TRACK SUMMARIES
TRACK SUMMARIES
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DISC ONE
Songs about puppy love are often sappy, but Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is exhilarating. Tony Macaulay cowrote and produced the song, which captures the heart-pounding thrill of young love. Edison Lighthouse never had another hit, but lead singer Tony Burrows went on to sing lead on several other hits by one-shot studio groups: White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'," The Brotherhood Of Man's "United We Stand," The Pipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding," and First Class' "Beach Baby."
The Shocking Blue's #1 hit, "Venus," led the Dutch invasion of 1970, when three Dutch singles climbed high on the American charts. (The other two were The Tee Set's "Ma Belle Amie" and the George Baker Selection's "Little Green Bag"). The Shocking Blue was a quartet led by Robbie Van Leeuwen, who wrote and produced "Venus." The surprisingly durable song returned to the top spot in 1986 for Bananarama.
Lynn Anderson first heard "Rose Garden" on a 1969 album by its writer, master wordsmith Joe South. She immediately wanted to record it, but Glenn Sutton, her producer and husband, argued that the line "I could promise you things like big diamond rings" wouldn't make sense coming from a woman. Anderson prevailed in 1970 and had her biggest hit. Her bittersweet recording, with its catchy shuffle beat, topped the country chart for five weeks and went gold. Anderson also won a Grammy® and a Country Music Association Award for Female Vocalist of the Year. Kon Kan sampled Anderson's smash on their 1989 dance hit "I Beg Your Pardon."
On first listen, The Guess Who's "American Woman" seemed like a misogynistic rant, but it was really a stinging rebuke of the U.S. for its military buildup and social problems: "I don't need your war machines/I don't need your ghetto scenes." The song's ascension to #1 in May 1970 coincided with the Kent State tragedy, in which four student protesters were shot and killed by Ohio National Guardsmen. This was one of the low points in morale in recent American history, and The Guess Who's song tapped into the country's sour mood.
Sugarloaf struck gold in 1970 with the seamless "Green-Eyed Lady." Jerry Corbetta, the lead singer of the Denver group, cowrote the song. If Sugarloaf had followed Mungo Jerry into one-shot heaven, they would be more fondly remembered. Alas, they came back in 1975 with the insipid novelty song "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You."
The Ides Of March's "Vehicle" was one of the biggest hits in the "horn rock" genre, which was built around Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago. Like many 1970 models, this propulsive "Vehicle" didn't get great gas mileage, but it looked sharp coming down Main Street. Lead singer Jim Peterik, who wrote the #2 pop-charting song, went on to greater glory -- or at least more dependable employment -- as keyboardist for Survivor.
The George Baker Selection's loopy 1970 hit "Little Green Bag" predated the lounge culture revival by a quarter-century. Group leader Johannes Bouwens cowrote the song, a bizarre blend of rock and easy listening elements. Quentin Tarantino later featured the song in his movie Reservoir Dogs. The Dutch group returned to the Top 30 in 1976 with the mellow "Paloma Blanca."
Blues Image was headed by Mike Pinera, who had been a guitarist with Iron Butterfly. But the two groups were as different as AM and FM. Blues Image's 1970 million-seller "Ride Captain Ride" was as tight and radio friendly as Iron Butterfly's 1968 album track "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was free-form. "Ride Captain Ride" features a sly reference to a certain B.J. Thomas hit that had owned the airwaves the previous winter -- "They were too busy watching those old raindrops fall."
Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky" was both reverant and relevant -- a potent combination in 1970. The funky rock song made Jesus seem like the hippest dude in the commune. Even Billy Graham must have liked Ocean's polite toe tapper "Put Your Hand In The Hand," but he probably didn't know what to make of Greenbaum's song -- which is to its credit.
The rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar spawned two Top 30 hits that were opposite in tone -- Yvonne Elliman's gentle ballad "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and the biting "Superstar" by Murray Head With The Trinidad Singers. Head's recording, which captures the fury of Judas Iscariot, stayed on the chart for 31 weeks -- longer than any other single since Chubby Checker's early '60s smash, "The Twist." The musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice was one of the top multimedia hits of the '70s. It originated in November 1970 as a two-record set that went on to become the #1 album of 1971. It opened on Broadway in October 1971 and was turned into a movie two years later.
Chairmen Of The Board's heartfelt plea "Give Me Just A Little More Time" was the first Top 10 pop hit for producers Holland-Dozier-Holland following their 1968 split from Motown. The reggae-shaded single went gold in May 1970. The title phrase is an unusual way of expressing the song's message, which is basically "Give Me Another Chance." The group was headed by General Norman Johnson, who cowrote two other Top 10 hits of the period, Clarence Carter's "Patches" and the Honey Cone's "Want Ads."
The gossamer sound of The Delfonics' "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" stands in contrast to the bitter disappointment expressed in the lyrics. Far from being the dreamiest valentine on the radio, as casual listeners may have assumed, the song was a stinging farewell to an unresponsive lover. The 1970 single went gold and won a Grammy. Thom Bell and group member William Hart cowrote and coproduced the song, which was revived in 1989 by New Kids On The Block.
Warm, mellow ballads ruled the airwaves in the summer of 1970. The 5 Stairsteps' "O-o-h Child" was in the Top 10 at the same time as the Carpenters' "(They Long To Be) Close To You" and Bread's "Make It With You." "O-o-h Child" had a double revival in 1993. Dino hit the Top 30 with a remake of the song and 2Pac sampled the original on his hit "Keep Ya Head Up."
The Jackson 5 made turning out #1 hits seem as easy as, well, "ABC" when their single with that title topped the pop and R&B charts in 1970. The melody of "ABC" grew out of the chorus of the group's previous smash, "I Want You Back." "We just took that music and kept playing it," said Freddie Perren, who cowrote and coproduced both hits. David Ritz reported that the song was conceived as "ABCD," but Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. astutely shaved off the "D." Michael Jackson was a precocious 11-year-old when he recited the sexy rap, "Sit down, girl, I think I love you/No, get up girl, show me what you can do!" Naughty By Nature sampled "ABC" in their 1991 smash, "O.P.P."
Freda Payne's irresistable "Band Of Gold" is probably the best-known of Holland-Dozier-Holland's post-Motown productions. The smash, which went gold in 1970, combines a glorious melody, a killer drum beat, and a provocative lyric about a young bride's disappointment and doubt when her husband fails to discharge his obligations on their wedding night.
James Taylor's 1970 classic "Fire And Rain" is one of the most intensely personal songs ever to become a pop hit. Taylor's gentle, understated manner belies the traumatic events he recounts. The song's cathartic tone struck a nerve in a country that had just staggered through its most turbulent decade in a century. The success of the song ushered in the singer/songwriter era and landed Taylor, then just 22, on the cover of Time.
In 1971, a decade after their first hit, the Raiders acquired their only #1 single with "Indian Reservation (The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian)." The song had reached the Top 20 in 1968 for Don Fardon, but that was before the book Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee raised consciousness about the treatment of American Indians. Country star Tim McGraw included a verse from the song in his 1994 hit, "Indian Outlaw."
Ocean's "Put Your Hand In The Hand" is a campfire sing-along staple in the tradition of such hits as Laurie London's "He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands)" and The Highwaymen's "Michael." Ocean's 1971 single briefly bridged the generation gap. Parents were disarmed by the song's chipper, "Up With People" quality; kids enjoyed it as a catchy pop tune.
If Brewer & Shipley had come along in the '90s, they might have been a country act. But in the early '70s, they were part of the back-to-the-earth folk-rock boom that also boosted the fortunes of Arlo Guthrie and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley wrote the peppy "One Toke Over The Line," which went Top 10 in 1971.
The Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs" is a protest song about excessive rules and regulations. Granted, no one is going to mistake it for Dylan. It is, however, what Dylan might have sounded like if he'd spent six years fronting Paul Revere And The Raiders. The good-hearted but simplistic song went gold in 1971; Tesla took the song back into the Top 10 in 1991.
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds scored their first hit in 1971 with "Don't Pull Your Love," a single so polished it makes Mark Lindsay's "Arizona" sound like a demo. Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter wrote the song, which was one of the year's best pure Top 40 hits. Five years later the two produced a ballad version of the song for another of their clients, Glen Campbell.
Lobo (real name: Kent LaVoie) quietly amassed 16 chart hits in the '70s. The first, in 1971, was "Me And You And A Dog Named Boo," which tells the story of a man who isn't ready to put down roots. In the course of three verses, he drives with his companion and a dog from Georgia to St. Paul to L.A. All we can say is the man has a very accomodating friend -- and a very lucky dog.
In Cat Stevens' 1971 hit "Wild World," a man responds to his girlfriend's expressed desire to break up by warning her, "Just remember, there's a lot of bad and beware." The inspiration for that cynical line wasn't a romantic breakup, but Stevens' wariness about his impending pop stardom. "You might think that 'Wild World' was written about some girl,'' Stevens told a Dallas concert audience in 1971. ". . . In fact, 'Wild World' was written about me. I was writing to myself, saying that I knew that I was going to turn into what I was before [in England], a pop star.'' The song returned to the Top 30 in 1989 for Maxi Priest and again in 1993 for Mr. Big. Stevens abandoned pop music in 1979, when he converted to Islam and took the name Yusef Islam.
Hoyt Axton wrote "Joy To The World" for a planned children's animated TV special, The Happy Song. When the show fell through, Axton gave the composition to Three Dog Night. Ironically, the kiddie song elicited one of the group's most pumped-up performances. "Joy To The World" became the group's biggest hit -- and the #1 single of 1971. TDN's exuberant recording was featured in the 1983 box office smash The Big Chill.
DISC TWO
In 1972 Isaac Hayes became the first African-American composer to win an Academy Award. He achieved the feat with his pulsating "Theme From Shaft," one of the most distinctive pieces of movie music in history. The single, which hit #1 in 1971, manages to be both funky and elegant. Its relentless rhythm, rich instrumental groove, and sexy byplay combine to create a classic. The smash was featured on Hayes' Shaft soundtrack, which topped the pop, R&B, and jazz charts and won Grammys for Best Instrumental Arrangement and Best Original Score.
Sly & The Family Stone returned from a long hiatus in the fall of 1971 with "Family Affair," a single as dark and discomforting as the band's earlier hits had been ebullient. In the song, which he wrote and produced, Sly Stone reveals his inner turmoil. "Family Affair" hit #1 on the pop and R&B charts and lifted the band's album There's A Riot Goin' On to #1. Critics have long hailed the album as a brave work. As Rolling Stone noted in 1987: "[Sly] put his torment right on the table for all to see in a way that dramatically redefined the word 'soul.'"
Flip Wilson popularized one of the hottest catchphrases of the early '70s: "whatcha see is whatcha get." Tony Hester, knowing a good song title when he heard one, wrote and produced "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" for The Dramatics. The single, which went Top 10 in 1971, combines a sizzling instrumental track with vocal interplay reminiscent of The Temptations hits of the period.
In 1971, the year of such sassy feminist hits as "Want Ads" and "Mr. Big Stuff," Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose served up some old-fashioned advice on how to relate to women in "Treat Her Like A Lady." If the lyric "You know, a woman is sentimental/And so easy to upset" now seems dated, the steel-driven instrumental track still sounds hot. Edward Cornelius, a member of the Florida-based family group, wrote the million-selling song.
The pain and regret in the Chi-Lites' "Have You Seen Her" is palpable. But the song never lapses into melodrama, a tribute to Eugene Record's conversational lead vocal and the group's sweet, supportive backup. Record produced the smash and wrote it with his wife, R&B star Barbara Acklin. Critics said the song's success heralded a return to "neodoo-wop vocal group classicism." Fans just knew that a man's heart was breaking. M.C. Hammer -- of all people -- revived the song in 1990.
The Honey Cone's "Want Ads" establishes their sassy feminist spirit in its classic introduction: "Wanted: young man single and free/Experience in love preferred/But we'll accept a young trainee." The song was cowritten by General Norman Johnson, the leader of Chairmen Of The Board. Fronted by Edna Wright (the sister of Darlene Love), The Honey Cone helped pave the way for such edgy female trios as LaBelle and TLC.
In 1972 Al Green landed his biggest hit when "Let's Stay Together" bumped "American Pie" out of the #1 spot on the pop chart. The graceful ballad also topped the R&B chart for nine weeks -- longer than any other single of the '70s -- and went on to become the year's #1 R&B hit. Green, a former and future gospel singer, was named rock 'n' roll star of the year in the Rolling Stone critics poll. Tina Turner chose "Let's Stay Together" to launch her 1984 comeback; Quentin Tarantino included the original in his 1994 classic, Pulp Fiction. Green cowrote the song, which is ambiguous about whether the couple will indeed stay together. "The whispered intimacy in the introduction hints which way the relationship will fall," musicologist Robert Gordon suggests. "To say it like that, you've got to be near someone's ear."
Lee Michaels reached the Top 10 in 1971 with "Do You Know What I Mean," a sly account of a man whose long-neglected girlfriend is stepping out with his best friend. The spunky shuffle arrangement brightens the tale of the man's deserved comeuppance. Michaels wrote and produced the song, but for years he didn't think much of it. "It just followed me around, like a tattoo," he said in 1992.
Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" hit the bull's-eye as both an album-rock classic and a Top 40 smash. So it's doubly hard to fathom that the song was originally relegated to the B-side of "Reason To Believe.'' Fortunately, a DJ in Cleveland flipped the single over. Others followed suit and, by its sixth week on the Hot 100, "Maggie May'' was listed as the A-side. Six weeks after that, the double-sided smash hit #1. Stewart produced and cowrote "Maggie May,'' a college boy's announcement that he's breaking off a relationship with an older woman. As critic Robert Palmer observed: "Everything about it, from the precisely frayed vocal timbres to the indelible clarity of Ron Wood's guitar figures, is pop perfection.'' The recording has a rustic folk tinge, owing to its prominent use of fiddle and mandolin. The success of "Maggie May" and Stewart's #1 album, Every Picture Tells A Story, led to his being voted Rock Star of the Year in the Rolling Stone critics' poll.
Millions of women cheered when Jean Knight finally stood up to her self-absorbed boyfriend on the sassy "Mr. Big Stuff" -- the #1 R&B hit of 1971. When she sings "Cause when I give my love/I want love in return/Now I know this is a lesson, Mr. Big Stuff, you haven't learned," Knight sounds like an exasperated school teacher drilling a lesson into a particularly dim student. Knight's follow-up, "You Think You're Hot Stuff," was in a similar vein. Okay, it was in the same vein. But it was a great vein.
Sex sells -- even to 10-year-olds, as Daddy Dewdrop proved in 1971 with his Top 10 hit, "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)." Dewdrop (real name: Richard Monda) coproduced the novelty song, which combined a bubblegum chorus with loads of sexual innuendo. Dewdrop was close to forming a deep and lasting bond with his audience -- but then they moved on to fifth grade.
Melanie combined a quaint '30s sound with suggestive '70s lyrics on "Brand New Key." Alas, the whimsical tune may have hurt the budding star more than it helped her. It gave Melanie a cutesy, novelty image that she was never able to shake. Still, it's safe to assume that the coy innuendo of "Brand New Key" resonated with at least one 13-year-old Michigan girl: It's a small step from the tongue-in-cheek sass of "Brand New Key" to "Like A Virgin."
Coven's "One Tin Soldier (The Legend Of Billy Jack)" hit the Top 30 after being featured in the 1971 movie Billy Jack. Jinx Dawson sang lead on the anthemic ballad, which was written by pop veterans Lambert & Potter. The song first charted in 1969 when it was recorded by a Canadian group, The Original Caste.
Alice Cooper cracked the Top 10 for the first time in 1972 with the rowdy manifesto "School's Out." The puns are clever ("We've got no class/And we've got no principles"), but the line that best captures the frustration and defiance of youth is "We can't even think of a word that rhymes." Cooper was a leader of "shock rock," which combined the energy of hard rock with the ghoulish humor of Fright Night movies. Cooper cowrote "School's Out," which was featured in the 1979 movie Rock 'N' Roll High School along with such other odes to academia as Chuck Berry's "School Day" and Brownsville Station's "Smokin' In The Boy's Room."
Hot Butter's 1972 hit "Popcorn" was inspired by two pop-culture artifacts of the early '70s -- the Moog synthesizer and the Sunbeam popcorn popper. Hot Butter, the nom de corn of synthesizer player Stan Free, never returned to the charts, though the follow-up possibilities ("Baked Potato," "Corn On The Cob") were practically endless.
Johann Sebastian Bach cracked the Top 10 in 1972 -- 222 years after his death -- thanks to Apollo 100 Featuring Tom Parker. The English studio group had a hit with the sprightly "Joy," which Parker had adapted from Bach's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring." That composition had been given a similar treatment on Walter Carlos' groundbreaking 1969 album, Switched-On Bach.
Women's Lib was gathering steam in 1971 when Helen Reddy cowrote and first recorded "I Am Woman." The song was revived the following year when it was featured in the feminist movie Stand Up And Be Counted. Still, it was a hard sell for pop radio. Reddy once noted that the "typical DJ reaction" was: "I hate this song! But you know, it's a funny thing, my wife loves it!" The single hit #1 in December 1972 and won a Grammy a few months later. Reddy's acceptance speech was a classic: "I want to thank my husband and manager, Jeff Wald, because he makes my success possible, and God because She makes everything possible."
America's "A Horse With No Name" combined Neil Young's enigmatic lyrical style with Bread's melodicism and polish. The song reached #1 in March 1972 -- the same week that the trio's debut album, America, topped the album chart. "A Horse With No Name" was written by Dewey Bunnell, the only Englishman in the group. America went on to win a Grammy as Best New Artist -- beating out the Eagles, no less.
With its gritty edge and loping, reggae-tinged groove, The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There" was one of the funkiest mass-appeal hits of the 1970s. Al Bell, the president of Stax Records, wrote and produced the song, which combines a utopian vision with a stinging dig at politicians: "Ain't no smiling faces/Lying to the races." "I'll Take You There" topped the pop and R&B charts in 1972, becoming The Staple Singers' biggest hit. Mavis Staples, the lead singer of the family gospel group, was featured on a 1991 remake of the song by another family gospel act, BeBe + CeCe Winans.
The opening rap in The Main Ingredient's warmly philosophical "Everybody Plays The Fool" is so good-natured it could make a potential suicide victim climb off the ledge: "You say you even thinking about dying?/Well, before you do anything rash, dig this." The bittersweet ballad went gold in 1972. Nineteen years later Aaron Neville brought the song back to the Top 10. Cuba Gooding, who became The Main Ingredient's lead singer in 1971, is the father of Cuba Gooding Jr., who won an Oscar in 1997 for his supporting role in Jerry Maguire.
Joe Tex's lecherous "I Gotcha" topped the R&B chart and went gold in March 1972. Just four months later, Tex converted to Islam and changed his name to Joseph Hazziez. Tex wrote "I Gotcha" in the late '60s for R&B singer King Floyd, but he couldn't make a deal for it. Though most of Tex's hits were mainstream R&B, all three of his million-sellers were novelty songs. The others: "Skinny Legs And All" and "Ain't Gonna Bump No More (With No Big Fat Woman)."
After a decade of dues paying, the Spinners rose to the top tier of pop and R&B groups in 1972 with "I'll Be Around." The single's joyous sound belies a heartbreaking story line: The song is a gracious expression of continued love and support, even in the face of romantic rejection. Thom Bell, the Burt Bacharach of the '70s, cowrote and produced "I'll Be Around," which topped the R&B chart for five weeks. Rappin' 4-Tay's hip-hop adaptation of the song reached the Top 40 in 1995.
Bill Withers had his biggest hit with 1972's "Lean On Me," a secular hymn about friendship. Withers wrote and produced the song that reflects the small-town values instilled in him while growing up in rural West Virginia. Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and Carole King's "You've Got A Friend" dealt with the same theme, but "Lean On Me" had a more gospel-rooted sound. Withers' boldest stroke was giving the song such a slow, solemn pace. Radio listeners might have dismissed it as a dirge. Instead, they embraced it, sending it to the top of the pop and R&B charts. Fifteen years later a dance-style remake by Club Nouveau hit #1.
Robin Lamont sang one of 1972's most engaging hits, "Day By Day," but she was denied her moment of pop stardom when the artist billing was given to Godspell, the musical that spawned the hit. The show, a lighthearted retelling of the Gospel Of St. Matthew, opened off-Broadway in May 1971. The triumph of the song is the unpreachy universality of its central prayer. Stephen Schwartz won Grammys for composing and producing the original cast album.
DISC THREE
Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" touched a nerve with millions of listeners in 1972. The song's warm, caressing melody belies a deeply cynical lyric -- the contrast between the ballad's gentle tone and its bitter conclusions adds to its impact. "Alone Again" was the most vivid song about loneliness to become an AM hit since the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" in 1966. But where Paul McCartney wrote that classic about a fictitous character, O'Sullivan wrote "Alone Again" in the first person. The single topped the chart for six weeks and was #2 for the year.
Climax's 1972 hit, "Precious And Few," is ear candy at its creamiest. The single builds effortlessly from a soft opening to an exciting crescendo and is capped by a tender resolution. The pacing seemed to simulate the sex act, which made the group's name apt. Climax's lead singer, Sonny Geraci, had previously fronted The Outsiders ("Time Won't Let Me"), though this record's big ballad sound was closer to that of another '60s group, Gary Puckett And The Union Gap.
Beneath its shimmering surface, Looking Glass' "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" is really a torch song. The single tells the story of a lonely barmaid in a seaport town. The love of her life is a sailor. The love of his life is the sea. The song, written by group leader Elliot Lurie, sets up the conflict beautifully. It fleshes out both lead characters, presents both sides, and resists a phony happy ending. That's more than you can say for most movies, much less three-minute pop songs.
King Harvest's sexy "Dancing In The Moonlight" was one of pop's great guilty pleasures of 1973. Some of the lyrics are dated ("Everybody here is outasight"), but others convey timeless nuggets of Top 40 wisdom. Madonna probably would give her bustier to have written the line "You can't dance and stay uptight."
Gallery went gold in 1972 with the simple-minded but infectious "Nice To Be With You." The Detroit group followed the candy-coated ditty with a hit version of Mac Davis' "I Believe In Music." Dennis Coffey, who had scored a gold hit of his own earlier in the year with the funky instrumental "Scorpio," coproduced Gallery's hits.
Sammy Davis, Jr. scored his only #1 hit in 1972 with "The Candy Man," which originated in the movie Willie Wonka And The Chocolate Factory. The single was originally recorded by The Mike Curb Congregation, which had cracked the Top 40 the previous year with "Burning Bridges." Curb and his producing partner Don Costa later dubbed in Davis' lead vocal. Good thing, too, because the veteran entertainer gives the single its heart. One of the highlights is Davis' reference to a "groovy" lemon pie -- as if he'd be selling any other kind.
In 1972 Wayne Newton won his only gold single with "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast," a poignant account of the effects of divorce on a young child. Pop fans tend to be split on this one, regarding it either as heartfelt or as shamelessly manipulative. Those cynics who can't stand the song will relate to at least one line, "I couldn't bear to hear those words again."
"Hot Rod Lincoln," a Top 10 song in 1972 for Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, was first a hit 21 years earlier for Tiny Hill, under the title "Hot Rod Race." Johnny Bond and Charlie Ryan both revived the saga in 1960. The success of Commander Cody's country-flavored recording paved the way for the Charlie Daniels Band.
Gary Glitter's "Rock And Roll Part 2" was the "Tusk" of 1972 -- a Top 10 hit filled with weird noises and offbeat rhythms. The tribal chant suggests a Stone Age stab at communication. The single's AM hit status has long since been eclipsed by its frequent use at sports events, where it is often referred to as "The Hey Song."
In 1973, more than a decade before Spinal Tap, Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show's "The Cover Of 'Rolling Stone'" featured sharp and knowing satire on the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. The best line: "We sing about beauty and we sing about truth -- at $10,000 a show." The song was written by Shel Silverstein, the creator of such humorous hits as Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" and Loretta Lynn's "One's On The Way." Dr. Hook's gold single provided invaluable free publicity for the five-year-old Rolling Stone. The group was rewarded in March with the magazine's cover -- though the thrill was diminished a bit by the copy next to their picture: "What's Their Names Make The Cover."
Carly Simon's "You're So Vain," a ferocious kiss-off to an egocentric lover, is probably the best record that either she or producer Richard Perry ever made -- which is saying a lot. The smooth and assured single, which features Mick Jagger on background vocals, hit #1 in 1973 and boosted Simon's third album, No Secrets, to #1. The song's success triggered endless speculation about the identity of its subject -- with Warren Beatty the most-rumored contender. Simon won't tell, though in her 1995 box set, Clouds In My Coffee, she allowed, "It's really a composite, but Warren loves that people think it's about him."
Billy Paul's "Me And Mrs. Jones" was the "Since I Fell For You" of the '70s -- a ballad so classy you wonder how it ever made it on Top 40 radio. Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote and produced the song, which combined the effortless elegance of Johnny Mathis' classic valentines with the smoldering sensuality of Marvin Gaye's bedroom ballads. "Me And Mrs. Jones" led the pop and R&B charts in 1972 and won a Grammy.
Curtis Mayfield did something daring and subversive when he got the assignment to score the 1972 blaxploitation movie Superfly -- he wrote and produced songs that challenged the screen images glamorizing drug use. The result was a soundtrack that was not only the best thing about the movie, but also was something far deeper and truer than the producers had any right to expect. "Freddie's Dead (Theme From 'Superfly')" was the first of two gold singles from the #1 album. The song combines a supple rhythm with heartfelt and eloquent lyrics. Mayfield's music for Superfly didn't win a Grammy and wasn't even nominated for an Oscar®. But the composer has since been given his due. The Recording Academy voted Mayfield a Grammy Legend Award in 1994 and a Lifetime Achievement Award the following year.
What can winning an Academy Award® mean for a song? Just ask Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, whose "The Morning After" took off after being crowned Best Original Song in March 1973. By early August Maureen McGovern's recording was #1. The ballad, featured in the disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure, is well-crafted Hollywood schlock.
The Isley Brothers' "That Lady (Part 1)," a sexy blend of rock and soul, was one of the most exhilarating singles of 1973. The recording has the liberating sense of joy that marked Sly Stone's late '60s classics. Ernie Isley's sinewy guitar solo gives the record its buoyancy; the falsetto vocals give it its heart. The brothers wrote and produced the song, which became their first Top 10 hit since "It's Your Thing'' in 1969. The success of the single enabled 3+3 to become the Isleys' first Top 10 album.
Barry White's breakthrough hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby," contains all of his trademarks -- a deep, macho vocal, a richly textured instrumental track, and smoldering pillow talk. It's easy to see why White, despite his girth, became a sex symbol: He promised romantic attentiveness as well as sexual heat. White wrote and produced the song, which topped the R&B chart in 1973.
Love Unlimited Orchestra's rapturously romantic "Love's Theme" was the "Theme From A Summer Place" of the '70s. Barry White composed and produced the smash, the only pure instrumental to reach #1 in 1974. "Love's Theme" was featured on the album Rhapsody In White. That title -- a play on Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue -- may have been a bit much, but there's no disputing that White was the maestro of the '70s.
Kool & The Gang scored their first gold single in 1974 with "Jungle Boogie," a funky party record that features grunting noises, a tribal chant, and comic voodoo shadings. "Jungle Boogie" and its gold follow-up, "Hollywood Swinging," are light years away from the smooth pop ballads ("Joanna," "Cherish") that gave the group their crowning success a decade later. It was as if James Brown was supplanted by Lionel Richie as the group's major influence. A pair of 1992 hits sampled "Jungle Boogie" -- TLC's "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" and Madonna's "Erotica." Two years later the song was featured over the opening credits in Pulp Fiction.
El Chicano, the Los Angeles group best known for the 1970 hit "Viva Tirado," returned to the Top 40 in December of 1973 with the chivalrous "Tell Her She's Lovely." Bobby Espinosa, the group's organist, and guitarist Michael Lespron coproduced the savory track. Rolling Stone pegged El Chicano's appeal when it observed, "If you liked Santana better before Carlos became mystical, then you should be aware of El Chicano."
Legendary songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller returned to the Top 10 in 1973 as producers of Stealers Wheel's "Stuck In The Middle With You." Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan, who composed Stealers Wheel, wrote the Dylanesque song, which contains one of that year's catchiest lyric hooks: "Clowns to the left of me/Jokers to the right." Quentin Tarantino featured the song in a torture scene in his first film, Reservoir Dogs, though he later allowed, "Personally, I don't know if Gerry Rafferty necessarily appreciated the connotations that I brought to 'Stuck In The Middle With You.' There's a good chance he didn't."
Tony Orlando & Dawn's "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" was the #1 single of 1973, but it could as easily have been a hit in 1963 or 1953 or 1943. The toe tapper, which was based on a true story, is unabashedly sentimental, down to the corny but endearing happy ending. The song has since taken on added dimension as an anthem for homecomings. The yellow ribbon has become an enduring national symbol of hope and steadfastness in times of separation and adversity.
Brownsville Station's "Smokin' In The Boy's Room" is a timeless expression of teen angst, a "Born To Be Wild" for the junior high set. Michael "Cub" Koda, the trio's guitarist, wrote the song with lead singer Michael Lutz. The title has a misplaced apostrophe in the word "Boy's," which shows that Koda and Lutz weren't just posers: They really did cut class. Mötley Crüe, whose members were coming of age when the single went gold in 1974, revived the song in 1985.
The Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" was the first hard rock single to hit #1. The 1973 smash brought all the clichés of arena-level rock 'n' roll -- including extended drum solos and exaggerated "trash-can" finishes -- to every hamlet and burg in the land. The monster lead guitar solo was played by Ronnie Montrose, who left soon thereafter to form his own band. Winter wrote the song to perform in his solo spot when he toured with his older brother, Johnny. "Every night when he came out, he'd bring down the house," said Rick Derringer, who produced the single.
Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell's spirited recording of "Dueling Banjos" went gold in 1973 after being featured in Deliverance. Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith wrote the song in 1955 as "Feuding Banjos." When the single started to take off, Warner Bros. quickly added it to an album that Weissberg and Marshall Brickman had recorded in 1963, New Dimensions In Banjo & Bluegrass. The album, retitled Dueling Banjos, knocked Elton John out of the #1 spot. The single went on to win a Grammy as Best Country Instrumental Performance.
DISC FOUR
The O'Jays landed their biggest hit with the exuberant "Love Train," which topped the pop and R&B charts in 1973 and was voted one of the five best singles of the year in Rolling Stone's critics' poll. Philly soul masterminds Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote and produced the song, which exemplifies their "message in the music'' philosophy. "We wanted to take social themes and translate them to commercial recordings,'' Gamble said in 1988. The song was featured on the O'Jays' breakthrough album, Back Stabbers. In a review of the album, critic Robert Christgau characterized "Love Train'' as "a propulsive flag-waver attached to UNESCO lyrics about people all over the world joining hands, presumably so they can't stab each other in the you-know-where.''
Gladys Knight & The Pips racked up their biggest hit in 1973 with "Midnight Train To Georgia," which topped the pop and R&B charts and won a Grammy. The poignant tale of a man who is down on his luck was an ideal showcase for the group's call-and-response style. Knight sings with characteristic warmth and empathy. The sentiment "I'd rather live in his world/Than live without him in mine" was slightly old-fashioned in that Ms.-defined era, but no one protested. Even feminists, it seems, are Gladys Knight fans. The song was written and first recorded by Jim Weatherly as "Midnight Plane To Houston." Cissy Houston recorded it as "Midnight Train To Georgia" in 1972.
Vicki Lawrence, a regular on The Carol Burnett Show, hit #1 in 1973 with "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia." The eerie story song was written by her then-husband, Bobby Russell. For a formula pop song, "Georgia" has been surprisingly durable. Tanya Tucker sang it in a 1981 movie of the same name; Reba McEntire turned it into a country hit in 1992.
The Doobie Brothers were really two groups -- the boogie rock band of their early years and the sleek pop group they became after Michael McDonald joined the lineup in 1975. "Long Train Runnin'," which in 1973 became The Doobies' first Top 10 hit, exemplified their early, high-energy style. It was written by group cofounder Tom Johnston, who also created "Listen To The Music" and "China Grove." The McDonald-era Doobies peaked in 1979 with the blue-eyed soul classic "What A Fool Believes."
The American group Stories aced the British band Hot Chocolate out of the U.S. hit of "Brother Louie," which was written by Hot Chocolate's Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. Stories' version reached #1 in the U.S. in 1973, while Hot Chocolate's never got out of the gate. But while Stories won the battle, Hot Chocolate won the war. The group landed three Top 10 hits in the U.S. from 1975-'79, while Stories never charted after 1974.
Todd Rundgren's "Hello It's Me" took more than five years to become a major hit. The bittersweet ballad first appeared in October 1968 on the debut album by Rundgren's group Nazz, but it didn't crack the Top 5 until December 1973. The wonderfully conversational lyric captures the complications in romantic exchanges, as when Rundgren shyly ventures, "And spend the night if you think I should."
"Seasons In The Sun" was more than a decade old when Terry Jacks' recording of the tearjerker reached #1 in 1974. Jacques Brel had composed the song in 1961 as "Le Moribond" ("The Dying Man"). Poet Rod McKuen later supplied the English lyrics. The ballad was first recorded in the U.S. in 1963 by The Kingston Trio. Jacks gave the song greater youth appeal by making it an unlikely combination of bubblegum, easy listening, and soap opera.
"The Air That I Breathe" first appeared on Albert Hammond's 1972 debut album, It Never Rains In Southern California, but it didn't become a hit until The Hollies covered it in 1974. Hammond wrote the song with his partner, Mike Hazelwood, with whom he also wrote "It Never Rains . . . ." This torchy recording was an atypical release for The Hollies, whose earlier hits had ranged from the buoyant pop of "Bus Stop" to the funky pop-rock of "Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)." It also proved to be the group's last Top 10 hit.
Harry Chapin based "Cat's In The Cradle" on a poem that his wife, Sandy, wrote after touring commitments kept him from being home for the birth of their youngest son. The song, a #1 hit in 1974, tells of missed connections in a father-son relationship. But rather than tell the story as a downbeat ballad, Chapin told it in the singsong manner of a nursery rhyme. That made the song's message -- what goes around, comes around -- seem even more fundamental. The song returned to the Top 10 in 1993 for Ugly Kid Joe.
In August 1974 -- four months after losing a cover battle with Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods over "Billy, Don't Be A Hero" -- Paper Lace earned a #1 hit of their own with "The Night Chicago Died." The song, about a purported police shoot-out with gangster "Scarface" Al Capone, is passable bubblegum, but bad history. Capone died in prison in 1947. Perhaps the songwriters were thinking of John Dillinger. Never mind.
Stevie Wonder wrote Rufus' 1974 hit "Tell Me Something Good," which went gold and brought the group their first Grammy. Wonder even coached Chaka Khan on how to sing the gritty funk ballad. The song was such a star-making showcase for Khan that she was given featured billing with the group's next release, "You Got The Love."
A British group, Paper Lace took "Billy, Don't Be A Hero" to #1 in the U.K. in March 1974, but Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods won a cover battle in the U.S., reaching the top spot in June. With The Osmonds and The Partridge Family a few years past their prime -- and the Bay City Rollers still 18 months away from their first American hit -- Bo and his men briefly wore the bubblegum crown.
Styx landed their first Top 10 hit in 1975 with the power ballad "Lady." The Chicago-based group had recorded the song in 1973 for an album on the tiny Wooden Nickel Records. It was written by Dennis DeYoung, the group's lead singer and chief songwriter. In 1995 Styx reteamed to record a new version of "Lady" for a Greatest Hits album on A&M.
James Brown cowrote and produced "The Payback -- Part I" for a blaxploitation movie, which was to have been called Black Caesar's Revenge. The Godfather of Soul had contributed songs to two earlier movies in that vein, and both had become R&B hits. So you can imagine Brown's reaction when Larry Cohen, the movie's producer/director, rejected the song -- on the grounds that "it's not funky enough." Brown got the tapes back and released the song himself in 1974. Cohen, having retitled his movie Hell Up In Harlem, chose a theme song by Edwin Starr, which went nowhere, while Brown's single became a #1 R&B hit. Two decades later it's a widely sampled, seminal recording. Guess it was funky enough after all. Brown, the top R&B hitmaker of the '60s and '70s, was one of the initial inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Linda Ronstadt's scorching rendition of "You're No Good" hit #1 in February 1975, the same week that her widely acclaimed Heart Like A Wheel topped the album chart. The double victory made Ronstadt the hottest female singer in the business. "You're No Good" was first recorded by R&B singer Betty Everett in 1963. Ronstadt had performed the song in concert since the late '60s, when she fronted the Stone Poneys. Andrew Gold played the searing guitar solo.
"The Entertainer" was a million-selling hit for Marvin Hamlisch in 1974 -- 72 years after it was composed by ragtime pianist Scott Joplin. The witty and whimsical instrumental was featured in the box office smash The Sting. Its success on pop radio helped boost the movie soundtrack to #1. Hamlisch won an Oscar for adapting Joplin's music for the film. He also picked up Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
The Hues Corporation's "Rock The Boat" was the feel-good single of 1974 -- and a highly influential #1 hit. The Los Angeles trio took the melodic pop-soul sound of The 5th Dimension and The Friends Of Distinction and placed it in a vibrant disco setting. The smash also incorporated dashes of reggae and Latin, which gave it a lively, multicultural sensibility.
Carl Douglas wrote "Kung Fu Fighting" in 1974 in response to the martial arts craze, which had inspired the TV show Kung Fu and a series of Bruce Lee movies. Douglas and his producer, Biddu, added the hoos! and has! to simulate kung fu chops. The record topped the pop and R&B charts and was the centerpiece of Douglas' whimsically titled album, Kung Fu Fighting And Other Great Love Songs.
Maria Muldaur's sensuous "Midnight At The Oasis" was unusual in 1974, when female pop fantasies weren't spelled out so explicitly. Roberta Flack may have felt like making love, but Muldaur already had the guy's shirt off and was working on his belt. What do you think she's driving at when she urges the man to "send your camel to bed"? Let's face it: She isn't just thinking of the camel. Muldaur earned another sultry hit in 1975 with a remake of Peggy Lee's "I'm A Woman."
Ray Stevens' "The Streak" satirized 1974's hottest college craze. Stevens chose to lampoon not the streaker ("He ain't rude/He ain't lewd/He's just in the mood to run in the nude"), but the killjoy husband of the woman being streaked ("Don't look, Ethel"). His comic target thus became America's puritanical hang-ups about sex. Stevens wrote and produced the #1 smash.
If William DeVaughn, with his philosophical "Be Thankful For What You've Got," was the Norman Vincent Peale of 1974 R&B, B.T. Express was its Hugh Hefner. The group's "Do It ('Til You're Satisfied)" became an instant anthem for the Me Decade. The key lyric: "Everyone knows what they'd like to do/Whatever it is, do it, as long as it pleases you." Critic Robert Christgau preferred the single to the extended album version: "If the single does it 'til you're satisfied, the album does it 'til you've had it up to here."
Golden Earring's "Radar Love" is an anthem about timeless themes -- girls, cars, and rock 'n' roll. The 1974 single featured a nod to Brenda Lee that seemed to come out of nowhere. Barry Hay, the group's lead singer, wrote the song with guitarist George Kooymans. "Radar Love" was the most credible rock hit to emerge from the Netherlands, which had become known for such lightweight pop acts as The Shocking Blue, The Tee Set, and Mouth & Macneal.
DISC FIVE
With its buoyant melody and symphonic opulence, First Class' "Beach Baby" was a first-rate homage to The Beach Boys. The single was also, more broadly, a nod to the culture and values of the early '60s. The affectionate reference to the "boy next door/sun-tanned, crew-cut, all-American male" seemed quaint in 1974, but those few words summed up an entire era. First Class was a studio group featuring Tony Burrows, a veteran of many such endeavors.
Blue Magic's "Sideshow," a #1 R&B hit in 1974, peeked behind the scenes at the Greatest Show on Earth and found a lot of broken hearts. The Philly soul ballad was bluesier than such previous circus-themed songs as Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' "Tears Of A Clown" and Three Dog Night's "The Show Must Go On." Blue Magic repeated the big-top imagery in their follow-up, "Three Ring Circus."
In 1974, four years after The Guess Who topped the pop chart with the topical "American Woman," Randy Bachman returned to the #1 spot with the message-free party record, "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet." Bachman wrote and produced the song for his new group, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. He originally conceived the song as an inside joke for his brother Gary, who stutters. The single carried BTO's third album, Not Fragile, to #1.
If the Jimmy Castor Bunch's "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" was the unlikeliest hit of 1972, Castor's 1975 sequel, "The Bertha Butt Boogie -- Part 1," was the unlikeliest hit of the decade. The single chronicles the continuing adventures of Bertha Butt and her sisters, Betty Butt, Bella Butt, and Bashiba Butt. Was Castor repeating the word butt to pander to his grade-school fans? To quote the title of his 1975 album, Butt Of Course.
Johnny Wakelin & The Kinshasa Band's "Black Superman -- 'Muhammad Ali'" was released in the wake of Ali's victory over George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire, in October 1974. The knockout won Ali the world heavyweight championship for the second time and sealed his status as a living legend. Alas, Wakelin's 1975 tribute is so fawning that it must have embarrassed even the egocentric Ali. Then again, maybe not.
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils hit the Top 5 in 1975 with the cool and cryptic pop ballad "Jackie Blue." Larry Lee, the Daredevils' lead singer, conceived the song as a complaint to a male friend who was dropping quaaludes and, as a result, was unable to communicate. Producer Glyn Johns urged Lee to downplay that theme and to instead address the song to a woman. So Lee and the group's harmonica player, Steve Cash, rewrote the lyric. The point of view in the revised version is fuzzy, but John Dillon's crying guitar work is impressive.
Sammy Johns' "Chevy Van," a million-seller in 1975, tells the story of a casual sexual encounter between a man and a young female hitchhiker. Traditionalists no doubt disapproved of the one-night-stand aspect of the song -- though they probably took some consolation in the fact that the man was driving an American-made van. Larry Knechtel of Bread coproduced the single. Alas, as a songwriter, Johns was no David Gates.
Earth, Wind & Fire achieved their greatest triumph with their music for a box office bomb. EWF played an R&B group on the rise in That's The Way Of The World, a movie by Sig Shore, the director of Superfly. "The film flopped after three days, but the album stood on its own," observed group leader Maurice White. The album topped the pop and R&B charts in 1975 and became the #1 R&B album of the year. "Shining Star," which expressed the group's philosophy about positive energy and self-actualization, also won the #1 spot on the pop and R&B charts as well as a Grammy. White produced the single and cowrote it with EWF's lead singer, Philip Bailey, and keyboardist, Larry Dunn.
War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" is a funky and good-natured state of the union from the streets. The song combines a plea for racial harmony with touches of populism ("I'd kind of like to be the President/So I could show you how your money's spent") and dry humor ("I know you're working for the C.I.A./They wouldn't have you in the Mafia"). War wrote the song, which went gold in 1975.
It's easy to see why The Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" was such a smash: It blended the sounds of the two most consistent hitmakers of the early '70s. The single combined the romanticism of the Carpenters with the dynamics of Elton John. The Captain, Daryl Dragon, and his wife, Toni Tennille, heard the song on Neil Sedaka's comeback album, Sedaka's Back. Dragon produced their vibrant recording, which was the #1 single of 1975 and went on to win a Grammy as Record of the Year.
Morris Albert's 1975 hit "Feelings" was a throwback to another musical era. It's the sort of elegant, cocktail-lounge ballad that had been in decline for a decade. Nonetheless, it became a Top 10 hit and remained on the chart for 32 weeks -- longer than any other single that year. It also became a staple of nightclubs, piano bars, and wedding chapels and, as such, it quickly became a cliché. Albert, who wrote and produced his one big hit, was born in Brazil.
Jefferson Starship's "Miracles" was played on a wide range of radio formats in 1975 -- from album rock to easy listening. The lilting melody, creamy sax solo, and intricate vocal harmonies gave the record a pretty sound; the lusty reference to oral sex (on the full-length album version) gave it an edge. The song was written by Marty Balin, who cofounded Jefferson Airplane in 1965 and returned, following a four-year hiatus, to the rechristened Jefferson Starship in early 1975. "Miracles" went Top 5 and sent the band's album Red Octopus to #1.
Alan Parsons secured his first hit as a producer with Pilot's jaunty "Magic," which went gold in 1975. David Paton, the lead singer of the Scottish trio, wrote the song with keyboardist Bill Lyall. Parsons went on to produce hits for Al Stewart and for his own group, the Alan Parsons Project.
Many were surprised when, following the 1972 breakup of Smokey Robinson And The Miracles, The Miracles got off to a faster start than their former leader. The group's "Do It Baby" hit the Top 20 in 1974, and the pulsing disco smash "Love Machine (Part 1)" reached #1 in 1976. Robinson, by contrast, didn't land his first Top 20 solo hit until 1979. Here's something even more curious: As big as "Love Machine" was, The Miracles never returned to the Hot 100.
In 1976, three years after losing a cover battle to Stories over "Brother Louie," Hot Chocolate went gold with "You Sexy Thing." The group's lead singer, Errol Brown, and bassist, Tony Wilson, wrote the song, a teasing blend of pop, soul, and disco. Mickie Most, who had overseen '60s hits for acts ranging from Lulu to The Animals, produced the single.
LaBelle strutted through the French Quarter's red-light district in '"Lady Marmalade," which topped the pop, R&B, and dance charts in 1975. Pop veteran Bob Crewe cowrote the song for a 1974 album that he produced for a disco group, The Eleventh Hour. He later played the track for LaBelle. "We immediately liked the way it sounded, the flavor of it, the funkiness,'' Patti LaBelle said in 1975. New Orleans native Allen Toussaint produced the trio's single, giving it a hard-funk edge. He brought in a full horn section and three-fourths of the city's famed rhythm section, The Meters, to play on the record. The sizzling smash was voted one of the five best singles of the year in the Rolling Stone critics' poll. Jon Landau raved about the hit in his review in the magazine of the trio's Nightbirds album: "'Lady Marmalade' is a perfect record -- the right song, sung by the right group, produced and played by the right musicians and released at the right time.''
The culture of fame was relatively new in 1975 when David Bowie's "Fame" reached #1. Fame was an apt subject for Bowie, who was a master of media and image manipulation back when Madonna was still in junior high. Bowie cowrote the song with John Lennon (who also sings a backing vocal) and guitarist Carlos Alomar. "Fame'' was part of Bowie's Young Americans album, which blended elements of three of the hottest strains in pop music -- rock, disco, and Philly soul. It was voted one of the five best singles of the year in the Rolling Stone critics' poll. Fifteen years later Bowie recorded a new version of the song, "Fame '90," that was featured in the box-office smash Pretty Woman.
Though it has a smooth dance rhythm, Jigsaw's 1975 hit "Sky High" was rooted as much in early '70s pop as in disco. Group members Des Dyer and Clive Scott cowrote the Top 5 smash, which was featured in the movie The Dragon Flies. Dyer and Scott had written Bo Donaldson And The Heywoods' sassy 1974 hit, "Who Do You Think You Are."
C.W. McCall was the stage name of Bill Fries, who was a $40,000-a-year ad agency executive in 1975 when he had the idea for "Convoy." The song capitalized on the Citizen Band radio craze and popularized such CB lingo as "rubber duck" and "10-4." The single crowned the pop chart and held the top spot on the country chart for six weeks -- as long as any single of the '70s. To no one's surprise, "Convoy" became the year's #1 country hit. It also spawned an ill-fated movie starring Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw. McCall wrote the song with Chip Davis, who went on to form the top-selling new age act Mannheim Steamroller.
"My biggest-selling single in America, thanks to the back-up singer." That's how Neil Sedaka assessed "Bad Blood" in his notes for a recent hits collection. The backup singer was Elton John, who was on fire in 1975 when "Bad Blood" shot to #1. The smash had modern touches (such as the casual use of the word bitch), but it also saluted Sedaka's early '60s roots with the "do ron do ron" riff. Sedaka cowrote and coproduced the song, which is his only gold single.
Foghat's anthemic "Slow Ride" was a staple on both pop and rock radio in early 1976. The song cracked the Top 20 and enabled Fool For The City to become Foghat's first platinum album. The song was written by "Lonesome" Dave Peverett, the British band's lead singer. Peverett had been a member of Savoy Brown.
DISC SIX
K.C. & The Sunshine Band kicked off a long run of hits with the propulsive "Get Down Tonight," which topped the pop and R&B charts in 1975. The euphoric rush of notes in the intro gave the record a unique and sexy sound. Group leaders Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch wrote and produced the single. Casey knew the song was a smash the night they recorded it. "I couldn't believe it, it was such an incredible sound," he marvelled in 1990. "I remember they must've played it back a hundred times, and I just couldn't believe it."
The Ohio Players' "Love Rollercoaster" became the focus of nationwide gossip and scrutiny in 1976, when a DJ in California started a rumor that a woman had been killed in the studio while the track was being recorded. The evidence: some audible "screams" just before the second verse. The group wrote and produced the single, which topped the pop and R&B charts. The song was featured on the album Honey, which, in keeping with a group tradition, featured a striking photograph of a nude black model on the cover. This time around she was covered with honey. Let's hope the photo shoot wasn't outdoors.
The Four Seasons updated their classic '60s sound with the pop-synth smash "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)." The result was the biggest and most enduring hit of their long career. Bob Gaudio, a former member of the group, produced and cowrote the song, which topped the chart in 1976. A refashioned dance-shuffle version made the Top 20 in 1994. The song, a man's fond recollection of the night he lost his virginity, includes this disarming and relatable admission: "As I recall, it ended much too soon."
Bay City Rollers finally conquered the U.S. market in 1976 -- two years after the onset of Rollermania in the U.K. -- with the resolutely cheery "Saturday Night." The tartan-clad lads had recorded the song in 1973. The group's Eric Faulkner thinks its catchy chant is what made it a #1 American hit. "It was raw and it was naive," he said. "It had a certain charm, I think. It was fresh at the time."
Mike Post's 1975 hit, "The Rockford Files," was the first TV theme to reach the Top 10 since The Ventures' "Hawaii Five-O" in 1969. The instrumental set just the right tone for the wry detective series. Post won a Grammy for his unique arrangement, which juxtaposed synthesizer and a backwoods harmonica for an intriguing blend of modern and old-fashioned sounds. Post, the John Williams of the small screen, returned to the Top 10 with "The Theme From Hill Street Blues."
Glen Campbell had his biggest hit in 1975 when "Rhinestone Cowboy" topped the pop and country charts. The sleek single went on to become the #1 country hit of the year. Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter produced the recording, giving it tremendous commercial appeal. Campbell, who at that point hadn't had a Top 10 hit in five years, later revealed what he had told himself on the eve of the single's release: "If this one ain't a hit, they can stick a fork in you, because you're done." The Larry Weiss composition won a Country Music Association Award as Song of the Year. It later inspired the ill-fated 1984 movie Rhinestone, which starred Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton.
Silver Convention's "Fly, Robin, Fly" is one of the hits that made Munich a leading music center of the mid-'70s. The song, originally titled "Run, Rabbit, Run," topped the pop, R&B, and dance charts in 1975 and won a Grammy. The bass-driven single featured three female session vocalists. A different trio of women recorded Silver Convention's second smash, "Get Up And Boogie (That's Right)."
Electric Light Orchestra returned to the Top 10 in 1976 with "Evil Woman," a song that group leader Jeff Lynne dashed off in the studio. "It came to me quicker than any song I have written," Lynne recalled in his liner notes for ELO's Greatest Hits. Since ELO disbanded in 1986, Lynne has produced hits for the Traveling Wilburys, his group with Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Roy Orbison.
In January 1976, as "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" became Diana Ross' third #1 solo hit, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced that its music screening committee deemed the song "qualitatively ineligible" for Oscar consideration. (They seemed to have confused the song with the admittedly awful movie from which it came.) After a protest, the committee rescinded their decision. In the end, the glossy ballad was nominated -- though it lost to Keith Carradine's folksy "I'm Easy." Michael Masser cowrote and produced "Theme From Mahogany," which Ross has called "one of the most beautiful songs ever written and [one which] seemed to speak directly to my heart."
When Happy Days went on the air in 1974, Bill Haley's 1955 classic "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" was its theme song, while a newly commissioned title song by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox was heard over the closing credits. By the show's third season, Pratt & McClain's zesty recording of "Happy Days" backed by the group Brother Love had been moved to the top of the show. Steve Barri and Michael Omartian, who had produced Rhythm Heritage's #1 hit, "Theme From S.W.A.T.," also produced this single, which went Top 5 in June 1976. (Barri coproduced a third TV theme hit that spring, John Sebastian's "Welcome Back.") Happy Days became TV's #1 show that fall.
Cyndi Grecco's "Making Our Dreams Come True" was the theme from Laverne And Shirley, TV's #1 show from 1977-'79. Fox and Gimbel also wrote the ditty, which followed their "Happy Days" theme into the Top 30. Grecco's recording captures the breathless excitement and unblinking optimism of such early '60s hits as Connie Francis' "Vacation."
The Bellamy Brothers' "Let Your Love Flow" is a warm and uplifting ode to the power of love, although what type of love was open to interpretation. Some viewed the song as romantic, others as inspirational. The single topped the pop chart in 1976 and became a Top 30 country hit. The brothers, Howard and David, ultimately made their biggest impact in country, landing ten #1 hits between 1979 and 1987.
Parliament put cosmic funk in power rotation in 1976 with "Tear The Roof Off The Sucker (Give Up The Funk)." George Clinton cowrote and produced the wigged-out space jam, which went gold and became his biggest pop hit. Gerardo sampled the song in his 1991 hit, "We Want The Funk." "Tear The Roof Off The Sucker" was featured on Parliament's platinum album Mothership Connection, which Rolling Stone included in its 1997 "definitive library of the best albums ever made."
Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From" was a effervescent blend of pop, soul, and disco. With such broad commercial appeal, it's easy to see why the single went gold in 1976. But Nightingale didn't think much of the song, especially the cheery hand claps and the high-pitched keyboard sound. "I didn't want to do it," she said at the time. "It's pleasant as a pop song, but I'm not into pop."
Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" is one of the few blues-based singles to ever go gold. The 1976 rock ballad features a star-making lead vocal by Mickey Thomas, who went on to a lucrative career with Starship. Bishop, who had been lead guitarist with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, wrote the song and plays the striking guitar solo. Why didn't Bishop sing lead? "Well, I didn't think it would be a hit if I sang it," he said. "My voice is not what you'd call 'AM acceptable.'"
In 1971 Bill Danoff teamed with John Denver to write "Take Me Home, Country Roads," which became Denver's breakthrough hit. Five years later Denver returned the favor by signing the Starland Vocal Band -- featuring Danoff and his wife, Taffy -- to his new Windsong label. The quartet's first Windsong single, "Afternoon Delight," hit #1 and won two Grammys: Best New Artist and Best Arrangement for Voices.
Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver" is best known today as the mystical music that sets up dream sequences in Wayne's World. But in 1976 the brooding ballad was a hit on both pop and album-rock radio. Wright wrote and produced the spacey smash, an effective showcase for his synthesizer wizardry. "Dream Weaver" went gold, a vast improvement over Wright's fortunes with the hard rock band Spooky Tooth, which never landed a chart single.
England Dan & John Ford Coley's "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight," which went gold in 1976, is as warm and unpretentious as the best records by the Carpenters and Anne Murray -- either of whom would have probably loved to have had first crack at the song. Parker McGee's lyric is a model of conversational writing: "Hello, yeah, it's been awhile/Not much, how about you?"31 The naturalness of the exchange makes Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" seem mannered and precious. "England" Dan Seals, the brother of Jim Seals of Seals & Crofts, went on to become a top country star of the '80s.
While "Disco Duck (Part 1)" by Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots would receive votes in any poll seeking to name the most grating hits of the '70s, Dees deserves some credit for ingenuity: His 1976 smash poked fun at disco even as it rode the disco bandwagon. Dees had the idea for "Disco Duck" when he was spinning records in a Memphis club. "The more I played the songs, the more I knew it might be time for a disco parody," he said. Dees was right. His song went #1 and platinum.
Vickie Sue Robinson's zesty "Turn The Beat Around" was one of the most musically adventurous disco hits. The smash, which hit the Top 10 in 1976, incorporates jazz-influenced scatting and richly varied instrumentation. The spirited single provided a virtual blueprint for such Miami Sound Machine hits as "Conga." Gloria Estefan saluted her predecessor with a cover version of "Turn The Beat Around" in 1994.
MCA Records wanted Norman Whitfield to reunite with The Temptations or The Undisputed Truth on the Car Wash soundtrack, but the veteran producer hoped to use the album to introduce his latest protégés, Rose Royce. Whitfield won the argument: Rose Royce's funk-lite version of "Car Wash" topped the pop and R&B charts and went platinum in 1977. Whitfield wrote and produced the soundtrack, which brought him a Grammy for Best Original Score.
Former porn star Andrea True went mainstream in 1976 with her R-rated disco smash, "More, More, More (Pt. 1)." The single, credited to the Andrea True Connection, topped the dance chart and was a gold-seller. True, who had revealed her thespian abilities in Every Inch A Lady and Deep Throat II, alludes to her former line of work when she sings "Get the cameras rolling/Get the action going."
Firefall earned their only Top 10 hit in 1976 with "You Are The Woman," a song so mellow it makes "Take It Easy" sound like "Black Dog." Rick Roberts, the lead singer of the Colorado-based group, wrote the song. Roberts and Firefall drummer Michael Clarke had previously been in the Flying Burrito Brothers. Most of the other members also had credit-rich backgrounds, which led the press to label Firefall an "aspiring supergroup." Roberts went on to write Firefall's other key hits, "Just Remember I Love You" and "Strange Way."
Steve Miller's "Fly Like An Eagle" was taken from his album of the same name, which was voted Best Album of 1976 in the Rolling Stone critics' poll. Miller wrote and produced the song, which includes a bit of soft-sell social commentary. The song's spacey trappings made it a natural for the Space Jam soundtrack. Seal's remake of the song, featured on that soundtrack, went Top 10 in 1997.
DISC SEVEN
Peter Frampton first recorded the anthemic "Do You Feel Like We Do" on his 1973 album, Frampton's Camel. He also included a terrific version of the song on Frampton Comes Alive!, which dominated the charts during the summer of 1976 and went on to become the #1 album of the year. In recording the song for the live album, Frampton used a talkbox, a guitar effect that mimics vocals. Frampton cowrote and produced the song, which went Top 10 in November 1976, just before he was crowned Artist of the Year in the Rolling Stone readers' poll and Guitarist of the Year by the readers of Playboy.
Ronnie Van Zant cowrote "Free Bird" as a tribute to guitar great Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1971. The song, which builds from a mournful opening to a celebrative ending, ranks with Derek And The Dominos' "Layla" and The Allman Brothers Band's "Jessica" as one of the rock-guitar anthems of the '70s. "Free Bird" first appeared on Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1973 debut album. Three years later, the band rerecorded the song for their live album, One More From The Road. Remarkably, the song made the Top 40 both times. In a sad irony, Van Zant also died tragically -- in a 1977 plane crash.
It was fitting that a live recording put REO Speedwagon on the Hot 100 for the first time. The band had made their name through ceaseless touring on the Midwest concert circuit. "Ridin' The Storm Out," a thunderous rocker from their double live album, You Get What You Play For, cracked the chart in 1977. REO's lead guitarist, Gary Richrath, wrote the song, which had been the title track of the band's third album in 1973.
Star Wars and disco were the hottest forces in American pop culture in 1977, so it's not surprising that when they came together, the result was a #1 platinum smash. Meco's "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" captured both the grandeur of John Williams' score and the playfulness and wit of George Lucas' movie. This enabled it to surpass Williams' original recording of the theme, which peaked at #10.
The Trammps performed "Disco Inferno" with the intensity of the Four Tops at their ballsy best. The song topped the dance chart for six weeks in early 1977. That earned it a place on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, released that November. The album logged 24 weeks at #1 and made disco the hottest sound of the decade. With this added momentum, a rereleased "Disco Inferno" climbed to #11 on the pop chart in May 1978. The Trammps went on to win a Grammy when Fever was named Album of the Year.
The Commodores revealed the full range of their talents in 1977 when they followed their courtly ballad "Easy" with the torrid funk smash "Brick House." The latter song features a lusty lyric and a rock-solid groove. The Commodores' brashness in recording a randy funk hit and their skill in pulling it off were the chief reasons they were named R&B group of the year in the Rolling Stone critics' poll.
Though Marvin Gaye generally disdained disco, he loved Johnnie Taylor's 1976 smash, "Disco Lady." "I thought it was a fabulous song -- as good as disco ever got," Gaye told biographer David Ritz. The following year Gaye recorded a dance-floor smash of his own, "Got To Give It Up (Pt. I)" The single, which topped the pop, R&B, and dance charts, grew out of a loose jam session in the studio. Judging by the crowd noise, it could have been recorded at the Motown Christmas party.
Foreigner's first hit from their debut album was the aptly titled "Feels Like The First Time." Group leader Mick Jones wrote the power ballad, which cracked the Top 5 in 1977. Lou Gramm sang lead. The band followed it with the biting "Cold As Ice." Both songs were featured on the band's quadruple-platinum album, Foreigner.
David Soul was a multimedia celebrity in the late '70s. He costarred opposite Paul Michael Glaser in the police action show Starsky And Hutch. And he had a #1 hit in 1977 with "Don't Give Up On Us," a silky but soulless ballad written and produced by pop veteran Tony Macaulay.
Dan Hill's "Sometimes When We Touch" was one of the most soul-baring hits of the '70s. The ballad, which went gold in 1978, combines the sensitivity of Dan Fogelberg with the melodrama of Gino Vannelli. Hill wrote the song with Brill Building veteran Barry Mann, whose sweeping melody gives it a sense of grandeur.
Stevie Wonder saluted Duke Ellington and other legends of the Big Band era in the joyous "Sir Duke," which topped the pop and R&B charts in 1977. The chorus ("Well there's Basie, Miller, Satchmo . . .") amounts to a music history lesson, but Wonder presents the information in such a clever way that he makes the history come alive. Wonder's song also includes a subtle civil rights message: "There's an equal opportunity for all to sing and clap their hands." "Sir Duke" was featured on Wonder's classic album Songs In The Key Of Life, which debuted at #1 and went on to be the top R&B album of 1977. It also won five Grammys, including Album of the Year. Wonder won 15 Grammys in the '70s, more than any other artist.
Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" is conventional, Eurostyle cabaret pop, but in 1979 it became an inspiring anthem. The song was originally the B-side of Gaynor's recording of a South African pop hit, "Substitute." DJs flipped the single over, giving Gaynor a signature song and oppressed people everywhere a statement of self-affirmation. "I Will Survive" went platinum, topped the pop and dance charts, and won the first (and only) Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording.
Alicia Bridges' warm and endearing "I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round)" was one of the best songs ever written about the disco phenomenon. Bridges cowrote the song, which went gold in 1978. The single's most striking feature is Bridges' exotic pronunciation of the word, action (something like "actshown!"). We're rooting for her to make it as a director, just so she can say that word every day.
Little River Band's "Happy Anniversary" is a punchy pop-rock song with a surprise twist -- a soulful falsetto bridge that echoes Earth, Wind & Fire. LRB's Beeb Birtles and David Briggs wrote the song, which tells of a man who carries a torch for an old girlfriend. The single features the muscular lead vocals and pretty harmonies that were the Australian group's trademarks.
Eddie Money, a former trainee with the NYPD, traded in his badge for a double-platinum debut album in 1978. The first single from the album was the sensuous "Baby Hold On," which includes the line "whatever will be, will be." When the song made the Top 20, Money heard from the writers of Doris Day's 1956 smash, "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)." And they weren't calling just to congratulate him on his success.
Warren Zevon, who was voted best songwriter of 1978 by Rolling Stone critics, created two of that year's quirkiest hits -- Linda Ronstadt's "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" and his own "Werewolves Of London." Zevon cowrote the latter song for a Phil Everly album. Everly had asked for a dance song and even suggested the oddball title. Jackson Browne, who coproduced Zevon's version of "Werewolves," has characterized Zevon's music as "song noir." Martin Scorsese later featured the hit in The Color Of Money.
Exile's "Kiss You All Over" was one of the hottest hits of 1978 -- in more ways than one. The sensual rock ballad, written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, topped the chart for four weeks and went platinum. Chapman also produced other "Chinnichap" hits, including Sweet's "Little Willy" and Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman's "Stumblin' In." Exile never had another big pop hit, but they became one of the top country groups of the '80s.
Chic proved their versatility by following the monster disco hit "Le Freak" with the romantic dance ballad "I Want Your Love." The mass-appeal single went Top 10 on the pop, R&B, dance, and adult contemporary charts in 1979. Group leaders Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards wrote and produced the song, which featured the minimalistic sound that was their trademark. It was featured on C'est Chic, that year's #1 R&B album.
Chic masterminds Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards wrote "We Are Family" for Sister Sledge after their first meeting with the sister act. Kathy Sledge sang lead on the song, which topped the R&B and dance charts in 1979 and became the rallying cry of that year's World Series champions, the Pittsburgh Pirates. The song has since become a remarkably versatile anthem of pride for women, African Americans, gays, and other groups.
Gene McFadden and John Whitehead had written 200 songs for such artists as The O'Jays and Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes before they were finally given a chance to make a record of their own. The result was "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now," which topped the R&B chart and went platinum in 1979. The song's theme of empowerment spoke to their own situation, but it also proved universal. As Whitehead said, "Everyone adopted that song -- colleges, football teams, even races and countries -- because it was a song of motivation, of determination." -- Paul Grein |
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