Rewind -- September 6, 1975

This is part of a series where I revisit the posts from this blog's first year and fix some of the issues -- the "growing pains" -- that plagued me.

There were 14 singles debuting in the Billboard Hot 100 this week-- okay, 13 new singles and one that was returning after falling off a few weeks before. Additionally, three of those new singles were two-sided. That may seem like a lot of chart action; however, every week of 1975 between June 14 and this week had at least 10 new debut records and two of the weeks in June also saw 14 new singles. So infusion of new music into the countdown was normal.In all, the entire slate of new records was a decent cross section of 1970s popular music. The genres included disco, country, R&B, funk, Southern Rock, AOR, rock and even a novelty number.

Over at Google Books is the September 6, 1975 edition of Billboard magazine. The full Hot 100 list is on page 68. A neat little interview with Ed McMahon about his early radio career starts on page 12.

Chicago - "Brand New Love Affair (Part I & II)"

(Debuted #82, Peaked #61, 5 Weeks on the Chart)



Chicago was a monster act of the 1970s. As the decade progressed, they charted on the Hot 100 28 times. That was more often than acts like The Bee Gees, Neil Diamond, John Denver, Elton John, Elvis Presley or Paul McCartney. As a performing act, only James Brown placed more singles on the chart from 1970-'79-- 37 of them -- than the group that named itself after the Windy City. Of those 28 chart records, 21 of them made it to the Top 40 (behind only Elton John and Sir Paul, who each made 24 trips into the 40). From 1970-'75, all 16 of Chicago's chart entries made the Top 40. Until "Brand New Love Affair," that is. It didn't get higher than #61.

This was one of many singles of the 1970s that was broken up into two parts. The success of long-running songs on FM radio formats and also hits like "American Pie" had created a need for record companies to fit longer pieces onto 7-inch discs. This was often accomplished by strategically "splitting" the song but eventually, some artists made longer jams that were essentially two songs spliced together so they'd be easily dissected on record. "Brand New Love Affair" was one of those songs. The first part is much slower than Chicago's major hits to that point, with no sign of the horns that made them famous behind Terry Kath's vocal. As the second part of the song kicks in, it sounds more like what fans expected in a Chicago song: the brass section shows up, Peter Cetera takes over the singing duties and the pace picks up. Despite the limitations of the 3-minute "made-for-radio" single, the composition as an LP track was flat.

The album that included the song, Chicago VIII (remember the way they used to number all their albums?) was #1 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart but was panned as a weaker imitation of Chicago VII. Of the three singles released from the LP, "Brand New Love Affair" was the only one that missed the Top 40: its followup "Harry Truman" was a moderate success and "Old Days" returned the group to the Top 10. Interestingly, many of Chicago's LPs are available on Amazon for digital download; however, Chicago VIII is not one of them.

Rusty Wier - "Don't it Make You Wanna Dance" (Not available as MP3)

(Debuted #98, Peaked #82, 4 Weeks on the Chart)



Rusty Wier wasn't a bad pun; he was a Texas troubadour who was among the acts that came out of Austin (along with Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Murphey) during the 1970s. This song was his only appearance on the Hot 100 and didn't make much of an impression there; however, it has been covered many times, most notably by Bonnie Raitt (who sang it live during a scene in the 1980 film Urban Cowboy). Although his records have become hard to find and his music isn't available in digital form, Wier is still touring today.

The performance in the video above was a 1990 live show. At the time of writing this, It was the only YouTube video of the song.

Sly Stone - "I Get High on You"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #52, 9 Weeks on the Chart)



This song is significant for two reasons: first, it was Sly Stone's first chart appearance without his backup group The Family Stone. Second, it would be the last time he'd show up in Billboard's Hot 100. Despite a long period of groundbreaking music, years of excess and the toll of the road had left their mark and fractured the band.

Since 1968, Sly & the Family Stone were among the groups that defined funk. It's been written that Stone and James Brown originated most of the grooves that have propelled funk and hip-hop ever since. As a song, "I Get High on You" is a great funky tune which holds its own against other 1975 funk jams like "Up For the Down Stroke," "Skin Tight" or "Machine Gun." It's also worth noting that by 1975, Larry Graham -- Stone's old bass player from The Family -- was fronting Graham Central Station and pushing the limits of funk on his own. Although Sly Stone was leaving funk's center stage, his disciples would carry the flag for years to come.

Leon Haywood - "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #15, 17 Weeks on the Chart)



While Sly Stone may have helped lay the foundation for funk, this song had lasting power. The instrumental intro would surface again nearly 20 years later as part of the Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg composition "Nothin' But a G Thang." I'll call it a "composition" since I'm not a huge fan of rap or the lifestyle it espouses, but there's no denying the fact that the instrumental bit lifted from "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" was damned catchy.

The song "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" appeared on the radio in the same era as other suggestive hits like "Jungle Fever," "Pillow Talk" and "Let's Get it On" and along with Barry White's persona, there was a lot of sexual steam on the airwaves (those of you who missed the 1970s, take a listen to these tunes the next time your parents tell you that there wasn't anything suggestive like music today). While the music behind Haywood sets a mood, the moaning female background singers only accent exactly what "freaky" stuff he's singing about.

It's great song, no matter what era we're discussing.

Linda Ronstadt - "Heat Wave" b/w "Love is a Rose"

(Debuted #73, Peaked #5, 15 Weeks on the Chart)



Since this is a two-sided record, here's a video of the flip from the same concert:



Using two sides of a single to satisfy two different formats is something that has been lost in today's digital age. Today, when an artist wants to have songs played on different formats (for instance, Taylor Swift or Shania Twain), the record company takes the same song and remixes it with different instrumentation. Listen to the different versions of Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much" (or better yet, don't...and just take my word for it) and you'll hear two different songs but the exact same vocals.

In the 1970s, some artists used their single releases to maximum effect. Olivia Newton-John and Elvis Presley were among the acts using one side for rock/pop stations and another for country, and Linda Ronstadt was another. With this single, "Heat Wave" (a faithful cover of the 1960s hit by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas) was the pop song, and Neil Young-penned "Love is a Rose" was the one destined for country radio. Both peaked at #5 on their respective Billboard charts.

Dickie Goodman - "Mr. Jaws"

(Debuted #49, Peaked #4, 10 Weeks on the Chart)



Dickie Goodman made his name by inventing the "break-in" record. Taking a cue from the classic 1938 radio show War of the Worlds, Goodman made a record interspersing current hits with "reports" of a UFO landing by DJs and reporters. "The Flying Saucer" was such a hit in 1958 that Goodman continued making "break-in" records for the next 30 years. Among the topics of his novelty recordings in the 1970s were Watergate, the energy crisis, President Nixon and anything else that suited him.

In 1975, Goodman had his biggest "hit" with "Mr. Jaws." That summer, the film Jaws was breaking box-office records, so Goodman's "roving reporter" went to work asking questions of various characters from the movie. The artists involved in the "answers" were Olivia Newton-John, James Taylor, War, KC & The Sunshine Band, The Captain & Tennille, Glen Campbell, The Eagles, The Bee Gees, 10cc, Melissa Manchester and John Williams (with his main theme from the film).

The song was a smash, quickly making it all the way to #4 on the Billboard charts. Unfortunately, it dropped off the charts as quickly as it rose and was one of few Top 5 records that didn't make its year-end Top 100 list.

Pat Lundi - "Party Music" (Not available as MP3)

(Debuted #100, Peaked #78, 5 Weeks on the Chart)



At the time I originally wrote this review, I'd never heard Pat Lundi's "Party Music" and found nothing about her. Even my R&B reference (she had three minor hit singles on that chart) had nothing about her.

Now that I've had the chance to hear it, it's actually a pretty nice early-disco version of a song from Melissa Manchester's first LP. As for Lundi, there's still not a lot about her to be found.

John Fogerty - "Rockin' All Over the World"

(Debuted #71, Peaked #27, 11 Weeks on the Chart)



This an incredibly catchy tune. It's one of those songs you can listen to a few times straight without getting annoyed by it (remember the way you could set up a record player to automatically drop the needle back on a single once it was finished?). "I like it, I like it, I like it, I li-i like it" indeed.

Of course, the song sounds exactly like an amped-up Creedence Clearwater Revival. That's because Fogerty was the guiding light behind the group. While Fogerty's song may have been great for CCR fans after the group had split three years before, Fogerty's "comeback" career was short-lived. The owner of CCR's former label (and also the owner of the group's catalog) sued Fogerty for "ripping off" CCR...by "plagiarizing" songs Fogerty had written in the first place. It would be another decade before John Fogerty returned with a new LP.

The Sunshine Band - "Shotgun Shuffle"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #88, 2 Weeks on the Chart)



Among 1975's biggest newcomers were two Miami-based producers and artists named Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch. In addition to their group KC & the Sunshine Band ("KC" came about by Casey's last name), the duo produced George McCrae's #1 smash "Rock Your Baby." As their group was hitting #1 with "Get Down Tonight" their record label decided to get some more product out for the new group's fans. As a result, an all-instrumental LP called The Sounds of Sunshine (featuring KC's "backup band") was quickly shipped.

If the album meant to capitalize on the success of "Get Down Tonight," it failed; "Shotgun Shuffle" was gone from the chart two weeks later. Undaunted, TK records issued another KC & the Sunshine Band LP and "That's the Way (I Like it)" was #1 before the end of the year.

ABBA - "S.O.S"

(Debuted #99, Peaked #15, 15 Weeks on the Chart)



Here's a bit of trivia for you. This is the only chart hit of the 1970s (or any other era, as far as I know) where both the artist and song title are palindromes. This wasn't exactly a debut, since S.O.S. had appeared in the Hot 100 for two weeks in August before dropping off. This time around, the single made its way to #15.

For all the worldwide success ABBA has gotten over the years, it's easily forgotten that their chart performance in the U.S. was something of a disappointment for the group. For all their #1 singles in Europe and elsewhere, they managed to only get a single week at the top of the U.S. charts ("Dancing Queen" in 1977) and only a handful of Top 10 hits.

The melody of "S.O.S." reappeared in the late 1980s when a European dance hit called "Bring Me Edelweiss" used it.

Smokey Robinson - "The Agony & the Ecstasy"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #36, 12 Weeks on the Chart)



This slow, sensual ballad was the last of three hits from Smokey's LP A Quiet Storm. Although his star had dimmed on the pop charts since his departure from The Miracles, Robinson was still one of the major powers that shaped soul music. In fact, the album's title was soon incorporated into a new radio format of mellow R&B called quiet storm.

After peaking at #36 with this song, fans of Smokey Robinson had to wait until 1980 to see him make a return to the pop Top 40.

The Outlaws - "There Goes Another Love Song"

(Debuted 79, Peaked #34, 10 Weeks on the Chart)



Southern rock was never bigger than it was in the mid 1970s. Even groups that weren't from the South -- like The Eagles -- were using the genre to help fill out their sound. The Outlaws were a group from Tampa, Florida who tried to use Eagles-styled harmonies and a guitar attack reminiscent of The Allman Brothers Band. This song -- one that still gets heavy radio attention today -- is a fine example.

An interesting thing about "There Goes Another Love Song" that casual fans may not know: Hughie Thomasson (who sings lead on the song) was not the group's regular lead singer. In fact, he only handled lead duties on a few songs. However, because this was one of the group's most recognizable tunes, his voice is often equated with the group.

Ralph Carter - "When You're Young and in Love" (not available as MP3)

(Debuted #97, Peaked #95, 3 Weeks on the Chart)



This was the same Ralph Carter who played Michael Evans on the TV show Good Times. The song was written by Van McCoy (the man who had hit big with "The Hustle" a year earlier) and had been a hit in 1967 for The Marvelettes. Although the disco-ish tune was expected to get some interest from young female fans of his show, the single only lasted three weeks on the Hot 100 and reached #95. Ralph Carter did manage to get another disco hit with "Extra Extra" but soon went back to his acting gig.

A YouTube video of Ralph Carter singing (okay, lip-synching) this song on Soul Train is above. It's worth watching.

Jessi Colter - "What's Happened to Blue Eyes" b/w "You Ain't Never Been Loved (Like I'm Gonna Love You" (Not available as MP3)

(Debuted #85, Peaked #57, 10 Weeks on the Chart)



Jessi Colter was better known as the wife of Waylon Jennings (and the mother of Shooter Jennings) but in 1975 she had great success with her LP I'm Jessi Colter. "I'm Not Lisa" was a huge hit earlier in the year, but this two-sided followup faded at #57. On the country chart, it reached #5. After this single, there would be no more Jessi Colter songs in the Hot 100 but she was still hitting the country charts. In fact, in 1976, she and her husband teamed with Willie Nelson and Tompall Glaser to record Wanted! The Outlaws! A landmark album, it would be the first country LP to be awarded platinum status.

This Week's Review -- September 4, 1976

There were nine singles debuting on this week's Billboard Hot 100, with one being a double-sided hit. Five of the singles went into the Top 40, with one reaching into the Top 10. That Top 10 hit is the two-sided hit, a single that reaches into two entirely different sources. Several of this week's songs are looks into the past, with The Carpenters doing a Tin Pan Alley song, The Bay City Rollers looking back at a previous British Invasion and Diana Williams doing an "answer" song. ABBA defines the international appeal of its music, The Average White Band charts unexplored territory, John Valenti channels Stevie Wonder, The Attitudes predate Toto...and Mother's Finest just blows down the door.

There are a bunch of Billboard magazines archived at Google Books, but the September 4, 1976 edition is missing.With that, I once again bring up my other music-related site, 80s Music Mayhem. Last week, the focus was on songs from 1988 and several of them had some personal point. I close out the decade next week, and once again return to 1980 after that. While the posts there aren't often as deep as they are here, I still have some connection to that music as well and hope you can check it out, too.



ABBA - "Fernando"

(Debuted #77, Peaked #13, 11 Weeks on chart)



"Fernando" is one of ABBA's biggest hits, but it wasn't actually recorded by them as a group effort. It was actually concieved as a solo effort by group member Anni-Frid Lyngstad and composed in Swedish with totally different lyrics than the English version that followed. Where that version offered a condolence to a man who has lost his love (though I'm not sure whether by death or convenience), it was rewritten as a group effort after being successful in the group's native country.

The more familiar English version has two veterans talking about a lost battle. Interestingly, a pair of Swedish singers sing in English about the reminiscences of two former Mexican soldiers...and that resulted in an international hit. Opening with flutes, it definitely made an impression -- good or bad -- and its melody was much different than what 1976 usually had to offer.

The MP3s here are for the Arrival LP..."Fernando" was actually left off that record originally despite being recorded at the same time and restored with its B-side during a later CD reissue.

Kiss - "Beth" b/w "Detroit Rock City"

(Debuted #79, Peaked #7, 21 Weeks on chart)



Speaking of B-sides, this one was listed during the single's chart run, so here's the video for that as well, and we'll get into it in a minute:



The two sides of this single could not have been any more different: one was a tender, heartfelt ballad with an orchestra, while the other was taken straight from the "car crash" era of rock and updated with the guitars that weren't yet present in the genre. Of course, "Detroit Rock City" was the intended A-side because it was the more standard Kiss song. However, "Beth" was the surprise hot and the highest-charting single the band ever had.

"Beth" is a song that basically apologizes for the writer being a musician. While he and the band are working hard to find a "sound," she's at home waiting for the singer (Peter Criss here). While the other members chime in with "Just a few more hours," the protagonist is trying really hard to walk the line...and the band eventually wins out. As a writer, I definitely understand the allure once inspiration takes over: it's currently 5:19 in the morning as I write this. Believe me, I understand.

While "Beth" is essentially an explanation given in a syrupy tone that tries to sooth the other person, "Detroit Rock City" is much more direct. The guitar, bass and drum that kick the song off make that pretty clear. This time, the protagonist (Paul Stanley) is stopping at a few places to socialize before "The Midnight show" and gets in a beer and cigarette in the meantime. Finally, he's jumping in the car and speeding up to get there. Just in time for the truck to come out of nowhere. Before the coda, the narrator is witnessing his own death.

I can't think of two more different sides to the Rock & Roll lifestyle.

The Average White Band - "Queen Of My Soul"

(Debuted #82, Peaked #40, 8 Weeks on chart)



"Queen of My Soul" was a departure from the "usual" Average White Band song. Rather than the straight R&B-influenced funk the band used earlier, it was a dream-type soundscape. It only went to #40 pop and #21 R&B; however, despite its disappointing chart showing, the LP that included the song (Soul Searching) is considered one of the band's better albums despite its lack of hit material.

"Queen of My Soul" was written by band member Hamish Stuart, who played with Paul McCartney in the late 1980s. It was their final Top 40 hit, even though the group had several more albums before breaking up in 1982.

The Bay City Rollers - "I Only Want To Be With You"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #12, 16 Weeks on chart)



In an effort extend Rollermania a little bit longer, the Bay City Rollers reached back to a 1963/'64 Dusty Springfield hit to record. And they gave it a good blast of music, featuring a great guitar line, popping bass and solid drums...and still fit in a string section. It went to #12 in the U.S., which equaled the chart peak of the original, and was their last U.K. Top 10 hit.

"I Only Want to Be With You" is a song that I really couldn't stand as a kid. I was partial to the Dusty Springfield version (and still am), but now that I've had more of a chance to put the decade's music into perspective, I find that it's not that bad. I'm not a big fan of the Rollers at all, but I see that they've given a really solid performance here. They don't remake the tune into their own, but they sure seem to have fun while they do it. 

The Carpenters - "Goofus"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #56, 5 Weeks on chart)



While The Carpenters were known to be performers and rarely only sometimes wrote their own material -- and never recorded their own material for singles (See the comment below) -- they really went back in time for "Goofus." It had been written in 1930 by Wayne King and William Harold, and Gus Kahn created the melody. Les Paul and Phil Harris recorded versions of it in 1950. Say what you want about the duo blandness, but some of the choices made after their decline were pretty gutsy. This likely wasn't a song listened to by Richard and Karen as kids.

Gutsy or not, "Goofus" was the first single from the duo to miss the Top 40 since 1970, as well as the first that didn't peak in the top 2 on the Adult Contemporary survey. While 1930s nostalgia wasn't new in 1976 (the year of "Baby Face" and a year after "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes"), this one wasn't trying to cash in on the Disco movement.  It was an unashamed look back at the past, using state-of-the-art recording technology.

Diana Williams - "Teddy Bear's Last Ride" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #90, Peaked #66, 6 Weeks on chart)



The third straight song that looks at the past is a tune that continues the story spun by Red Sovine's "Teddy Bear" earlier in the year. In it, the young boy of the original song finally lets go. He gets sick and dies, and the "last ride" of the title is the one in the Hearse.

While the original "Teddy Bear" is a great tear-jerker (during my country DJ days, I never spoke after the song was over; I always played something else. YOU try talking out of that, because it's hard to do), there isn't the same sentiment in Diana Williams' answer song. Red Sovine spun a story about the trucker who makes friends with what turns out to be a crippled boy and discovers that his fellow truckers -- as mean as they might appear on  the outside -- are nothing more than big kids at times, Williams doesn't spin the same yarn. It would be the Nashville-born chanteuse's only hit on both the pop and country charts, but didn't make it high up either one.

John Valenti - "Anything You Want" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #91, Peaked #37, 12 Weeks on chart)



Though "Anything You Want" is shown as John Valenti's debut, he had a 1975 hit under his birth name John LiVigni and was a member of one of Motown's few white bands Puzzle. The Motown connection comes through here, as you might be fooled into thinking the voice above belongs to Stevie Wonder on an outtake.

That said, his accompaniment here is a little more generic than the star-studded material Wonder had at his disposal. The Chicago-born Valenti took "Anything You Want" into the pop Top 40 and #10 on the R&B chart, but never managed another hit after that.

Mother's Finest - "Fire"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #93, 2 Weeks on chart)



"Fire" brings to mind Jimi Hendrix, or the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, or even The Ohio Players. This song isn't a remake of any of those. It was something different, and so was the group Mother's Finest, a Georgia-based interracial band that blended funk, R&B, hard rock and boogie into its own unique blend. In a way, the band offered fans a look at what Sly & the Family Stone might have been like if they were from the South and didn't fall apart after their leader's drug-induced psychosis.

Don't believe me? Click the video above and see if the live version of "Fire" doesn't immediately stand out. 

The Attitudes - "Sweet Summer Music" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #97, Peaked #94, 6 Weeks on chart)



The Attitudes were made up of the cream of L.A.'s crop of studio musicians (David Foster, Danny Kortchmar,Paul Stallworth and Jim Keltner), which was essentially Toto before that group was formed. The group was brought together for George Harrison's Extra Texture (Read All About it) LP, and ended up recording two albums for Harrison's Dark Horse imprint. Unlike Toto, the Attitudes basically played out their contract and resumed their lucrative studio jobs.

"Sweet Summer Music" has the laid-back feel of the group War but without the diverse nature of their music. They even feature a harmonica (just like Lee Oskar's), just to set the mood right. It was the group's only Hot 100 single, reaching #94 before sinking back into the radio ether.