Leif Garrett, “Runaround Sue,” #13, January 22, 1978
Leif Garrett was a typical “teen idol” singer who’s now known better today for his on-and-off drug issues that what he actually did to make himself famous. “Runaround Sue” was the second single from his self-titled debut album released in late 1977 (eight of the 10 songs on the album were remakes of songs made over 10 years earlier, ranging from the standard “That’s All” to the Billy J. Kramer hit “Bad to Me,” written by Lennon & McCartney), and they all sound pretty similar: multitracked vocals, swoopy strings, etc. Basically, it was the same playbook Donny Osmond worked from at the beginning of the decade – which is no surprise, given producer Michael Lloyd had been a VP at MGM Records during Donny’s heyday. (Did I mention that Lloyd either wrote or cowrote the other two songs?) Anyway, it is what it is. By the way, this was the only video I could embed of this – don’t ask me why it has nothing but Kristy McNichol pictures, I have no idea.
Kansas, “Point of Know Return,” #28, January 22, 1978
Given all the airplay this song got, I would have thought it was a bigger hit – perhaps I was listening to WPLJ more then, or perhaps it came back after the song was blown away (sorry) by the second single, “Dust in the Wind.” Still a catchy song 30 years later, and no doubt a key song during Kansas’ concerts at state fairs and the like. Gotta love this video – it’s so ‘70s.
Stevie Wonder, “As,” #36, January 22, 1978
By January 1978, it had been over a year since Songs in the Key of Life was released, and Motown was still pumping out singles. This was the fourth Top 40 hit from Stevie’s magnum opus after “I Wish,” “Sir Duke,” and “Another Star.” (“Isn’t She Lovely” got tons of radio airplay, but Wonder never authorized Motown to release it as a single.) Nothing wrong with this song; more likely it didn’t get much of a label push. By the way, that wasn’t Stevie banging away on a Fender Rhodes in the original version; it’s Herbie Hancock.
Donny & Marie Osmond, “You’re My Soul and Inspiration,” #38, January 22, 1978
And speaking of Donny Osmond, this was his 31st Hot 100 hit of the ‘70s (just the ninth for Marie, however), and, yes, it’s a remake of an oldie. Out of print, and it suffers from the typical Donny & Marie duet issue: most duets are written as love songs between the singers; it sounds a little icky when it’s being sung between a brother and a sister. (Saturday Night Live did a sketch in 1982, featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Marie and Gary Kroeger as Donny, that took that ick factor to the extreme.)
Marilyn Scott, “God Only Knows,” #61, January 22, 1978
Another one that’s out of print. Marilyn Scott has had (and continues to have) success as a jazz vocalist. It’s a remake of the 1966 Beach Boys hit from Pet Sounds; it has an interesting arrangement but won't eclipse the original.
Sammy Hagar, “You Make Me Crazy,” #62, January 22, 1978
Post-Montrose and pre-Van Halen, Sammy charted with this song that could easily have been mistaken for an Andrew Gold or Stephen Bishop tune. Which is probably why we never hear it nowadays, even though it’s still in print – who wants a wimpy Sammy Hagar when we can have the one on “Poundcake” and “Why Can’t This Be Love?”
The Ramones, “Rockaway Beach,” #66, January 22, 1978
Well, you have to give Sire Records credit for trying. The Ramones’ second of three Hot 100 singles (all from the album Rocket to Russia) may not be their most recognizable song (“I Wanna Be Sedated”? “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”? “Blitzkreig Bop”?), but it’s had a long shelf life – my son recognized it instantly as a “chase theme” song from an episode of What’s New, Scooby-Doo? Ruh-roh.
Al Green, “Belle,” #83, January 22, 1978
Green’s last Hot 100 entry in the 1970s came a bit before he temporarily stopped recording secular music. It’s a fine song, if a bit similar to some of his previous efforts. It’s likely being on the small Hi Records label (which didn’t have a lot of other artists at this point) started to slow his career momentum down; Green had also become an ordained pastor, which refocused his energies. He stopped performing and recording secular music altogether in favor of gospel a year after “Belle,” but has since balanced both genres.
Randy Newman, “Short People,” #2, January 29, 1978
Hard to believe the guy who’s known now for such family-friendly fare as “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “We Belong Together” was a controversial figure due to this song, which was clearly – clearly – a lampoon of the reasons why we dislike some people and not others. It’s a terrific joke, and made Newman, who previously could best be described as a cult figure, into a household name. I’m actually just as familiar with the parody of this parody, Chevy Chase’s 1980 song “Short People,” which keeps the melody but changes the lyrics to sing the praises of those who are height-challenged (“They don’t take up much space/You can get a dozen in a car”).
Paul Simon, “Slip Slidin’ Away,” #5, January 29, 1978
Paul Simon took what amounted to a five-year break between the Still Crazy After All These Years album and One-Trick Pony (which was both a failed movie starring Mr. Simon and a somewhat more successful soundtrack of them same); this song and “Stranded in a Limousine” were the only two songs Simon released during that period. The two of them were on the 1977 Greatest Hits, Etc., which was released to let Simon fulfill his contractual obligations to Columbia Records; all of his releases since then have been on Warner Brothers (although now the back catalog has gone back to Columbia – if anyone can figure out the music industry, please let me know). In any case, this is a memorable lyrics grafted onto a gospel tune, and certainly stands up to his other work.
Styx, “Come Sail Away,” #8, January 29, 1978
Styx’s first big hit on their primary label, A&M (their previous top 10 hit, “Lady,” was on the much smaller Wooden Nickel Records), and it’s been an AOR staple ever since. Styx’s overall oeuvre is a matter of personal taste (me: eh), but if their fans were polled, this would probably be their quintessential track.
Leo Sayer, “Easy to Love,” #36, January 29, 1978
Easy to love, but hard as hell to listen to. The second single off his Thunder in My Heart album, and sung mostly in falsetto (remember, The Bee Gees were breaking sales records doing the same at this time) barely scraped into the Top 40, as had the title track two months before. That was a big comedown from the two #1 hits he’d notched in 1977, “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” and “When I Need You.” No doubt a big money loser for Chrysalis Records, which probably pressed a sizeable number of copies assuming Sayer’s star would continue to ascend; I remember seeing this album in cut-out racks for years.
Kenny Rogers, “Sweet Music Man,” #44, January 29, 1978
Gentle and basically uninteresting ballad from just before the time when Kenny Rogers would dominate the pop and country charts. This was a top 10 country hit, but too contemplative for a major crossover.
Rose Royce, “Ooh Boy,” #72, January 29, 1978
After scoring a #1 hit with their debut single “Car Wash” in early 1977, this group struggled to maintain momentum, and this single fit right in – it sounds as if it could have been a Motown release from 10 years before. As a result, it missed the top 40 by a mile (their last chart single, "Love Don't Live Here Anymore," would be far more successful). Solidly produced by Norman Whitfield, but nothing that would make anyone jump out of their chair.
Kellee Patterson, “If It Don’t Fit, Don’t Force It,” #75, January 29, 1978
The first of this series to go into a very special subset: That’s What She Said. (This was an era with lots of double-entendre song titles, most of which didn’t chart terribly highly.) Patterson hailed from Gary, Indiana, becoming popular there around the same time as The Jackson 5. She recorded a few albums with minor labels (one in the mid-1990s in a jazz vein); this was her only Hot 100 entry. It was tempting to say this was a disco one-shot without hearing it; it’s actually more of a soul/funk piece, and certainly deserved to be heard.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Superhits '78; Part 1
Since I've been listening to lots of music from 1978 while putting together a CD set, I thought other people might want to hear what people were listening to that year as well.
Bob Welch, “Sentimental Lady,” #8, January 8, 1978
Welch made a smart move by recycling one of his best Fleetwood Mac songs for his first solo album (after two flop LPs with a power trio, Paris, which no doubt confused his fans). He made a better move by bringing in Mac mates Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham (who joined the band after Welch left, actually replacing him) to work on the song. Nowadays Welch has no communication with them (apparently he was excluded from the membership list for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), but back then anything any member of Fleetwood Mac appeared on pretty much guaranteed a Top 20 hit. The resulting publicity (plus a paucity of other rock albums at the time) made Welch’s album French Kiss a surprise smash.
Bay City Rollers, “The Way I Feel Tonight,” #24, January 8, 1978
The Rollers’ last Top 40 entry – heck, their last entry on the American singles charts at all – is a drippy ballad that could have been recorded by half the artists in the Arista stable (no surprise; the album was produced by Harry Maslin, who later produced many of Air Supply’s hits). Hard to believe they made four studio albums after this one.
Diana Ross, “Gettin’ Ready for Love,” #27, January 8, 1978
Given that “Love Hangover” had been a huge #1 hit nine months before, the first single from Ross’ new album peaking below the top 20 was kind of a disaster. One of the problems Ross has always had is she almost never sticks with the same producers from one album to the next, so you never get the same sound. This was produced by Richard Perry after Carly Simon and Ringo Starr, but before The Pointer Sisters, so he probably didn’t have a handle on how to handle middle-of-the-road R&B just yet. It’s also a little too “girly,” given Ross was nearly 34 years old at the time.
Cheech & Chong, “Bloat On (Featuring The Bloaters),” #41, January 8, 1978
Parody of The Floaters’ “Float On” and a salute/warning to overeating, which probably would have benefited by appearing on an album quickly after its release (C&C had some label issues, so the single came out on Ode Records, but didn’t appear on an album until two years later on Warner Brothers). Comedy records were having a tough time making Top 40, and the belching at the top and end of the record probably put off some radio stations. Shame, since it’s pretty funny on the whole, and is a good reminder that Tommy Chong is also a damn good musician – he’d been in the Motown band Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers (“Does Your Mother Know About Me”) for a long time, including when they were known as Four [gross euphemism for black men] and a [gross euphemism for a Chinese man].
Cheech & Chong And The Bloaters. Bloat On.1977 by capitainfunkk
KC & The Sunshine Band, “Wrap Your Arms Around Me,” #48, January 8, 1978
The start of a fallow period for KC and the guys – five of their previous seven singles went to either #1 or #2, but this started a run of six singles that didn’t break Top 30. It doesn’t sound significantly different than the others, so it’s hard to say why, except maybe market oversaturation – too much disco from other artists, and too much KC in too short a period.
Eric Carmen, “Boats Against the Current,” #88, January 8, 1978
Pretty but inconsequential mopey ballad that suffered in comparison with Carmen’s big hit in a similar vein, “All by Myself.” I’m sure a few people were wondering, “Is this the same guy from The Raspberries?”
David Castle, “The Loneliest Man on the Moon,” #89, January 8, 1978
Never heard this one before looking it up on YouTube; it's out of print. And, well, it's definitely different. Castle's one and only hit.
The Alan Parsons Project, “Don’t Let It Show,” #92, January 8, 1978
A good ballad that never should have been released as a single, from their breakthrough album I Robot. It took a couple of years for Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson to write songs that would work on Top 40 radio.
Player, “Baby Come Back,” #1, January 15, 1978
Standard pop-rock single notable because a lot of people thought it was Hall & Oates. It has a little similarity to “She’s Gone,” I suppose, but while lead singer Peter Beckett has a similar range to Daryl Hall, he has none of the latter’s vocal characteristics. Huge hit from RSO Records in between huge hits from their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Dolly Parton, “Here You Come Again,” #3, January 15, 1978
Parton’s first big Top 40 pop hit, but the singer-songwriter went elsewhere for this one; it’s written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, who had been around since the Brill Building in the early 1960s. Parton’s voice was certainly unique for top 40 radio at the time; a lot of listeners (like myself) undoubtedly thought she was a new artist, and didn’t realize she’d been hitting the country charts for 10 years.
Rod Stewart, “You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim),” #4, January 15, 1978
Stewart’s big hit off Foot Loose and Fancy Free, near the peak of his popularity, and back when he actually wrote what he sang. I hated this song when it first came out, and I’m still put off by the lyrics today(yes, “lyrical” and “physical” rhyme, but man, is that an awkward lyric). Not even sure who’s it’s written to – the disparaged “big-bosomed lady with the Dutch accent” is clearly his ex Britt Eklund, but I don’t think it was Alana Hamilton, whom he would marry in 1979, that was in his heart at the time.
Shaun Cassidy, “Hey Deanie,” #7, January 15, 1978
Oh good, Eric Carmen again. Except he only wrote this one. Cassidy’s third and last Top 10 hit, as the momentum from The Hardy Boys Mysteries was starting to wear down. Not a bad piece of pop-rock, actually; Cassidy’s songs were a little less agonizing than those of other teen idol pop stars. (Yes, I’m talking to you, Leif Garrett and Donny Osmond.)
Wings, “Girls School,” #33, January 15, 1978
Here’s one most of us in the good ol’ USA missed altogether. This was released as the B-side of “Mull of Kintyre,” McCartney’s tribute to his Scottish home, which was a gigantic hit all over the world, hitting #1 in five countries (and it’s still the fourth-biggest selling single in the UK ever). But here in America, it held no interest – so DJs flipped the single over and started playing the trifle “Girls School” instead. That broke Top 40 (barely), but considering how hot the band had been over the previous few years, it was considered a flop. It was left off the subsequent album London Town (as was “Mull of Kintyre”), and has only been released since (to my knowledge) on a 1993 London Town rerelease. Wikipedia also notes Capitol Records’ lack of promotional enthusiasm for Paul that year helped lead to his temporary exit for Columbia Records in 1979.
Peter Frampton, “Tried to Love,” #41, January 15, 1978
Last and least of the three singles from I’m in You, following the title track and a remake of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).” 1978 wasn’t a particularly good year for Frampton, who had this “hit” and his acting debut in the wretched Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie (well, I’ve heard it’s wretched; I’ve never actually seen it) to his credit. If Mick Jagger's on the record, he's buried in the mix.
Millie Jackson, “If You’re Not Back in Love by Monday,” #43, January 15, 1978
Odd that an R&B star with a taste for raunchy lyrics would have a big hit with a Merle Haggard ballad, but 1970s music was nothing if not unpredictable. Jackson’s career has been long and varied, but this song was one of her bigger hits, and also one of her last. She should have had a hit with her 1985 duet with Elton John, “Act of War,” but it started up slowly in the US and Geffen Records left it off the subsequent LP Ice on Fire. (It’s still pretty hard to find here.)
John Denver, “How Can I Leave You Again,” #44, January 15, 1978
One in a string of flop singles for Denver after 1975. Before that, he’d had four #1s (“Sunshine on My Shoulders,” “Annie’s Song,” “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” and “I’m Sorry”), a #2, and a #5 out of seven singles (the only lesser hit was the #13 “Sweet Surrender”). After the #13 “Fly Away” in early 1976, however, the world seemed to tire of Denver simultaneously, and he never again registered a Top 20 hit. This is a pretty confessional, but nothing that would make anyone jump out of their chair and run to the local record store.
Al Martino, “The Next Hundred Years,” #49, January 15, 1978
Seriously? Al Martino charted in 1978? The last of his long run of charts hits, and a little gimmicky at that. Love the video thought -- from the old show Dinah!
Cat Stevens, “Was Dog a Doughnut,” #70, January 15, 1978
So odd you have to wonder if Stevens was tired of the pop music grind long before his conversion. Eons from “Morning Has Broken.”
Ronnie Milsap, “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life,” #80, January 15, 1978
Bleurgh. One of those songs that would have made me reach for the next push button on the car radio the second it started to play (not that WABC or WNBC were playing this song anyway). One in a tremendous string of Top 10 country hits that ran unbroken between 1974 and 1991, but as far as the pop charts were concerned, an unsuccessful followup to 1977’s “It Was Almost Like a Song.”
Bob Welch, “Sentimental Lady,” #8, January 8, 1978
Welch made a smart move by recycling one of his best Fleetwood Mac songs for his first solo album (after two flop LPs with a power trio, Paris, which no doubt confused his fans). He made a better move by bringing in Mac mates Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham (who joined the band after Welch left, actually replacing him) to work on the song. Nowadays Welch has no communication with them (apparently he was excluded from the membership list for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame), but back then anything any member of Fleetwood Mac appeared on pretty much guaranteed a Top 20 hit. The resulting publicity (plus a paucity of other rock albums at the time) made Welch’s album French Kiss a surprise smash.
Bay City Rollers, “The Way I Feel Tonight,” #24, January 8, 1978
The Rollers’ last Top 40 entry – heck, their last entry on the American singles charts at all – is a drippy ballad that could have been recorded by half the artists in the Arista stable (no surprise; the album was produced by Harry Maslin, who later produced many of Air Supply’s hits). Hard to believe they made four studio albums after this one.
Diana Ross, “Gettin’ Ready for Love,” #27, January 8, 1978
Given that “Love Hangover” had been a huge #1 hit nine months before, the first single from Ross’ new album peaking below the top 20 was kind of a disaster. One of the problems Ross has always had is she almost never sticks with the same producers from one album to the next, so you never get the same sound. This was produced by Richard Perry after Carly Simon and Ringo Starr, but before The Pointer Sisters, so he probably didn’t have a handle on how to handle middle-of-the-road R&B just yet. It’s also a little too “girly,” given Ross was nearly 34 years old at the time.
Cheech & Chong, “Bloat On (Featuring The Bloaters),” #41, January 8, 1978
Parody of The Floaters’ “Float On” and a salute/warning to overeating, which probably would have benefited by appearing on an album quickly after its release (C&C had some label issues, so the single came out on Ode Records, but didn’t appear on an album until two years later on Warner Brothers). Comedy records were having a tough time making Top 40, and the belching at the top and end of the record probably put off some radio stations. Shame, since it’s pretty funny on the whole, and is a good reminder that Tommy Chong is also a damn good musician – he’d been in the Motown band Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers (“Does Your Mother Know About Me”) for a long time, including when they were known as Four [gross euphemism for black men] and a [gross euphemism for a Chinese man].
Cheech & Chong And The Bloaters. Bloat On.1977 by capitainfunkk
KC & The Sunshine Band, “Wrap Your Arms Around Me,” #48, January 8, 1978
The start of a fallow period for KC and the guys – five of their previous seven singles went to either #1 or #2, but this started a run of six singles that didn’t break Top 30. It doesn’t sound significantly different than the others, so it’s hard to say why, except maybe market oversaturation – too much disco from other artists, and too much KC in too short a period.
Eric Carmen, “Boats Against the Current,” #88, January 8, 1978
Pretty but inconsequential mopey ballad that suffered in comparison with Carmen’s big hit in a similar vein, “All by Myself.” I’m sure a few people were wondering, “Is this the same guy from The Raspberries?”
David Castle, “The Loneliest Man on the Moon,” #89, January 8, 1978
Never heard this one before looking it up on YouTube; it's out of print. And, well, it's definitely different. Castle's one and only hit.
The Alan Parsons Project, “Don’t Let It Show,” #92, January 8, 1978
A good ballad that never should have been released as a single, from their breakthrough album I Robot. It took a couple of years for Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson to write songs that would work on Top 40 radio.
Player, “Baby Come Back,” #1, January 15, 1978
Standard pop-rock single notable because a lot of people thought it was Hall & Oates. It has a little similarity to “She’s Gone,” I suppose, but while lead singer Peter Beckett has a similar range to Daryl Hall, he has none of the latter’s vocal characteristics. Huge hit from RSO Records in between huge hits from their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Dolly Parton, “Here You Come Again,” #3, January 15, 1978
Parton’s first big Top 40 pop hit, but the singer-songwriter went elsewhere for this one; it’s written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, who had been around since the Brill Building in the early 1960s. Parton’s voice was certainly unique for top 40 radio at the time; a lot of listeners (like myself) undoubtedly thought she was a new artist, and didn’t realize she’d been hitting the country charts for 10 years.
Rod Stewart, “You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim),” #4, January 15, 1978
Stewart’s big hit off Foot Loose and Fancy Free, near the peak of his popularity, and back when he actually wrote what he sang. I hated this song when it first came out, and I’m still put off by the lyrics today(yes, “lyrical” and “physical” rhyme, but man, is that an awkward lyric). Not even sure who’s it’s written to – the disparaged “big-bosomed lady with the Dutch accent” is clearly his ex Britt Eklund, but I don’t think it was Alana Hamilton, whom he would marry in 1979, that was in his heart at the time.
Shaun Cassidy, “Hey Deanie,” #7, January 15, 1978
Oh good, Eric Carmen again. Except he only wrote this one. Cassidy’s third and last Top 10 hit, as the momentum from The Hardy Boys Mysteries was starting to wear down. Not a bad piece of pop-rock, actually; Cassidy’s songs were a little less agonizing than those of other teen idol pop stars. (Yes, I’m talking to you, Leif Garrett and Donny Osmond.)
Wings, “Girls School,” #33, January 15, 1978
Here’s one most of us in the good ol’ USA missed altogether. This was released as the B-side of “Mull of Kintyre,” McCartney’s tribute to his Scottish home, which was a gigantic hit all over the world, hitting #1 in five countries (and it’s still the fourth-biggest selling single in the UK ever). But here in America, it held no interest – so DJs flipped the single over and started playing the trifle “Girls School” instead. That broke Top 40 (barely), but considering how hot the band had been over the previous few years, it was considered a flop. It was left off the subsequent album London Town (as was “Mull of Kintyre”), and has only been released since (to my knowledge) on a 1993 London Town rerelease. Wikipedia also notes Capitol Records’ lack of promotional enthusiasm for Paul that year helped lead to his temporary exit for Columbia Records in 1979.
Peter Frampton, “Tried to Love,” #41, January 15, 1978
Last and least of the three singles from I’m in You, following the title track and a remake of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).” 1978 wasn’t a particularly good year for Frampton, who had this “hit” and his acting debut in the wretched Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie (well, I’ve heard it’s wretched; I’ve never actually seen it) to his credit. If Mick Jagger's on the record, he's buried in the mix.
Millie Jackson, “If You’re Not Back in Love by Monday,” #43, January 15, 1978
Odd that an R&B star with a taste for raunchy lyrics would have a big hit with a Merle Haggard ballad, but 1970s music was nothing if not unpredictable. Jackson’s career has been long and varied, but this song was one of her bigger hits, and also one of her last. She should have had a hit with her 1985 duet with Elton John, “Act of War,” but it started up slowly in the US and Geffen Records left it off the subsequent LP Ice on Fire. (It’s still pretty hard to find here.)
John Denver, “How Can I Leave You Again,” #44, January 15, 1978
One in a string of flop singles for Denver after 1975. Before that, he’d had four #1s (“Sunshine on My Shoulders,” “Annie’s Song,” “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” and “I’m Sorry”), a #2, and a #5 out of seven singles (the only lesser hit was the #13 “Sweet Surrender”). After the #13 “Fly Away” in early 1976, however, the world seemed to tire of Denver simultaneously, and he never again registered a Top 20 hit. This is a pretty confessional, but nothing that would make anyone jump out of their chair and run to the local record store.
Al Martino, “The Next Hundred Years,” #49, January 15, 1978
Seriously? Al Martino charted in 1978? The last of his long run of charts hits, and a little gimmicky at that. Love the video thought -- from the old show Dinah!
Cat Stevens, “Was Dog a Doughnut,” #70, January 15, 1978
So odd you have to wonder if Stevens was tired of the pop music grind long before his conversion. Eons from “Morning Has Broken.”
Ronnie Milsap, “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life,” #80, January 15, 1978
Bleurgh. One of those songs that would have made me reach for the next push button on the car radio the second it started to play (not that WABC or WNBC were playing this song anyway). One in a tremendous string of Top 10 country hits that ran unbroken between 1974 and 1991, but as far as the pop charts were concerned, an unsuccessful followup to 1977’s “It Was Almost Like a Song.”
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