September 1977. That month, it was revealed that foreign-built cars were outselling British-made vehicles for the first time ever. Six days after the date of this chart, T. Rex's Marc Bolan died in a London car crash. The car, for the record, was a domestic Mini 1275GT. Meanwhile, on the charts...
40 - "I Got to Sing," The J.A.L.N. Band
Our second encounter with this Birmingham funk band. Jazzy disco about the need to vocalize musically. Okay.
39 - "Thunder in My Heart," Leo Sayer
The Sussex man with the magnificent white Afro had his eight Top 40 with this urgent dance rocker about passionate love. I like it more than I thought I would. It only hit #22, but 19 years later a remix would go to #1. It was pretty much the same, just with modern beats, but it gave the song a more justified outcome.
38 - "It's Your Life," Smokie
More from these guys, this time a reggaeish rock tune addressing a girl who goes out with a guy beneath her where she really should be with the guy singing the song. This is probably the best I've heard from them so far.
37 - "Black Betty," Ram Jam
The Leadbelly cover by the one-hit wonder band that sounded Southern but were from New York. Bam-a-lam indeed.
36 - "All Around the World," The Jam
The Jam session continues with the second hit by the Surrey mod-punks. It's a two-and-a-half-minute "youth explosion." A bracing blast to this day.
35 - "Down the Hall," The Four Seasons
The Jersey boys' last U.K. hit to date was this piano-driven uptempo love song that sounds like an attempt to ape Billy Joel, right down to Frankie Valli's vocals. A very odd decision. Frankie's voice is pretty distinct, and the band's major selling point. This is just off in every way.
34 - "Let's Clean Up the Ghetto," Philadelphia International All Stars
Led by producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the Philadelphia International label was a force in 70s soul, giving the world The O'Jays, Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass, and many others. Several of the label's acts combined for this socially aware single urging African-Americans to take action to improve their neighborhoods. From the smooth spoken-word opening by Lou Rawls onward, it's funky and awesome, like a late-70s extension of the conscious soul produced by the Temptations, Curtis Mayfield, and others in the first half of the decade. Another great hidden gem.
33 - "Pipeline," Bruce Johnston
The only taste of solo recording success this Beach Boy ever got was when this single reached this peak here. It's a disco cover of The Chantays classic 1962 surf instrumental. Yes, I like my covers to differ from the originals, but everything about this is just wrong on every level. I didn't need this song interpreted with disco strings and female "da da da" vocals. A big time wipeout. Bruce was better off sticking to writing songs like, well, "I Write the Songs."
32 - "Roadrunner," Jonathan Richman
Massachussets native Richman was one of the early innovators of punk with his band The Modern Lovers, but he achieved chart success in Britain as a solo artist. His first hit was a solo recording of a Modern Lovers song about cruising and listening to rock n'roll on the AM car radio. Nothing but joy and fun and beauty and awesome.
31 - "Another Star," Stevie Wonder
This single from Songs in the Key of Life was only a minor hit on both sides of the pond, but its Latin-flavored funk pop is unquestionably sublime. The man is a master.
30 - "Black is Black," La Belle Epoque
Three French girls do a disco cover of Los Bravos 1966 hit. It's campy. Are you surprised?
29 - "Gimme Dat Banana," Black Gorilla
Couldn't find much about the band, nor the lyrics of a song. From a performance clip, they look like at least an eight-piece band. The song is funk-pop nonsense about simians and fruit. Not much to it, but catchy enough that I see why it was a hit.
28 - "Something Better Change/Straighten Out," The Stranglers
The Surrey band's second Top Ten was this double-sider. The A is a straight-ahead rock song that also serves as an announcement of punk's arrival to the masses ("Something's happening and it's happening right now, you're too blind to see it."). The B is a fast cry of frustration with the British establishment. Both are great.
27 - "Best of My Love," The Emotions
The Earth Wind and Fire powered transatlantic #1 by the Hutchinson sisters of Chicago. No way anyone can use this to build their "disco sucks" case.
26 - "I Feel Love," Donna Summer
Speaking of disco, this was the Queen's only U.K. #1. It sounded like the future then, and it hasn't really dated. Peak Summer, and peak Giorgio Moroder for that matter.
25 - "Dreamer." The Jacksons
The second Top 40 for the brothers post-Motown (and Jermaine) was this Michael-led ballad about pining for an unattainable love. He was starting to show the mature assuredness that would propel him to the stratosphere. I can imagine him throwing it into one of the concerts he gave at his peak (or maybe on the brothers' '84 Victory tour) and having most of the crowd not know it but blowing them all away by the end.
24 - "Ma Baker," Boney M.
The Milli Vanilli precursors' biggest U.K. hit to that point (it hit #2) was this discofied, loose retelling of the tale of Arizona "Ma" Barker, who led her four sons on a robbery spree in the United States in the 20s and 30s. It's as fantastic a slice of danceable fractured history as "Rasputin." Boney M. are both ridiculously wonderful and wonderfully ridiculous.
23 - "I Can't Get You Out of My Mind," Yvonne Elliman
The Hawaiian's third U.K. Top 40 was this ballad about cheating with your best friend's man. Okay material sung well. The mighty "If I Can't Have You" was just around the corner, but I'm disappointed to find that it only made #4 here. You disappoint me, Britain.
22 - "Think I'm Gonna Fall in Love With You," The Dooleys
The first of six hits by the Essex family group comprised mostly of six siblings (three brothers, three sisters) was this limp disco effort. No soul, no funk, just going through the motions because this is what was commercial at the time. This may be even worse that my default worst disco hit ever, "Makin' It."
21 - "Sunshine After the Rain," Elkie Brooks
Our latest encounter with this lady is her second hit, a soul ballad about trying to recover from a breakup that was written by Brill Building stalwart Ellie Greenwich. So far everything I've heard from this lady makes me wish she would have broken through on this side of the ocean.
In Part Two: killer organs, successful rodents, and an enchanted insect.
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