Finishing.
20 - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," Rod Stewart
Rod's disco opus. Is it dumb trendhopping? Yes. But I still derive joy from it.
19 - "Shooting Star," Dollar
Brit native David Van Day and Canadian-born Thereza Bazar met in 1975 when they both successfully auditioned for a pop group called Guys n' Dolls. They left the group three years later to form their own act, and their first single, this synth-lite number that I think is about friendly aliens, began a career that included ten Top 40s and five Top Tens. This doesn't make me enthusiastic about hearing more from them.\
18 - "One Nation Under a Groove," Funkadelic
One of George Clinton's finest moments. The whole funk, and nothing but the funk
17 - "Always and Forever/Mind Blowing Decisions," Heatwave
This disco UN had a double-sided hit here. The A-side ballad also charted in the U.S. and was covered here, so I turn my attention to the B, another ballad. This one follow's a man's thought process from the beginning of a relationship, from whether to hold her hand or put his arms around her, up to "marriage or shacking." The conclusion: "Mind blowing decisions causes (sic) head-on collisions." Can't argue with that. Don't even know what it means, exactly.
16 - "I'll Put You Together Again," Hot Chocolate
Errol Brown's funksters were done having American Top 40s, but they were smack in the middle of their run at home when they hit with this big ballad promise to come to a friend's rescue. Better than I would have imagined.
15 - "Greased Lightning," John Travolta
The number from Grease where the T-Birds imagine the beater they're working on as the ultimate hot rod, a "real pussy wagon" that will make "the chicks cream" and result in them "gettin' lotsa tit." Apparently, the lyrics will be toned down for Fox's upcoming live production. Understandable, but kinda sad. And will Murdock (played by Brady kid Eve Plumb) even get to say "Haul ass, kid"?
14 - "I'm Every Woman," Chaka Khan
Chakachakachaka''s future Whitney cover object and Oprah theme. Still some quality empowerment nonetheless.
13 - "Hello This is Joannie," Paul Evans
American singer songwriter Evans had success in the late 50s and early 60s with the U.S, Top Tens "Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Backseat" and "Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky." Then he re-emerged in the U.K. and Australia with this country-pop tune about a guy who has a fight with his girlfriend, then desperately tries to phone her and apologize but only gets her answering machine. He finally gets a call back, but it's Joannie's friend telling him that Joannie crashed her car on the way home and died. As pop tragedy songs go, it's okay.
12 - "A Little More Love," Olivia Newton-John
Like I've said before, this is the real life equivalent of her Sandy donning the tight pants and halter top. It gets attention, but I still prefer what came before.
11 - "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper," Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip
Miss Brightman began her theatre career at 13, then was recruited into a TV dance troupe called Hot Gossip. Among the group's numbers was one performed to an original disco song, sung by Brightman, that uses multiple sci-fi references (Star Wars, Star Trek, Flash Gordon, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), as sexual innuendo. It was a hit, and launched Brightman on a career that would fly to it's greatest heights, not coincidentally, during a seven-year marriage to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I wonder if he made her "feel the force"? Anyway, I've decided that this is strange and campy enough to share the Uneasy Rider with the Smurfs. Congrats.
10 - "Too Much Heaven," The Bee Gees
Am I alone in thinking this is a better ballad than "How Deep is Your Love"? It's okay if I am.
9 - "Le Freak," Chic
Between this and "Good Times," they made disco sophisticated. An impressive feat.
8 - "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand
How did this not end up in an FTD commercial? Or did it and I missed it?
7 - "Mary's Boy Child," Boney M.
The first Frank Farian group to be caught lip-synching other people's voices had their second and last U.K. #1 at Christmas of '78 with their disco-reggae take on a song first popularized by Harry Belafonte. It was my first introduction to the song as a child, and I liked it. Not as much as "Rasputin," though.
6 - "A Taste of Aggro," Barron Knights
These guys from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire had been having parody hits since 1964, acting as kind of a British precursor to "Weird" Al Yankovic. One of their last was a medley of spoofs of three recent #1s: Boney M.'s "Rivers of Babylon" (now about a visit to the dentist), "The Smurf Song" (in which the Smurfs are escaping from prison), and Brian and Michael's "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs" (about a spraypainting vandal instead of a British artist). Didn't really get it, but I'm not British.
5 - "September," Earth, Wind and Fire
Joy encapsulated. I will never not rememBAH this.
4 - "Song for Guy," Elton John
This mournful, mostly instrumental piano piece was written by Sir Elton when he was in a place where he was imagining himself dying. The very next day, 17-year-old Guy Burchett, a messenger boy for John, died in a motorcycle accident, and Elton dedicated the song to him. Beautiful and poignant, and it's a shame it was a hit everywhere else but North America.
3 - "Lay Your Love on Me," Racey
The first of four hits for this London pop band was this jaunty love song in a Bay City Rollers vein, Catchy, disposable, okay.
2 - "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick," Ian Dury and the Blockheads
From Middlesex, Dury survived a childhood battle with polio, and, after forming The Blockheads, became one of the most respected and influential artists of the British New Wave. He topped the charts with this jumpy pop-rocker where he name checks various worldwide locales on the verses and asks to be beaten with the titular implement on the choruses. What does it mean? I have no idea. And I don't care. Hit me. Hit me! HIT ME!!!
1 - "YMCA," The Village People
I would like to know if even one person on Earth ever found one of these places as fulfilling as these guys made it sound. I'm sure it's provided millions with affordable recreation and cheap housing, but the costumed ones made it sound happier than a thousand Disneylands.
And another one's gone. I'll be back again. Hopefully soon. That's all I can say. Take care in the meantime.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Gloves Across The Water : UK Top 40 January 13, 1979 Part One
I'm back early! Well, by recent standards. Although there has been quite a lot of death in the musical realm in my relatively brief absence. So I'm going to open with RIPs for Natalie Cole, Lemmy Kilmister, Glenn Frey, and of course, the chameleonic genius that is David Bowie. They all impacted the music world greatly, and all will be missed
So anyway, what I'm doing now is, I'm picking a year at random and looking at the chart around the same time that I'm writing, and if I like it, I'll cover it. So I tried 1979, thought it looked interesting, and here we go.
40 - "The ELO EP," - Electric Light Orchestra
We start with our first introduction to the British chart quirk of allowing extended play mini-albums on the singles chart. This one by Jeff Lynne and co. contatined two songs that were already big hits on both sides of the Atlantic ("Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman"), a track that had broken them in the U.S. but hadn't hit at home ("Can't Get it Out of My Head."), and one song that had only been a hit in Britain, "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle," a threatening-sounding lust-rocker which I enjoyed. Although I'm not sure how it relates to the phone company.
39 - "Dance (Disco Heat)," Sylvester
The first U.K. and U.S. Top 40 for the L.A disco icon. Fun, but dated. "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real") holds up much better.
38 - "Instant Replay," Dan Hartman
The ex-Edgar Winter sideman who wrote and sang the smash "Free Ride" had a hit on his own by hitting the dance floor. Good for what it is. But the sad thing is that he makes back to back artists on this chart who died from AIDS-related illnesses. The consequences of the bacchanal that was the 70s were just around the corner.
37 - "B-A-B-Y," Rachel Sweet
From Akron, Ohio, Sweet was singing in commercials at age 6, opening for Bill Cosby in Las Vegas at 12 (a more dangerous-seeming gig in hindsight than it was at the time), and then, at 16, going to England to sign with the up-and-coming independent label Stiff Records, for which she recorded this bubblegummy cover of a 1966 Carla Thomas hit. She sounds girlish and lightweight, and it's not surprising that this didn't climb much higher. After two albums, she returned home and scored her only American hit duetting with Rex Smith on a cover of the oft-remade "Everlasting Love." Then she gave up on pop, dabbled in movie and TV music and acting, and eventually found success behind the scenes as a television writer and producer.
36 - "Could it Be Magic," Barry Manilow
Barry's riff on Chopin charted in the U.S. two years after it was recorded, then had to wait three more years to hit in Britain. It's a song I want to like for the drama of the performance, but some of the lyrics are just distracting. "High up where the stallion meets the sun." Huh?
35 - "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," The Shadows
Created in 1958 to back up Cliff Richard, these guys had a long and prosperous career of their own as an instrumental group, racking up twenty U.K. Top 40s and five #1s between 1960 and 1980. Their last Top Five was this somnambulant take on the signature song from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita. After hearing it once, I certainly plan on keeping my distance from it in the future.
34 - "Cool Meditation," Third World
While its influence had been felt on multiple Top 40 hits there, genuine Jamaican reggae had yet to break through on mainstream U.S. radio. In Britain, however, it was a different story, largely due to the U.K`s significant West Indian population. Bob Marley led the way, but these Kingstonians (whose membership included the brother of a former Jamaican deputy prime minister) were right behind him. Their second hit here was this laid back groove about getting away from the city to go somewhere quiet to "get your head together" as was the style at the time. Like this a lot, and was charmed by the harmonica solo. I don't think I'd ever heard that instrument in a reggae song before
33 - "Theme from Superman," The London Symphony Orchestra
This was around the time the first major superhero was selling out cinemas in the first major superhero blockbuster, so it's not surprising that its John Williams-composed and conducted opening theme got some attention. I use to confuse this with Williams' Star Wars theme, but I can now easily tell them apart, and I like this better. As for old Supe, I saw the first three films as a kid, wisely sat out IV, didn't bother with Returns, but really liked Man of Steel. Don't know about the upcoming Batman teamup though. Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight? We shall see.
32 - "You Needed Me," Anne Murray
Annie M.'s best known hit was #1 in the U.S., but only got this high here. I agree with the Brits.
31 - "Take That to the Bank," Shalamar
The funk-pop group's first hit after it's lineup was completely overhauled was fiduciary fidelity metaphor. "My interest is strong," "Good insurance you have found in me," and "Our contract can't be torn apart that easily" are among the promises made. It's decent, but I get why it only hit here and not in America. But I also don't get how they had three times as many Top 40s in Britain as they did at home.
30 - "Mirrors," Sally Oldfield
The older sister of Mike "Tubular Bells" Oldfield, this Irishwoman's only major hit is a swirly folk tune about singing and dancing and love. Reminds me of a less interesting Kate Bush.\
29 - "My Life," Billy Joel
Owning his own existence gave Bill his biggest British hit to date. Still can't hear this without thinking about Tom Hanks in a dress.
28 - "Christmas in Smurfland," Father Abraham and the Smurfs
Sometime in the late 70s, my parents came home from a fair and brought me and my brother buttons that had a weird little blue guy on them and the caption "Do you smurf?" This was my first introduction to the creations of Belgian cartoonist Peyo that would go on to be a lucrative phenomenon on television, movies, and merchandise. Around the time I discovered them, they were already a musical sensation in Europe, thanks to Pierre "Father Abraham" Kartner, a Dutch musician who performed in a suit, a bowler hat, and a long grey mustache and beard. "The Smurf Song" was an international charttopper in 1977, and among its follow-ups was this holiday number where he and a smurf (depicted with a sped-up voice a la The Chipmunks), sang about all the typical Christmas things, including bells announcing the birth of Jesus. Abraham's heavily accented voice makes the proceedings sound more ominous than they should, but that's just one of the reasons this is the clear winner of this chart's Uneasy Rider.
27 - "Car 67," Driver 67
A one-off collaboration between British producer Paul Phillips and American musician Pete Zorn, this is a reggaeish number about a taxi driver who is being sent by his dispatcher to pick up a woman at "83 Royal Gardens." The driver refuses, eventually revealing that this is the address of the girlfriend he had just broken up with the night before. It's catchy, and I feel like it could have done well on the other side of the Atlantic if it had been pushed enough.
26 - "In the Bush," Musique
The disco era produced a number of songs that could be considered bordering on audio pornography. "Love to Love You Baby" and "More, More, More" immediately spring to mind. But those are on the mild end of softcore compared to this lascivious track, masterminded by New York producer Patrick Adams, which featured singers getting more and more...exicted with every word of the bridge, and then giving us the immortal, unmisinterpretable chorus "Push, push, in the bush!" The song was considered too hot for many U.S. radio stations, limiting its success to the nation's discos. It fared somewhat better in the U.K. mainstream, making it to #16. For me, it's joyless, mechanical porn on wax. More dirty than sexy.
25 - "Doctor Who," Mankind
This British group had they're only hit by following Meco's "disco version of a sci-fi theme" template and applying it to the signature music of the long-running British saga of a time-traveller. It's a cool theme, I admit, but I've never gotten into the good Doctor in any of his incarnations. Though I do find Alex Kingston quite attractive, she's not enough to pique my curiosity.
24 - "Rama Lama Ding Dong," Rocky Sharpe and the Replays
While 50s musical revivalism in the States during this decade was for the most part limited to movies and TV shows that fetishized the old songs and recordings, contemporary-sounding covers, and Sha Na Na, in Britain there were artists who built substantial careers by aping both the songs and the style of the dawn of the rock era. Among these were Showaddywaddy, Shakin' Stevens, and this band led by a singer born Robert Podsiadly. Their first hit was this cover of a 1958 song by The Edsels about loving a girl with an unusual name. Inessential. That's all I can say.
23 - "Tommy Gun," The Clash
In the U.S., punk was attracting attention and curiosity but very little mainstream success. In Britain, it was a regular visitor to the singles charts, and the genre's most prominent band was already on Top 40 single number five with this blast of rock about the attraction and futility of terrorism. The conclusion: the attention brought to a cause isn't worth the damage done. I can't say they were "the only band that mattered" at the time, but they probably were the one that mattered the most.
22 - "Just the Way You Are," Barry White
Although he was done for the decade in the U.S. when it came to the Top 40, Barry managed to eke out one more here with a Billy Joel cover. He adds a spoken word intro and his usual silky delivery. Both are clear improvements.
21 - "Raining in My Heart," Leo Sayer
Leo kept up his hit string at home with a bland MOR cover of Buddy Holly's gorgeous loneliness ballad. It makes me feel like...nothing.
In Part Two: more disco, another Christmas leftover, and a song with "a beat" in more ways than one.
So anyway, what I'm doing now is, I'm picking a year at random and looking at the chart around the same time that I'm writing, and if I like it, I'll cover it. So I tried 1979, thought it looked interesting, and here we go.
40 - "The ELO EP," - Electric Light Orchestra
We start with our first introduction to the British chart quirk of allowing extended play mini-albums on the singles chart. This one by Jeff Lynne and co. contatined two songs that were already big hits on both sides of the Atlantic ("Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman"), a track that had broken them in the U.S. but hadn't hit at home ("Can't Get it Out of My Head."), and one song that had only been a hit in Britain, "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle," a threatening-sounding lust-rocker which I enjoyed. Although I'm not sure how it relates to the phone company.
39 - "Dance (Disco Heat)," Sylvester
The first U.K. and U.S. Top 40 for the L.A disco icon. Fun, but dated. "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real") holds up much better.
38 - "Instant Replay," Dan Hartman
The ex-Edgar Winter sideman who wrote and sang the smash "Free Ride" had a hit on his own by hitting the dance floor. Good for what it is. But the sad thing is that he makes back to back artists on this chart who died from AIDS-related illnesses. The consequences of the bacchanal that was the 70s were just around the corner.
37 - "B-A-B-Y," Rachel Sweet
From Akron, Ohio, Sweet was singing in commercials at age 6, opening for Bill Cosby in Las Vegas at 12 (a more dangerous-seeming gig in hindsight than it was at the time), and then, at 16, going to England to sign with the up-and-coming independent label Stiff Records, for which she recorded this bubblegummy cover of a 1966 Carla Thomas hit. She sounds girlish and lightweight, and it's not surprising that this didn't climb much higher. After two albums, she returned home and scored her only American hit duetting with Rex Smith on a cover of the oft-remade "Everlasting Love." Then she gave up on pop, dabbled in movie and TV music and acting, and eventually found success behind the scenes as a television writer and producer.
36 - "Could it Be Magic," Barry Manilow
Barry's riff on Chopin charted in the U.S. two years after it was recorded, then had to wait three more years to hit in Britain. It's a song I want to like for the drama of the performance, but some of the lyrics are just distracting. "High up where the stallion meets the sun." Huh?
35 - "Don't Cry for Me Argentina," The Shadows
Created in 1958 to back up Cliff Richard, these guys had a long and prosperous career of their own as an instrumental group, racking up twenty U.K. Top 40s and five #1s between 1960 and 1980. Their last Top Five was this somnambulant take on the signature song from Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita. After hearing it once, I certainly plan on keeping my distance from it in the future.
34 - "Cool Meditation," Third World
While its influence had been felt on multiple Top 40 hits there, genuine Jamaican reggae had yet to break through on mainstream U.S. radio. In Britain, however, it was a different story, largely due to the U.K`s significant West Indian population. Bob Marley led the way, but these Kingstonians (whose membership included the brother of a former Jamaican deputy prime minister) were right behind him. Their second hit here was this laid back groove about getting away from the city to go somewhere quiet to "get your head together" as was the style at the time. Like this a lot, and was charmed by the harmonica solo. I don't think I'd ever heard that instrument in a reggae song before
33 - "Theme from Superman," The London Symphony Orchestra
This was around the time the first major superhero was selling out cinemas in the first major superhero blockbuster, so it's not surprising that its John Williams-composed and conducted opening theme got some attention. I use to confuse this with Williams' Star Wars theme, but I can now easily tell them apart, and I like this better. As for old Supe, I saw the first three films as a kid, wisely sat out IV, didn't bother with Returns, but really liked Man of Steel. Don't know about the upcoming Batman teamup though. Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight? We shall see.
32 - "You Needed Me," Anne Murray
Annie M.'s best known hit was #1 in the U.S., but only got this high here. I agree with the Brits.
31 - "Take That to the Bank," Shalamar
The funk-pop group's first hit after it's lineup was completely overhauled was fiduciary fidelity metaphor. "My interest is strong," "Good insurance you have found in me," and "Our contract can't be torn apart that easily" are among the promises made. It's decent, but I get why it only hit here and not in America. But I also don't get how they had three times as many Top 40s in Britain as they did at home.
30 - "Mirrors," Sally Oldfield
The older sister of Mike "Tubular Bells" Oldfield, this Irishwoman's only major hit is a swirly folk tune about singing and dancing and love. Reminds me of a less interesting Kate Bush.\
29 - "My Life," Billy Joel
Owning his own existence gave Bill his biggest British hit to date. Still can't hear this without thinking about Tom Hanks in a dress.
28 - "Christmas in Smurfland," Father Abraham and the Smurfs
Sometime in the late 70s, my parents came home from a fair and brought me and my brother buttons that had a weird little blue guy on them and the caption "Do you smurf?" This was my first introduction to the creations of Belgian cartoonist Peyo that would go on to be a lucrative phenomenon on television, movies, and merchandise. Around the time I discovered them, they were already a musical sensation in Europe, thanks to Pierre "Father Abraham" Kartner, a Dutch musician who performed in a suit, a bowler hat, and a long grey mustache and beard. "The Smurf Song" was an international charttopper in 1977, and among its follow-ups was this holiday number where he and a smurf (depicted with a sped-up voice a la The Chipmunks), sang about all the typical Christmas things, including bells announcing the birth of Jesus. Abraham's heavily accented voice makes the proceedings sound more ominous than they should, but that's just one of the reasons this is the clear winner of this chart's Uneasy Rider.
27 - "Car 67," Driver 67
A one-off collaboration between British producer Paul Phillips and American musician Pete Zorn, this is a reggaeish number about a taxi driver who is being sent by his dispatcher to pick up a woman at "83 Royal Gardens." The driver refuses, eventually revealing that this is the address of the girlfriend he had just broken up with the night before. It's catchy, and I feel like it could have done well on the other side of the Atlantic if it had been pushed enough.
26 - "In the Bush," Musique
The disco era produced a number of songs that could be considered bordering on audio pornography. "Love to Love You Baby" and "More, More, More" immediately spring to mind. But those are on the mild end of softcore compared to this lascivious track, masterminded by New York producer Patrick Adams, which featured singers getting more and more...exicted with every word of the bridge, and then giving us the immortal, unmisinterpretable chorus "Push, push, in the bush!" The song was considered too hot for many U.S. radio stations, limiting its success to the nation's discos. It fared somewhat better in the U.K. mainstream, making it to #16. For me, it's joyless, mechanical porn on wax. More dirty than sexy.
25 - "Doctor Who," Mankind
This British group had they're only hit by following Meco's "disco version of a sci-fi theme" template and applying it to the signature music of the long-running British saga of a time-traveller. It's a cool theme, I admit, but I've never gotten into the good Doctor in any of his incarnations. Though I do find Alex Kingston quite attractive, she's not enough to pique my curiosity.
24 - "Rama Lama Ding Dong," Rocky Sharpe and the Replays
While 50s musical revivalism in the States during this decade was for the most part limited to movies and TV shows that fetishized the old songs and recordings, contemporary-sounding covers, and Sha Na Na, in Britain there were artists who built substantial careers by aping both the songs and the style of the dawn of the rock era. Among these were Showaddywaddy, Shakin' Stevens, and this band led by a singer born Robert Podsiadly. Their first hit was this cover of a 1958 song by The Edsels about loving a girl with an unusual name. Inessential. That's all I can say.
23 - "Tommy Gun," The Clash
In the U.S., punk was attracting attention and curiosity but very little mainstream success. In Britain, it was a regular visitor to the singles charts, and the genre's most prominent band was already on Top 40 single number five with this blast of rock about the attraction and futility of terrorism. The conclusion: the attention brought to a cause isn't worth the damage done. I can't say they were "the only band that mattered" at the time, but they probably were the one that mattered the most.
22 - "Just the Way You Are," Barry White
Although he was done for the decade in the U.S. when it came to the Top 40, Barry managed to eke out one more here with a Billy Joel cover. He adds a spoken word intro and his usual silky delivery. Both are clear improvements.
21 - "Raining in My Heart," Leo Sayer
Leo kept up his hit string at home with a bland MOR cover of Buddy Holly's gorgeous loneliness ballad. It makes me feel like...nothing.
In Part Two: more disco, another Christmas leftover, and a song with "a beat" in more ways than one.
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