January 27, 1979

Our second visit to '79, and our third trip to the era of the four-hour show. So we get a condensed chart, but with a lot more extras and, of course, a Long Distance Dedication. Also, you don't have to come back tomorrow to see how it ends:


30 - "Home and Dry," Gerry Rafferty
29 - "Blue Morning, Blue Day," Foreigner
28 - "Take Me to the River," Talking Heads
27 - "We've Got Tonight," Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
26 - "Heaven Knows," Donna Summer and Brooklyn Dreams
25 - "Don't Cry Out Loud," Melissa Manchester
24 - "The Gambler," Kenny Rogers
23 - "Promises," Eric Clapton
22 - "Don't Hold Back," Chanson
21 - "No Tell Lover," Chicago

We'll start with the easy listening brigade. Gerry Rafferty, who recently passed away, leads off with the hit he had after the much more successful "Baker Street" and "Right Down the Line." Don't remember this one, and it's not much, but "Baker Street" still rules. Melissa Manchester is here with the song she's probably best remembered for, a bombastic ballad promoting emotional repression in the face of circus-related failures. Kenny Rogers' eternal ballad about a guy who learns when to hold and fold from some stranger on a train is in this group in the absence of other country songs. And Chicago had their last hit of the decade with a less-than-urgent ballad about adultery. Probably appropriate that they went out with a whimper. But they'd be back. Lord knows they'd be back.

There are two bands here that qualify as "rock," but they couldn't be much more different. Foreigner did the basic arena-rock thing, and got on the radio frequently with uptempo, poppy numbers like the fairly decent "Blue Morning, Blue Day." Talking Heads, meanwhile, were art-schoolers who were at the forefront of new wave and played the legendary CBGB. They didn't exactly seek out pop airplay, but they would manage to hit the Top 40 three times, the first being with this Al Green cover. And no, I haven't heard Al's version yet. Shoot me.

Two rock ballads in this bunch. Bob Seger returns from our last visit to this time period, asking a woman to spend the night in a slightly more classy way than Rod Stewart did on "Tonight's the Night." And Eric Clapton scored a Top Ten with this countryish snoozer. "I don't love you, and you don't love me" he sings. Well, Eric, I don't love this, but you would do much worse in the 80s and 90s.

We close out with a couple of disco numbers. Donna Summer teams up with vocal group Brooklyn Dreams on yet another of her string of floor-fillers. The most prominent male voice on this track is that of Joe "Bean" Esposito, who is probably best known nowadays for being the guy who performed that "You're the best....Around!" song from The Karate Kid. And one-hit wonders Chanson show up with boilerplate, midtempo disco that contains the motto of many a Studio 54-goer: "If it feels good, do it." Of course, that ethos was once adopted by the people of Springfield at the behest of motivational speaker Brad Goodman, and it ended with a collapsed bandstand that James Brown figured out wasn't double-bolted, and a riot ensued. So...maybe those aren't words to live by.

20 - "I Will Survive," Gloria Gaynor

19 - "Soul Man," The Blues Brothers

18 - "Shake It," Iain Matthews
17 - "Got to be Real," Cheryl Lynn
16 - "I was Made for Dancing," Leif Garrett



This group starts with the song that is probably neck-and-neck with "Stayin' Alive" as the most overplayed disco track ever. Listening to it without the baggage, it's still an effective if bizarre (back from outer space?!) cry of independence. And even though I like Cake, I never thought much of their cover of this. I'll take Gloria every time.

The Blues Brothers, of course, were characters originated by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi on Saturday Night Live, and were born out of Aykroyd's love for Toronto's Downchild Blues Band. Eventually, they did outside gigs, and recorded the live record Briefcase Full of Blues, from which this energetic Sam and Dave cover comes. Then they did a movie. Then Belushi died. Then came Blies Brothers 2000, unfortunately.

Iain Matthews was a founding member of the legendary British folk group Fairport Convention, and later had some success with his band Southern Comfort. His biggest solo hit was this slick pop ode to a girl who could be politely described as a "tease." But he seems strangely admiring of this trait. That's refreshing, I guess.

Cheryl Lynn was discovered on The Gong Show, but not in the way the Unknown Comic or Gene Gene the Dancing Machine was. She actually won an episode singing "You Are So Beautiful." and attracted the attention of record labels. This was her only major hit, but I'm sure you all know it. If you've ever heard a distinctive female voice in the background of a movie or commercial sing "to be REEEEEAL!" that's Cheryl.

Finally it's that curly-locked teen idol Leif Garrett with his biggest hit, where he exchanges old-school covers for tepid yet fun disco. My clearest memory of this song was when Carol Burnett performed an increasingly speeded-up version on The Muppet Show to try and end a protracted dance marathon so she could have time to perform "the carrot sketch." Wow, haven't dropped a Muppet Show reference in a while.

15 - "Somewhere in the Night," Barry Manilow
14 - "New York Groove," Ace Frehley
13 - "Lotta Love," Nicolette Larson
12 - "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond
11 - "Fire," The Pointer Sisters

This bunch begins with our old friend Barry, who succeeded with this song where previous performers (including Helen Reddy) could not. The man had a five to six-year run where he was just hot hot hot.

In September 1978, the four members of Kiss all released simultaneous solo albums. They would all go platinum, but surprisingly, only Ace Frehley's would produce a Top 40 hit, this snappy cover of a song by British glam rockers Hello. His post-Kiss solo career, however, would not reach anywhere near these heights.

Nicolette Larson was a veteran session singer who finally hit it big when Neil Young, one of the many artists she had backed up, let her record this composition of his. It's a slick bit of easy-listening comfort food that's helped by Larson's grittier-than-you'd-expect delivery. It was a Top Ten smash, but she wasn't able to follow it up.

Babs and Neil return with their duet about dying love. Nice, but I think I prefer the version Streisand did with Slim Whitman on Lee Iacocca's Rock Concert. Oh SCTV, how you've warped me. And I wouldn't want it any way.

Finally we have the Pointer Sisters with a song that Bruce Springsteen originally wrote for Elvis Presley. I loved this one as a kid, and I grew to love it even more in high school, because a friend of mine would occasionally start singing it out of nowhere, and I would obligingly vocally mimic the bassline. And man, she had a tremendous voice. Luckily, I'm still great friends with her, but I haven't had the chance to back her up on this song lately. But maybe it'll happen one more time, someday.

And here are your Top Ten:

10 - "September," Earth, Wind and Fire

The EWF everybody knows. "Do you rememBAH, the twenty-first night of SeptemBAH?" It's been played to death, but still somehow, I know I would not turn down a chance to dance to it. "Never was a cloudy DAAAAAAAAY!"

9 - "Every 1's a Winner," Hot Chocolate

The second-best known song by these Brits on this side of the Atlantic, after "You Sexy Thing." One of the funkiest guitar riffs ever. That's no lie.

8 - "Hold the Line," Toto

The first big hit by this band that were not named after Dorothy's dog, but rather a Latin word for "all-encompassing." Nerds.

7 - "Ooh Baby Baby," Linda Ronstadt
I go from week to week on Linda. One week she's overrated, the next week underrated. This week, because of this track, I'm on the "overrated" side.

6 - "A Little More Love," Olivia Newton-John

This was her first post-Grease single, and perhaps coincidentally, it was her most rawly sexual hit to that point. Of course, there was a little tune called "Physical" in her future.

5 - "My Life," Billy Joel

Billy returns, declaring "I don't need you to worry for me 'cause I'm all right." I wonder if that was the line he used to use before getting behind the wheel loaded.

4 - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," Rod Stewart
Rod's back singing about sex, but this is a little less creepy, and much more fun to dance to. He would, however, end up losing a plagiarism lawsuit to a Brazilian singer named Jorge Ben Jor for this song's similiarities to Jor's song "Taj Mahal." Oh Rod, no one thinks ripoff artists are sexy.


3 - "Y.M.C.A.," The Village People
I don't have much more to add about this one from last time, except to give it this week's Uneasy Rider award. Yeah, we're all used to them now, but the spectacle of those costumed men singing about what fun can be had in an all-male environment stands out just a little bit.



2 - "Too Much Heaven," The Bee Gees
The Gibbs had another biggie singing about something they claim nobody gets too much of anymore. I think they see this as a bad thing, but I'm not sure why. Ideally, we should all get just as much heaven as we need. Or does that make me a communist.



And the uberhit of the day was...


1 - "Le Freak," Chic
At one point, this disco classic seems to compare Studio 54 to the Savoy Ballroom, the integrated Harlem dance club that stood from 1926 to 1958. Um, I'm not sure they did mountains of coke in between Lindy Hops back then. But oh well. Freak Out!

Like I said, a ton of extras. The two NotCaseys were the Little River Band's "Lady" (#39 on this chart) and "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches and Herb (#36). Casey played two #1s from 1972: America's "A Horse with No Name," and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack. He also played, for various reasons, "Shame" by Evelyn "Champagne" King, "You're All I Need to Get By" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and the Bee Gees' "New York Mining Disaster 1941." And the Long Distance Dedication was Barry Manilow's "Looks Like We Made It," which Casey played for a woman named Tanna who dedicated it to the soldier she had a passionate love affair with for four months and remained good friends with even though he married someone else.

Next week is the Super Bowl, so I don't plan to listen to the chart live, but I'm still aiming to be here at some point next week. Stay tuned.

January 22, 1977 Part Two

Finishing up.

20 - "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)," Barbra Streisand
19 - "Jeans On," David Dundas
18 - "Fly Like an Eagle," The Steve Miller Band
17 - "Livin' Thing," Electric Light Orchestra
16 - "I Like Dreamin'," Kenny Nolan

We kick off the second half with Babs singing 70s personality Paul Williams' lyrics comparing love to a La-Z-Boy. Well, not in those words, of course. The movie this came from was the third version of A Star is Born to hit cinemas, and there's talk that a fourth one could be imminent, with Beyonce in the female role. Sounds about right.

Singing British Lord David Dundas returns with his song about how happy he is with his dungarees. It's very reminiscent of Glibert O'Sullivan, I'm sad to report.

The Steve Miller Band has another of their party favorites in this week. This one seems to have somewhat of a social conscience, what with lyrics about feeding babies and shoeing children. And it does have kind of a cool, spacey vibe. Seal's cover of it for the movie Space Jam wasn't that good, but that's the least of the atrocities Space Jam is responsible for.

Then ELO show up with "Livin' Thing," Jeff Lynne repeats several times that he's "taking a dive." I don't get that. I don't think he'd be favored in any boxing match, no matter the opponent.

And finally, Kenny Nolan gooily tells us that he enjoys his nocturnal visions, mainly because in them he sees themselve spending his life with an unattainable woman. Wake up and join eHarmony or something, Kenny.

15 - "Enjoy Yourself," The Jacksons
14 - "Lost Without Your Love," Bread
13 - "Somebody to Love," Queen
12 - "Walk this Way," Aerosmith
11 - "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)," Rod Stewart

The Jacksons start things off. They were clearly enjoying themselves without Jermaine and Motown. Fun, frothy disco.

Did Bread really need to come back? Hadn't the world filled up on them already, and just now started to have room in their musical appetites for more flavorful offerings? Apparently not, because people bought this song, even though it was bland even by their standards.

Then it's Queen. Freddie Mercury doesn't just want a lover, he demands that someone find one for him. But like all royalty, we let him get away with that kind of behavior.

Aerosmith make their first BGC appearance with this classic boogie-rocker about learning how to score with high school girls. Later, this song would help change pop music when the band performed it with Run-DMC. And it would help a certain Springfield bartender change his image when they performed it with Moe Syzslak. Currently, Steven Tyler is most certainly not changing pop music, television, or anything else as a judge on American Idol.

Finally, we encounter Rod Stewart's Lothariolicious "Tonight's the Night" for the third time. I have nothing to add, except when I described it the last time, I said "verses" when I meant "choruses." I regret this error. The rest, I've made peace with.

Ten for the road:

10 - "Torn Between Two Lovers," Mary MacGregor
This lady had her one shining moment in the pop sun with this Peter Yarrow-written confession of a woman to her live-in love that she's been getting some on the side, and while she's not willing or able to give the other guy up, she still loves her first man and wants him to stay with her. We never find out his response. I think that's for the best.

9 - "Blinded by the Light," Manfred Mann's Earth Band
A few years after his sixties heyday (highlighted by "Doo Wa Diddy Diddy), Mr. Mann formed a new group and joined the prog-rock movement. Their biggest popular success came with this cover of a cut from Bruce Springsteen's first album, a cryptic jumble of sillicone sisters and go-kart Mozarts. It was catchy, it was unmistakable, and it had millions of kids with burgeoning dirty minds mistakenly singing "Wrapped up like a douche." In short, an extemely important contribution to the decade's musical canon.

8 - "After the Lovin'," Engelbert Humperdinck
Speaking of contributions to the off-color imaginations of youth...heh her, "Humperdinck." Just for a moment, imagine you were a young man on the make around this time, and you've invited a girl over for "drinks." Hours before the big night, you're in the record store looking for mood music, and you're inspired to pick up the two perfect 45s for the occasion: "Tonight's the Night" for before, and "After the Lovin'" for the post-coital period. You're probably thinking, "I am the greatest Casanova ever!" Now imagine you're the lady who takes this man up on his invitation and has to listen to these songs in this context. Yeah, I'm shuddering too. Especially because you know the guy would try to make himself extra irresistible by singing along with the records. Badly. I'll forgive you if you need a shower before continuing.

7 - "New Kid in Town," The Eagles
Like "Go Your Own Way," this was the first single from a monster album, in this case Hotel California. As a kid, I thought this was about high school or something, but of course, it's about Hollywood or something. Live and learn.

6 - "Hot Line," The Sylvers
The family funksters are back looking for love on the phone. Does anybody remember The Jets, who were kind of the 80s version of the Sylvers?

5 - "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)," Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.
In its third go-round here, I don't have anything more to say about this. Sorry.

4 - "Dazz," Brick
Okay, I got a better listen to this this time, and it's okay, but if "dazz" is supposed to equal "disco jazz," I don't think this song quite fits that bill. Yes, there's a sax solo, and "Dazz, dazz, disco jazz," is repeated frequently, but still, I think dazz as a genre is better represented by Dr. Buzzard, et al.

3 - "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," Leo Sayer
Oh Leo, how come you never sued Richard Simmons for stealing your look?

2 - "Car Wash," Rose Royce
Of all the places of business that you'd think could inspire a song this fun and awesome, the place where you come to get your Toyota buffed and waxed probably wouldn't have been one of my first choices. But there it is. And apparently, one of the perks of working there is the probability of meeting movie stars and/or Indian chiefs. But they may be exaggerating.

And the song that, as the kids say, pwned all others that week was:

1 - "I Wish," Stevie Wonder
Poor little Stevie. Can't make himself cry to avoid getting spanked, gets caught playing doctor with a girl (presumably before the examination was complete), then gets sent to the principal for smoking and writing obscenities on a wall. And yet, for some reason, the man misses those days. I'd ponder what this means in much more depth, but I'm too busy dancing.

The NotCaseys this week were Thelma Houston's disco plea "Don't Leave Me this Way," 10cc's jaunty celebration of "The Things We Do for Love," and Kansas' classic-rock fist pumper "Carry on Wayward Son."

Back at the appointed time with more.

January 22, 1977 Part One

'77. Let's go back there. More than half of these songs are from the last late '76 chart, but there's enough new and interesting for me to do the usual two-parter

40 - "Living Next Door to Alice," Smokie
39 - "It Keeps You Runnin'," The Doobie Brothers
38 - "Go Your Own Way," Fleetwood Mac
37 - "You've Got Me Runnin'," Gene Cotton
36 - "Year of the Cat," Al Stewart
35 - "Save it for a Rainy Day," Stephen Bishop
34 - "Love Me," Yvonne Elliman
33 - "Dancing Queen," ABBA
32 - "This Song," George Harrison
31 - "Shake Your Rump to the Funk," The Bar-Kays

Of the seven newbies, three are solidly in the MOR camp. Smokie were an English band who had to change the spelling of their name because of a threatened lawsuit from Smokey Robinson. Judging by their one U.S. hit, a tale of a man longingly staring at the woman he could never have who is now moving away and the other girl who sees this as an opportunity to finally get some attention, they were very much like a Medicine Show era Dr. Hook. Gene Cotton sounds like a cross between James Taylor and John Denver on this, the first of his four minor hits. If this one's any indication, I don't expect much from the rest. And Stephen Bishop, who would later get on the radio with "On and On" and the love theme from Tootsie, had his first hit with this song about loving the wrong woman. He doesn't say whether or not she was Jamaican, unlike later.

Two pop-rock machines are represented here. The Doobie Brothers had just begun the Michael McDonald era with "Takin' it to the Streets," and this was their follow up. It didn't get too far into the 40, and is probably best known today for its use in the movie Forrest Gump. Don't ask me about that movie. Just don't. And Fleetwood Mac were just entering the chart with the first single from the follow-up to their self-titled breaktrhough. Little did they, or anyone else, know what a monster Rumours would become. And this urgent rocker probably did a lot to send it on its way. It's still by far my favorite of theirs.

The other two songs I haven't covered before don't really have much in common. There's Scotland's Al Stewart with his other top ten, a cryptic story about a rock star abandoning his tour for a hippie chick he meets in Morocco. And then there's ABBA with their only U.S. chart-topper, about a 17-year-old girl who becomes booty-shaking royalty when the mood strikes her. It's almost majestic, in its way.

And yes, there are three songs here we've come across before. Yvonne Elliman's ballad is still nice the second time around, but I'm still waiting for "If I Can't Have You." I got a better listen to George Harrison's reaction to losing the "My Sweet Lord" lawsuit. It's deceptively sunny, and has a neat little Eric Idle cameo in the middle. Good stuff. And once again, the Bar-Kays asked something from me, and the music made me want to comply.

30 - "The Rubberband Man," The Spinners
29 - "Night Moves," Bob Seger
28 - "Whispering/Cherchez La Femme/C'est Si Bon," Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
27 - "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," Donny and Marie Osmond
26 - "I Never Cry," Alice Cooper
25 - "Hard Luck Woman," Kiss
24 - "Stand Tall," Burton Cummings
23 - "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," Elton John
22 - "Saturday Nite," Earth Wind and Fire,"
21 - "Weekend in New England," Barry Manilow

There's six repeaters here, so I'm just going to put them in their proper categories.

Three bits of disco/R&B in this group. The Spinners make their third BGC by putting the "fun" in funk with their springy number that doesn't seem to have anything to do with those things I used to use to keep my hockey cards together. Dr. Buzzard's (pronounced Buz-ZARD's) OSB return with another song I got a better listen to this time, the better to appreciate its disco/prohibition-era jazz hybrid. In a weak field for weirdness, it gets this week's Uneasy Rider Award. And Earth Wind and Fire apply their funky gifts to the subject of weekend evenings and the possiblities they contain. I like the keyboard on this one.

Three rock ballads in the bunch. The Styx of Detroit made his first big national splash with this immortal tribute to a long-lost summer of teenage debauchery, which he and a special young lady spent "workin' on mysteries without any clues." The former Vincent Furnier returns, insisting that that moisture coming from his ocular regions isn't what you think, but rather "just a heartache that got caught in my eye." And after a ballad sung by their feline-makeupped durmmer became their biggest pop hit to date, Kiss decided to try that again and got back into the Top 40 with Peter Criss rasping about a woman to whom fortune has not been kind. I must admit, the only version I'd heard of this before tonight was the one sung by Garth Brooks on a mid-90s tribute album. And at the risk of sacrilige, I think I like the cowboy-hatted one's take on it better. I'm sure that disqualifies me from ever serving in the Kiss Army, and probably any of the other branches of the Kiss Armed Forces as well.

Two rockers with pianos here. The ex-frontman for the Guess Who returns to lecture us again about the dangers of "silly human pride." And Elton John once again ruminates over how difficult it is to apologize. It is sad. So sad.

We close with a couple MOR acts of some repute. Donny and Marie, who were in the midst of their variety show run, are here covering, of all people, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. She may have been a little bit country, and he a little bit rock n' roll, but neither were nearly soul enough to pull this off. And Barry Manilow does his Manilowly best with a ballad that you might not be able to recall, but maybe you will if I said that this song would have more easily identifiable if he'd just called it "When Will I Hold You Again." There, now you've got it.

Tomorrow: jeans, queens and libertines.

January 18, 1975 Part Two

Picking up where we left off.


20 - "Kung Fu Fighting," Carl Douglas
19 - "Best of My Love," The Eagles
18 - "Bungle in the Jungle," Jethro Tull
17 - "Get Dancin'," Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes
16 - "Rock n' Roll (I Gave You All The Best Years of My Life)," Mac Davis


We start off with one-hit wonder Carl Douglas and his tribute to films that feature the likes of "funky Billy Chin and funky Sammy Chong" engaging in martial-arts combat. Douglas has claimed that he wrote the song under the combined influence of Kung Fu movies, the music of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, and painkillers. Hey, whatever works.


Then it's the Eagles with another of their country-rock nuggets. Again, the Eagles are just all right with me. I won't shut off the radio when one of their songs comes on, but I don't have to idle in the driveway until it ends.


Two weeks, two Jethro Tull songs. And they only had two Top 40 hits, so hmmmmm. Anyway, these lyrics don't make a lot of sense, although I think I understand why he's a tiger when he wants love and a snake when he's disagreed with.


Monti Rock III (not his real name) was a high-profile hairdresser whose flamboyant personality landed him appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and eventually led to a career as a recording artist and performer. The highlight of this career was his leadership of Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes, whose major claim to fame is this early disco hit. Lyrically, it's not much, with a lot of "doot-da, doot-da"s, and Rock's rapid-fire exhortations to boogie during the instrumental breaks. But a catchy, memorable artifact from the era nonetheless, which was later performed during a football halftime show by the clean-cut youth group Hooray for Everything.


Last in this group is Mac Davis, looking back on how rock influenced him and caused him to try and make a go of it himself, only to be eventually led back to country by a lady. I remember it, but I don't care.


15 - "Some Kind of Wonderful," Grand Funk
14 - "Pick up the Pieces," The Average White Band
13 - "Doctor's Orders," Carol Douglas
12 - "Only You," Ringo Starr
11 - "Fire," The Ohio Players


Grand Funk (no Railroad on this one, for some reason) were near the end of their run when they put out this cover of a song by the Soul Brothers Six. More decent, crowd-pleasing rawk.


Scotland's Average White Band made their biggest impression on the world with this (mostly) instrumental that I'm sure everyone recognizes the moment they hear it, even though they might not know what it's called. Simply one of the great grooves of all time.


Carol Douglas has an interesting background to say the least. Her mother was a jazz performer who may have inspired the Cab Calloway song "Minnie the Moocher." Sam Cooke was a cousin. And Carol herself went to a performing arts high school, where her classmates included Bernadette Peters and Patty Duke. Her one moment of her own was this disco hit, where she claims being without her lover is literally making her sick. Romance has a downside, apparently.


Ringo Starr is here covering a Platters classic. He doesn't quite sound like himself as he tries to take this one on, but he gives a brave attempt. So that makes three ex-Beatles on this week's chart. Will we complete the set?


Finally it's the Ohio Players with another hit slab of funk. This was later covered by Canadian hair-wavers Platinum Blonde. Ah, 80s CanCon, you've warped me so.


These ten are tops, Pops:


10 - "Never Can Say Goodbye," Gloria Gaynor
Before achieving immortality with the now-cliched declaration of defiance "I Will Survive," Gaynor made a great impression on me with this cover of a Jackson 5 hit. This was a favorite of mine back then, and it still is. I'll take it over that other song any day. And it also has the distinction of being the first ever #1 on Billboard's Disc0/Dance Music chart.


9 - "Morning Side of the Mountain," Donny and Marie Osmond
This cover of a Tommy Edwards hit from the 50s by the future variety show co-hosts sounded horribly old-fashioned even then. And creepy. Siblings singing as star-crossed lovers is just wrong.


8 - "One Man Woman/One Woman Man," Paul Anka and Odia Coates
Anka is back with "Having My Baby," duet partner Coates, and this time, she gets credit. I should hope so, since he's gone from worshipping her for carrying his child to being a cheating dog. And yet in the end, she takes him back. Sucker.


7 - "Junior's Farm," Paul McCartney and Wings
And there's you're Beatles reunion. This is chugging rock with nonsensical lyrics, which is fine with me. They can't all be "Yesterday."


6 - "Boogie On Reggae Woman," Stevie Wonder
More of Stevie's awesome electrofunk, although he's done much better. Not sure if this is the first song to hit the U.S. charts with the word "reggae" in the title, though I'd at least bet it was the first to get this high. Still, when I think "reggae" and "Stevie Wonder," I'll always think "Master Blaster (Jammin')" first.


5 - "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," Elton John
Yes, I admit it, I was first introduced to this Sgt. Pepper track by Sir Elton. And I probably still prefer it to the original, if I'm honest. But at least John Lennon sang backup on this version, so there is Beatle on it.


4 - "You're the First, the Last, My Everything," Barry White
Until later in life, this was the Barry White song I knew best. And it's not a bad calling card to have. It's got the smoothness of his bass voice, and the pleading desperation of his higher register. Still my favorite.


3 - "Laughter in the Rain," Neil Sedaka
The 50s and 60s hitmaker's 70s comeback broke through when he signed to Elton John's Rocket label and hit #1 with this tune about the joys of walking with a special someone while it's pouring. Pretty good, but for me, Neil is best when singing "Bad Blood." Or getting blown up real good by Big Jim McBob and Billy Sol Hurok.


2 - "Please Mr. Postman," The Carpenters
Covering a Marvelettes classic might not have seemed like the best artistic move for our old friends Karen and Richard, but you should never doubt Karen's ability to sell a song, no matter who did it before. Could have done without the Jamaican accent near the end, though.


And the number one single of 36 years ago this week was...


1 - "Mandy," Barry Manilow
Everybody knows that Barry wrote this, his first hit, about his dog, right? Well, wrong. And wrong. This song was a 1971 U.K. hit for its author, Scott English, and was originally entitled "Brandy." But when record executive Clive Davis suggested that Manilow record it, Barry decided to change the name to avoid confusion with the Looking Glass hit "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl" (a song that, you might remember, I deplore). He also slowed it down and turned it into a dramatic ballad, and the rest is history. There was a period where people laughed at it, but I feel time has restored people's appreciation of its power. As it should. Oh, and as for the dog story, that came from English's annoyed response to a reporter's questions about "Brandy"'s identity.


This week's NotCasey Extras were "Lovin' You" by Minnie Ripperton, pop music's original queen of the unnecessary showoff high note (sorry, Mariah); "Lady Marmalade," LaBelle's classic tale of New Orleans' prostitution; and a live version of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi."


The wheel spins again, and where we land, we will land next week.

January 18, 1975 Part One

Right smack in the middle of the decade. And the list definitely reflects that. It also contains a lot of the songs that were on the radio when I was really starting to grasp the idea of the world around me. Some would say I haven't fully grasped it yet, but whatever.

40 - "My Eyes Adored You," Frankie Valli
39 - "Lady," Styx
38 - "Your Bulldog Drinks Champagne," Jim Stafford
37 - "Lonely People," America
36 - "Nightingale," Carole King
35 - "Cat's in the Cradle," Harry Chapin
34 - "The Entertainer," Billy Joel
33 - "Dark Horse," George Harrison
32 - "Ready," Cat Stevens
31- "I Belong to You," Love Unlimited

We kick off with the 60s survivors. Frankie Valli is Seasonless on this song about pining away for a childhood sweetheart he never even got to kiss, but it still got him to Number One. I know I liked this at four. Not so much now. Brill Building songsmith Carole King continued her run of 70s performing success with this song about a lost soul and the symbolic songbird he wishes would "sing him home again." And George Harrison is here, claiming to be a "cool jerk." I think this is a good thing. He's at least got the cool part right.

Everybody else here is pretty much a product of this decade. We'll start wtih the groups. Chicago's Bob Seger (no, I probably won't ever stop calling them that) had their first hit with this big bombastic ballad that introduced the world, for better of for worse, to the leather lungs of Dennis DeYoung. America do their best Neil Young impression on "Lonely People." It won't make anyone forget Shakey, but it is a decent radio hit, advising the lovelorn not to "give up until you drink from the silver cup." I guess that's a useful tip. And Love Unlimited, the Barry White-sponsored girl group who are here with this okay R&B ballad, are not to be confused with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, who gave the world "Love's Theme." Either way, Barry was making money.

Then there are the solo acts. Jim Stafford's novelty hits were starting to lose their chart power by this time, but he still did pretty well with this tale of a guy staying at a hotel who, every night, spies a woman in an opposite window drinking champagne, accompanied by a bulldog who is also imbibing bubbly. After two weeks of this, he goes over to the room, where he's greeted with a literal "How do you do?" and a bite on the leg. But get this, it's the dog who says hello and the woman who bites him! What a twist! Anyway, I'm going to erase any lingering guilt over snubbing "Spiders and Snakes" by giving Jim this week's Uneasy Rider Award. Harry Chapin returns from a previous visit to this time period with his story of how the years create irony. Billy Joel scored his second Top 40 (after "Piano Man") with a bouncy song about the ups and downs of trying to make it as a big time rock star. And Cat Stevens repeats the title of his hit here so many times that he leaves no room for doubt of his preparedness. And for the record, it's love he's ready for. Just thought you'd like to know.

30 - "Sweet Surrender," John Denver
29 - "#9 Dream," John Lennon
28 - "From His Woman to You," Barbara Mason
27 - "Look in My Eyes Pretty Woman," Tony Orlando and Dawn
26 - "Struttin'," Billy Preston
25 - "Free Bird," Lynyrd Skynyrd
24 - "Black Water," The Doobie Brothers
23 - "Ride 'em Cowboy," Paul Davis
22 - "Angie Baby," Helen Reddy
21 - "You're No Good," Linda Ronstadt

Big easy listening prescence in this bunch, including some giants. John Denver just wants to live free like a fish or a bird in yet another of his uplifting folk hits that were impossible to escape back then. I must admit, I appreciate him more every time he pops up here. Tony O. and his lovely backup singers return with another lightweight number that isn't one of their best or their worst. It's just there. Paul Davis, future performer of "I Go Crazy," is here with a much more interesting if still sleepy-sounding tune about a broken-down rodeo rider looking back on his glory days and wishing he'd settled down. And then there's "Angie Baby" again. I pretty much gushed all over the place the last time we came across this, so there's no need to do it again. Just find it, play it, love it.

Rock in its various forms is here in a big way too. John Lennon had one of his last hits before his five-year hiatus with this, for lack of a better word, dreamy song which featured backup vocals from onetime mistress May Pang. Oh, and that "Ah bowakowa poussay poussay" phrase that makes up the chorus? Meaningless, apparently. Lynyrd Skynyrd are here with a song that makes people reflexively reach for lighters to fire up and hold aloft. Fortunately, I don't have one at the moment. The Doobie Brothers had their biggest, and arguably best, pre-Michael McDonald hit with this swampy ode to the South and the sounds of "funky Dixieland." And yes, this Linda Ronstadt hit, her breakthrough to superstardom, is yet another cover, but the Betty Everett version didn't crack the Top 40, so it's at least close to being primarily Linda's song.

We finish with some soul. Barbara Mason, as you might gather from the title, is communicating with the "other woman" in her significant other's life. But instead of anger, Barbara seems sympathetic to her would-be rival. She tells her "if you don't bother me, I won't bother you," but warns that her man will not leave his relationship. Surprisingly reasonable, but it still makes for a good song. And Billy Preston had another instrumental hit with "Struttin'" Not much to say, except I think I liked it better than "Outa-Space."

Tomorrow: fightin', dancin' and laughin'.

January 13, 1973 Part Two

The referee blows his whistle, and play resumes:

20 - "I Wanna Be With You," The Raspberries
19 - "Pieces of April," Three Dog Night
18 - "Hi, Hi, Hi," Wings
17 - "Trouble Man," Marvin Gaye
16 - "Sitting," Cat Stevens

The Raspberries kick off with more of their power pop goodness. Oh Eric Carmen, where did it all go wrong?

Then it's good old 3DN with a song I'd never heard before, and that I acutally kind of like, as much as I can like one of their songs that isn't "One," "Joy to the World," or "Mama Told Me Not to Come." It's about a guy looking back on an idyll with a lover that he keeps in a "memory bouquet" (a terrible metaphor that bumps this song down a few points, but not far enough to keep it from being above average for them) now that it's over. There was a movie with this title starring a pre-TomKat Katie Holmes a few years ago. I've never seen it, but I looked it up, and apparently, this song isn't on the soundtrack. Can't say that's a bad decision

Then it's Macca and company with a retro-rocker that was banned by the BBC for drug and sexual innuendo. The first one is obvious, as the title words are preceded in the chorus with "We're gonna get." The latter was because Paul sings something that sounds like "body gun" that's apparently actually "polygon." Good work, Paul.

Marvin Gaye is next with the title song from a blaxploitation film. It's a jazzy little number in which Marvin declares that he can handle any kind of bother that comes his way. Exactly what the job requires.

Last in this group is Cat Stevens with his typical gentle folk. Not sure if he's hopeful or hopeless, because the lyrics are ambiguous that way. But he does say "there's a power growing in my hair." So maybe he's Samson.

15 - "Oh Babe, What Would You Say," Hurricane Smith
14 - "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," James Taylor
13 - "Why Can't We Live Together," Timmy Thomas
12 - "It Never Rains in Southern California," Albert Hammond
11 - "Living in the Past," Jethro Tull

Norman Smith was a recording engineer and producer who worked with The Beatles and Pink Floyd. He was so methodical that John Lennon gave him the ironic nickname "Hurricane." Then, in 1972, when he was almost 50, he began a singing career that surprisingly spawned this international smash. It's a nice little big-band style midtempo ballad, but what really distinguished it was Smith's voice, which sounds like Jerry Lewis impersonating Frankie Valli. For various reasons, "Oh Babe, What Would You Say" takes this weeks Uneasy Rider Award.

Next we have James Taylor expressing his desire for companionship. It's pretty good. Definitely preferable to his R&B covers.

Then it's "Why Can't We Live Together," a great song I just heard for the first time. Backed by just a drum machine and an organ, Thomas delivers a soulful plea for peace and harmony. So simple, yet sooooo good.

Before he was better known in some circles for fathering one of The Strokes, Albert Hammond Sr. was an accomplished songwriter whose big hit as a performer was this tale of a guy who strikes out in L.A. It's almost good enough to make me forgive him for co-writing "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." Almost.

Finally there's Jethro Tull, by far the biggest rock band ever fronted by a flautist. This catchy little tune was one of their two Top 40 hits (the other being "Bungle in the Jungle"), but I'm sure if you've ever been exposed to classic radio, you've heard stuff like "Thick as a Brick" or my favorite, "Aqualung."

And now, the ten at the end:

10 - "Keeper of the Castle," The Four Tops
This was the first post-Motown hit for Levi and company. At the same time Helen Reddy was rallying women to embrace their strength, the Tops were encouraging men to stop fooling around and stay close to home and family and be "like a sovereign lord protector." Not completely at odds with the message of "I Am Woman" but not exactly on the same wavelength either. Oh well, it's Levi Stubbs, I can't help myself.

9 - "Crocodile Rock," Elton John
Sir Elton contributes to the growing 50s nostalgia craze with this ode to rock's early years and girls named Suzy who wore tight dresses. Probably the first Elton John song that I ever loved.

8 - "Superfly," Curtis Mayfield
In the battle for "Best Blaxploitation Theme Ever," the battle is pretty much between this and Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft." At the risk of being told to shut my mouth, I'm going to go with this one. You can't go wrong either way, but gun to my head, I'll take Curtis' sweet singing over Isaac's menacing growl.

7 - "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu," Johnny Rivers
The man who had a string of hits in the 60s with songs like "Secret Agent Man" and "Poor Side of Town," returned to hitmaking with this cover of a song about fun-sounding ailments originally done by a New Orleans group called Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns. Now that is truly a great band name.

6 - "Your Mama Don't Dance," Loggins and Messina
The man who Casey called "Ken" Loggins and partner Jim Messina had their biggest hit together about the timeless subject of teenage rebellion and those who would squash it. A good, fluffy radio song, but I must say I doubt that the mother in question's lack of desire to boogie is as big a contributor to the problem as it's made out to be.

5 - "Funny Face," Donna Fargo
The second and final pop hit for country singer Fargo. Again, she's really happy about the man in her life. And okay, I'll tell the story. I don't remember this, but apparently, when I was very young and this would come on the radio, my mother would sing "Funny Face" to me, and I'd respond with the next line, "I love you." All together now: Awwwwwwwwww!

4 - "Clair," Gilbert O'Sullivan
I can't say I think this song O'Sullivan sings to his niece (who is heard giggling at the end) is good, but it's cute and harmless, and I'll take it over anything else of his I've heard.

3 - "Me and Mrs. Jones," Billy Paul
The R&B adultery song of the 70s. Billy Paul might not have had any more hits after this, but for his powerhouse performance on this immortal paean to forbidden love, he is legend.

2 - "Superstition," Stevie Wonder
Those drums! Those keyboards! And then the song itself, where Stevie wisely warns that "when you believe in things that you don't understant, then you suffer." A masterpiece, and deservedly Stevie's first #1 of the decade. No amount of "I Just Called to Say I Love You"'s can erase this.

And topping them all that fateful week was...

1 - "You're So Vain," Carly Simon
Completing what I believe is the best #1-#2-#3 punch we've come across is this epic, Mick Jagger-backed takedown of some full-of-himself bastard. But who probably thinks this song is about him and is actually right? The contenders include Warren Beatty, David Bowie, David Cassidy (!) and even Jagger himself. Carly has allegedly divulged the mystery asshole's identity to a TV exec who won an auction, and Howard Stern claims she told him too. Will we ever know for sure. Well there was another anonymous man in the news at the time, Deep Throat, and we eventually found out who he was, so I guess there's hope.

Three NotCasey extras this week: "Could it Be I'm Falling in Love" by The Spinners, "Cover of the Rolling Stone" by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, and The Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling."

Back next week, y'all.

January 13, 1973 Part One

This week, we delve into what people were listening to when I was a month shy of 2.

40 - "Harry Hippie," Bobby Womack and Peace
39 - "The Relay," The Who
38 - "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone," The Temptations
37 - "Reelin' and Rockin'" Chuck Berry
36 - "Something's Wrong With Me," Austin Roberts
35 - "Daddy's Home," Jermaine Jackson
34 - "Jambalaya," The Blue Ridge Rangers
33 - "Don't Expect Me to Be Your Friend," Lobo
32 - "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio," Joni Mitchell
31 - "I Am Woman," Helen Reddy

We start with R&B. Bobby Womack wrote "Harry Hippie" as a light-hearted nod to his free-spirited brother Harry, but he later performed it as a more serious tribute after Harry was killed in a fight with his girlfriend (presumably the song's "Mary Hippie.") The Temptations are here with their most famous 70s, hit, in which a mother exasperatedly answers her children's questions about their absent father. And Jermaine Jackson had his first solo hit with a cover of Shep and the Limelites' not-Oedipal-but-sure-sounds-like-it ballad. This was the first of his two Top 10s, and he'd have five other top 40s, but then he also has a Pia Zadora movie and a stint on Celebrity Big Brother on his resume. So...not quite Michael, then.

There's rock here too. The Who didn't get any higher than where they are with this call-to-armA s that bears more than a passing similarity to "Won't Get Fooled Again." Chuck Berry followed up the surprise success of "My Ding-a-Ling" with this live version of one of his oldies. It would be his last Top 40 single. And The Blue Ridge Rangers was John Fogerty's first solo venture after Creedence Clearwater Revival, an album of cover versions which included this nice but unnecessary Hank Williams remake.

A couple MOR boys in this section. Austin Roberts would have his biggest success two years later with the melodramatic "Rocky," but his first hit was about desperately unrequited love with a chorus whose tune is reminiscent of Barry Manilow's "I Write The Songs." But this came out first. Hmmmmm. And Lobo (who is, I remind you and myself, one guy), had his last Top Ten with this rejection of post-relationship cordiality. "I love you too much to ever start liking you," he sings. Well I don't love or like you, Lobo, so don't worry about it.

This section ends with two solo ladies. Joni Mitchell had her first hit single with this folky come-on. Her lines are open. Interpret that how you will. Then there's the one and only Ms. Reddy and the anthem that launched her to superstardom and soundtracked the growing feminist movement. Yes, I do prefer her songs that have, shall we say, less stable female protagonists, but still, I'm confident enough in my manhood to say that this is a really good song. Even when sung by a woman who looks uncannily like Homer Simpson in drag whom Bart mistakes for his dad while waiting for him to pick him up from soccer practice.

30 - "Dancing in the Moonlight," King Harvest
29 - "Rocky Mountain High," John Denver
28 - "Walk on Water," Neil Diamond
27 - "Snoke Gets in Your Eyes," Blue Haze
26 - "Separate Ways," Elvis Presley
25 - "Love Jones," Brighter Side of Darkness
24 - "Been to Canaan," Carole King
23 - "Do it Again," Steely Dan
22 - "You Ought to Be With Me," Al Green
21 - "The World is a Ghetto," War

Two lite-pop footnotes lead off. King Harvest had their only major hit with this bouncy tune about outdoor booty shaking. In 1994, a cover version by the Baha Men (yes, the "Who Let The Dogs Out?" people) got some airplay in the Toronto area. And Brits Blue Haze are here with their forgettable version of an oft-covered song that dates back to a 1935 Broadway musical called Roberta, whose original cast included Bob Hope.

There are also some more experienced soft rockers here. John Denver's innocent ode to the Colorado outdoors was initially banned by some stations becasue of that troubling third word in the title, but eventually, everyone realized that the "high" he was talking about was not chemically induced. Neil Diamond returns with a gospellish song that seems to be about a mother figure. When Neil did gospel in a goofy, playful way on "Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show," it worked. He tries it with a straight face here, and is less successful. Elvis had shown a little life the previous year with the cheesy-but-spirited "Burnin' Love," but here, he's back to the boring ballad thing with this nothing song about breaking up. And Carole King does her thing on a song about wanting to go back to a more idyllic place and time. Not one of her best, in my opinion.

A couple of soul numbers in this batch. The Brighter Side of Darkness are mainly notable for two reasons. First, their lead singer was 12 at the time of this, their only hit. Secondly, "Love Jones" would be parodied by Cheech and Chong as the timeless ode to hoops addiction, "Basketball Jones." Luminaries such as George Harrison, Carole King, and Billy Preston played on that track. I wonder would Cheech and Chong offered them for their services. And then, after leaving me alone for a while, Al Green returns to haunt me for not having caught up on my knowledge of his music. Oh well, thanks to Casey, I'm doing so in dribs and drabs, and "You Ought to be With Me," is another welcome lesson in Greenology.

We end this half with a couple of sorta-rock powers. Steely Dan had their first hit with this catchy strut in which they tell Jack to go back and...you know. And funk-rockers War weren't very optimistic at this time, as the title of this ballad will tell you. As valid as a song like this is, I must say, I like them better happier.

Tomorrow: Disease, infidelity, and narcissism.