The big news in Britain at this time was John Curry winning the nation's first gold medal in Winter Olympic figure skating. Curry and ice make an interesting mix, as do the song's on that week's single
40 - "Just One Look," Faith Hope and Charity
The only U.K. hit for this Tampa disco group was a cover of Doris Troy's 1963 soul classic. Just one listen is all it takes to never need to hear it again.
39 - "The Lies in Your Eyes," Sweet
The glam superstars' penultimate Top 40 was this stomping kiss-off. It only reached #35, but I think it's better than many of their bigger hits.
38 - "Let the Music Play," Barry White
All right, now here's the smoothest of the smooth's fourth British Top Ten, a song that sees him wanting to dance away the pain of his disintegrating relationship. That'said right, baby, just let him dance. Aw yeah.
37 - "Honey I," George McCrae
The seventh and final hit here for the man behind 1974's Triple Crown-winning "Rock Your Baby" was this disco declaration of devotion. Decent enough to dance to, and preferable to much of the output of more famous label mates KC and the Sunshine Band.
36 - "Rain," Status Quo
More Quo, this one being a chugging rock song about how rain symbolizes the state of the singer's relationship or something. I'm more intrigued by the way he pronounces the word "rain." Rine?
35 - "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," Paul Simon
Garfunkel's pal was denied a Triple Crown for his relationship dissolution primer for Jack, Stan, Lee, et al. Here, it only hit #23. Britain, we do need to discuss much.
34 - "The Way That I Want to Touch You," Captain and Tennile
While Toni and Daryl had hit #1 and #4 at home with "Love Will Keep Us Together" and this sex ballad respectively, here they only made #32 and #28. And they wouldn't chart here again until 1980. I'm surprised. Given Britain's affinity for weirdness, I would have thought "Muskrat Love" would have been massive.
33 - "Your Love Put a Spell on Me," L.J. Johnson
An aspiring Chicago singer, Louis Johnson was discovered by Ian Levine, a Northern Soul impresario from Blackpool. The two then collaborated on this energetic Stax-Motown hybrid. Terrific stuff.
32 - "Weak Spot," Evelyn Thomas
Also while in Chicago, Levine discovered Thomas and produced this single for her. It bears a lot of musical similarities to the Johnson track, but I would say it's catchier, funkier, and just all around better. Very strong.
31 - "Tuxedo Junction," The Manhattan Transfer
The Transfer had their first hit here with a cover of a jazz standard written by Erskine Hawkins in 1938 and popularized two years later by Glenn Miller. It's a bluesy swinger about a cool nightclub in Birmingham, Alabama, and the group give it a suitably grit-jazz treatment. I get why it became one of their signatures.
30 - "I Love Music," The O'Jays
Sublime Philly funk from the masters. Just joy.
29 - "Dat," Pluto Shervington
The first of two hits here for this Jamaican was this patois-heavy reggae tune about a Rastafarian who wants to buy both meat and weed, but the cheapest meat available is pork, which is against his religion. So he tries to be as subtle as possible about it at the butcher shop, and then tries to get it home without his neighbors finding out. Not typical pop subject matter, but it works.
28 - "Deep Purple," Donny and Marie Osmond
The littlest Osmonds cover a 1933 song that Nino Tempo and April Stevens took to the top in America in 1963. More of a very pale magenta.
27 - "Something's Been Making Me Blue," Smokie
Their third hit was this medium rocker about being uncertain about what's wrong in a relationship. It's a typical sample of their output.
26 - "Milky Way," Sheer Elegance
The first of two hits for these British soulsters was his reggae-lite about a truly out-of-this-world romantic experience. Sadly, it sounds all too earthbound to me.
25 - "Let's Call it Quits," Slade
Noddy and the boys' seventeenth and last Top Twenty of the 70s was this bluesy track about wanting to break up with someone but still wanting to have sex with them. I think that's it. They were heading to a down period, but they still had swagger.
24 - "In Dulce Jubilo/On Horseback " Mike Oldfield
The Reading man had his first Top Five with this double-sider. The A is a suitably medieval-sounding version of a Christmas carol from the Middle Ages. The B is minstrelly folk with spoken verses and sung choruses, and it's about how he likes riding a "big brown beastie" more than anything else in the world. Very English, but maybe too much so for me.
23 - "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)," Tina Charles
The first and biggest hit for this young lady from historically infamous Whitechapel was this disco tune about how her man always wants to boogie with her even when she'd rather "get down" in another way, wink wink nudge nudge say no more. Light on the funk, but okay.
22 - "Glass of Champagne," Sailor
These Brits' first and biggest was this soft rock come-on. If you wanted to hear what it would sound like if Smokie and ABBA each played one of their biggest hits simultaneously, try this. I had no such desire.
21 - "It Should Have Been Me," Yvonne Fair
The biggest hit for Richmond, Virginia-born Flora Cole was this disco cover of a 1968 Glades Knight hit about having a really strong objection to a wedding. Convincingly urgent soul. She should have been bigger.
In Part Two: an oldie, an even older oldie, and a non-typo.
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