This Week's Review -- August 26, 1972

There were ten new songs on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, with five reaching the Top 40, and one making the Top 10. Many of the songs here are lesser-known followups to bigger hits, with only the Gladstone song being a single-time hit. Leon Russell charts for the first time under his own name, but he was no stranger to the charts. Emerson, Lake and Palmer reach the Top 40 for the only time in their career with a song that might surprise some. But for Bill Withers, Donny Osmond, Rod Stewart, Bobby Womack, Glen Campbell, The Dramatics and Sammi Smith, they're better remembered for their other hits than the ones listed here. That actually makes the list here more interesting.

There is a large archive of Billboard magazines over at Google Books available, including the August 26, 1972 edition. The full Hot 100 list can be found on page 78. An article on page 4 explains how Don Cornelius was expanding his show Soul Train to a larger national audience. On page 40, the newest developments in car cassette players are explained. That leads into a lengthy section that tells all about cassette tapes, circa 1972.

Bill Withers - "Use Me"

(Debuted #80, Peaked #2, 12 Weeks on chart)



Bill Withers' followup to his #1 hit "Lean On Me" was almost  #1 itself. "Use Me" spent two weeks at #2, held out of the top spot by who of the decade's oddities: Michael Jackson's love song to a rat ("Ben") and Chuck Berry's sophomoric humor-laden "My Ding-a-Ling." 

Before you consider that novelty played a part in that, "Use Me" has a novel approach in its lyrics as well. While Withers' narrator is explaining that his well-meaning friends and relatives are telling him that his woman is just using him, he's explaining that he enjoys it...in fact, he's using her, too. That's not always perceptible over such a deep groove.

Leon Russell - "Tight Rope"

(Debuted #82, Peaked #11, 12 Weeks on chart)



"Tight Rope" shows up as Leon Russell's first hit, but it was by no means his first trip up the chart. For more than a decade, Russell had been a supporting act on tour and in the studio as well as a songwriter. When he started performing solo in the early 1970s, he never really relinquished his former roles and continued filling in where he was needed. This led him to be featured on a lot of other people's records, and even led him into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman.

"Tight Rope" was his biggest hit under his own name and was the first track on his Carney LP. Using circus imagery to compare with the life of a touring musician, it also features several chances for Russell show his chops on the piano. Interestingly, the song seems like a mix of ragtime and electrified Dixieland jazz but has aged better than most of its era's songs despite sounding old when it was released. Some call it "dated," others call it timeless, but either way, it was a standout cut from an interesting musician.

The flip side of the "Tight Rope" single featured the original rendition of "This Masquerade," which was later recorded by George Benson and The Carpenters. 

Bobby Womack and Peace - "Sweet Caroline"

(Debuted #84, Peaked #51, 9 Weeks on chart)



Interestingly, one famed session player leads to another. Both Leon Russell and Booby Womack would return to session work after going solo, but Womack's solo success was longer and more sustained. His instrument was the guitar, and he played it well enough to be given the nickname "Womagic" by some of his peers.

With "Sweet Caroline," Womack did a remake of 1969 Neil Diamond song. It was during the period where Diamond was still a writer who expressed himself well enough to be covered in multiple formats, as opposed to his later image as an adult contemporary giant. Here, Womack takes the song and gives it an R&B spin...even tossing in some embellishments that remind the listener of his old mentor Sam Cooke.

Donny Osmond - "Why" b/w "Lonely Boy"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #13, 12 Weeks on chart)



Since this is a two-sided hit, here's a video of the B-side as well:



With the two sides of this single, one teen idol refers to a previous era dominated by them. Both songs had previously been #1 hits in 1959, with Frankie Avalon crooning "Why" and Paul Anka doing "Lonely Boy." Once again, Donny Osmond goes with the template that fit his solo hits: remake a song that had already been a hit in years past, and let the same girls who bought his posters do the rest. And once again, it was relatively successful...which kept the idea in place for the next single.

Osmond doesn't venture too far outside his comfort zone on either song. That's a shame, since the material he was recording with his brothers at the time was venturing into some wider ranges than what he did on his own. You can blame his handlers for that, but it was still a noticeable change.

Rod Stewart - "You Wear It Well"

(Debuted #87, Peaked #13, 10 Weeks on chart)



At first, "You Wear it Well" sounds a lot like Rod Stewart's smash "Maggie May" but with a violin as the featured instrument instead of a mandolin. And with the common beat and similar vibe, that would seem correct. However, while both songs were addressed to former lovers, "Maggie May" was a lot more bittersweet while "You Wear it Well" comes off as something that might be mentioned while sitting at a bar and trying to figure out what the hell went wrong. And from what I've read about Stewart in the era, that might be precisely where he and guitarist Martin Quittendon wrote it.

The members of Faces help out in the background, just as they do in most of the songs on the LP Never a Dull Moment. It wasn't billed as a Faces record due to contractual obligations, but comes off as a brilliantly performed tune. This was before Stewart began both making records that betrayed his talent and gained him a wider audience, so "You Wear it Well" may be one of the last stops before his career went in a direction that required him to just hold on for the ride.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "From the Beginning"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #39, 11 Weeks on chart)



Here's something that might surprise you. "From the Beginning" was the only song that Emerson, Lake and Palmer took into the pop Top 40. And it didn't stay long there, peaking at #39 after only two weeks. For a band who charted high with all of their LPs through 1977 (including two live sets), that may seem odd.

"From the Beginning" was the one Greg Lake acoustic song that seemed to show up on every album. The song is accented by an electric bass and bongos at first, but is given an ELP flourish later on when Keith Emerson adds a synthesizer solo and random sound effects. It is performed as a collection of reassuring lines to a lover -- without a chorus -- and stands out due to its relative simplicity when compared to some of ELP's other material.

Glen Campbell - "I Will Never Pass This Way Again"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #61, 7 Weeks on chart)



Glen Campbell was a busy man in the early 1970s. In fact, from 1967 through 1975, he released at least two albums a year of his own material in addition to touring, filling in as a studio musician and hosting a TV variety series, which wrapped production in June 1972. That's staggering to think he was able to come out with so much music during that time.

"I'll Never Pass This Way Again" was written by Ronnie Gaylord and is performed as an adult contemporary song with a full-throated delivery. Not surprisingly, it was a much bigger hit on that chart, hitting #14. On the pop and country surveys, the song charted but failed to reach the Top 40.

The Dramatics - "Toast To The Fool"

(Debuted #95, Peaked #67, 9 Weeks on chart)



When it comes to The Dramatics, fans might be familiar with "Whatcha See is Whatcha Get" and "In the Rain," but they have a catalog that really deserves to be investigated more fully than just those two Top 40 hits. "Toast To the Fool" was the followup single to the latter hit and deserves to get a closer listen.

Though a part of Memphis-based Stax, the group recorded in its hometown of Detroit and used some of the local talent on instruments. Wee Gee Howard does the lead vocals on this one, and the group shows their Doo-Wop influence as they use a multi-layered performance on the song. The "fool" in the title is the one who left a woman behind (rather that the singer himself), so the song is a celebration of being in the right place at the right time to snag the one that got away from somebody else.

Gladstone - "A Piece Of Paper" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #99, Peaked #45, 11 Weeks on chart)



There really isn't a lot of information to be found about Gladstone. They were a group out of Tyler, Texas and their guitarist was Mike Rabon, a former member of The Five Americans. That's about all there is to be found out there.

Their only hit was "A Piece of Paper," a song whose lyrics was socially aware for the times, using the piece of paper to signify a law, a marriage decree, a religious tithe and even a death certificate (the Vietnam War was still raging at the time). It also mentions abortion, a topic that was then being brought before the Supreme Court at the time. Using the phrase "In order to form a more perfect union" repeatedly to make its point, it was heavy stuff for a pop song. Not surprisingly, it fell short of the Top 40.


Sammi Smith - "I've Got To Have You"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #77, 7 Weeks on chart)



Sammi Smith will forever be known to pop fans for her smoky rendition of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make it Through the Night," but fewer fans realized that she charted again after that song. While she charted many times on the country chart as a member of the "outlaw" movement of the era, she only reached the Top 40 once more, with "I've Got to Have You."

The song seems to follow the template that was set by "Help Me Make it Through the Night." Smith sings it with the half-whispered voice, the strings are in the background and the subject deals with sexual release that may not lead to anything else down the road. However, lightning didn't strike twice for her and the song only made it to #77 on the pop chart and #13 on the country survey.

This Week's Review -- July 1, 1972

Twelve new singles showed up in this week's Billboard Hot 100, with six reaching into the Top 40. Three would make the Top 10 and one went all the way to #1. Four songs are debuts, from artists who enjoyed repeat trips to the charts (though one of those was primarily a country artist). The chart-topper is a country/rock tune that defined the singer/songwriter genre. Jim Croce sings about another Jim who is a bad mother...("shut your mouth!"). The Isley Brothers sing a song that is slyly about sex, while The Raspberries are a lot more direct about it. A 13 year-old singer shows up with a mature theme, The Partridge Family remakes a tune from the past, and David Bowie indirectly references his own past. Teddy Pendergrass pleads for the first (but definitely not the last) time, Bob Seger tries out another writer's material, and The Temptations sing a song about how life should be.

Over at Google Books is an archive of past issues of Billboard, including the July 1, 1972 edition. The full Hot 100 list can be found on page 56. A column on page 40 notes the recent passing of Clyde McPhatter. He was 41, which seemed to be really old in my opinion not that long ago...but seems to be quite young in my perspective today. The former frontman for the Drifters and soul legend died of a heart attack, which definitely isn't expected of a person that age.

Jim Croce - "You Don't Mess Around With Jim"

(Debuted #60, Peaked #8, 13 Weeks on chart )



A debut song is a perfect time for the artist who recorded it to let it be known they're around, and that messing with them is futile. In this case, however, the "Jim" in the title isn't Jim Croce at all. Instead, this is the story about "Big" Jim Walker, a badass pool hustler in New York. Croce goes on to tell how "Slim," an Alabama country boy, came back to get back what was his and how the story changes once the big man was ambushed. At the end of the song, Jim is out of commission (or dead) and now the guy to beware of is Slim.

So, at the end of a song that announced that Jim Croce had arrived, the "Jim" in the story has been taken out. The person in the song was based on a real person Croce knew in Philadelphia (not New York, as the song states), who was made into a composite of several people. Croce would go on to narrate other songs about social miscreants, most notably the lead character in "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown."

The Osmonds - "Hold Her Tight"

(Debuted #76, Peaked #14, 9 Weeks on chart)



In a case of stuff being recycled, the opening of "Hold Her Tight" is the same bass riff that leads off  Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." Don't believe me? Click the video above and see if you don't agree. In any case, the bottom-heavy arrangement and solid rock styling is not what you might expect from a group that counted Donny Osmond as one of its members, or from a group that made its mark playing Disneyland and The Andy Williams Show.

This was a track from the Crazy Horses LP, which also boasted a rocker in the title song. The story of The Osmonds might have been more interesting if they created an entire album of songs like this, but that wasn't going to be the case. But it proves that even a Mormon family can be subversive when they wanted to.

Mac Davis - "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me"

(Debuted #77, Peaked #1, 18 Weeks on chart)



Though he was noted for writing songs that others made into hits ("In the Ghetto," "Watching Scotty Grow"), Mac Davis's own career wasn't doing so well. As a result, Columbia Records demanded that he write a song with a "hook," rather than the country/rock material he was putting out. So, Davis put one in his title. 

The result was a #1 hit and a career-defining song. The lyrics were a warning to a woman to expect him to depart once he feels too closed in, and the music was definitely the country/rock sound Davis gave to his music. It's a well-crafted pop song, even with its country roots...and curiously, it peaked at only #26 country despite topping both the pop and adult contemporary charts.

A few years later, when Davis was singing "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me" to Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show (while she was dressed as a mermaid and sat on a giant fishhook), I wonder if any parents bothered to explain the adult nature of the song. I know mine didn't.

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes - "I Miss You (Part 1)"

(Debuted #80, Peaked #58, 19 Weeks on chart)



For some, "I Miss You" was the first time the powerful voice of Teddy Pendergrass came over the speakers. It was the first pop chart entry for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and here Pendergrass explains how sorry he is while he commiserates about the fact that he's prepared to change in order for the woman he loves to return to his arms. He sounds like he's on the verge of losing it.   

Pendergrass's pleading is shifted into the background of the album version for one side of a telephone conversation where the protagonist lists all the ways he's changed. He picked up a job and is ready to take extra responsibility to show he's worth another chance. He's a little sore that she's ready to move on without him, and Pendergrass remains in the background, underscoring the point.

Once again, this song goes past the euphoria of falling in love that often appears in pop music, and is about the relationship after things get real.

Neil Young and Graham Nash - "War Song"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #61, 6 Weeks on chart)



Just like today, there was a Presidential election going on in 1972. And as the summer got underway, Democrat George McGovern (a Senator from South Dakota) was poised to unseat Richard Nixon from the Oval office. Although Nixon wasn't exactly popular, the race was no contest at all; McGovern received 17 electoral votes to Nixon's 520.

During the race, Neil Young wrote a protest song for the benefit of McGovern's candicacy. Called "War Song," the lyrics promised that "a man" was running who would put an end to the ongoing war in Vietnam (ironically, Nixon would do that after the election was over anyway). McGovern wasn't specifically named in the song, but George Wallce was. Young recorded the song with his former bandmate Graham Nash and a backing group called The Stray Gators. Interestingly, neither artist was an American citizen, as Young was Canadian and Nash was English.

The Isley Brothers - "Pop That Thang"

(Debuted #87, Peaked #24, 15 Weeks on chart)



Once again, I'm a sucker for performance footage from Soul Train, even when it's a lip-synched rendition. It captures more than just the music, it's the styles, the dance moves and an atmosphere of a bygone time. Not only that, but it shows The Isley Brothers "singing" the funky "Pop That Thang."

The lyrics for "Pop That Thang" use metaphors to get around the suggestive nature of the song. Yes "pop" could mean a gunshot (and it's certainly followed by the words "bang bang bang" to illustrate that), or it could mean the same "pop" that sometimes signifies a climax. The line "look at that rooster running after that hen" gives credence to that theory.

The Raspberries - "Go All the Way"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #5, 18 Weeks on chart)



Where the last song was suggestive, this one is a lot more straightforward. That said, when Eric Carmen wrote the song, he infused it with enough hooks to make it a classic. Phrasing that was broght about by "Let's Spend the Night Together" (another song witha fairly direct reference to what the singer wanted) and instrumentation that was inspired by The Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds LP mixed to make one of the earliest "power pop" songs. That made The Raspberries a very big influence for the same kids that were establishing their "new" sound at the end of the decade.

With "Go All the Way," the music is so immediate, it would be easy to avoid paying attention to the words. However, the feeling behind the guitar blasts pretty much mirrors what the singer's trying to say. As a result, it's a perfect soundtrack for two teens trying to figure out what they're doing in the back seat at the drive-in. It's a feeling that we've all had while growing up...and that's what makes it a classic song.

Tanya Tucker - "Delta Dawn"

(Debuted #92, Peaked #72, 7 Weeks on chart)



Tanya Tucker's first hit was an auspicious one. She was 13 years old and had a voice that made her sound older, so she sang about adult topics. With "Delta Dawn," she told a story about a woman who was possibly demented, waiting patiently for a man from her past who promised to take her away from her Brownsville home but never returned. The smooth-talking suitor either died or left without her, but Dawn still waits for him to come and get her even at the age of 41.

Tucker's version fell far short of the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was a #6 country hit. Most pop fans know the song for its 1973 #1 rendition by Helen Reddy, who sang over an instrumental bed that closely mimicked Tucker's, but it was recorded by several artists as well. Bette Midler recorded it as well (her version actually predated Tucker's), but the original version was performed by co-writer Alex Harvey (not the Scottish rocker) in 1971. He wrote the tune with Larry Collins, one of the Collins Kids of the 1950s.

For Tucker, it was the beginning of a long and successful career, and the beginning of a style she continued as she matured.

The Temptations - "Mother Nature"

(Debuted #93, Peaked #92, 4 Weeks on chart)



All Directions would become The Temptations' biggest-selling LP in four years, buoyed by the strength of their hit "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." However, the initial singles from the album was "Mother Nature," which may have seemed to be a disappointment when it fizzled out at #92 on the pop chart and barely dented the Top 30 of the R&B survey. Today, the song is all but forgotten.

Sung as a slow ballad by Dennis Edwards, "Mother Nature" was one of the socially aware songs that producer Norman Whitfield preferred the group to perform. The lyrics -- written by Dino Fekaris and Nick Zesses -- could be interpreted as a plea to Mother Nature (ecologically) or to the racial changes taking place. It was really up to the listener to determine which.



Bob Seger - "If I Were a Carpenter"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #76, 9 Weeks on chart)



I was actually a little surprised to find that "If I Were a Carpenter" is available on iTunes and Amazon, because Bob Seger is one of those artists who hasn't yet jumped to the new digital format. In interviews, he refers to it as a business matter, but some of his fans ask if he's missing out on new fans due to the lack of his music on as many streams as possible. Personally, it's his material, and if he wants to keep it pent up...that's his prerogative. It's not like classic rock radio doesn't give him plenty of opportunity for his music to be heard.

However, "If I Were a Carpenter" wasn't a Seger original. It was written by Tim Hardin and was a Top 10 hit for Bobby Darin that year. It has been recorded hundreds of times since then and has become something iof a standard. The album that contained the song was Smokin' O.P.s, a record largely made up of songs from other writers. It was a return to Seger's harder-edged roots, and that gives Seger's version of the song a little more of an edge because it isn't given the reverent treatment that others sometimes give to the song.

While Seger himself doesn't seem to favor his earlier material, I think it shows a lot of promise, and would quickly toss this one on the platter as an example of what he can do even with somebody else's composition.

The Partridge Family - "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"

(Debuted #95, Peaked #28, 10 Weeks on chart)



"Breaking Up is Hard to Do" is a remake of 1962 Neil Sedaka song that remains fairly true to the original version, presented in a safe fashion by David Cassidy, Shirley Jones and a handful of studio musicians. While that may sound like I'm dismissing the song without giving it a listen, I'm really not. As part of a regular TV show, the song is defined as a middle-of-the-road type of song that will appeal to a wide range of people. However, even Sedaka managed to revisit his own song a few years later and give it a new interpretation (which mirrored Lenny Welch's 1970 treatment of the song), and that later version has really stuck with me as a much better rendition.

David Bowie - "Starman"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #65, 9 Weeks on chart)



"Starman" is one of the songs from David Bowie's concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars and a Bowie classic that really isn't revisited as often as it should be. A song written from the perspective of a young fan hearing Ziggy on the radio, it has generated some debate among fans about its meaning. One of those involves the similarity of the "Starman" to Major Tom of "Space Oddity."

Featuring a unique guitar strum by Mick Ronson that sounded like a telegraph, the chorus that follows has some similarities to "Over the Rainbow," likely solidifying the child-like wonder of the lyrics. While it's hard to consider any Bowie song from this period "underrated," this one really deserves another listen if you're not that familiar with it.

This Week's Review -- April 15, 1972

There were seven new singles making their debut on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. None of them made it into the Top 40, though. In the nearly three years I've been writing reviews on this blog, that's only the second time that no songs were strong enough to reach the Top 40. Granted, many of the artists featured hit the Top 40 at other times, and one of them will probably be a surprise, but the songs that miss the chance to have Casey Kasem introduce them on his weekly show are sometimes just as interesting as many that do.

Google Books has a large archive of past Billboard magazines to read, including the April 15, 1972 edition.  The full Hot 100 can be found on page 64. Those of you interested in radio will find the extended section about the NAB convention interesting, if for no other reason than to remember the "good old days."

Dr. John - "Iko Iko"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #71, 5 Weeks on chart)



Fans who know this song from its inclusion in the film Rain Man (a version The Belle Stars took to the Top 40 in 1989) might be surprised to see it here, but the roots of "Iko Iko" go back to a song called "Jock-a-Mo" written by James Crawford in 1953. It was a tale of a confrontation between two bands of Mardi Gras revelers who dressed as Indian tribes as their parade routes crossed. The song was morphed into "Iko Iko" by The Dixie Cups in 1965 when an impromptu practice session was caught on tape by producers Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller.

A song about Mardi Gras festivities fit in perfectly for the New Orleans-born Mac Rebbenack, who used the stage name of Dr. John. In fact, it came from an LP called Dr. John's Gumbo, which was a tribute to his home city. "Iko Iko" was the song that kicked off the festivities, and melds the original Crawford version with the words of the later hit.

R. Dean Taylor - "Taos New Mexico" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #89, Peaked #83, 3 Weeks on chart)



Taos, New Mexico is a unique community. There is a highly active artist society there, tourists arrive each year to ski, and it is a historic area which has more than a millennium of continual residency. In this song, however, the narrator isn't worried about any of that. He's locked up in prison and just wants to go home.

And while he's sitting in his cell, he's thinking of his Maria. At the beginning of the song, he's reading a letter from his mother saying that Maria is looking around for another man...and he wants to get back and "never leave Maria alone." In the second verse, he explains that her demands for expensive items is what likely led him to get locked up. In my opinion, he'd probably be better if she went her own way, but love makes us do crazy things.

Of course, a song called "Taos, New Mexico" wouldn't be complete without a Mariachi band, and there they are, in the background with the flute player. It was R. Dean Taylor's last single on the Hot 100.

Ken Loggins with Jim Messina - "Vahevala"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #84, 5 Weeks on chart)



Jim Messina decided it was time to get off the road after several years as a member of The Buffalo Springfield and Poco. He had experimented with sound engineering and production when he was a member of The Buffalo Springfield, and wanted to give it a try full time. Enter Kenny Loggins, who was a songwriter and folk-leaning performer but wasn't signed as an artist. Messina convinced his label to sign Loggins, and he would "sit in" and help with the recordings while producing the album. That idea even led to the title of the LP, Sittin' In. 

It ended up being more successful than anybody expected. Instead of "helping" a new artist get started, Jim Messina ended up being part of a duo. Their debut Hot 100 single was "Vahevala," a song that Loggins co-wrote but not one that made much of an impression chart-wise. The low-key hit with a Calypso interlude followed "Danny's Song" on that LP. Ironically, more fans remember that song (which wasn't issued as a single) today.

The hits would soon come, though, and Loggins' star rose enough to let him eventually go on to the solo career that Messina knew he was capable of having.

Jerry Garcia - "Sugaree" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #95, Peaked #94, 2 Weeks on chart)



When The Grateful Dead re-signed with Warner Brothers in the early 1970s, several members of the band were able to record solo albums. Bob Weir recorded one, as did Mickey Hart and Jerry Garcia. That may seem a little disconcerting while a band is still together, but the strength of The Grateful Dead was that the group's freeform jams allowed the individual members to do their own thing without feeling a desire to walk away.

Among Garcia's assets was his wide range of influences. "Sugaree" reflects folk, blues and -- to a lesser extent -- country. The lyrics were written by longtime Dead associate Robert Hunter and Bill Kreutzmann does the drumming, but Garcia plays all of the other instruments on the recording. For this album, Garcia wasn't really looking to expand away from his group. Instead, it was just a conduit for him to keep busy until the band was ready to hit the road again. 

David Bowie - "Changes"

(Debuted #96, Peaked #66, 7 Weeks on chart)



Of all the debut songs on the Billboard Hot 100 list this week, "Changes" may be the one that most fans would be surprised to discover it missed the Top 40. As time has passed, it's become one of David Bowie's best-known songs and has frequently appeared on his "Best of" compilation LPs. It was even quoted at the beginning of the 1985 film The Breakfast Club. Yet, it was a relative failure upon its release in both the U.S. and U.K. Even a 1974 re-issue of the single failed to make the Top 40, peaking at 41.

"Changes" was the first chart single for Bowie in the U.S., which partially explains its low peak on the chart on this side of the "Big Pond." In the U.K., it was felt that "Oh! You Pretty Things" was a more natural candidate for a single from the Hunky Dory LP, but Peter Noone covered it and released the song as a single.

"Changes" started out as a throwaway song, which might explain why it works so well. It doesn't aspire to be a "voice of a generation" or even an explanation of disaffected youth despite lines like "these children that you spit upon." Over time, it's been picked up by listeners as one of Bowie's finest tunes.

Solomon Burke - "Love's Street And Fool's Road" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #98, Peaked #89, 5 Weeks on chart)



"Love's Street and Fool's Road" is mentioned by Solomon Burke in the song as his location in a telephone conversation. He's in a phone booth, waiting for his woman to arrive. The title is a metaphor, and the funk and brass section in the song backs up his exhortation that he's not in as deep as everybody around him thinks.

The song was part of the soundtrack for the "blaxploitation" movie Cool Breeze. The flick was a remake of The Asphalt Jungle, where a man tries to use a jewel heist to finance a bank in the ghetto. Of course, the plan doesn't exactly work out as expected. Burke provided all of the music for the movie. 

Apollo 100 - "Mendelssohn's 4th (Second Movement)" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #99, Peaked #94, 3 Weeks on chart)



After scoring a surprise hit with its electronic version of a Bach tune, Apollo 100 returned with a second offering in hopes that lightning would strike twice. Of course, it didn't, and that would be the last time Apollo 100 appeared on the Hot 100.

Apollo 100 was an English studio under the aegis of arranger and multi-instrumentalist Tom Parker. As for the song, it was a reworking of "Symphony No. 4" by German composer Felix Mendelssohn, which is also known as the "Italian Symphony." He wrote it in 1833 after watching a religious procession in Naples as he took a tour around Europe. Mendelssohn was similar to Mozart as a child prodigy who was writing music from an early age; also like Mozart, he died in his 30s.

This Week's Review -- March 11, 1972

There were 12 new songs debuting in the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Four of those made the Top 40, two went on to reach the Top 10 and one went to #1. The chart-topper was the only #1 in a long show business career, one that came from the score of an iconic movie but wasn't in the movie itself. Michael Jackson has a song here, and so does his later producer Quincy Jones. Paul McCartney's post-Beatles band Wings makes its first appearance here, as does Harry Chapin. Among the artists who failed to reach the Top 40 are artists such as Alice Cooper, John Denver, Dionne Warwick and Kris Kristofferson. Bullet shows up for the last time, a song that once appeared on a cereal box and the first ever British #1 single to feature a synthesizer also make an appearance.

Over at Google Books, there is a large archive of Billboard magazines to read for free, including the March 11, 1972 edition. The full Hot 100 can be found on page 84. An interview with DJ Charlie Tuna starts on page 36. A special section of the magazine outlines information about voter registration, including the specific data in each state. That may seem quaint today, but the opportunity for 18-to-20 year olds to vote was a new concept, brought about by outrage that people could be forcibly inducted into the military by means of conscription without having a say in the electoral process.

Michael Jackson - "Rockin' Robin"

(Debuted #68, Peaked #2, 13 Weeks on chart)



Two seems to be a lucky number when it comes to "Rockin' Robin." When it was originally recorded by Bobby Day in 1958, it reached #2 on the pop chart. Michael Jackson's remake matched that peak and also went to #2 on the R&B survey.

Watching the 1992 TV miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, family patriarch Joe Jackson (played by Welcome Back, Kotter's Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) seemed to be obsessed with his family outdoing The Osmonds. With "Rockin' Robin," Michael Jackson does his best Donny Osmond, singing a remake -- as Osmond did on all of his solo hits -- with a piccolo behind him that was reminiscent of the flute on "Sweet and Innocent." However, while Osmond continued with the act, Jackson stretched out on his solo records and ended up enjoying a very different career.

Quincy Jones - "Money Runner" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #77, Peaked #57, 8 Weeks on chart)



From an early solo hit by Michael Jackson, here's a song from the producer of his phenomenally successful LPs from 1979 through 1987.

"Money Runner" is a song from the soundtrack of $ (also called Dollar or Dollar$), which was a movie starring Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn. The movie isn't very well-known today, but "Money Runner" sounds just like the type of song that plays onscreen as a getaway is being made (whether it's the good guys escaping the bad...or the other way around).

Wings - "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #78, Peaked #21, 8 Weeks on chart)



On January 30, 1972, British soldiers fired into a crowd of protesters in Ireland, killing 13 (with another man dying later of the wounds he sustained that day). Though the soldiers who fired those shots were quickly exonerated in a tribunal, there was a great deal of controversy about the incident that still hasn't worked itself out. The day is known as "Bloody Sunday" and has worked its way into several songs: Black Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" was inspired by the incident, as was U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday."

Paul McCartney (who is of Irish descent) came up with "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" as a protest. He wrote it, recorded it and had it out as a single less than four weeks after the shootings took place. Predictably, it was quickly banned by the BBC due to its content.

"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" is also significant as the first single for McCartney's group Wings, who remained his backing unit through the rest of the decade.

Alice Cooper - "Be My Lover"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #49, 10 Weeks on chart)



After "Eighteen" became the band's first Top 40 hit, Alice Cooper sent three songs into the Hot 100 to shed the dreaded "One Hit Wonder" label but failed to take them to the Top 40. "Be My Lover" was the third of those, and the one that made the closest peak. The melodic song from the Killer LP has elements of the garage rock and doo-wop that influenced the members as kids, and points toward some of the more complex arrangements they would feature on their next few albums.

"Be My Lover" was written by rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, which shows up in the line "she asked me why the singer's name was Alice" even when that singer was delivering it. A false ending pops up in the song at about the two-thirds mark, followed by a slowed-down, grittier version that takes it the rest of the way.

John Denver - "Everyday"

(Debuted #82, Peaked #81, 3 Weeks on chart)



Just as Don McLean's song "American Pie" was making its way down the charts, Buddy Holly's career gained more attention among the music press than it had at any time since he died 13 years before in a plane crash. However, his music didn't go away, as he recorded enough material that his record company managed to keep releasing new material well after his death. Among artists, his music stayed alive through renditions of Holly songs by The Beatles ("Words of Love"), The Rolling Stones ("Not Fade Away") and others.

In the case of "Everyday," the original B-side to Holly's single "Peggy Sue," it was recorded by John Denver for his 1971 LP Aerie. This was before "American Pie" became a hit, even though the single didn't appear until afterward (and probably picked out by RCA as a result).  It is done in Denver's own country/folk style, yet remains fairly true to the original but without the "hiccup" style that Holly gave the vocal. On the other hand, it's much rawer than the adult contemporary treatment that James Taylor gave to the song in 1985.

It makes me wonder how Buddy Holly might have been able to contribute to the country rock genre in the early 1970s if the plane could have managed to stay in the air. However, his influence on music was undeniable even before McLean's hit was recorded.

Dionne Warwick - "If We Only Have Love"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #84, 3 Weeks on chart)

"If We Only Have Love" was the first single Dionne Warwick recorded for Warner Brothers after leaving a long and fruitful relationship with Scepter. While the six-year run at WB ended up giving Warwick her first #1 pop hit (1974's "Then Came You," a "duet" with The Spinners...which was on a different label), that would be her only appearance in the Top 40 in that span. The song would mirror the overall disappointment of her chart performance during that period, dropping off the pop survey after three weeks, reaching to #37 on the adult contemporary chart and failing to be listed on the R&B side at all.

Only half of the 1972 Dionne LP was produced by long-time Warwick collaborators Burt Bacharach and Hal David, presaging her eventual falling-out with them. Instead, "If We Only Have Love" was helmed by Bob James, who did his best to match the relative effortless ease that Bacharach and David gave to Warwick's best material but failed to recreate. While the arrangement sweeps behind her in dramatic fashion, something is missing: the bright sound that helped her out in the past. The fact that the song was partially co-written by Jacques Brel and Mort Shulman didn't help matters, either. It would take a reboot at the end of the decade (another new record label, a superstar sitting in the control booth, and another album called Dionne) to get her career back on track.

Chicory - "Son Of My Father"

(Debuted #92, Peaked #91, 3 Weeks on chart)



Though Chicory's "Son of My Father" was a relative failure in the U.S., it was a #1 single in the U.K. (where the band was known as Chicory Tip) and is significant as the first chart-topper to use the synthesizer as a main instrument there. That makes them pioneers for later British acts that were synth-heavy, such as Depeche Mode, The Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and a long list of others. Though not nearly as complex as those bands were in their arrangement, the song contains a memorable sound and a chorus that is still used in football games -- or soccer matches, as we call them on this side of the pond -- in Great Britain.

"Son of My Father" was written by Giorgio Moroder (whose own version was reviewed here last year) and Pete Bellotte, who later went on to produce a long string of disco hits after establishing themselves in Munich. Though Moroder wrote the song, he originally recorded it with Italian lyrics and Chicory's version encouraged him to cover his own tune in English. He ended up getting the bigger hit in the U.S.

Bullet - "Willpower Weak, Temptation Strong" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #96, Peaked #96, 2 Weeks on chart)



Once again, Internet DJ Music Mike provides the intro to this song that focuses mostly on the song itself, since he had already featured the group Bullet in another video (for their only Top 40 hit "White Lies, Blue Eyes"). There is a little confusion about the group, as they are frequently mistaken for a similarly-named British band made up of former members of Atomic Rooster. Instead, this Bullet was an American group whose keyboardist Roget Pontbriand when on to play in K.C.'s Sunshine Band and then Wild Cherry later in the decade. There really isn't a lot of information on the band, and much of it is just wrong.

Their second and final entry to the Hot 100 was "Willpower Weak, Temptation Strong," a brass-infused song that only lasted two weeks on the chart and fell off after peaking at #96. It is definitely a relic of the early 1970s (you can hear elements of The Grass Roots and Lighthouse in the song), and a little more promotion for the single might have given it a better shot at heading up the charts. However, Bullet seems to have split apart soon afterward...so maybe there was a good reason it wasn't pushed as hard.

Sammy Davis Jr. with the Mike Curb Congregation - "The Candy Man"

(Debuted #97, Peaked #1, 21 Weeks on chart)



In its year-end issue for 1972, Rolling Stone gave an award to Sammy Davis, Jr.'s rendition of "The Candy Man." It wasn't meant to be a compliment, though: they called it the worst single by the worst artist on the worst album (and may have sprinkled in a few more derisive comments as well, but it's been a while since I've read the article). But...it's not much of a secret that the people who made up Rolling Stone's editorial staff wouldn't have cared for the song. It seems that Davis himself wasn't exactly fond of the song, either, but had done well enough earlier with Anthony Newley-penned material that he was willing to record it.

The song ended up becoming the first #1 pop song of Sammy Davis, Jr.'s 40-year career and eventually became one of his signature songs. A song that was featured in the film Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, though not Davis's version, "The Candy Man" has become one of those tunes that is still polarizing among music fans. Some love it, some hate it, and there really isn't a lot of middle ground.

Davis's version of the song (though not in the live version above) features backing vocals and instrumentation by The Mike Curb Congregation, who had issued their own version earlier but failed to chart with it.

The Sugar Bears - "You Are The One" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #98, Peaked #51, 13 Weeks on chart)



The Sugar Bears wasn't a group as much as a studio creation, much like The Archies were. In fact, they sounded an awful lot like that group...which was entirely appropraite for a band whose song was available on the back of a box of cereal that was loaded with sugar. That's right, "You Are the One" was available as a cheaply-made cardboard-backed record (that needed a coin to weigh it own) on a box of Super Sugar Crisps.

Despite being targeted to the kids, it was also the only hit credited to The Sugar Bears. However, the voice that sang the song wasn't exactly new. It belonged to Mike Settle, a singer/songwriter who was previously in The New Christy Minstrels and The First Edition. While the song's bouncy pop beat and fuzz guitar licks make it perfect as a song for the Saturday morning crowd, it sounds odd to those of us who remember that when he appeared in TV commercials, Sugar Bear's speaking voice was modeled after Dean Martin's.

Kris Kristofferson - "Josie"

(Debuted #99, Peaked #63, 8 Weeks on chart)

After Kris Kristofferson's breakout in 1970 and '71 as the writer of hit songs for other artists, his record company did what they always seem to do: ordered him to come up with more of what he was doing in his own singing career. By 1972, Kristofferson was back in record stores with the LP Border Lord, which largely recycled topics he'd explored already, went back as far as 1967 for material to fill out the record and was his third long-player in only 20 months.

In the case of "Josie," which led off the album, the lady in the title was one of the menagerie of hard-living women that made up six of the record's tracks. A girl who left her hometown to find the world that the song's narrator ended up crossing paths with later on, she ended up leading him to better things and then burned some bridges. Though alone at the end of the song, he concedes he might still chase after her if he ever finds himself in her presence again. Like men are often wont to do.

Harry Chapin - "Taxi" 

(Debuted #100, Peaked #24, 16 Weeks on chart)



Harry Chapin's first Top 40 hit established him right off the bat as a teller of tales. And while "Taxi" was partially made up, there's still enough of Chapin's personal life in the song that he's entirely believeable as he spins the yarn. While he was once a part-time cab driver to make some extra money and enrolled in the Air Force Academy to "learn to fly" (he dropped out after one semester), he was based in New York rather than San Francisco as the song says. However, the story of a chance encounter between two former lovers well after they went their separate ways established the style that Chapin carried onstage for the rest of his life.

Chapin's final Top 40 hit in 1980 was called "Sequel" and continued the story a few years later, with the former roles reversed. Ironically, his career began and ended with songs where he was driving...and that's what Harry Chapin was doing when he was killed in an accident in 1981.

This Week's Review -- November 25, 1972

There were twelve new hits on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, with four that eventually reached the Top 40. Two of them would also reach the Top 10. Two of the singles feature the same song recorded by two different performers. The biggest hit of the bunch was a surprise due to its minimal production. A song celebrates the singer's new adopted home state, while another mentions an ancient promised land. A Raspberries hit touches on a subject that is more common than listeners might be willing to admit, and a song from a duo that had already split up appears. In the mantime, songs by Mac Davis and David Bowie failed to reach heights expected of them, while a song by an actress proves she's unable to improve upon an original. Finally, two songs foreshadow future success: a relative flop would later hit as a live version and a singer would resurface as a huge star in the next decade.

Google Books has a vast archive of Billboard magazines going back to 1944, including the November 25, 1972 edition. The full Hot 100 can be found on page 55. An article beginning on page 3 explain that there were still obstacles for some black businessman wanting to get into the jukebox business in many urban areas, even after the Civil Rights movement was underway.

The Raspberries - "I Wanna Be With You"

(Debuted #77, Peaked #16, 11 Weeks on chart)



Before I began reviewing the songs that debuted in Billboard on this blog, I focused on some of what I felt were my favorite singles of the decade. "I Wanna Be With You" was the third song from that series. Here's a link to that review, which is a bit rambling. I'll edit it down here:

Two horny teens.

It's the main topic of a whole lot of rock 'n' roll songs, going back as far as the genre itself. In fact, the term "rock & roll" was itself regarded as slang for sex. But the fact remains -- despite the revisionists who try to convince us that the 1950s were somehow more pastoral or innocent -- there has been an undercurrent of sex running through the music for its entire history.

The lyrics are certainly a lot more "in your face" now than they were in past decades, but for those trying to say that there wasn't a lot of sexual subject matter in the past must not have been paying attention. Any fan of 1970s music only has to pull out the catalogs of Barry White, Al Green or Marvin Gaye to poke holes in that argument. Even the easy-listening stuff: "Afternoon Delight" anyone? When Toni Tennille sang "You Never Done it Like That," I'm guessing she wasn't complimenting her Captain on his handling of a keyboard.

"I Wanna Be With You" was likely seen as a second helping of "Go All the Way" when the single was shipped in the Fall of '72 as a follow-up to the earlier hit. While "Go All the Way" is the more obvious pop tune, with a catchy melody, Roy Orbison-inspired phrasing and guitar hook, "I Wanna Be With You" is faster, more impatient, more immediate, direct and aggressive -- in short, a lot like I was at 16 -- and even the guitar line conveys the urgency that only a teenager can come up with in his efforts to get his girlfriend to let him get past second base.

At just over three minutes, it's a perfect length for a pop tune. It's long enough to satisfy but still leave you wanting more after it was finished. Kind of like the song's subject was for me when I was a lot younger; sadly, about three minutes was usually all I needed then.

John Denver - "Rocky Mountain High"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #9, 19 Weeks on chart)



Born in New Mexico, John Denver was a military kid, which meant that he moved around a lot. As a result, he never really had a place he considered to be home until he was an adult. That place became Colorado, the state whose capital city was his last name on stage. The lyrics of "Rocky Mountain High" begin with that revelation "He was born in the summer of his twenty-seventh year, coming home to a place he'd never been before."

The lyrics express the natural wonder of the area around Colorado, but the song was interpreted by some as a song that glorified drug use (when Denver wrote, "I've seen it fire rain in the sky," he meant a meteor shower, but others assumed he was on an acid trip). As a result, the song was banned by several radio stations.

Even with the unexpected controversy, the song managed to reach the Top 10 on both the pop and adult contemporary charts and even generated some exposure on country radio. That would generate more controversy later in the decade.

Mac Davis - "Everybody Loves A Love Song"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #63, 7 Weeks on chart)



Mac Davis's followup to "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me" was not the big hit expected just after a #1 single. That said, his style was multi-faceted and he wasn't about to be boxed into a corner by that hit song. With "Everybody Loves a Love Song," Davis went with a more positive message and came up with a lyric from his softer side.

Though it missed the Top 40, "Everybody Loves a Love Song" managed to reach #13 on the adult contemporary survey, where it was probably more suited. Davis continued to hit those two charts as well as the country survey throughout the decade, rather than focusing all of his efforts in one area. In addition to performing, he remained a songwriter and dabbled in acting.

Carole King - "Been To Canaan"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #24, 10 Weeks on chart)



"Been to Canaan" was the only chart single from Carole King's LP Rhymes & Reasons. The album was unlike her earlier output by the fact that it was made up entirely of new material, rather than an occasional pick from the archive of songs she'd written with Gerry Goffin. Critics have tagged it as an eneven collection, but it's probably tough to come up with followups to an album like Tapestry, which was still riding the charts when Rhymes & Reasons was released.

Historically, Canaan was the name of the area that is now called Israel. Considering that King is ethnically Jewish, it makes sense that the song is a reference to the homeland of her religion (indeed, there is a mention of "Promised Land" in the lyrics). Accompanied by a piano riff, King's words convey a desire to find a place -- not necessarily a specific land -- where she can feel comfortable in the arms of a loved one.

Though it stopped at #24 on the pop chart, "Been To Canaan" would hit #1 on the adult contemporary survey, her second as a solo artist.

Rick Springfield - "What Would The Children Think" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #89, Peaked #70, 4 Weeks on chart)



Thanks to Rick Springfield's success during the 1980s and his role as Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital,  his early career as a singer in the 1970s is largely forgotten. Long before he was a hearthrob, he was a member of Zoot, a popular Australian teenybopper band.

"What Would the Children Think" was his second Hot 100 listing, following his first Top 40 hit "Speak to the Sky." It was a cut from his first American LP titled -- appropriately enough -- Beginnings. Although the lyrics aren't much compared to what he later recorded (a man refuses to leave a relationship for the good of his kids), it's a glimpse into Springfield's roots.


David Bowie - "The Jean Genie"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #71, 5 Weeks on chart)



"The Jean Genie" was part of David Bowie's Aladdin Sane LP,  a record that was recorded after (and inspired by) Bowie's tour of the United States to support The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust. While most of the music was recorded in London, "The Jean Genie" was cut while Bowie was still in New York, which gives it perhaps the most "American" flavor of all the songs on the album.

In a sense, it is another of the many phases of Bowie's work. It is driven by a guitar riff, which is provided by Mick Ronson.It may surprise some to learn that the song only reached #71, since it's one of the more visible tunes in Bowie's catalog.

Foghat - "I Just Want To Make Love To You"

(Debuted #91, Peaked #83, 5 Weeks on chart)



"I Just Want to Make Love to You" is one of the few songs that has charted both as a studio version and in a live setting. This was the second of two chart runs for the studio track, reaching #83. It would eventually reach the Top 40 in 1977 when the  Foghat Live LP brought it back from its status as an album cut. The resurgence was a result of several factors: Foghat was better known, the timing was right, and some songs just sound better on stage.

This wasn't the first appearance of "I Just Want to Make Love to You," however. It was originally a hit for Muddy Waters in 1954, Etta James put her mark on it in 1961 and The Rolling Stones performed it on their first album. It was also the first hit Foghat placed on the national chart. With its driving beat and guitar-driven sound, it was quite a way for the blues-influenced act to kick in the door.

Timmy Thomas - "Why Can't We Live Together"

(Debuted #94, Peaked #3, 15 Weeks on chart)



"Why Can't We Live Together" is a song with a message of brotherhood. It's also a song that is about as stripped down production-wise as you can get. According to the backstory, it was recorded as a demo with Thomas playing an organ and accompanied by a rhythm machine. It was slated to have a full orchestra filling in the details, but producer Steve Alaimo liked it the way it was.

The song was an immediate smash, hitting #1 on the R&B chart as well as #3 pop as it sold more than two million copies. It also proved that it wasn't always necessary to fill in extra instruments to detract from teh vocals, especially when they are sung in a soulful manner and conveyed an inpassioned plea.

Peter Skellern - "You're A Lady" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #96, Peaked #50, 8 Weeks on chart)



The first of two versions of the same song, "You're a Lady" is performed here by the English singer Peter Skellern, who also wrote the song. The song features the backing of The English Congregation, who had a minor hit of their own with "Softly Whispering I Love You" earlier in the year. Performed in a low-key manner until the coda kicks in, the song is an affirmation of the value of a woman's love.

Although "You're a Lady" would be Skellern's only hit in the U.S., he has remained busy writing music for television shows, stage shows and chorale groups over the years.

Simon and Garfunkel - "America"

(Debuted #97, Peaked #97, 2 Weeks on chart)



Two things happened in 1972 that helped "America" become a single more than four years after it was included on the 1968 LP Bookends. First, the progressive group Yes released a remodeled version of the song (reviewed in this blog in August 2010) and then it was included on Simon & Garfunkel's LP Greatest Hits album. The duo, which had split in 1970, never released the song as a single in 1968 but it had become a notable track due to its non-rhyming lyric and its tale about a metaphorical search of oneself by traveling across the country. The song performed poorly, never exceeding its #97 entry position.

In the 2000 film Almost Famous, William's sister plays the song as her explanation for leaving home.

Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando - "You're a Lady"

(Debuted #98, Peaked #70, 8 Weeks on chart)



The second version of "You're a Lady" to debut this week sounds like a Tony Orlando solo project even though it is credited to his group Dawn. At the same time, the backing track sounds very much like the one used in the original Peter Skellern version. It definitely isn't Joyce Wilson and Telma Hopkins behind him.

I can't find anything to back me up on this, but the song was likely recorded during the period when the permanent members of Dawn were still being decided. Sensing a chance to get an American version of a song that might not chart on this side of the Atlantic, Orlando likely went in the studio to record it. Interestigly, both songs were on the chart for 8 weeks, with the original faring better.

Joey Heatherton - "I'm Sorry"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #87, 9 Weeks on chart)

"I'm Sorry" was originally a #1 hit in 1960 for Brenda Lee, who was 15 years old when she recorded it. At the time, her record company was worried about such a young girl singing about unrequited love. It was relegated to a B-side but ended up becoming one of the songs Lee is best-remembered for singing. For Joey Heatherton, she was in her late twenties, so the song should have been perfect.

However, Joey Heatherton was no Brenda Lee. That's not meant to be an insult, as very few singers are. It's just that Joey Heatherton was one of many actresses given the chance to record their own albums. It doesn't appear she was given a chance to record a second one.