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. 

This Week's Review -- April 17, 1976

There were ten singles debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, and seven made it into the Top 40. Four of those reached into the Top 10 and one went to the #1 position. That chart-topper was also a #1 R&B tune, and a #1 country tune is in the list as well. While many of the bigger hits exemplify the pop sound of 1976, one of the songs that just missed the Top 40 is an interesting listen.

There is a large archive of Billboard magazines to read over at Google Books, but the April 17, 1976 edition is missing. So, I'll once again go into shameless promotion mode and recommend my other music-related blog 80s Music Mayhem, which just cycled through the decade once more. For the sixth time, 1989 was featured this week...so 1980 is on deck once more.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three - "One Piece at a Time"

(Debuted #71, Peaked #29, 10 Weeks on chart)



This week's review kicks off with quite a yarn. In "One Piece at a Time," Johnny Cash tells a story about an autoworker in Detroit who puts wheels on Cadillacs. After watching the cars rolling out, he comes up with a plan to take assorted car parts home from the factory until he could have his own. So, he spaces the operation out for more than 20 years and ends up with a car that looks like it was assembled by Dr. Frankenstein. While the song is technically an account of workplace theft, it's one of the many songs in a humorous vein that Cash would record over the years.

"One Piece at a Time" was written by Wayne Kemp and became the 13th song that Cash would take to #1 on the country chart. Sadly, it would also be his final one, as the changing tastes of Nashville pushed him out of the country mainstream despite a long history of crossover success by Cash. Though he continued to record and chart through his death in 2003, this would be the last of his 45 pop hits.

The Doobie Brothers - "Takin' It To The Streets"

(Debuted #72, Peaked #13, 14 Weeks on chart)



"Takin' it to the Streets" established a new direction for The Doobie Brothers. It was the band's first single with a lead vocal by Michael McDonald, who also wrote the song. McDonald had stepped in to help the group when Tom Johnston suffered health issues that took him off the road, but when the illness lingered, he stayed on. As a result, the band's focus shifted from the guitar-driven rock of their earlier period toward a more adult contemporary and "blue-eyed soul" sound.

Despite the change, they continued selling records, with the album Takin' it To the Streets continuing the band's platinum streak. The title song was inspired by Motown and soul, which is evident in the gospel-style call-and-response chorus. The lyrics embody brotherhood, which is always a good thing but especially so from a multi-racial band. It was a reminder that the "brothers" in the group name weren't the fraternal type; the relationship was more spiritual.

Hot Chocolate - "Don't Stop It Now"

(Debuted #80, Peaked #42, 6 Weeks on chart)



When most listeners (most American listeners, that is) think of Hot Chocolate, attention usually focuses on "You Sexy Thing," Emma" and maybe "Every 1's a Winner." However, that leaves out other worthwhile hits the group had, including "So You Win Again" and "Don't Stop it Now."

The latter song is an unexpected gem for fans who haven't heard it. While Errol Brown's vocal performance sounds much like it does on many of the band's hits and the string section sounds like they're still playing from the sheet music to "You Sexy Thing," the song's main riff comes from a bass and pulls the song along. It's a funkier tune than it was probably meant to be, and is definitely catchy enough to stay with the listener after the song has stopped playing.

The J. Geils Band - "Where Did Our Love Go"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #68, 6 Weeks on chart)



"Where Did Our Love Go" was familiar to most music fans in 1976, especially the Baby Boomers who were then just growing into their adult lives. Written by Holland/Dozier Holland in 1964, it was the first of The Supremes' 12 #1 singles. For groups like The J. Geils Band who grew up on Motown and soul classics, it was a natural choice for their live setlist. Not only was it familiar to their fans, but it was a reminder of the "good old days" before things like bills, responsibilities and kids (in some cases) got in the way.

The funny thing about the song is that The Supremes -- still unproven at that point -- were originally less than thrilled about the recording it. However, the success of that single helped establish them as one of Motown's premier acts and they eventually changed their minds. As for the J. Geils version, they do it in the same style they used on their stage show: more blues-based and with less of the studio tricks used in the original. This time, they weren't trying to attract a wider audience. For the band, they'd wait until the next decade before doing that.

Seals and Crofts - "Get Closer"

(Debuted #82, Peaked #6, 26 Weeks on chart)



For a band as closely associated with a religious movement as Seals & Crofts, it's interesting to point out that their three biggest hits all peaked at #6. However, three sixes is something associated with Christianity, and since Jim Seals and Dash Crofts were followers of the Baha'i faith, that doesn't count. Of those three hits, "Get Closer" spent more time in the pop Top 10.

In keeping with their habit of performing songs that affirmed their own faith, "Get Closer" was a song about togetherness. Featuring a soulful guest vocal by former Honey Cone member Carolyn Willis, it was definitely one of their most memorable tunes. It would also be the last time the duo would reach the pop Top 10.

Gary Wright - "Love Is Alive"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #2, 27 Weeks on chart)



Gary Wright scored a pair of #2 singles in 1976 from the LP The Dream Weaver, and "Love is Alive" was the second of them. Both songs were wildly successful, but neither one seemed to have that extra something to get past "December 1963" or "Disco Lady" -- in the case of "Dream Weaver" -- or "Kiss and Say Goodbye" or "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." All are classic singles, but really, either of these Gary Wright songs could have sneaked into the #1 spot for a single week, Billboard. Anyway, off the soapbox...

"Love is Alive" is a funkier, less ethereal song than "Dream Weaver" was, though both singles featured an otherworldly (for the time that is) synthesizer score. In fact, both songs were among the first hits to feature just keyboards and drums. They may have been solidly rooted as 1970s music, but they pointed the way towards much of the music from the next decade to anybody who was already tired of hearing the din of the Disco beat. But that's 20/20 hindsight, I suppose.

Heart - "Crazy On You"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #35, 13 Weeks on chart)



Heart's first hit was a cut off their LP Dreamboat Annie, but a dispute between the group and its record company (Mushroom) caused them to leave for Portrait records in 1977. By 1978, Mushroom Records was trying to get as much money out of Heart as possible so they re-released "Crazy on You" as a single in advance of the LP Magazine that was at the heart -- pun intended -- of the dispute with the company. It didn't do as well the second time around, missing the Top 40 but it didn't stop the song from remaining one of the group's best-known tunes.

Beginning as an acoustic guitar solo, a blistering guitar riff takes the song to Ann Wilson's lyrics. Beginning with little more than a whisper, she builds to a crescendo where her delivery of the chorus near the end of the song is nearly maddening. All the while, the music fuels the fire. It was an interesting song in its day, as female singers generally weren't as hard-edged. There were exceptions to the rule (like Fancy or Patti Smith), but by early 1978 Janis Joplin was dead, The Runaways couldn't get a break and punk bands hadn't yet gained a toehold on American radio. The 1980s would see more female acts that weren't afraid to crank up the volume (Pat Benatar, The Go-Go's, ex-Runaway Joan Jett, among others) so Heart was a trailblazer in that respect.

Starbuck - "Moonlight Feels Right"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #3, 22 Weeks on chart)



To many who remember the era, "Moonlight Feels Right" is a song that exemplified the Summer of '76. JB over at the blog The Hits Just Keep on Comin' wrote this about the song last year, but has frequently written about the effect the record had on him. In fact, this list of "time capsule" songs he presents from that summer includes three songs on this week's list of debuts.

If anything, "Moonlight Feels Right" is a song about a southern summer night (fittingly, as Starbuck was from Atlanta) and featured a marimba solo that is often mistaken for a xylophone. Starbuck's later songs incorporated the instrument as well, but they'd never manage to recapture the magic that sent it to #3. For the time, it seemed that the stars were definitely aligned for Starbuck.

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes - "Tell The World How I Feel About 'cha Baby"

(Debuted #96, Peaked #94, 2 Weeks on chart)



Teddy Pendergrass often came across as a preacher giving a sermon when he sang. That is an interesting contradiction of the subject matter he was famous for singing...which usually wasn't lauded by the preacher but dismissed as sin. And as "Tell the World How I Feel About 'cha Baby" gets started, there's Teddy exhorting the crowd like he's about to testify, and then switches gears into the worship of the female form. I guess it's another way of paraphrasing a different 1970s classic: "If Loving You is Wrong (I Don't Want to Be Right)."

However, it doesn't take long for the song to develop into a full-fledged 1976-vintage Disco tune, complete with the string section and the backing vocals of Pendergrass's fellow Blue Notes. The fact that this would be Teddy Pendergrass's final single on the Hot 100 as a member of the group has been largely forgotten, thanks to the song's early exit from the chart.

The Manhattans - "Kiss And Say Goodbye"

(Debuted #99, Peaked #1, 26 Weeks on chart)



The platinum single certification was introduced in 1976, as increased sales of 45s led the music industry to recognize best-sellers beyond the "gold" standard used in the past. The first-ever platunim single was Johnny Taylor's "Disco Lady," and the second was The Manhattans' tear-jerker "Kiss and Say Goodbye."

Beginning with a spoken intro, the song tells of a couple's pending breakup. The narrator (Winfred "Blue" Lovett, who also wrote the song) is trying to be mature about it, but you know the events are about to tear him apart inside. And once Gerald Alston starts singing, the emotion of what is happening is laid bare.

"Kiss and Say Goodbye" was a major crossover hit, topping the pop and R&B charts and even reaching #4 in the U.K. It was also the biggest hit they'd get in their career.

This Week's Review -- April 3, 1976

There were ten singles taking a bow on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Six of them reached the Top 40 and two made the Top 10. One would ultimately become a #1 smash, and it actually represented two of the singles debuting this week. Two songs would be associated with TV shows; one was a new theme song, while the other was used in a memorable episode. One song was an earlier hit by Frank Sinatra that was getting re-recorded by the man who wrote it. Another song was done by a group who was misnamed on the record label. One song would appear again later, performed by the same group but with a different singer. Finally, a performer who took eight years to shed his "one-hit wonder" status makes his debut.

While a large archive of Billboard issues is available at Google Books, the April 3, 1976 edition is not among them. With that said, let me direct your attention to the tabs above...the ones under this blog's header picture with all the 8-track tapes. Each tab represents a single year of the 1970s, and each one lists the songs from that year that have been featured on this blog along with a link to the post. I update them every week, so it's always up-to-date. If you have time...or a favorite year you'd like to revisit, feel free to check them out.

Paul Anka - "Anytime (I'll Be There)"

(Debuted #77, Peaked #33, 9 Weeks on chart)



Paul Anka was still riding on the momentum of his mid-70s comeback in 1976. While he'd already had his #1 single "(You're) Having My Baby" and had enjoyed his series of dueats with Odia Coates, he was still a name and "Anytime (I'll Be There)" ended up being his seventh consecutive Top 40 hit, as well as his seventh straight Top 10 hit on the adult contemporary chart. From that point, however, the hits dropped off; he'd only manage a single Top 40 hit for the rest of the decade.

The song was originally written for Frank Sinatra, who had previously hit with Anka's song "My Way" in 1969. "Ol' Blue Eyes" took the song to #75 in 1975, so Anka's own version appeared as a single a year later. Listening to the two singles show that the two singers have vastly different styles, Anka's voice is more suited to the words but Sinatra actually did a great job over the light disco beat. Anka's version was more targeted toward the AC audience, with a softer instrumentation that sounded "brighter" on the radio.

Diana Ross - "Love Hangover"

(Debuted #78, Peaked #1, 18 Weeks on chart)



This is the first of two separate versions of "Love Hangover" to debut this week. The song had been written by Motown staffers Marilyn McCloud and Pamela Sawyer as a vehicle for either Diana Ross of Marvin Gaye to break into the burgeoning disco genre. Neither star liked the new sound, but producer Hal Davis felt Ross would give a "sexy" quality to the lyrics and encouraged her to give it a try. He even had a disco ball set up inside the recording studio to put her in the right frame of mind as she sang it.

After the album came out, a cover was recorded by The Fifth Dimension and rushed into production. As a result, Motown rushed their own copy of Ross's song as a single and both entered the Hot 100 on the same week. There was little debate about what happened after that. Ross went to #1 and started a new phase of her career as a Disco Diva; the Fifth Dimension's version was quickly forgotten.

Frankie Valli - "Fallen Angel"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #36, 8 Weeks on chart)



Frankie Valli's name is often used in conjunction with that of his group The Four Seasons. In fact, that group is mentioned during his introduction in the video above. Ironically, at the time "Fallen Angel" was a hit in the U.K., The Four Seasons were charting on their own with the song "Silver Star," a song that had no participation from Valli at all.

That said, many of Valli's solo efforts were essentially cut from the same cloth, where the same studio musicians were used, members of The Four Seasons sang backing vocals and the same producer (Bob Gaudio) was used. And Gaudio helmed the sound board for "Fallen Angel" and likely used the same players signed for Four Seasons sessions, but I can't seem to find any liner notes to indicate who sang backup on the song. But since some are obviously female, there's surely some voices present that aren't from The Four Seasons.

"Fallen Angel" is a ballad, written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett. While it's not something that stands out among his legendary work (with the group or solo), it's not a bad piece.

Brass Construction - "Movin'"

(Debuted #84, Peaked #14, 16 Weeks on chart)



"Movin"" was the only Top 40 hit Brass Construction would enjoy and one of two Hot 100 entries, but the funk/soul band enjoyed a fairly nice run of 17 hits on the R&B chart from 1976-'85. Of those, "Movin'" would be their biggest hit, reaching #1. It also topped the Disco charts with its undeniable groove. Essentially an instrumental with a few added lines of lyrics, the song is a great example of a 1970s beat where the mix is almost perfect.

"Movin'" would also figure in the 1970s TV landscape, as it was played in the background of the party the Evans family threw on the show Good Times to celebrate the fact that they were about to move out of the ghetto...before Florida (Esther Rolle's chartacter) opened the envelope to the telegram that informed her that her husband James (played by John Amos) had been killed in an accident.

Billy Ocean - "Love Really Hurts Without You"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #22, 11 Weeks on chart)



Thanks to a long string of hits during the 1980s, people have forgotten that Billy Ocean was considered to be a "One-Hit Wonder" for nearly a decade. He never really went away, but this would be his only Hot 100 listing before he ran a string of 10 Top 40 hits from 1984-'89. In the meantime, he was a hit in the U.K. and in the clubs, but none of his singles reached any higher than "bubbling under" status in the U.S.

If you aren't familiar with "Love Really Hurts Without You," take a few minutes and give it a listen. It has a bouncy beat and is a positive-sounding song until you take a look at the lyric sheet. The words paint a picture of a woman who's stepping out to impress others. It's not expressly stated that she's actually his woman, but she's playing the field while he sits on the bench. As he says, it hurts to watch when he really wants to be beside her...even though her playbook includes cheating and lying. That's beacause he's still a man deep inside, ready to spring into action regardless of the consequences.

Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds - "Everyday Without You" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #88, Peaked #62, 7 Weeks on chart)



By the time "Everyday Without You" came out, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds was something of a misnomer. Tommy Reynolds had left the group in 1972, but their record company insisted on keeping the billing intact since they were already a "known" act. After that, the band was actually Hamilton, Joe Frank & Dennison, but Alan Dennison was obligated to keep his mouth shut about it.

Actually, I have no idea whether that last sentence was true...but the group soldiered on for several years without giving him the proper credit, and they even had a #1 single ("Fallin' in Love") during that period. Of course, by the time the records showed the correct names, the group sold poorly and soon broke up. Which may have led to an executive saying, "See? We told you."

On to the song. "Every Day Without You" is a song that seems to have been influenced by a lot of outside factors. I hear the strings they used on their big single (as well as "Winners & Losers"). I hear a melody that popped up on a Poco tune later in the decade. The piano riff seems to be borrowed from a honky-tonk song. There's also an element of an old-time harmony. While it may not seem like I'm saying so, I do like the song. It just doesn't register as overly original, and the wide range of influences seems a little too wide. 

Pratt & McClain - "Happy Days"

(Debuted #89, Peaked #5, 14 Weeks on chart)



Just a few weeks ago, I shared the original theme song from the TV series Happy Days on this blog. Now, here's the song that replaced it. I honestly didn't intend to have it work out this way, but sometimes random  order leads to serendipity.

Truett Pratt and Jerry McClain formed a band called Brotherly Love during the early 1970s and did a lot of work on commercial jingles. McClain had once been in a band with Michael Omartian, so when Omartian was asked to produce a new song written specifically for Happy Days, he tapped his old buddy to help out. Once the theme for the show's opening credits proved successful, a full-length version was released as a single and went all the way to #5 on the pop chart. More than that, it remained in the minds of fans as the theme remained through the remainder of the show's run (which was 1984, when most 1970s hits were largely relegated to memory).

As for Pratt & McClain, they only had one more chart entry later in 1976, which peaked at #71. Though their chart fortunes were short, hopefully they made enough from royalties to keep it from hurting much. 

Jim Stafford - "Jasper"  (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #90, Peaked #69, 6 Weeks on chart)



Jim Stafford is best remembered for the sense of humor he provided to many of his songs, but "Jasper" sounds really eerie by comparison. In fact, it sounds like the story to a 1970s B-movie. One that pops up at 3 in the morning on a TV station back in the days before we had infomercials.

Stafford was a Florida native who was a writer on the Smothers Brothers' TV show before becoming an entertainer. He sent six straight singles into the pop Top 40, but "Jasper" would break that streak. In fact, Stafford never reached the Top 40 again. I'm not going to blame the song for that, however...once a performer is established as a novelty act, he's sometimes backed into a corner stylistically that's hard to get out of.

The 5th Dimension - "Love Hangover"

(Debuted #95, Peaked #80, 4 Weeks on chart)



The second version of "Love Hangover" on this week's list was a quickly-made cover of the first. When Diana Ross's self-titled LP arrived with the song on it, "Love Hangover" wasn't immediately issued as a single despite the fact that the Motown brass felt it was a strong song that suited her well. When it wasn't serviced to hit radio right away, The Fifth Dimension rushed to get their own version out. Once Motown learned of that, they readied Ross's version, and that proved much more durable.

This version of "Love Hangover" was sung by Florence LaRue, the "other" female singer in the group besides Marilyn McCoo during their hit period. When McCoo and husband Billy Davis, Jr. left in 1975 to begin their own act, LaRue stepped out as the "new" lead singer. While she has a great voice, it isn't fair to have to be compared to Diana Ross. Interestingly, the group signed with Motown shortly after the quick chart disappearance of this tune, showing that there were no hard feelings about what happened.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - "Spirit in the Night"

(Debuted #100, Peaked #97, 3 Weeks on chart)



There is some confusion regarding this song. Manfred Mann's Earth Band recorded two separate versions, each with a different singer. The first was actually titled "Spirits in the Night" with Mick Rodgers. However, when Chris Thompson took over lead vocals, they did another take and returned its title to the original "Spirit in the Night" that Bruce Springsteen gave it.

Written by Bruce Springsteen, "Spirit in the Night" was one of the two final songs (along with "Blinded By the Light") he added to his Greetings From Asbury Park, New Jersey LP. It's a neat coincidence that both would later become hits for Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The song was a typical Springsteen topic: restless kids looking to have some fun while they were still young. While it mentions Route 88 (a real road in New Jersey), the story about a place in "Greasy Lake" is an embellishment, since there is no place in the state with that name.

This Week's Review -- February 14, 1976

There were twelve new singles debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, with nine eventually working their way into the Top 40. Of those two reached the Top 10, with one going all the way to #1. The other Top 10 hit was one that might have reached the top as well and is still a well-known song. There is a fairly wide diversity, with singles that also hit #1 on the R&B, country and adult contemporary charts as well.

There is a large archive of Billboard magazine issues to read at Google Books, but the February 14, 1976 issue isn't among them. So, I'll once again plug my other music-related blog, 80s Music Mayhem. Over there, the "trip" through the decade has completed its fifth go-around and will start anew with 1980 next week.

Carole King - "Only Love Is Real"

(Debuted #77, Peaked #28, 11 Weeks on chart)



After recording a soundtrack album for the children's TV special Really Rosie in 1975, Carole King once again focused her attention on making pop music and enlisted the help of her ex-husband Gerry Goffin to help write some of the songs for her next LP Thouroughbred. She also reached out to fellow stars David Crosby, Graham Nash and James Taylor to help with the backing vocals.

Despite being more soulful than any of the records she'd issued since her breakthough Tapestry, "Only Love is Real" was the album's only Top 40 single. It was one of the songs she wrote herself, typically introspective but in keeping with the times (that is, after the time had passed to simply say "Love is all you need"). The song featured saxophone by Tom Scott and guitar by Danny Kortchmar that stand out above the other studio aces on the record.

It would stall at #28 on the pop chart, but became King's fourth and final #1 on the adult contemporary survey. By the way, King turned 70 just this past week. Hopefully, that doesn't make you feel old when you realize she was still in her twenties when she recorded Tapestry.

Sweet - "Action"

(Debuted #80, Peaked #20, 14 Weeks on chart)



After a period where the band made a their mark as one of the premier Glitter Rock bands, Sweet wanted to explore their harder-edged rock and pop sides and broke away from the writer/producer team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. In 1976, they relesaed the LP Give Us a Wink, which was entirely written and produced by the band.

"Action" was recorded separately from and issued as a single before the album came out. A straightforward rock song, it fared a little worse on the charts in the U.S. (#20 pop) and the band's native U.K. (#15 pop) than expected. That said, it would reach the Top 10 in a number of other countries across Europe and in Australia. It's a shot of adrenaline that really could have been given a better shot than the one it received, but the band's turn away from the Glam sound may have affected that.

Eddie Kendricks - "He's A Friend"

(Debuted #81, Peaked #36, 9 Weeks on chart)



After leaving The Temptations for a solo career, Eddie Kendricks went through a trejectory of sorts. He had a two-year period where it was hard to get anything going, followed by a period where his star burned very brightly and his hits "Keep On Truckin'" and "Boogie Down" were huge. By the time of "He's a Friend," the flame had died down again. It would be his last solo Top 40 pop single of the 1970s before his career cooled off considerably.

That said, "He's a Friend" is a very overlooked song that may have been a much bigger hit if it had been released just two years before. A positive-sounding song with a bright accompaniment that straddles the line between soul and disco, and touches on gospel as well. Kendricks makes clear in the last verse that the "He" in the title is Jesus. It would be a #2 R&B hit, the last time he reached the Top 10 there. It was also the  last Top 40 pop until he reunited with former Temptation David Ruffin in 1985 and sang a revue of that group's hits with Daryl Hall & John Oates.

Larry Santos - "We Can't Hide It Anymore" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #83, Peaked #36, 10 Weeks on chart)



Once again, I'll let Music Mike handle the intro for Larry Santos in the video shown above. In short, he was a musician born in Upstate New York (not far from my own childhood hometown) who was a songwriter and studio performer who lent his voice to a number of commercials over the years.

Despite being a songwriter in his own right, his only hit single recorded under his own name was written by Barry Murphy. It's a song about infidelity, and is essentially the flip side of the romance mentioned in Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones." The relationship has now progressed beyond the stage where they're content to simply meet in an out-of-the way place. Now, the affair is starting to take its toll on the other parties and they're starting to ask questions.

Today, it's obvious why Santos failed to garner many hits after "We Can't Hide it Anymore." He was pushed into a blue-eyed soul format when he probably could have done well by working in Nashville. His voice stands out, enough that the syrupy string arrangement behind him and effects fail to help him. At the same time, his record label (Casablanca) wasn't targeting the country scene. He was definitely a fish out of water.

The Sylvers - "Boogie Fever"

(Debuted #84, Peaked #1, 24 Weeks on chart)



By 1976, it was becoming evident that the Disco movement was in full swing. With that in mind, the Sylvers recorded a song written for them by producer Freddie Perren about having a sweetheart who just can't stop moving to the beat and admitting that he's catching it too. The band was made up of siblings, a conglomeration of brothers and sisters that fluctuated through the years between seven and ten members; at the time they recorded "Boogie Fever," there were nine members in the act.

"Boogie Fever" would become a million-seller and the biggest hit of the group's career. It went to #1 on both the pop and R&B charts, making it their only chart-topper on either chart. It is a song that exemplifies the group's sound, which was very well-suited for the era they were active.

Freddy Fender - "You'll Lose A Good Thing"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #32, 10 Weeks on chart)



If "You'll Lose a Good Thing" sounds like it's a song that would have been a hit a decade earlier, there's good reason. It was a remake of a 1962 hit by Barbara Lynn, who also hailed from Freddy Fender's home state of Texas. Since Fender was essentially blowing the dust of what the radio people call a "moldie oldie," the song was infused with a retro touch that kept it fairly true to the original.


The song would become a crossover hit, reaching the pop Top 40 and hitting #1 on the country chart.
#1 country hit. It didn't need the gimmick Fender often employed in his music, where he'd insert a Spanish verse in the middle of the song that wasn't there originally. The song was just fine as it was, and Fender gives an excellent reading.

ABBA - "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #15, 15 Weeks on chart)



My wife has a friend who's a really dedicated fan of ABBA. Over the years, she has picked up just about everything she has been able to find on the group: books, magazines, posters, sheet music, videos...oh yeah, the records, too, including imports and bootlegs. However, there's one song of theirs she really doesn't care for. This one. She never really explained to me her reasons for disliking it, though.

Looking at it from the perspective as a historian, I think a song called "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" is perfect from a quartet that would eventually become two married couples. Kicking off with a retro saxophone intro, the song has a muddier production than the group employed in their later pieces of sonic ear confection that made them internationally famous. It was a #15 hit in the U.S. and a minor hit in the U.K, but hit the Top 10 in many countries across Europe, making it their second big hit and placing them well on the way to the phenomenon they were by the end of the year.

Jethro Tull - "Locomotive Breath"

(Debuted #88, Peaked #62, 8 Weeks on chart)



I'll go ahead and bring up here that I've never been much of a Jethro Tull fan. I really can't explain why, though. I guess I just didn't hear enough when I was younger to make me check them out when I was still able to sit around for hours and hear album-length statements from groups like 10cc and Steely Dan. For some reason, Ian Anderson and company just didn't register on my radar.

I was somewhat familiar with "Locomotive Breath," though, as it would pop up on the rock-oriented stations I listened to then. I'm just not going to be able to give much insight about the song that isn't already available online in a bunch of places. Originally issued on the 1971 Aqualung LP, it was included as a B-side to their first Hot 100 single "Hymn 43" and given an opportunity to stand on its own in 1976 to support the greatest hits compilation M.U.: The Best of Jethro Tull. Though it only made it as far as #62, it has been part of enough rock-oriented radio playlists to ensure that it has become fairly well-known through the years.

Styx - "Lorelei"

(Debuted #90, Peaked #27, 14 Weeks on chart)



Several years ago, I used to listen to the syndicated Bob & Tom radio show as I went to work before the station it was on changed format and dropped them. At several points during that time, there was a running gag where one of the show's staff -- sports reader Chick McGee -- would suddenly break out a recording of "Lorelei" and play the opening keyboard riff.

"Lorelei" is a name that figures large in German mythology, as well as a precursor to the approach that Styx would be taking for the rest of the 1970s. Having recently changed record companies, the progressive core of the group is there, but the pop conventions would remain (especially when Tommy Shaw joined the band later that year) as the hits piled up and the group gained popularity. The song was written by group members James Young and Dennis DeYoung, who also sang lead.

Maxine Nightingale - "Right Back Where We Started From"

(Debuted #95, Peaked #2, 20 Weeks on chart)



Maxine Nightingale was a singer from the U.K. who was a member of the London production of Hair along with another actor/singer named Vincent Edwards. Later, when Edwards co-wrote a song with Pierre Tubbs, he remembered his former castmate and offered to have her sing it as a duet. The song was a reflection of their respect for the Holland/Dozier/Holland songs from Motown and had a bouncy beat that recalled those hits. In the end, it was recorded as a solo single for Nightingale and became an international smash.

It was stopped at #2 on the Billboard chart for two weeks, held out of the top spot by The Bellamy Brothers' "Let Your Love Flow" and John Sebastian's "Welcome Back." It did manage to top the other U.S. charts (Cashbox and Record World) and has appeared in a number of movie -- beginning with 1977's Slap Shot -- that it has become much more of a song that represents the era than many of its contemporary singles are.

John Miles - "Highfly" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #99, Peaked #68, 7 Weeks on chart)



John Miles' first American chart single was also the first of two separate trips for the same song. This run saw the song rise as high as #68 in seven weeks before falling out of the Hot 100. However, after another single called "Music" reached #88 in the Spring of '76, "Highfly" (sometimes spelled out as "High Fly") returned to the pop chart for three more weeks and peaked at #69 in the summer.

"Highfly" might have deserved a better chance. It is an upbeat tune that is filled with hooks. However, with two chances at a higher position, maybe it was just a case of poor timing.

Dobie Gray - "If Love Must Go" (Not Available on iTunes)

(Debuted #100, Peaked #78, 7 Weeks on chart)



"If Love Must Go" is a gentle ballad, which fits in very nicely with the sound of Dobie Gray's best-known hit "Drift Away." It is a mature song, where the protagonist is forced to go back into the world and face the world again after the end of a relationship.

The song was an early tune from songwriter Will Jennings, who has written a long string of hits over the years including "Looks Like We Made It," "Somewhere in the Night," "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again" and "Street Life," as well as a long string of hits with Steve Winwood, "Tears in Heaven" and "My Heart Will Go On." As you can tell by many of those tunes, picking up the pieces and getting on with life is a big subject in his songs.

"If Love Must Go" was also done over the years by Frank Ifield and Lisa Hartman, but Gray's version was the only one that charted.

This Week's Review -- December 18, 1976

Nine new singles debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Of the four that eventually cracked the Top 40, three reached the Top 10 and two were #1 hits. Both of those chart-toppers are still familiar songs today, as is the other Top 10 hit. The remaining songs are all by artists who are familiar to most casual listeners of the era, and there are a few surprises to be found among them.

There is a large archive of past issues of Billboard magazine at Google Books, including the December 18, 1976 edition. The full Hot 100 list can be found on page 68. There are several future trends that are pointed out. An article on page 3 has a Motown executive predicting the "death" of the single format within five years. Another article on page 3 explains the incident on Bill Grundy's TV show involving The Sex Pistols that gave the band some extra notoriety before they ever stepped foot in the U.S. Finally, one of the biggest things to hit the 1980s is referenced in an advertisement on page 17. It's an "open letter" from Sony regarding its Betamax machine. While that unit eventually lost out to VHS in a format war, it was a device that allowed people more freedom to watch what they wanted and at a time of their own choosing. As such, it is a forerunner to today's on-demand video and DVR units.

The Eagles - "New Kid In Town"

(Debuted #48, Peaked #1, 15 Weeks on chart)



Until I was 13 years old, I lived in a military family. As a result, I was forced to move several times and definitely understood what it was like to be "the new kid." I also learned that while the new kid is usually a source of interest, the novelty wears off pretty quickly. And when you live in a military atmosphere, it doesn't take long until there is another "new kid" coming in to grab attention.

In the case of the Eagles song, it was directed at the fickle state of the music business and the way artists are pushed aside for "The Next Big Thing." A track from their Hotel California LP, it would become their third #1 pop single as well as a #2 adult contemporary hit.

The Steve Miller Band - "Fly Like An Eagle"

(Debuted #73, Peaked #2, 20 Weeks on chart)



Moving from a song by The Eagles to another with "Eagle" in its title, "Fly Like an Eagle" has long been one of The Steve Miller Band's most recognized tunes. Its mellow vibe, soaring synth lines and title lead some to claim the song is about using drugs, but that avoids the other lines of the song that mention feeding the poor and sheltering the homeless.

"Fly Like an Eagle" has been widely played on album rock stations since its hit days, often in tandem with "Space Intro," the song that segued into it on the Fly Like An Eagle LP.

KISS - "Hard Luck Woman"

(Debuted #74, Peaked #15, 13 Weeks on chart)



"Hard Luck Woman" may sound like a blatant attempt to recreate the events that made "Beth" a surprise hit. Like that song, it is a ballad and features Peter Criss handling the vocals. The main instrument here is an acoustic-sounding guitar (which, like the piano in "Beth," was different from the hard-edged electric guitar they were known for). However, instead of Criss also writing the song, "Hard Luck Woman" was a Paul Stanley creation. He wrote it for Rod Stewart and gave it to Criss when Stewart declined to record it.

It's a shame, since I would like to hear how Stewart would have handled it. The song sounds perfectly suited for his style.

In the hands of KISS, it's a compelling song because it's so different from their "standard" material. The acoustic rendition gave an additional element to what many saw as a band that was all about makeup and pyrotechnics. It's just the type of song that the "hair metal" bands 15 years later -- many of whom were influenced by KISS in their youth -- would step away from their instruments midway through their concert to play.

Donna Summer - "Winter Melody" b/w "Spring Affair"

(Debuted #80, Peaked #43, 15 Weeks on chart)



Since this is a two-sided single, here's an additional video for the B-Side:



Donna Summer's Four Seasons of Love was a concept album that told the story of a love affair in four parts, and each phase was attributed to a season of the year as it blossomed and ultimately died. There were only four songs on the entire LP (plus a reprise of the first song at the end), and two of them were included on this single (in abridged form). They were the opening ("Spring") and closing ("Winter") acts.

Interestingly, the A-side was the finale, "Winter Melody." It was performed as a ballad, as the protagonist/narrator comes to the realization that the romance is over ("cause he's not coming home and I'm here alone"). Like winter, she feels the chill and finds it dark and lonely as the storms approach. "Spring Affair," on the other hand, is much more upbeat and hopeful, as you'd expect when love is new.

Heart - "Dreamboat Annie"

(Debuted #82, Peaked #42, 10 Weeks on chart)



The version of "Dreamboat Annie" in the video above is a live rendition, which doesn't feature the song the way it was presented on the single. In that version, Heart's record company decided that the two minute running time was too short and tacked the acoustic guitar intro from "Crazy On You" to it, which made me check my player a couple of times to verify I had loaded the right song while I was listening to it for this review. In the clip above, Nancy Wilson does a different solo on the acoustic guitar to open the song.

Dreamboat Annie was the debut LP by Heart and included three separate songs called "Dreamboat Annie." The version that was placed on the single (albeit with an extended intro tacked on) was the second version. The first was an intro that ran for a minute between the album's biggest tracks "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You." There was also a reprise of the song that finished the album's second side. It features Ann Wilson's vocal in a softer vein than what the two previous hits showed, giving her more ammunition to be considered one of her generation's best singers, regardless of genre. She even sings over a banjo, which definitely didn't appear on the earlier singles.

The single mix of "Dreamboat Annie" is still unreleased on any Heart album.

Starbuck - "Lucky Man"

(Debuted #83, Peaked #73, 5 Weeks on chart)



Starbuck had one of the defining singles of the Summer of 1976 when "Moonlight Feels Right" began playing on radio stations. On their followup singles from the album, the group risked being seen as a One-Hit Wonder because they were unable to score another Top 40 hit until their next LP came out. "Lucky Man" wasn't destined to be that hit.

"Lucky Man" (not a remake of the Emerson, Lake and Palmer song of the same title) was a song that had its own charm and was awash with keyboards, but lacked the same spirit the band gave "Moonlight Feels Right."

Plus, the line "we're happy as a monkey in a coconut tree" is a little goofy.

Cliff Richard - "I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You"

(Debuted #84, Peaked #80, 4 Weeks on chart)



Cliff Richard was the all-time top performer in the U.K., with even more hit records there than The Beatles had. In the U.S., his chart fortunes weren't as bright. Ironically, his American hits dried up as the British Invasion brought fame to many of his countrymen. He only managed a pair of Hot 100 singles after The Beatles arrived in 1964 through their breakup, and neither one of them got any higher on the Billboard chart than #92. By the mid 1970s, he was even having trouble in his native country, failing to chart in the U.K. at all in 1975 despite still releasing naew material.

In 1976, he recorded the LP I'm Nearly Famous, which returned him to prominence in his home country and gave him his first American Top 10 hit "Devil Woman." It was seen as a return to his 1960s form, as well as an embrace of a harder-edged style that he hadn't used since early in his career. The first track on that album was "I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You," a song that has Richard bringing out a falsetto.

The song only reached #80 in the U.S. and #17 in the U.K. Richard had a breakthrough in America, but his next big hits would not arrive there until a new decade rolled around.

Thelma Houston - "Don't Leave Me This Way"

(Debuted #85, Peaked #1, 24 Weeks on chart)



"Don't Leave Me This Way" has become one of the "prototypical" disco songs, over the years and has popped up in several retrospectives on the era as well as many movies that were set in the decade. The first of those movies was Looking For Mr. Goodbar, a 1977 film that appeared shortly after the song had fallen off the chart. It was an unqualified crossover smash, reaching the #1 position on Billboard's pop, R&B and Disco charts.

The song was originally recorded by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, with Teddy Pendergrass singing. That version wasn't released as a single in the U.S. but featured a more subdued opening and its arrangement was designed to accentuate Pendergrass' voice as he built up to the choruses; Houston's version was tailor-made for the dance floor, so the arrangement is amped up until the song fades out. As a nice counterpoint, the video clip above has Houston giving the song a slightly different take, which lets us hear more of her voice than the single did.

Paul Anka - "Happier"

(Debuted #86, Peaked #60, 7 Weeks on chart)



The video above simply features "Happier" in its vinyl state, as part of what appears to be a compilation of Paul Anka's hits (I can't read the label in the video, but the words look too long to be his LP The Painter, where the song originally appeared). I'll mention that the few audible pops on the record are annoying to some, but a familiar relic of the "old days" to others.

"Happier" seems to be written in a similar state of marital contentment that caused him to write "Having My Baby," except with what sounds like a marching band (complete with a tuba player) and a synthesizer accompanying him. It was the first chart single he released since his mid-70s "comeback" to miss the Top 40, but ended up in the adult contemporary Top 10.