American Top 40: The 70s - September 20, 2014
This week's presentation - September 22, 1979
Droppers:
OH WELL - THE ROCKETS (40) - I vaguely remember that this wasn't anything I'd go out of my way to listen to.
SATURDAY NIGHT - HERMAN BROOD & HIS WILD ROMANCE (35) - Same with this song.
MORNING DANCE - SPYRO GYRA (34) - Aww, what a shame that this song dropped off! One of the best jazz instrumentals ever!
WHEN YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN - DR. HOOK - This song wasn't bad, but, of course, I preferred the follow-up to this!
BAD GIRLS - DONNA SUMMER (31) - Good song - I slightly preferred it over the song of hers in this week's Top 40.
SUSPICIONS - EDDIE RABBITT (29) - I seem to recall this had more of a smooth jazz sound to it than his usual country.
LW#3: THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA - CHARLIE DANIELS BAND
LW#2: AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE - EARTH, WIND & FIRE
LW#1: MY SHARONA - THE KNACK
40: I KNOW A HEARTACHE WHEN I SEE ONE - JENNIFER WARNES (debut) - Good song, though I preferred a few others from her. This one sounded a cross between "Rhythm Of The Rain" and "I Want It That Way".
39: ARROW THROUGH ME - WINGS (debut) - Good song - had sort of a jazzy feel to it.
38: ROLENE - MOON MARTIN (debut) - Good song - one I remember quite well from back in the day.
37: YOU DECORATED MY LIFE - KENNY ROGERS (debut) - This song wasn't bad, but was definitely not his best. I heard this one yesterday at Johnnie's Round The Clock, a diner in Merrillville, Indiana.
LDD: IF MY FRIENDS COULD SEE ME NOW - LINDA CLIFFORD - This song would definitely be appropriate for the dedication if the author of the LDD lived her dream of becoming a singer. She was ten years old, so she could be any singer who was born in the late 1960s (she identified herself as Tawni(sp?), but that doesn't mean much - she could go by a stage name).
36: AIN'T THAT A SHAME - CHEAP TRICK (38) - This one's pretty good - the beginning sounds so much like "Surrender", a mid-charter from them from almost exactly a year before.
35: DIRTY WHITE BOY - FOREIGNER (debut) - This wasn't bad, but certainly not their best. I preferred their next hit, the title track from Head Games.
34: MAMA CAN'T BUY YOU LOVE - ELTON JOHN (13) - Great song! One of only two Top Ten hits from him in a near seven-year period. There are many speculations about what caused this slump in his chart career, but we won't get into those right now
ARCHIVE: SISTER GOLDEN HAIR - AMERICA - Great song! One of their all-time best!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: BROKEN-HEARTED ME - ANNE MURRAY - Great song! One of her best - this was the song that kicked off the Top 100 of 1980.
33: HOT SUMMER NIGHTS - NIGHT (24) - Good song, but I preferred their next hit, "If You Remember Me", which was headed up by Chris Thompson.
32: WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I WAS FALLING IN LOVE - LOBO (36) - Good song.
31: GOOD GIRLS DON'T - THE KNACK (debut) - Great song! Much better than the ad nauseum played "My Sharona".
30: DEPENDIN' ON YOU - DOOBIE BROTHERS (37) - Good song - my second favorite release from Minute By Minute, behind "What A Fool Believes".
29: LET'S GO - THE CARS (14) - Not bad, but definitely not one of my favorites from them.
28: GET IT RIGHT NEXT TIME - GERRY RAFFERTY (32) - Good song - much better than the overplayed "Baker Street"
27: DIM ALL THE LIGHTS - DONNA SUMMER (39) - Good song. This song held the record for almost a year for the Top Ten song containing the longest held note (it would be eclipsed in August, 1980, when "All Out Of Love" by Air Supply hit the Top Ten).
26: SPOOKY - ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION (30) - Good song. I did slightly prefer the original by the Classics IV
25: GOODBYE STRANGER - SUPERTRAMP (15) - Great song! My favorite single release from Breakfast In America!
24: LOVIN', TOUGHIN', SQUEEZIN' - JOURNEY (26) - Great song! And what word is repeated exactly 154 times in this song?
23: WHAT CHA GONNA DO WITH MY LOVIN' - STEPHANIE MILLS (27) - Good song, but not quite as good as "Never Knew Love Like This Before".
ARCHIVE: LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER - THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE - Meh, not a fan of this one. Its only saving grace is that it is better than that nauseating "Muskrat Love" song.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: PLEASE DON'T GO - KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND - No. Just no.
22: THE BOSS - DIANA ROSS (25) - This wasn't bad, considering I'm generally not a fan of her upbeat songs.
21: DIFFERENT WORLDS - MAUREEN McGOVERN (23) - Good song. I like this better than "The Morning After".
20: I DO LOVE YOU - G.Q. (22) - Good song - pretty much your typical late-70s R&B slow jam.
19: THE MAIN EVENT/FIGHT - BARBRA STREISAND (11) - Good song - one of her few upbeat songs - that hit the Top Ten, anyway.
18: BORN TO BE ALIVE - PATRICK HERNANDEZ (20) - This wasn't bad, but certainly not the best song on the chart.
17: POP MUZIK - 'M' (19) - As you probably know all too well, this one wasn't my cup of tea.
16: DRIVER'S SEAT - SNIFF 'N' THE TEARS (18) - Good song.
15: BAD CASE OF LOVING YOU (DOCTOR, DOCTOR) - ROBERT PALMER (17) - It's okies, but nothing special. No surprise that Moon Martin wrote this song, as it and "Rolene" do sound somewhat similar.
14: HEAVEN MUST HAVE SENT YOU - BONNIE POINTER (16) - Wow, what's with all these songs moving up two spots? Well, anyway, this song was OK, but I preferred many of her sisters' hits.
LDD: BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME - GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS - Good song and indeed fitting for the dedication.
13: CRUEL TO BE KIND - NICK LOWE (21) - Great song! With a jump like that, it looked like a sure-fire Top Ten hit, but, in fact, it only got one spot higher.
ARCHIVE: LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID - PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS - Great song! This was when their songs were starting to improve in quality (as I didn't care much for most of their early-70s hits).
OPTIONAL EXTRA: GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY - BOB DYLAN - Meh, I wasn't generally a big fan of him.
12: DON'T STOP 'TIL YOU GET ENOUGH - MICHAEL JACKSON (28) - Blegh - one of my least favorite songs from him of all time!
11: GOOD TIMES - CHIC (9) - This song was pretty good - much better than "Le Freak", but not quite as good as "I Want Your Love".
10: DON'T BRING ME DOWN - ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA (4) - This used to be one of my favorite ELO songs, but overplay sort of killed it for me. I much preferred their other 1979 hit.
9: SAIL ON - COMMODORES (10) - Great song! One of their best songs ever! This was beginning its three-week reign on the R&R chart this same week.
8: I'LL NEVER LOVE THIS WAY AGAIN - DIONNE WARWICK (8) - Great song! One of my favorites from her!
7: LONESOME LOSER - LITTLE RIVER BAND (7) - This song was OK, but definitely not their best. This is the song that the Commodores bumped out of the top spot on the R&R chart this same week.
6: SAD EYES - ROBERT JOHN (6) - Great song! One would think that it had peaked at this point, considering this was its 13th week on the chart, but, in fact, the song was far from done - two weeks later, it would hit the top!
5: LEAD ME ON - MAXINE NIGHTINGALE (5) - Great song! Definitely my favorite of her two Top Ten hits!
4: RISE - HERB ALPERT (12) - Great song! One of his best!
3: THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA - CHARLIE DANIELS BAND (3) - Good song, but not quite as good as "Still In Saigon".
OPTIONAL EXTRA: MIDNIGHT WIND - JOHN STEWART - Good song. Like his previous hit, "Gold" (which I preferred), this featured Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham on back-up vocals.
2: AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE - EARTH, WIND & FIRE (2) - This is another song that hit #1 on R&R but didn't quite make it on the Hot 100. I used to really like this song, but now, not so much, for some reason.
1: MY SHARONA - THE KNACK (1) - Another song I used to really love and all I can say is - what in the world was I thinking?? Of course, I know there are lots of people who still like this song and really, more power to you, but it's just not my thing. At least they played the single version of the song (as, during the recap, they played the album version, where the instrumental bridge seems to go on forever).