This Week's Review -- September 23, 1978

There were ten new singles on the Billboard pop chart this week, with three reaching into the Top 40 and one making the Top 10. That Top 10 is still heard on rock stations today, but the other two have unfairly slipped into the radio ether. However, the song that missed the Top 40 have some relatively well-known names -- Peter Brown, Tom Petty, The O'Jays, The Alan Parsons Project -- and at least one song that is fairly well-known even if you don't know that name Don Ray. Then there's two one-hit wonders that should have been bigger -- Snail and Bob McGilpin, who literally performs a backflip on live TV while performing his song.

Over at Google Books, there is a large archive of past Billboard magazines, including the September 23, 1978 edition.  The full Hot 100 list can be found, appropriately enough, on page 100. An article on page 6 tries to explain that the picture disc LP isn't a fad, according to A&M Records. Because we should always pay more attention to record companies trying to sell their own products over common sense. I didn't sound too sarcastic there, was I? I really wish there was a sarcasm font...it would be helpful for me at times.

Foreigner - "Double Vision"

(Debuted #67, Peaked #2, 20 Weeks on chart)



"Double Vision" was the biggest hit that Foreigner would have in the 1970s, reaching #2 and giving the band their fourth Top 10 hit in the U.S. However, despite the words and the belief that it's a song about getting drunk or high, it actually had an innocuous beginning. The song was "born" at a New York Rangers hockey game when one of the players was taken out after suffering from double vision. Upon hearing that phrase from the announcer, singer Lou Gramm wrote a song around those words.

In any case, it's a shot of pure guitar-driven adrenaline and a hook-laden pop confection. Still played quite often on classic rock stations, it's among one of the group's best-known hits. Interestingly, depite having Mick Jones laying his guitar lines on the record, the song has no guitar solo at all. That makes it unusual among Arena Rock singles of that era.

Heart - "Straight On"

(Debuted #79, Peaked #15, 18 Weeks on chart)



The LP Dog and Butterfly was intended to be Heart's followup to Little Queen (despite the fact that Mushroom records put out Magazine without the band's consent in the meantime) and "Straight On" was the first single from that album. It was a rocking song, the kind the band's fans expected them to do. As expected, Ann Wilson provided a solid vocal, with her sister Nancy backing her up with both vocals and guitar.

In a way, "Straight On" was a very apt title. It's a straight rock song from the late 1970s.

The Commodores - "Flying High"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #38, 10 Weeks on chart)



As The Commodores were charting with more ballad-style material than the funk-styled music that initially brought the group to prominence, they still showed they could funk it up a little, as "Flying High" attests. While the song has elements of disco and pop, it's actually a good R&B side for the band from Tuskegee, Alabama. While the song is more sleek than the rawer funk they did in the past, it's still a song that should have gathered more attention than the scraping of the pop Top 40 it got.

But that was the rub...at a time where Disco was king, the songs that were getting attention by listeners were the ballads like "Three Times a Lady" and that's the direction they took for later hits like "Still," "Sail On" and "Oh No." Yes, there was the occasional upbeat song like "Lady," but that was the exception rather than the rule.

Peter Brown with Betty Wright - "You Should Do It"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #54, 8 Weeks on chart)



"You Should Do it" was a bridge to both Peter Brown's past and future successes. It was a hit with Betty Wright, who also sang on his huge hit "Dance With Me," and was co-written with Robert Rains, who also collabrated with Brown on 1984's Madonna hit "Material Girl."

It wasn't as big a hit as "Dance With Me" or even "Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me," topping out well short of the pop Top 40, but it was earnest dance music rather than a generic disco song. It was laden with a joyous harmonica that recalled (but didn't necessarily duplicate) the work that Stevie Wonder was doing at the time, and pointed the way to the more electronic sound that permeated dance music in the new decade.

Don Ray - "Got To Have Loving"

(Debuted #87, Peaked #44, 8 Weeks on chart)



There's a lot of stuff out there about "Don Ray" but it doesn't all refer to the artist who recorded "Got To Have Loving." There is a Texas-based artist also called Donray, and there's even an unrelated band called The Don Ray Band. This Don Ray was the stage name of Raymond Donnez, who played keyboards for Cerrone and produced the Santa Esmiralda track "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." 

Those elements can be heard in the song "Got To Have Lovin'." The layered keyboards are something that sounds like they came from a Cerrone song, and the orchestral production mimicked that of the Santa Esmiralda track. This was the classic disco track's first of two appearances on the Hot 100. Neither would make the Top 40, but the song has lived on through the years thanks to samples and it use as a period piece in movies.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "Listen To Her Heart"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #59, 6 Weeks on chart)



You can definitely pick up the influence of The Byrds' 12-string right from the into of "Listen To Her Heart." The scathing words were written after Petty discovered that Ike Turner was making advances at his then-wife, placing 1970s lyrics into the context of a song that sounds like it came out of the 1960s. Not only was Roger McGuinn's jangly 12-string present in the song's sound, but the phrasing is quite similar to the vocals that Gene Clark made on those records.

In order to conform to the radio, the single version of "Listen To Her Heart" was altered. The word "cocaine" in the video above was changed to "champagne" to get airplay in 1978. Hey, sometimes you gotta do what it takes to get heard...and Tom Petty wasn't yet the "name" he would later become.

The Alan Parsons Project - "What Goes Up"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #87, 3 Weeks on chart)



In its Pyramid LP, The Alan Parsons Project explored the concept of the last remaining Great Wonder, and "What Goes Up" definitely fits the theme, even mentioning the Pyramid in its lyrics. As the first song on the album with vocals, it features the voice of David Paton, one of six singers used on the album.

Featuring progressive guitar lines, classically-inspired horn flourishes and layered vocals, "What Goes Up" was a relative disappointment on the charts. It peaked at #87 and disappeared after only three weeks, a really short stay on the charts at the time.

The O'Jays - "Brandy"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #79, 3 Weeks on chart)



The O'Jays were known for their R&B soul and light disco, but they were able to produce tender ballads at will, too. "Brandy" is much more in the tradition of the R&B weeper, a song about missing somebody who's long gone and doesn't seem to be coming back. While the song may sound like it's for a woman, it was reportedly about a dog who's gone off to the Great Meadow in the Sky (the lyrics refer to her as his "best friend"). That certainly gives it a different vibe when you hear that.

This time, Walter Williams sings lead, with his two compatriots simply contributing background vocals. Brandy" was also a rare O'Jays single written outside the Kenny Gamble/Leon Huff partnership. It was written by Joseph Jefferson and Charles Simmons, who had previously penned some hits for The Spinners.

Snail - "The Joker"

(Debuted #93, Peaked #93, 2 Weeks on chart)



With a quick look at the label, you might think this was a reworking of the Steve Miller song, but you'd be wrong. This time around, "The Joker" was a rocking tune written by members of the Santa Cruz, California-based Snail. It was the group's only national hit, even though they were a legendary live band in their home region from 1968 until the 1980s.

It's a shame this song topped out at #93. Perhaps the band preferred to remain local; maybe some sad twist of fate intervened to keep them from breaking out. However, "The Joker" sounds like it was about 10 years ahead of its time.

Bob McGilpin - "When You Feel Love"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #91, 5 Weeks on chart)



The video above features a lip-synched "live" version of "When You Feel Love" on The Dinah Shore Show that is pretty obvious due to the multi-tracking of his voice in the song, but the backflip he performs during the instrumental bridge and the interview afterwards were too rich for me to pass up.

"When You Feel Love" was the only Hot 100 hit that Bob McGilpin manged to get, despite success on the disco floor. As a military brat, he grew up in a wide array of locations, which helped him to pick up a wider range of styles than he may have gotten in just one place. Unfortunately, the Disco backlash limited further recordings from him after 1979. Today, he's a producer and sound engineer based in Nashville.

This Week's Review -- June 17, 1978

There were nine new singles in this week's Hot 100. Six of those reached into the Top 40, with two making the Top 10 and one going all the way to #1. That #1 was the only chart-topper for Motown Records for all of 1978. Four songs are from first-timers to the chart, and all would return in the future with varying degrees of success. Other, more established acts are here as well, including Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Tom Petty and Andrew Gold.

Although there is a large archive of Billboard magazines available over at Google Books, the June 17, 1978 edition is missing. Once again, I'll give a plug to my other music-related blog, 80s Music Mayhem. That blog is coursing its way through the decade for the ninth time, having just spent a week in 1987. Up next...'88 and a rather eclectic group of styles. Check it out if you're into the decade.

Barbra Streisand - "Songbird"

(Debuted #67, Peaked #25, 10 Weeks on chart)



Barbra Streisand was in a rather prolific period of her career in 1978. Not only did she record her LP Songbird, but she also recorded music for the soundtrack of the film The Eyes of Laura Mars and issued her second Greatest Hits compilation. In fact, the Laura Mars soundtrack appeared soon after Songbird, and the lead singles from both projects battled each other on the charts. This has been given as teh reason neither song made the Top 20 in a period when "Babs" was at her commercial peak.

Not the similarly-named Fleetwood Mac song from Rumours, this was a ballad written by Steve Nelson and David Wolpert that was solidly suited for Streisand's style. Though it fell short of the pop Top 20, it was her fifth #1 single on the adult contemporary chart.

The Commodores - "Three Times a Lady"

(Debuted #73, Peaked #1, 20 Weeks on chart)



Showing how far Motown had fallen from its place in the 1960s, consider that "Three Times a Lady" was the only Top 10 pop single the label had in all of 1978. The Commodores made the hit count, however: it went to #1 on the pop, R&B and adult contemporary charts, as well as in the U.K.

According to the backstory, "Three Times a Lady" was supposedly written on the occasion of an anniversary of Lionel Richie's parents. During a reception, Richie's father made a comment that stayed with his son enough to inspire the Commodores' first chart-topper. Here's hoping that he bought them a nice gift with the royalties.

The song was one of The Commodores' biggest and best-known hits, and helped set a standard for their future success. At first, they were primarily a funk-based band but once the ballads began outselling the dance jams, the soundalike material followed. Though "Three Times a Lady" wasn't the first -- the band already hit with "Sweet Love," "Just to Be Close to You" and "Easy" -- it encouraged future hits like "Sail On" and "Still" as well as several of Richie's solo hits during the 1980s. And all of them were huge sellers.

Wings - "I've Had Enough"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #25, 11 Weeks on chart)



After the multi-platinum success of Wings at the Speed of Sound and the band's subsequent 1976 tour, some changes were in store for Paul McCartney. First of all, guitarist Jimmy McCullough and drummer Joe English left the band during the recording of their next studio LP. Second, Paul and his wife Linda learned they would be having another baby, an event that required them to change their plans for any touring in the near future. So, stripped back down to the same trio that recorded Band On the Run, Wings made an album that was a solid effort even if it wasn't ranked with their best by fans.

"I've Had Enough" was the second single from London Town and an underrated rocker that may have been unappreciated in an age of Disco. McCartney seemed to pay attention to that lesson, releasing more dance-oriented material as singles for his next album,

Gene Cotton with Kim Carnes - "You're a Part of Me"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #36, 12 Weeks on chart)



"You're a Part of Me" marks the first appearance of Kim Carnes on the pop chart, but it wasn't exactly "new." Carnes wrote the song and had originally recorded it as a solo performance on her self-titled 1975 LP and had a minor hit with it on the adult contemporary chart that year. In 1978, the song appeared as a duet with Gene Cotton and helped bring her unique voice to a wider audience. 

This time around, the song was recorded for Cotton's album Save the Dancer. At the time, Cotton was the better-known performer and had a small handful of Hot 100 singles. The next decade, however, saw him move to Nashville and became more devoted to his family and charity while Carnes racked up several hit singles that made her a bigger "name" among music fans. That road began with "You're a Part of Me," where Carnes' rasp overpowers Cotton's smooth vocal style in several places.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - "I Need to Know"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #41, 10 Weeks on chart)



By 1978, there was a focus in the music business on dance-length singles and "extended" 12-inch records. However, in the middle of all that, here comes Tom Petty with a focused record that clocked in at less than two and a half minutes yet sounds like it was longer due to its energy.

Taken from the band's second LP You're Gonna Get it!, "I Need to Know" just missed the Top 40. It comes off as a simple riff, but that's part of what made it great. Especially in an era where bands liked to show their complexity and the depth of their instrumental virtuosity.

Andrew Gold - "Never Let Her Slip Away"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #67, 8 Weeks on chart)



When MTV started its programming on August 1, 1981, one of the promotional videos that was played during the first day was Andrew Gold's "Never Let Her Slip Away." In fact, it was one of three songs from Gold played during that day. His inclusion wasn't necessarily because he was influential with the early days of the music video; rather, MTV played anything that was available to it during that start-up period before it developed into the iconic cable channel, even material from the previous decade.

That said, "Never Let Her Slip Away" is a decent pop song about the euphoria that hits when you fall in love. Undercut by a rolling keyboard riff and punctuated by a saxophone solo and background crooning, the song is an example of the classic songwriting style that Gold likely picked up by watching his parents (both were long-time show business veterans) in action. By that, I mean that it doesn't really sound as much like a 1970s artifact as it does a generic well-crafted pop song.

Evelyn "Champagne" King - "Shame"

(Debuted #87, Peaked #9, 19 Weeks on chart)



"Shame" was the debut single for Evelyn "Champagne" King, a 17 year-old singer from Philadelphia whose voice sounded much more mature than it was. According to the backstory, King was working with her mother as a cleaning lady in a recording studio and was "discovered" by a producer who heard her singing as she dumped trash out of a can in the building.   

The song was included on King's 1977 debut LP Smooth Talk but wasn't a hit until it was remixed into a 12-inch single for the disco market that laid a heavier emphasis on the beat. Once the transitional bridge kicked in and the catchy chorus made its way into the heads of dancers, the song was undeniable and became a dancefloor classic. It eventually made the Top 10 of Billboard's pop, dance and R&B surveys and started  King on a career that took her from the Disco era to the electronic dance material that replaced it.

The Cars - "Just What I Needed"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #27, 17 Weeks on chart)



The debut single for The Cars was written by group member Ric Ocasek but sung by bassist Ben Orr. In an era where many new (non-disco) bands were deciding whether to take their sound in a rock-oriented or New Wave direction, this Boston band went in both directions. That suited them well as a new decade approached, and made them one of the more exciting and innovative acts of the 1980s. 

"Just What I Needed" was one of several classic songs found on the group's self-titled LP. The mix of synthesizers and rock stylings has given it airplay on several formats (even letting it sneak in as a 1980s hit even though it's from before that decade). One neat effect in the song shows up in the final verse: the drums change, hitting on the first and third beats instead of the second and fourth as used in the rest of the song, before reverting to its original format in the final chorus. The change is noticeable after Orr sings the line "Wasting all my time, time" in that verse.

Spyro Gyra - "Shaker Song"

(Debuted #92, Peaked #90, 5 Weeks on chart)



Spyro Gyra's story begins in Buffalo, New York around 1974. Saxophonist Jay Beckstein and keyboardist Jeremy Wall were part of a combo where all the members were active in the local jazz community. A promoter asked for the name of the group, and when Beckstein suggested the biology term "spirogyra," it ended up being misspelled on the marquee. The band kept it, and despite some membership changes grew into a full-time pursuit.

"Shaker Song" was already two years old, the first track off the band's self-titled 1976 debut LP. The record was slow to sell originally but sales remained steady enough to keep the song in the public eye. A smooth jazz instrumental with a slight Caribbean rhythm and Calypso-styled breakdown, It exemplifies the sound the group has cultivated for more than three decades.

This Week's Review -- May 5, 1978

Seven new songs appeared in the Billboard Hot 100 this week, with three reaching the Top 40 and a single hit making the Top 10. Heatwave and Barry Manilow return to the Top 40, while another act makes its only appearance. Looking farther down the chart, Diana Ross misses the Top 40, and two more acts fail to follow up their biggest hits. And then there's Van Halen, who make the chart for the first time. They may have fallen short of the Top 40, but there would be plenty of chances for them to hit again.

The May 5, 1978 edition of Billboard magazine is missing from the archive at Google Books, so there isn't any extra reading material this week. So, I'll plug my other music-related blog 80s Music Mayhem. Over there, I'm featuring a new single each weekday, so feel free to stop by and check it out.

Heatwave - "The Groove Line"

(Debuted #70, Peaked #7, 17 Weeks on chart)



Among Heatwave's hits, "The Groove Line" isn't usually the first one thought of by fans. "Boogie Nights" was a bigger hit and "Always and Forever" has lived on as a wedding reception standard. However, "The Groove Line" was a solid song, featuring a sleek-but-still-funky groove. Written by band member Rod Temperton (who also wrote several of the songs on Michael Jackson's Thriller LP), the song actually sounds more like the 1980s version of Kool & the Gang in its approach.

Considering that Kool & the Gang's metamorphosis occurred in 1979 when they hired J.T. Taylor as their new lead singer, it's possible that Robert "Kool" Bell was paying attention to Heatwave's sound when he decided to pare down the grittier fuank that drove "Jungle Boogie" and "Hollywood Swinging."

Barry Manilow - "Even Now"

(Debuted #76, Peaked #19, 13 Weeks on chart)



Reflection on a past love is a recurring theme in some of Barry Manilow's hits. "Looks Like We Made it" and "Weekend in New England" look back, "Ready to Take a Chance Again" wants to push through the barriers that stopped him in the past, and even "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" is wondering what went wrong. "Even Now" is more reflection, after he's moved on and settled down with another.

Manilow didn't always write his own hits despite his reputation as a commercial writer, but he had a hand in "Even Now," composing the melody while Marty Panzer penned the lyrics. It was Manilow's eleventh song to hit the Hot 100 (and all were Top 40 hits), and the ninth to hit #1 on the adult contemporary chart.

Love and Kisses - "Thank God It's Friday"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #22, 16 Weeks on chart)




Love & Kisses was one of the namy acts of the Disco era that was little more than a studio act under the control of a producer (Alec R. Constandinos). "Thank God it's Friday" was their only hit on the pop chart, but they managed to score two other entries on the Disco chart.

"Thank God it's Friday" was given a boost due to its inclusion in the movie of the same name. While the film itself was a disastrous flop, its soundtrack was a hit and featured many of the era's better acts. The song led off the soundtrack LP and featured a generally upbeat if standard disco arrangement. There's a single male vocalist in the song whose line, "thank God it's..." leads into the female chorus finishing off the title, perfectly matches the tone of the saxophone used in the song as well. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it's definitely noticeable.

Diana Ross - "You Got It" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #87, Peaked #49, 6 Weeks on chart)



While I've mentioned in this blog before that Diana Ross's pop chart history was a series of hit-and-miss recordings -- she either went to #1 or missed the Top 10 entirely -- she also had several hits that missed the Top 40 as well, including "You're the One." In an era where she was recording disco-related singles, Motown still aimed Ross at the adult contemporary market from time to time, which this song appears to be directed towards.

That direction was likely a good one, as the song hit #9 on that survey (and also a #39 R&B hit), but the song straddles the line between the different genres that Ross was courting. The arrangement sounds like it could have been used in a light disco hit (except for a recognizeable dance beat), but Ross vocalizes as if it's a straight AC hit, as do the singers backing her up. Ross showed she was still in fine vocal form, though there was little question at the time about that. When the too-loud guitar break is added into the mix, it's a little bit jarring because it detracts from the single (and seems like a last-minute add-in).

Samantha Sang - "You Keep Me Dancing"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #56, 7 Weeks on chart)



Recently, a couple of the music-related corners of the Internet that I have been known to frequent were rather vocal about Samantha Sang's "Emotion" when it was played on the 1978 repeats of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 radio show (here's a list of the streaming stations and times if you'd like to hear the show). The criticism of "Emotion" focused on the obvious participation of The Bee Gees. That said, her followup didn't feature the Gibb brothers at all. It also failed to make the Top 40; in fact, Sang never returned to the Top 40 again, which attests to the dominance of The Bee Gees during that year.

"You Keep Me Dancing" is another one of the songs of the era that uses the disco bandwagon to help sell records. It isn't strictly a Disco song, though the arrangement  features several elements of the genre. Instead, Sang performs the lyrics as an adult contemporary song. Okay, if you call it "Disco lite" I won't argue with your assessment, but it just shows that the money that Disco was bringing in at the time was having an effect on what could have been decent AC-leaning songs of the era.

It also makes me wonder how this song would have sounded if the backing singers were the Gibb brothers instead of generic female session singers. See, I wasn't one of the people complaining about "Emotion" since I think it's a great tune.

Odyssey - "Weekend Lover"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #57, 7 Weeks on chart)



Time has an odd way of altering what people remember. For the group Odyssey, their entire output has generally been discarded by casual listeners outside of their classic "Native New Yorker." The group, which originally consisted of three Connecticut-born sisters and added singer Tony Reynolds when one of the sisters left before that hit, was performing for a decade before and would continue for another decade afterwards as a major-label act. What a lot of people don't realize is that all of the sisters were well into their forties by the time of their hit singles, making them a lot older than their contemporaries.

"Weekend Lover" was the follow-up single to "Native New Yorker" and has an entirely different feel. It kicks off with a Caribbean rhythm and reflects a subtle Calypso influence throughout. The words are about being the third wheel in a relationship, and makes no bones about being the "other woman" if the alternative is to be alone. It's the group's ladies chiming in here, with Reynolds keeping noticeably quiet except for backing vocals late in the song.

Van Halen - "Runnin' With The Devil"

(Debuted #93, Peaked #84, 4 Weeks on chart)



As the first song from the group's self-titled debut LP, "Runnin' With the Devil" set a standard. It wasn't really a heavily-played track during its chart run (hence, a #84 peak); rather, it's become a rock radio staple in the years since, as the band's music became more complicated as their legend grew.

Opening with a simulated siren played through a guitar pedal, "Runnin' With the Devil" introduced Eddie Van Halen's riffs, David Lee Roth's screeching and the basic straight-ahead rhythm section of Michael Anthony and Alex Van Halen. At the time, they were still basically a bar band and their arrangements were about as stripped-down as their stage act was. The more blatant humor, the complicated guitar work that would define Eddie as an axeman and even the sythesizer riffs would come along later. In the case of the guitar solos, that would come along later on the album...but the basis was laid down with this song.

This Week's Review -- January 28, 1978

There were eight new songs debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, and six of those would eventually work their way into the Top 40. Additionally, two reached the Top 10 and one traveled to #1. That chart-topper was one of the many songs helped by its inclusion in the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, a record that was fast becoming one of the best-selling albums in history at that point. The other Top 10 hit is one that is well-identified with its group even though it was different stylistically over what they had done before. Another movie theme appears as well, which was from a Richard Pryor film. Van Halen makes its first appearance, as does Warren Zevon as a songwriter (Linda Ronstadt handled the song). Bob Welch continues his post-Fleetwood Mac comeback. The two songs that missed the Top 40 are both by groups that had already made the Top 10.

Among the archive of past Billboard magazines at Google Books is the January 28, 1978 edition. The full Hot 100 list can be found on page 108. An ad on page 7 announces that The Doobie Brothers will be appearing on the TV show What's Happening. An article on page 8 has suggestions for retail store owners that is not only fundamental information, but is still valid advice today. A bit on page 34 explains that the Supreme Court would be hearing the case that was brought up by a lsitener complaint after New York station WBAI (misnamed in the article) aired George Carlin's notorious "Seven Dirty Words" routine. Finally, a front-page article that continues inside explains that the FCC was investigating payola accusations at a Los Angeles-based Latin music station.

Linda Ronstadt - "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"

(Debuted #78, Peaked #31, 9 Weeks on chart)



The protagonist of "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" starts off the song by trying to kill herself, only to realize that the train whose tracks she's laid down on no longer runs. It sets off a series of unfortunate events, the product of the often sardonic style of Warren Zevon, who wrote the song. When Linda Ronstadt's take on his song charted, he hadn't yet made his presence with the Excitable Boy LP or the song "Werewolves of London," so this track was a breakthrough of sorts for him.

In Zevon's original version, the main character still tries to kill himself and gets a little more graphic about S&M in the third verse. In order to make it more radio-friendly, Ronstadt's version was toned down in addition to changing the gender of the main character. For an artist who was becoming regarded as an entrepreneur of song of the 1950s and 60s, "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" was a reminder that she could do more contemporary material as well.

Kansas - "Dust In The Wind"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #6, 20 Weeks on chart)



"Dust in the Wind" was one of those accidental songs that almost wasn't. It was a last-minute addition to the Point of Know Return LP that started out as a finger-picking exercise that group member Kerry Livgren used on his guitar. His wife liked it and encouraged him to write lyrics to the tune. Taking inspiration from philosophy contained in a book of Native American poetry, he came up with the words.

That last-minute addition to the album that Livgren hesitated to play for his bandmates because it didn't follow their normal progressive material became the group's signature hit. It was their only Top 10 pop hit and remains a steady radio presence today.

Bob Welch - "Ebony Eyes"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #14, 17 Weeks on chart)



The lyrics of "Ebony Eyes" are pretty basic. Man sees a woman sitting in a corner and is entranced with her eyes. However, instead of going over to talk with her, he gets the feeling that she's holding something back.

"Ebony Eyes" was the second hit from Bob Welch's French Kiss LP, a harder-edged song than the earlier "Sentimental Lady" and tailor-made for radio airplay in 1978. The lyrics suggested the setting was a dance club (a big deal that year), the production was clean and featured the best L.A.-based studio musicians. The album was originally scheduled to be the third for his post-Fleetwood Mac band Paris, but the group fell apart before the project was started.

Yvonne Elliman - "If I Can't Have You"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #1, 22 Weeks on chart)



The backstory behind "If I Can't Have You" was interesting. It seems that when Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb were writing the material that would appear on the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever, they actually intended to record the song themselves. They had a song for Yvonne Elliman (which was "How Deep is Your Love") that was perfectly suited to her style as a pop balladeer. At some point, their manager Robert Stigwood determined that the two songs would be switched. It was a great move in retrospect, as both would become pop #1 hits.

It would also be the biggest hit of her career and the song she's most identified with today. It's a shame, though, considering that she originated Mary Magdalene's part on Jesus Christ Superstar, was a noted backup singer for Eric Clapton and had a handful of other hits.

Van Halen - "You Really Got Me"

(Debuted #91, Peaked #36, 11 Weeks on chart)



Van Halen's first hit was quite an introduction. While it helped point toward the future, it was also a remake of a Kinks classic from 1964. It's ingrained itself in Van Halen's legacy enough that many of the group's fans fail to realize it had been done before, a fact that has long bothered Kinks member Dave Davies. Apparently, Davies has been congratulated by the group's fans after Kinks concerts over the years for doing such a great version of "Van Halen's song." Songwriter Ray Davies, however, has gone on record as a fan of Van Halen's version of the song.

Although it was issued separately as a single, on the Van Halen LP it was paired with a song called "Eruption," a minute-and-a-half guitar workout that often precedes it on rock stations today.

Pablo Cruise - "Never Had A Love"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #87, 4 Weeks on chart)



"Never Had a Love" was the third and final single from Pablo Cruise's breakthrough LP A Place in the Sun. It was a disappointing showing, coming off the Top 10 success of "Whatcha Gonna Do?" (reviewed on this blog a couple of years back), but its style and production were a little cliched even by 1977/'78 standards. From the piano chords that open the song, to the guitar interludes to the vocal harmonies to the way the piano comes back near the end of the song, all of it makes for a sum that really isn't as good as the sum of its parts.

Compared to the earlier hit single, it didn't really have a hook that kept listeners interested. Fortunately for the group, the song died a quick death on the chart and another Top 10 hit -- "Love Will Find a Way" -- appeared on the horizon later that year.

Stargard - "Theme Song From Which Way Is Up"

(Debuted #96, Peaked #21, 14 Weeks on chart)



Stargard was a female R&B trio, but weren't going to be mistaken for the likes of The Supremes or The Three Degrees. Although they had a gospel background, they were influenced by the likes of LaBelle and the Pointer Sisters.

"Which Way is Up" is the theme from a movie of the same name where Richard Pryor played three different roles. It was written and produced by Norman Whitfield and was a #1 R&B hit. The gritty disco-fueled hit should have been a precursor to future hits, but the group only had one more pop single and a handful of songs on the R&B chart before splitting in the early 1980s.

Brick - "Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody"

(Debuted #97, Peaked #92, 4 Weeks on chart)



After two hits by Brick that featured titles that combined the words "dance" with other words ("Dazz," "Dusic"), the Atlanta band's third pop chart single was a more conventionally-named tune. Apparently, they didn't want to find themselves coming up with songs called "Dock," "Dunk" or "Dew Wave." However, "Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody" failed to get too far up the charts and was their final hit on the Hot 100.

That's too bad, as it is a really good song that should have gotten a better chance to make a splash. It's a straightforward song with an R&B edge (and a Top 10 R&B hit) but is fairly close to rock in its performance and sound. There may be a funky horn section and synthesized keyboards here, but there is also a guitar solo in the instrumental break that would have been welcome in any rock-oriented song of the era.

This Week's Review -- December 23, 1978

There were ten new singles this week in Billboard, with five reaching the Top 40, two making the Top 10 and one that coursed its way to the #1 position. That chart-topper was a song about a one-night stand and -- depending on who's commenting about it -- is either a sign of its era or a reminder of when the artist made a wrong turn. The other Top 10 hit was a surprise single that sounds little like most of the songs of the era. Foreigner shows up with a familiar sound, while Dobie Gray tries on some dancing shoes and Chicago tries to right a course charted by a twist of fate. Further down the chart are a Christmas-themed song, two movie themes, an adult-oriented tune and a song that could have only appeared during the Disco era.

Unfortunately, there is no December 23, 1978 issue in the archive of Billboard issues over at Google Books. So, I will once again shamelessly plug my other music-related blog, 80s Music Mayhem. Each weekday, I feature a single song that peaked in the 1980s and last week's focus was 1982. The five songs featured over the week represented five very different styles...if you're not reading that blog, I'll recommend making it a regular stop.

Rod Stewart - "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy"

(Debuted #40, Peaked #1, 21 Weeks on chart)



We start with one of the more polarizing songs of the decade, one that not only picked up more fans for "Rod the Mod" but also repelled others who'd been following him since the beginning of the decade. To those fans, it was a sign that he had somehow signed a pact with Satan himself to become so talented and finally had to pay the piper. Not only had Stewart crossed over into disco, but the person narrating the tale of picking up a one-night stand is miles away from the person who sang the lyrics of Faces' "Stay With Me."

Adrian over at the 7 Inches of 70s Pop blog did a much better description of this song than any I'll ever write, complete with the songs that were used (some might say "lifted whole") as guidelines for the finished product. So, I'll link over to his blog instead and point out that it should be regular reading for anybody who is interested in this weekly exercise.

Foreigner - "Blue Morning, Blue Day"

(Debuted #75, Peaked #15, 14 Weeks on chart)



"Blue Morning, Blue Day" was the sixth hit single Foreigner charted in just two years, and each of those made the Top 40. By this time, the band had pretty much established its template for pleasant arena rock, with hard-edged guitar riffs, flawless production and lyrics that weren't exactly subtle.

However, when compared to the other hits that came off the group's Double Vision LP ("Hot Blooded" and the title track), "Blue Morning, Blue Day" actually comes off as restrained. That wasn't going to change, though; their next LP Head Games featured more of the same sound and attitude...and still sold well.

Chicago - "No Tell Lover"

(Debuted #77, Peaked #14, 15 Weeks on chart)



"No Tell Lover" was a song that pointed to the direction of the band Chicago at the time. It was written by group members Peter Cetera, Lee Loughnane and Danny Seraphine, but the vocals were supplied by Cetera and Donnie Dacus, the member who joined the band as Terry Kath's replacement after Kath's accidental suicide. Not only was Kath gone, so was the group's long-time producer James William Guercio. The album containing the song was called Hot Streets -- a break from the band's routine of simply numbering their albums -- and featured a shot of the band members instead of an artistic design.

The changes weren't all well-received by the group's fans. Some were frustrated by their more pop-oriented direction at the expense of the progressive jazz-rock fusion they showcased earlier in the decade. While a certain degree of aimlessness was expected due to Kath's death and a change of producer, the group's records tailed off both artistically and commercially. "No Tell Lover" would be Chicago's final Top 40 single until 1982, after they were dropped by their record company and settled on their future direction. Along the way, they also dropped Dacus from the lineup in quick and unceremonious fashion.

"No Tell Lover" was a ballad about an on-the-sly affair that was done, appropriately enough, in an adult contemporary style. It was one of the album's high points, but marked the end of their staggering run of big hits in the 1970s.

Bobby Caldwell - "What You Won't Do For Love"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #9, 20 Weeks on chart)



Sometimes I enjoy taking a few minutes to read through the comments that accompany some of the videos that get placed on this blog. For another video where Bobby Caldwell performed "What You Won't Do For Love" in the late 1980s, this little note was added in the comments: "Wait a minute...this guy is white?"

That's actually a legitimate question, as the song is performed in a similar style that many R&B artists employed well into the 1980s and uses a light jazz accompaniment that gives it some of the urban sophistication you'd expect from Michael Henderson or Peabo Bryson. Caldwell personified "blue-eye soul" in "What You Won't Do For Love," and the song has a timeless quality that makes it sound fresh in any era.

Engelbert Humperdinck - "This Moment in Time"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #58, 6 Weeks on chart)



A few weeks back, I was listening to a repeat episode of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 radio show from 1976. It's a weekly habit for me, here's a list of the stations that run the show and links to hear them stream live. Before playing "After the Lovin'," Casey told the story of how a singer named Arnold Dorsey failed to generate much excitement until he changed his stage name to Engelbert Humperdinck.

By the mid 1970s, Humperdinck was more focused on his stage shows than he was on his new records. "After the Lovin'" was a temporary change in that philosophy, but the shows were too profitable to ignore. He targeted an adult crowd, sang his standards at his Vegas shows and only charted sparsely on the pop chart into the early 1980s. "This Moment in Time" did pretty well with the adult contemporary scene -- it was his fourth and final #1 single in that format -- given the way it sounds like a wedding song.

Dobie Gray - "You Can Do It"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #37, 11 Weeks on chart)



It is somehow appropriate that this singer's final pop hit as a solo artist finds its way into this blog during the same month he passed away. The sad news about Dobie Gray losing his bout with cancer on December 6 brought out several career highlights, as this type of news tends to do. Long-time fans remembered him for "The In-Crowd" and "Drift Away." Northern Soul fans in the U.K. reflected on his "Out On the Floor." Others remembered the guest turn he took on Uncle Kracker's remake of "Drift Away" in 2003. And yes, over on a music group I follow on Facebook, somebody said, "hey, anybody remember his disco hit"?

That would be "You Can Do it." Recorded in Muscle Shoals with legendary producer Rick Hall, it was a minor hit that just scraped the Top 40 early in 1979. That made it his first pop Top 40 in nearly six years.Although the era was marked by artists who were quick to record a danceable tune to cash in on the Disco craze, "You Can Do it" is a song that shouldn't be lumped in with more generic productions. It's actually a very good song that still can be considered a solid R&B tune (something that many Disco songs fail to do) and isn't trapped up in the conventions of the sound. Hall and the Muscle Shoals players deserve some of the credit for that, but Gray deserved it as well.

Stephen Bishop - "Animal House"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #73, 5 Weeks on chart)



Animal House has long been one of my favorite films, so this song, which plays over the closing credits of the film, has long been familiar to me. Singer Stephen Bishop was able to secure a cameo in the movie as well, playing the man with the guitar who is serenading a group of ladies on a stairwell during the fraternity's toga party before Bluto (John Belushi) grabs the guitar and smashes it against the wall.

"Animal House" is an original song but is given a wonderfully retro feel that makes it sound like it was from the film's early 1960s setting. The lyrics tell about the various characters in the film, and the soundtrack version -- but not the version played in the film -- interjected dialogue from the movie. It's not really surprising the song didn't get much higher that #73 on the chart, but it really could have stayed around a little longer.

Yvonne Elliman - "Moment By Moment"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #59, 6 Weeks on chart)



Earlier in 1978, Yvonne Elliman scored her biggest hit with a track from a monster movie starring John Travolta. At the end of the year, she was contributing a theme to another Travolta film, a May/December romance co-starring Lily Tomlin called Moment By Moment. Neither the film nor Elliman's theme song was able to match the heights Saturday Night Fever did.

"Moment By Moment" sounded like it was made to be a song that played over the closing credits of a film. It's soft, it features a lush orchestral arrangement and features Elliman's lovely and soaring voice. It's exactly what you expect to hear when the story has played itself out and you're walking out of the theater.

Boney M - "Mary's Boy Child"/"Oh My Lord"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #85, 5 Weeks on chart)



Just in time for the holiday season, here's a song about the man who gave the name to Christmas. And in the U.K., where there is a special emphasis placed on the #1 song during the Christmas week, the song that held down the top spot was "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" a medley that mixed a 1956 Harry Belafonte song with a song co-written by Boney M's creator Frank Farian.

Originally, the single was rushed into production in order to have it ready for the holiday season. As a result, it was a single-only release that would never be placed on an album until 1981 (and then, in edited form on a U.K.-only LP). Due to its low peak position on the chart and limited availablity, it was a prized single among collectors for a while. It can still be heard on radio stations during the holiday season...in fact, I actually heard it a few times this year on my own radio.

John Davis and the Monster Orchestra - "Ain't That Enough For You"

(Debuted #92, Peaked #89, 4 Weeks on chart)



During his youth, John Davis was supposedly given the nickname "Monster" because he didn't know that the word could be used as a synonym for "huge" (as in a "monster" hit). Eventually, he used the name for his backing band. Their only single to make the Hot 100 was "Ain't That Enough For You," a catchy disco song that failed to get too far up the chart before falling off.

"Ain't That Enough For You" was definitely a shot of adrenaline and was certain to pick up the pace on the dance floor. It's surprising that it didn't get more exposure at a time when everybody and his brother was rushing to get out a disco song. However, the end of the Disco era soon spelled the end of The Monster Orchestra as well. Davis remained in the music business, composing the theme for Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1992.