For the week ending August 24, 1974
40. I Love My Friend/Charlie Rich--A nice, smooth piano-based country ballad. The Silver Fox really had a way with that countrypolitan style.
39. I Honestly Love You/Olivia Newton-John--Musically, it's only so-so, but you got to admit, it is one powerfully sentimental love song.
38. Free Man In Paris/Joni Mitchell--Ms Mitchell is another of those performers that I was once indifferent to but now appreciate. This release is case in point. The breezy, jazzy feel of the song, as well as the flute solos, make this a highly enjoyable release.
37. Who Do You Think You Are/Bo Donaldson & The Heywards--This group will forever be remembered, sadly, for that unbearably sappy, maudlin charttopper "Billy, Don't Be A Hero". But they redeemed themselves nicely with this forgotten followup. It has a solid melody, a dense, dramatic arrangement, and fine vocals by Mike Gibbons (NOT Bo Donaldson, who was actually the keyboardist).
36. Sweet Home Alabama/Lynyrd Skynyrd--FINALLY, I get to hear this forgotten song! It's been MANY years since I've heard it on the radio
Sarcasm aside, it's hard not to like this sing-a-long classic, as overplayed as it is. However, I believe that the the band's attack on Neil Young's "Southern Man" was wrong-headed. Van Zant & company themselves showed their disdain for Southern racism when they "Boo-boo-booed" the Alabama governor (George Wallace), so they obviously shared the same beliefs that Neil expressed in his song. So what did they have to be offended by?
35. Don't Change Horses (In The Middle Of The Stream)/Tower Of Power--It's OK, but pales in comparison to their gloriously gut-wrenching masterpiece of the previous summer, "So Very Hard To Go".
34. Time For Livin'/Sly & The Family Stone--I'm not all that familiar with this group's releases after "Family Affair", including this one. When hearing it yesterday on the countdown, I felt it was so-so, at best. If I would hear it more often, I might warm up to it, who knows.
33. Another Saturday Night/Cat Stevens--It's mildly catchy, but it seems like an inappropriate song for Cat Stevens to cover. Honestly, after singing wistfully about peace trains and gloriously breaking mornings, he sounds out of place singing about a blind date that resembles Frankenstein.
32. Radar Love/Golden Earring--A fun, energetic, infectious rocker. I especially love the frenetic, dramatic build-up at the end. I'm curious, though; was there ever an AT40 show during this song's run that Casey played all or part of Brenda Lee's splendid "Comin' On Strong", the forgotten song referred to in the lyrics?
31. Beach Baby/First Class--Although this was a bubble gum studio band (fronted, by the way, by Tony Burrows, who fronted many such studio groups), First Class cut a very enjoyable hit song. It has a polished, dramatic arrangement, and it has a certain air of reflection and sadness about it. That's particularly true towards the end of the song, during the horn interlude before the band and singers join in for one last rousing sing-a-long of the song's title.
30. Let's Put It All Together/The Stylistics--This is one of the group's hits that I'm not familiar with. But I seem to remember it sounding typically sweet and pleasant for a Stylistics record.
29. My Thang/James Brown--Typical of his '70's releases: a fun, funky groove, but otherwise, unmemorable. Is it me, or do nearly all of his records from 1969 to about 1975 basically sound the same? Also, how many times did Casey tell the story about James Brown collecting pieces of coal along railroad tracks as a kid? I'm counting, oh, about 150, give or take a few.
28. Annie's Song/John Denver--Sweet and moving, both musically and lyrically.
27. It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)/The Rolling Stones--It's musically so-so, but I have always cringed at the lyrics that describe Mick committing suicide on stage. C'mon, guys, this is too serious a topic to get flippant about.
26. You Haven't Done Nothin'/Stevie Wonder--I can take it or leave it.
25. Takin' Care Of Business/Bachman-Turner Overdrive--A fairly fun, bouncy release, but far from their best song.
24. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me/Elton John--A very moving, dramatic epic of a release. The drama reaches its peak in each chorus when Elton sings "But losin' everything", then a pregnant pause of silence, then the singer and band explode with "is like the sun going down on me". That pregnant pause is only about half a second long, but it makes all the difference.
23. Sure As I'm Sitting Here/Three Dog Night--A fun, rollicking song that has been unfairly forgotten.
22. Clap For The Wolfman/The Guess Who--A gimmicky, but cute song featuring that legendary manic DJ Wolfman Jack (born Bob Smith).
21. Hang On In There, Baby/Johnny Bristol--A splendid, majestic, Barry White-influenced soul number that celebrates, as Dr Ruth would say, good sex. Hey, Amazing Rhythm Aces, you want an example of a First Rate Romance? You got it right here.
20. Call On Me/Chicago--Although not quite reaching the stratospheric heights of their early '70's releases, this latin-tinged horn rock number is still one great song.
19. Nothin' From Nothin'/Billy Preston--A fairly fun, bouncy song, but far from great.
18. Wild Thing/Fancy--So-so, at best. It's funny, though, that with this remake, as well as those in the countdown by Cat Stevens and Donny & Marie, I was completely unaware that this was a remake; I had not yet been exposed to the originals of any of these three songs.
17. Then Came You/Dionne Warwick & The Spinners--A fun, catchy pop song. It's rather sad, though, that this was the Spinners' only charttopper, and it was far from their best song. Ms Warwick would reach the summit one more time, but once again, she shared it with "Friends". (Amazingly, she NEVER had a solo number one.)
16. Rub It In/Billy "Crash" Craddock--No. Just no. (It just has a certain creepiness about it.)
15. Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe/Barry White--Probably Barry's signature baby-making song
Although not my favorite of his hits, I still love its dramatic, bombastic nature and the opening wah-wah guitar riff. (I wonder if this was Barry's response to Johnny Bristol's knock-off hit, as if to say, "Hey, buddy! There's room for only one soul Casanova in the Top 40. So get lost")
14. Sideshow/Blue Magic--A beautiful, Stylistics-influenced soul ballad, with a falsetto lead singer sounding just like Russell Thompkins Jr. of above-mentioned group.
13. Please Come To Boston/Dave Loggins--I can take it or leave it. I also noticed the ill-thought out edit, in which someone edited the 1st chorus and the 2nd verse; thus, the nonsensical reference to Denver when Dave had been talking about Boston.
12. You And Me Against The World/Helen Reddy--Although somewhat sappy, it's still enjoyable. It has a strong melody and a smooth arrangement. But what really makes this song is the sweet harmonica, a very underrated instrument.
11. Shinin' On/Grand Funk--Even though it almost made the Top 10, somehow I don't remember it as a hit. Anyway, I was not all that impressed when I heard it yesterday.
10. Keep On Smilin'/Wet Willie--Although it has a positive message, it's musically just so-so.
9. Rock Me Gently/Andy Kim--A pleasant, well-produced song. Am I the only person who, when hearing it for the first time, though it was Neil Diamond singing?
8. I'm Leaving It All Up To You/Donny & Marie Osmond--I can take it or leave it. This was their first pairing together professionally, and who would have guessed at the time what an entertainment juggernaut this duo would become.
7. Wildwood Weed/Jim Stafford--Man, forget "White Rabbit", "Rainy Day Women", and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". This novelty hit is probably the most blatant pro-drug song ever. It's rather amazing that this song did as well as it did on the chart, as it probably was banned by many stations. (Or maybe it got a pass because it WAS a novelty song. Who knows?)
6. Waterloo/ABBA--A powerful, wall-of-sound debut hit for the future worldwide musical phenomenon.
5. I Shot The Sheriff/Eric Clapton--I always felt this song was overrated. It's an atrocity that this mediocre song, and not the amazing "Layla", would be Clapton's only charttopper.
4. Feel Like Makin' Love/Roberta Flack--A fairly enjoyable jazzy ballad.
3. Tell Me Something Good/Rufus--This irresistible release is,IMHO, the definitive funk song. From the "ooh-wack, ooh-wack" opening guitar riff, to the staccato way Chaka Khan crisply sings the lyrics one syllable at a time, with the downbeat following each syllable, to the way the band belts out the title in the chorus, this is one amazing soul classic.
2. The Night Chicago Died/Paper Lace--A cheesy story song in the same vein as "Billy, Don't Be A Hero", only not as sappy and with a happier ending. (This group actually had the original version of "Billy".) And this song rocks out more, too. (I am amused by the opening line "Daddy was a cop, on the east side of Chicago". Isn't the east side of Chicago, like, Lake Michigan?)
1. You're Having My Baby/Paul Anka w/ Odia Coates--Probably one of the most controversial-- and most hated--charttoppers of all time. As I've stated before on one of these threads, it really doesn't deserve its bad reputation. He's simply expressing, in song, the natural human joy he felt about his wife giving him the amazing gift of a child. And, yes, in one of the verses, he does touch on the sensitive topic of abortion, but remember, Roe Vs Wade was only a year and a half old, so this was a red hot topic at the time. I believe that the backlash towards this song was due to that it was a very adult song (that it, dealing with serious, adult issues) in a genre dominated by teen pop and rebellious, raucous rock. I theorize that if he countrified this song slightly and aimed it towards that market (and replaced "My" with "Our" in the title), the backlash would not have been as great. After all, country music is aimed more at adults, anyway.
And my favorite song of the countdown (drum roll):
I'll have to go with that better-than-remember lost hit "Who Do You Think You Are" by Bo Donaldson and the Heywards.