Month: July 2022

1978 Barry Manilow – Even Now 

After releasing two top ten singles and one #1 single from a 1976 album, Barry Manilow’s only new single releases in 1977 included a pair of songs from his live album. Daybreak didn’t reach the top twenty, and It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve didn’t reach the Hot 100 at all.

A new album followed in 1978, and the result was much better. Christian Arnold, David Martin, and Geoff Morrow wrote the first single, Can’t Smile Without You. David released his own recording of the song in 1975, but it doesn’t appear to have charted. Barry recorded the song in 1977 and released it as a single in 1978. His single reached the top of the Adult Contemporary chart and reached #3 on the Hot 100 and remains in rotation on most oldies stations.

Marty Panzer wrote the lyrics for at least 100 songs for Disney and over thirty of Barry’s songs, including Even Now. Barry wrote the music and co-produced the song with Ron Dante. Ron sang lead vocals for the Archies on the 1969 hit record Sugar, Sugar, and did some backup vocals for many of Barry’s records. Ron also co-produced the first nine of Barry’s albums between 1973 and 1981.

Barry’s single became his ninth chart-topping record on the Adult Contemporary Chart but only reached #19 on the Hot 100.

Barry has identified the song as one of his favorites. 

He had three more top ten singles on the Hot 100 in the next year, after which his big hits continued primarily on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Manilow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Manilow_discography#Singles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Even_Now_(Barry_Manilow_song)

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1977 Dean Friedman – Ariel

Dean Friedman grew up in Paramus, New Jersey. He saved up his change, and when he turned nine in 1964, he bought his first guitar with a bag full of quarters.

Dean wrote his own songs and cut demo tapes that he submitted to record labels. In 1975, he signed a recording contract with the Lifesong record label. His first album generated two singles, the first of which failed to chart.

His second single was Ariel, a song about an unusual young woman from Paramus. The record peaked at #26 on the Hot 100 in 1977, the only time he reached that chart.

His second album in 1978 contained a duet with singer/songwriter Denise Marsa. Lucky Stars may not have charted on the Hot 100, but it reached #3 on the UK chart and the top ten in Australia and New Zealand.

Sixteen more albums followed, with the most recent coming out in 2017.

There was some controversy in the UK over one of Dean’s singles in 1981.

McDonald’s Girl mentioned the fast food location by name, so the BBC would not allow the song to be played on the radio in the UK. The song took on a life of its own, and thirty years later, The Blenders recorded the song. Their version was used in the background of an ad campaign that McDonald’s ran to promote their new coffees.

Dean continues to tour and record new music and maintains a website at http://www.deanfriedman.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Friedman

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1976 Cledus Maggard – The White Knight

James Huguely worked at Leslie Advertising in Greenville, South Carolina before pursuing a career as a recording artist. Songs about CB radio became a niche market for a few years in the mid-seventies, and James recorded an album of songs as Cledus Maggard & the Citizen’s Band.

The first single from the album told the story of a trucker who was using his CB radio to outsmart the local police until he ran up against a smokey who outsmarted him. The single The White Knight topped the Country chart and reached #19 on the Hot 100 in 1976.

A more involved version of the song ran over seven minutes but had the same sad ending for the narrator.

A similar song (Kentucky Moonrunner) only reached #85 on the Hot 100 and couldn’t get any higher than #42 on the Country chart. A few more singles followed that fared even more poorly.

James became a producer for the television show Magnum, P.I. He continued writing and producing other television shows and films, including 1993’s Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cledus_Maggard_%26_the_Citizen%27s_Band

I have collected older articles about Lost or Forgotten Oldies in my books.

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1975 Seals and Crofts – I’ll Play For You

Jim Seals and Dash Crofts had a string of hits in 1972 and 1973, as described in one of my books, Lost or Forgotten Oldies Introduction: Hit Records from 1955 to 1989 that the Radio Seldom Plays.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B098HCW885/

Their momentum ground to a halt with the release of their fourth album, 1974’s Unborn Child.

In 1973, the original Roe vs Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortion in the US. Jim and Dash were members of the Bahai Faith, and their belief is the soul begins its journey at the moment of conception. The title song from their album was a plea to avoid abortions. When that song became their next single, many radio stations were reluctant to play the record and many others simply banned the single.

As a result, the band failed to reach the top forty in 1974. Their second single from the album was not political at all, but perhaps their previous single made it more difficult to get airplay again. King Of Nothing stalled at only #60 on the Hot 100. That result was disappointing, as I felt the song was one of the band’s better songs. It also reached #26 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

The next year, their fifth album led off with another top forty single, I’ll Play For You. As usual, the pair co-wrote the song themselves.

The single reached #18 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

The duo continued to score top forty singles in each of the next three years and retreated from the music industry in 1980.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seals_and_Crofts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ll_Play_for_You

I have collected older articles about Lost or Forgotten Oldies in my books.

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1974 Art Garfunkel / Tim Moore – Second Avenue 

While the name Tim Moore may not be familiar to you, his career is full of names that you will recognize.

Tim grew up in Philadelphia and played drums in Woody’s Truck Stop, a band that included Todd Rundgren. 

Tim’s music impressed Frank Zappa, who invited him to New York City and offered him a recording contract. When Frank admitted he was too busy to produce his album, Tim walked away.

Tim began doing studio work for Thom Bell and Gamble and Huff in Philadelphia. He lived next door to Daryl Hall and the two of them formed the band Gulliver and released an album on Elektra Records.

Gulliver disbanded, and Tim moved to Woodstock and signed with Dunhill Records. He sang on Dallas, the first single issued by Steely Dan.

In 1974, Tim finally released his first album for a new label: A Small Record Company. Paramount’s parent company Famous Music Corp. distributed his album as well as the single Second Avenue. 

Famous Music Corp. almost immediately went out of business, seemingly ending sales for Tim’s record. A bidding war ensued, and Asylum Records signed Tim to a contract and began pressing the single on their label.

The single reached #58 on the Hot 100 and #41 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Meanwhile, two days after Tim’s single came out, a second version of the song was released. Art Garfunkel recorded his version of the song and it came out on Columbia Records. The single peaked at #34 on the Hot 100 and #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Tim wrote more songs that were hits for other artists and had a number one hit in Portugal in 1986 without ever reaching the top forty on the Hot 100.

Art had three more top forty singles in 1975, all of which topped the Adult Contemporary Chart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Moore_(singer-songwriter)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Avenue_(song)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Garfunkel_discography#Single

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1973 Doobie Brothers – Jesus Is Just Alright With Me 

Art Reynolds wrote the gospel song Jesus Is Just Alright and recorded it with The Art Reynolds Singers in 1966.

Gram Parsons was in the studio when the group recorded the song and became the drummer for Byrds in 1968. He introduced the band to the song, and they began playing it in concerts. They recorded the song and released it as a single that made it to #97 on the Hot 100 in 1970 and then promptly fell off the chart.

Tom Johnston, Patrick Simmons, Dave Shogren, and John Hartman formed the Doobie Brothers in 1970. The band used the name Pud at first but began looking for a different name. Their neighbor, Keith “Dyno” Rosen, had a suggestion: “Why don’t you call yourself the Doobie Brothers because you’re always smoking pot?” Nobody liked the name, but they decided to use it until a better name came along.

They never picked a new name.

The Doobie Brothers heard the Byrds’ version of Jesus Is Just Alright and came up with a very similar arrangement to play at their own shows (although they did add a bridge to the song). A version that ran about four and a half minutes appeared on the band’s second album in 1972.

They edited the song down to less than four minutes and released it as a single that reached #35 on the Hot 100 in early 1973.

The band finally cracked the top ten later that year with Long Train Running and topped the chart the next year with Black Water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doobie_Brothers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doobie_Brothers_discography#Singles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Is_Just_Alright

I have collected older articles about Lost or Forgotten Oldies in my books.

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1972 Mott the Hoople – All the Young Dudes 

A band calling itself The Doc Thomas Group formed in the UK in 1966 and released its first album in 1967 on an Italian record label. The band used that name in Italy but toured in the UK first as Shakedown Sound and later as Silence.

Guy Stevens at Island Records became interested in the band but refused to work with them unless they brought in a new lead vocalist. He ran an unusual ad: “Singer wanted, must be image-minded and hungry”. Singer/songwriter Ian Hunter answered the ad and became the band’s piano player and lead singer.

Guy had previously given Procol Harum and insisted that Silence rename their group Mott the Hoople, a name he came up with after reading a novel by Willard Manus. 

Poor album sales and disappointing appearances left the band on the verge of breaking up. David Bowie had been a fan of the group’s music and he sent a demo of the song Suffragette City hoping to convince them to record it. The band tried out the song but did not feel it was right for them and turned down his offer, sending word to David that they were going to break up instead.

Fortunately, David did not give up so easily. He had his manager, Tony Defries, work to get the band a recording contract with CBS Records. David played an acoustic version of another song he was working on, and everybody became excited to record it: All The Young Dudes. 

It took some additional work to flesh out the lyrics, after which David produced their single (and sang backup vocals as well). 

The record reached the top ten in the UK but stalled at only #37 on the Hot 100 in the US. David produced an entire album for the band as well.

While the band never reached the top forty again in the US, they did have a string of hit singles in the UK in 1973 and 1974. I found one of those songs to be instantly recognizable, All The Way To Memphis. Ian wrote the song; it tells the story of a musician whose band traveled to Memphis while his guitar inexplicably went to a small town in Kentucky. It dwells on the woes of being in a band on the road.  

All the Young Dudes may not have been a chart success in the US, but it became recognized as a pivotal recording in the Glam Rock field. Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the record at #161 in its 2021 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and it became one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mott_the_Hoople
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mott_the_Hoople_discography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Young_Dudes

I have collected older articles about Lost or Forgotten Oldies in my books.

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1971 Nilsson – Me And My Arrow 

After reaching the Hot 100 with a song from both his third and fourth albums, Harry Nilsson decided to do something different for his fifth album in 1970. He entitled the album Nilsson Sing Newman, and it included only songs written by Randy Newman.

The album met with praise from reviewers and a shrug from the public.

Harry then began work on a television special, The Point. Harry wrote the story for the show and created its soundtrack. Fred Wolf directed the animated show, which aired on ABC-TV in February 1971.

Harry released the theme song, Me And My Arrow, and the record became his third top forty single on the Hot 100. It peaked at #34 on the Hot 100 and did even better on the Adult Contemporary chart (where it reached #3).

When Plymouth created a car called The Arrow, they even licensed Harry’s song for some commercials.

Harry traveled to England to record his next album, Nilsson Schmilsson. One song he recorded for the album was a cover of a song written by two members of Badfinger. Without You became a number one hit for Nilsson in early 1972.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Nilsson_discography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Point!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_and_My_Arrow

I have collected older articles about Lost or Forgotten Oldies in my books.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_and_My_Arrow

1970 Elvis Presley – I’ve Lost You / The Next Step Is Love 

Elvis Presley had concentrated on his movie career through most of the sixties, and the filler songs that came from them did little for his music career. For almost four years, beginning in the middle of 1965, Elvis had no top ten singles on the Hot 100.

His Comeback Special in 1968 helped get him established again, and he finally hit the top ten again with the #3 single In The Ghetto in 1969. He then followed that with the chart-topping hit Suspicious Minds. Sadly, that was to be his final #1 record on the Hot 100.

In 1970, Elvis released a two-sided hit that somehow did not become a big hit.

Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley had written several hits in the UK. They wrote the song I’ve Lost You for Iain Matthews. When Iain’s version did not become a hit, Elvis recorded it and it became the a-side of his single.

Paul Evans reached the top ten on the Hot 100 with the novelty song Seven Little Girls Sittin’ In The Back Seat in 1959. He also wrote songs that became hits for other artists, such as Roses Are Red (My Love), which took Bobby Vinton to the top of the Hot 100 in 1962. He co-wrote The Next Step Is Love with Paul Parnes, and that song became the b-side of Elvis’ single.

By 1970, the Hot 100 combined sides when charting a single, so we don’t know for sure which side was more successful. The record peaked at only #32 on the Hot 100. No doubt some consolation came from reaching #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Both songs were included on the next album Elvis released in 1970. Another song on the album also became a hit single. Elvis covered You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, which Dusty Springfield had taken to #4 in 1966. Elvis reached #11 with his version and it would be his highest charting record until late in 1972.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley_singles_discography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ve_Lost_You
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Next_Step_Is_Love

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1969 The Beatles – The Ballad Of John And Yoko

John Lennon and Yoko Oko got married in 1969 and went to Paris for their honeymoon. The pair also began some very publicized bed-in’s pleading for peace and love and such. 

The media and much of the public did not react well, and the reactions inspired John to write the lyrics for The Ballad Of John And Yoko. When he and Yoko returned to England, he went to Paul’s home and insisted they begin work on the song. George was not in the country and Ringo was off filming The Magic Christian, so John and Paul spent five hours recording the single themselves.

 

The tapes of the recording sessions show John and Paul joking around and working well together and helping each other. There was no obvious tension or any of the anger and problems that were rumored that late in the group’s career.

In the past, they had created a mono mix for singles, and often a stereo mix followed. This time there was no mono mix at all, just the stereo version. John and Paul played all the instruments on the record and over-dubbed multiple tracks of vocals as needed.

The record did not come out immediately; instead, they delayed the release so they could release the single Get Back in April. The Ballad Of John And Yoko reached the charts in the US two weeks after Get Back reached the top of the Hot 100. 

Many radio stations were reluctant to play the record because of the line, “Christ! You know it ain’t easy.” Not getting listed by major stations like WABC in New York and WLS in Chicago limited the record’s ability to climb the charts. The record stalled at #8 on the Hot 100 and never charted in Canada but still topped the charts in most other countries (including the UK and Australia).

I don’t recall ever hearing the song played by any radio station except the one I was working for in 1969, and it isn’t too surprising that it doesn’t get too much airplay on oldies stations now. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_John_and_Yoko
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_discography#Singles

I have collected older articles about Lost or Forgotten Oldies in my books.

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