOHN
To this point: The future knight born Reggie Dwight went from nowhere to everywhere just months into the decade. His tally for these 8 1/2 years: Twenty-one Top 40s, fifteen Top Tens, and six Number Ones: "Crocodile Rock," "Bennie and the Jets," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "Island Girl," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (with Kiki Dee), and the song Casey played, "Philadelphia Freedom."
My favorite: Again, a lot to choose from, but I'll go with "Levon" (#24, 1971).
How he finished: Two more hits: "Part-Time Love" (#22) and "Mama Can't Buy You Love" (#9).
Tomorrow: Yes, there's more. We'll start looking at the Top 40 artists of the first third of the 1980s.
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