American Top 40: The 70s - February 15, 2014
This week's presentation - February 17, 1979
Darn, I was hoping that they'd run the following week's show, so we could hear the first show with the Top Three recap from the previous week. Oh well, maybe next year. Anyway, it's great to hear an early 1979 show, as there was lots of great music during that time!
Droppers:
YOU DON'T BRING ME FLOWERS - BARBRA STREISAND & NEIL DIAMOND (36) - YESSSS!! Thank God this hurlfest dropped off this week! Definitely a "No. Just no".
OOH BABY BABY - LINDA RONSTADT (35) - Good song, but definitely not her best.
HOLD THE LINE - TOTO (34) - See my comment for the song above, only change "her" to "their".
HOME AND DRY - GERRY RAFFERTY (28) - I forget how this song goes, but I seem to remember that I liked it.
DON'T HOLD BACK - CHANSON (21) - Meh, typical late-70s disco music; no huge loss.
40: YOU MAKE ME FEEL MIGHTY REAL - SYLVESTER (debut) - Good song. I like this better than his other two Top 40 hits.
39: FOREVER IN BLUE JEANS - NEIL DIAMOND (debut) - Good song - much better than the aforementioned duet with Barbra Streisand!
38: SONG ON THE RADIO - AL STEWART (debut) - Great song. This one reminds me a lot of "Jazzman" by Carole King.
37: YOU CAN DO IT - DOBIE GRAY (39) - Good song. Too bad it didn't last any longer on the chart (it would fall out the following week).
36: STORMY - SANTANA (debut) - Great rendition of the Classics IV classic! The music in the chorus reminds me of "Spooky" (which, incidentally, would also be covered later in '79, by the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
35: NEW YORK GROOVE - ACE FREHLEY (13) - Meh, this was nothing special. I preferred him with Kiss.
34: HAVEN'T STOPPED DANCING YET - GONZALEZ (40) - This was pretty good, considering I'm not a huge disco fan.
33: SULTANS OF SWING - DIRE STRAITS (debut) - Great song! I liked many songs on their debut album, which was self-titled. Did anyone notice a bad edit before the verse about the crowd of young boys fooling around in the corner?
EXTRA: LOVE CHILD - THE SUPREMES - Good song, though I actually preferred the cover by Sweet Sensation from the spring of 1990.
32: MY LIFE - BILLY JOEL (23) - Great song, though the album version is far superior to the single version, IMO.
31: CRAZY LOVE - POCO (38) - Good song, but it doesn't hold a candle to "Nothin' To Hide".
ARCHIVES: BRANDY (YOU'RE A FINE GIRL) - LOOKING GLASS - At this point, I was even more thankful that they didn't go with the February 10 show, as all three archive songs from that show fall into the "No. Just no" category (well, maybe the Neil Diamond song wasn't so bad, but other than that...) This song was actually pretty decent, although nothing I'd go out of my way to listen to.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: THEME FROM 'SUPERMAN' - LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - Great song! This song would play over the "Super Dees" intro of the Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 back in the 1980s.
30: I JUST FALL IN LOVE AGAIN - ANNE MURRAY (37) - Great song! One of her best!
29: TAKE ME TO THE RIVER - THE TALKING HEADS (26) - This song was worlds better than their (s)hit from four and a half years later
28: WHAT YOU WON'T DO FOR LOVE - BOBBY CALDWELL (33) - Great song! Too bad it was his only Top 40 hit (he did have several other AC and Smooth Jazz hits, though).
LDD: CALIFORNIA NIGHTS - LESLEY GORE - Good song - dedicated from a guy named Michael to Lesley Gore herself!
27: WHAT A FOOL BELIEVES - THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (32) - Great song! Definitely one of their best, and still sounds just as fresh as it did back in '79!
26: LADY - LITTLE RIVER BAND (31) - Great song! Possibly their all-time best! And they actually played the album version of the song which, like "My Life", totally blows the single version out of the water! It was like that in the original broadcast, instead of edited in, like on the April 28 show.
25: BABY I'M BURNIN' - DOLLY PARTON (27) - This was pretty good, but nowhere near as good as "Here You Come Again" and "9 To 5".
24: EVERY TIME I THINK OF YOU - THE BABYS (30) - Great song! My favorite of their two Top 20 hits (though "Isn't It Time" is a close second).
23: TOO MUCH HEAVEN - THE BEE GEES (9) - This was OK, but they didn't do very well with ballads, IMO - I actually preferred their disco songs, such as the one that's coming up a few songs ahead.
22: DANCIN' SHOWS - NIGEL OLSSON (25) - Great song! Sounds a little like something Bread would do.
EXTRA: GOT TO BE THERE - MICHAEL JACKSON - No. Just no.
21: SHAKE YOUR GROOVE THING - PEACHES & HERB (24) - It's okies, but I preferred their next hit, "Reunited".
ARCHIVES: BLACK AND WHITE - THREE DOG NIGHT - Good song - this was used as the second Optional Extra.
20: DON'T CRY OUT LOUD - MELISSA MANCHESTER (22) - Great song! One of my favorites from her!
19: TRAGEDY - THE BEE GEES (29) - Great song! One of my favorites from them!
18: THE GAMBLER - KENNY ROGERS (19) - Good song, though not quite one of his best.
EXTRA: ONE MAN WOMAN, ONE WOMAN MAN - PAUL ANKA & ODIA COATES - Good song
17: BLUE MORNING, BLUE DAY - FOREIGNER (20) - Great song! Definitely one of their best!
16: NO TELL LOVER - CHICAGO (18) - This song wasn't bad, but not one of my favorites from them. This one sounded a lot like a few of their mid-70s hits.
15: HEAVEN KNOWS - DONNA SUMMER W/ BROOKLYN DREAMS (17) - Great song! One of her best, right up there with "On The Radio", which we heard on the 80s show last week.
14: SOUL MAN - THE BLUES BROTHERS (16) - It's okies, but I preferred "Gimme Some Lovin'".
13: SHAKE IT - IAN MATTHEWS (15) - Great song! A few months ago, on the 1978 show, I said that he sounds a lot like another artist from the 1970s, but couldn't quite remember who - David Gates, of Bread, whom I made a mention of at #22.
12: GOT TO BE REAL - CHERYL LYNN (14) - Good song - reminiscent of "Best Of My Love" by the Emotions.
11: SEPTEMBER - EARTH, WIND & FIRE (8) - Great song!
ARCHIVES: BABY, DON'T GET HOOKED ON ME - MAC DAVIS - Great song!
OPTIONAL EXTRA: HEART OF GLASS - BLONDIE - This was OK, but it was no "Call Me"!
10: I WAS MADE FOR DANCING - LEIF GARRETT (12) - This song was OK. It was used in a commercial for Potato Sticks back around the time this song was charting.
9: SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT - BARRY MANILOW (11) - Great song, like most of his big 70s hits.
8: LOTTA LOVE - NICOLETTE LARSON (10) - Great song! RIP, Nicholette
LDD: SOMEDAY WE'LL BE TOGETHER - THE SUPREMES - Wow, two songs by the Supremes on the show! This one was good, and it did fit the dedication.
7: LE FREAK - CHIC (3) - I think we all know I'm not a huge fan of this song, but it's not my least favorite disco song in this week's Top Ten. More on that in a little while.
6: EVERYONE'S A WINNER - HOT CHOCOLATE (6) - This one's OK, but nothing exceptional.
5: I WILL SURVIVE - GLORIA GAYNOR (7) - Great song! A true disco anthem.
4: FIRE - THE POINTER SISTERS (5) - Great song! One of their best!
3: A LITTLE MORE LOVE - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN (4) - Great song! Possibly my favorite of her 70s hits!
EXTRA: DEVIL WOMAN - CLIFF RICHARD - It's okies, but nowhere near being his best.
OPTIONAL EXTRA: BIG SHOT - BILLY JOEL - This wasn't bad, but I preferred his song on the chart this week.
2: Y.M.C.A. - THE VILLAGE PEOPLE (2) - OH, HELL NO!!
1: DO YA THINK I'M SEXY - ROD STEWART (1) - This one was OK, but not one of my favorite songs by him by any means.