Billboard Debut Hits -- December 27, 1975
Chris S.
I review all the songs that debuted in Billboard for a specific week
from that decade. This week's post covers teh new songs for December
27, 1975. Here's a link for those who haven't checked it out yet:
http://70smusicmayhem.blogspot.com/
This week's debut songs:
Art Garfunkel - "Break Away"
The Four Seasons - "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
The Bee Gees - "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)"
The Doobie Brothers - "I Cheat the Hangman"
Barry White - "Let the Music Play"
Roxy Music - "Love is the Drug"
The Spinners - "Love or Leave"
The Commodores - "Sweet Love"
Cledus Maggard & the Citizens' Band - "The White Knight"
Of the nine songs making their bow this week, all but the Doobies'
would reach the Top 40. December 1963 would go on to #1. There was a
CB radio novelty that was a country #1, a change of direction for the
Commodores from their funky roots and would be a blueprint for most to
their later hits, a song that showcased the Bee Gees' new "sound" and
the first hit Roxy Music would have over on this side of the Big Pond.
Robbie
> I just posted my latest weekly addition to my 1970s music blog, where
> I review all the songs that debuted in Billboard for a specific week
> from that decade. This week's post covers teh new songs for December
> 27, 1975. Here's a link for those who haven't checked it out yet:
>
> http://70smusicmayhem.blogspot.com/
>
> This week's debut songs:
>
> Art Garfunkel - "Break Away"
> The Four Seasons - "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
> The Bee Gees - "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)"
> The Doobie Brothers - "I Cheat the Hangman"
> Barry White - "Let the Music Play"
> Roxy Music - "Love is the Drug"
> The Spinners - "Love or Leave"
> The Commodores - "Sweet Love"
>
> Of the nine songs making their bow this week, all but the Doobies'
> would reach the Top 40. December 1963 would go on to #1. There was a
> CB radio novelty that was a country #1, a change of direction for the
> Commodores from their funky roots and would be a blueprint for most to
> their later hits, a song that showcased the Bee Gees' new "sound" and
> the first hit Roxy Music would have over on this side of the Big Pond.
I was going to mention that you had done 1975 last week but upon reading
your blog I see the reason.
Why did Billboard cease to compile a final week chart after 1975? I
assume from 1976 onwards that they began to publish a double end of year
issue? I know that in the 90s and beyond a chart was compiled for the
week no issue appeared and was therefore unpublished, though it now
appears at billboard.com. I wonder if such a chart was still compiled
but not published in the late 70s and 80s too? From 1991 the Hot 100 was
compiled from actual sales and airplay data so compilation of the chart
was an easy and less labour intensive process which made it easy to
compile a chart even if it wasn't published.
From the chart above there are two records I especially like:
December 63 - Four Seasons, their only UK #1 (Rag Doll almost made it in
1964) and their biggest UK selling single. This song was the follow up
to the decent Who Loves You and they had also charted in the top 10 UK
in 1975 with The Night, another excellent song, I'm not sure if The
Night is an old Four Seasons song or whether it was a contemporary song.
I have a feeling it may be the former. Either way I notice it never
charted in the US.
Love Is The drug - Roxy Music. A UK #2, kept from the top by another act
who had found it difficult to break through into the US market (David
Bowie, the song was a reissue of his 1969 song Space Oddity). Like
Bowie, Roxy only managed to cross over to the US mainstream after
changing his original sound and image (though I note Space Oddity had
been a top 20 US hit in early 1973). Love Is The Drug is quite far
removed from much of what Roxy Music had recorded up until then. While
Love Is The Drug isn't arty it has oodles of "coolness" about it. Bryan
Ferry's voice is something of an acquired taste and whilst I didn't
always care for it (or indeed some of Roxy's songs), in this song his
vocal style works perfectly. It's a pity this song didn't chart higher
(in the US) than it did - #30 is respectable enough but I would have
thought it could have done much better.
The Bee Gees single is something of a forgotten song in the UK, in fact
I'm not even sure if it ever got a UK release, I certainly can't recall
hearing it on the radio. The title alone doesn't make it radio friendly
since "fanny" is used as a far ruder word in the UK than it is in the
US! It would be like calling a song in the US "Pussy (Be Tender With My
Love)"!
Mr. M
>> Art Garfunkel - "Break Away"
>> The Four Seasons - "December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)"
>> The Bee Gees - "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)"
>> The Doobie Brothers - "I Cheat the Hangman"
>> Barry White - "Let the Music Play"
>> Roxy Music - "Love is the Drug"
>> The Spinners - "Love or Leave"
>> The Commodores - "Sweet Love"
>> Cledus Maggard& the Citizens' Band - "The White Knight"
Garfunkel, Four Seasos,, Bee Gees, Roxy,,Cledus - good
White, Commodores - mediocre
Doobies, Spinners - don't remember the songs
Mr. M
Chris S.
>
> I was going to mention that you had done 1975 last week but upon reading
> your blog I see the reason.
>
> Why did Billboard cease to compile a final week chart after 1975? I
> assume from 1976 onwards that they began to publish a double end of year
> issue?
Yes, 1976 was the first year they did the year-end issue. As far as I
know, there was no "unofficial" surveys for the missing weeks. The
practice of skipping a final week was something I thought unfair
because in some cases the "biggest" song of the year would be one that
was given an extra week at #1 because nobody at Billboard ran a new
survey. On the Country charts, no #1 single from 1980-'89 spent more
than 3 weeks on top and for the years 1986 and '87 there were no
singles besides the one sitting at the pole position for the last week
to get 2 weeks at the top. By default, the year-end #1s were the ones
that had a second week added to them artificially.
>
> From the chart above there are two records I especially like:
>
> December 63 - Four Seasons, their only UK #1 (Rag Doll almost made it in
> 1964) and their biggest UK selling single. This song was the follow up
> to the decent Who Loves You and they had also charted in the top 10 UK
> in 1975 with The Night, another excellent song, I'm not sure if The
> Night is an old Four Seasons song or whether it was a contemporary song.
> I have a feeling it may be the former. Either way I notice it never
> charted in the US.
I am a big fan of the Four Seasons' 1960s stuff. The "Wall of Sound"-
influenced production and the over-the-top harmonizing were
distinctive. Listen to the opening of "Rag Doll" -- starting with
drums, then gradually everything but the kitchen sink is tossed in and
the first vocals are wordless (extended Oohs and Ahs). It's a well-
crafted pop song, as fine as anything between Phil Spector and "Pet
Sounds."
Among their 1970s "comeback" stuff, I prefer "Who Loves You" over
"December 1963" and wish more people remember "Silver Star."
>
> Love Is The drug - Roxy Music. A UK #2, kept from the top by another act
> who had found it difficult to break through into the US market (David
> Bowie, the song was a reissue of his 1969 song Space Oddity). Like
> Bowie, Roxy only managed to cross over to the US mainstream after
> changing his original sound and image (though I note Space Oddity had
> been a top 20 US hit in early 1973). Love Is The Drug is quite far
> removed from much of what Roxy Music had recorded up until then. While
> Love Is The Drug isn't arty it has oodles of "coolness" about it. Bryan
> Ferry's voice is something of an acquired taste and whilst I didn't
> always care for it (or indeed some of Roxy's songs), in this song his
> vocal style works perfectly. It's a pity this song didn't chart higher
> (in the US) than it did - #30 is respectable enough but I would have
> thought it could have done much better.
I initially wrote in my blog entry that when I grew up, I had always
read about Roxy Music but never really paid any attention to them
because they were always being called "art rock." I first remember
hearing "Love is the Drug" when I was 19 and immediately wondered what
it was. I ended up taking that part out, but still mentioned that it
was a very straightforward song and I agree it should have been a
bigger hit even if it didn't match the sound of other popular music
early in '76 put out by Manilow, Captain & Tennille or the Bay City
Rollers.
>
> The Bee Gees single is something of a forgotten song in the UK, in fact
> I'm not even sure if it ever got a UK release, I certainly can't recall
> hearing it on the radio. The title alone doesn't make it radio friendly
> since "fanny" is used as a far ruder word in the UK than it is in the
> US! It would be like calling a song in the US "Pussy (Be Tender With My
> Love)"!
Around 1989, the cable music channel VH1 played a "retro"-style show
that was heavy on promo videos and concert clips made in the pre-MTV
days. One day, they showed a clip for "Fanny." At the time, I was
familiar with the Bee Gees through "Saturday Night Fever" and some of
their 1960s hits but had never heard the song before and liked it.
Soon after, I picked up "Bee Gees Gold" on cassette.
As for your "alternate" title...if I remember correctly about the term
fanny...it does bring a new perspective when another word like
"tender" is used, doesn't it?
Mr. M
>
>Among their 1970s "comeback" stuff, I prefer "Who Loves You" over
>"December 1963" and wish more people remember "Silver Star."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Motown, or Mowest, one of those. Some of their songs were really
good, but I don't think any made the top 100. One song from 1974 that
my local station did play was called "Hickory" and they sounded every
bit as good as anything they did in the 1960s in their hey day.
Mr. M
Chris S.
>
> Garfunkel, Four Seasos,, Bee Gees, Roxy,,Cledus - good
> White, Commodores - mediocre
> Doobies, Spinners - don't remember the songs
>
I probably agree with those.
Barry White's song was pretty formulaic -- notice I didn't talk too
much about the song itself in my post except to mention how it fits
into the formula -- and I couldn't do more than a single paragraph on
"Sweet Love." As the song that changed the Commodores from a funk band
to a more romantic one (after this, only "Brick House" and "Lady"
would stray from general sound of the group's hits) made it pretty
significant. But significance doesn't necessarily make a song good.
As for the last two songs you mention, the Doobies' song probably
works well as an LP track but is way too long and varied to be an
effective single (it missed the Top 40 and rarely gets heard on even
freeform radio). And the Spinners song sounds exactly like a Spinners
song done by a group trying to emulate them. I like the Spinners, but
when you do a song that sounds like an imitation of yourself, that's
not exactly inspiring.
Robbie
The Night was released on Mowest in the UK. I just wasn't sure if it was
an oldie from the 60s reactivated or a current / recent song but on a
different label (Who Loves You and subsequent singles appeared on Warner
Bros). It sounds like the latter based on what you've wrote.
Paul
-- and I couldn't do more than a single paragraph on
> "Sweet Love." As the song that changed the Commodores from a funk band
> to a more romantic one (after this, only "Brick House" and "Lady"
> would stray from general sound of the group's hits) made it pretty
> significant. But significance doesn't necessarily make a song good.
I would say that Fancy Dancer and Too Hot to Trot were in the same
vein as Brick and Lady. These days all you ever hear by The Commodores
is Brick House and Lady(You Bring Me Up). Their other songs seem
forgotten to time although an re-edited version of Just To Be Close To
You gets played on the classic R+B station in Atlanta. The difference?
The spoken part is removed. I guess they consider it to be 'rap' and
not suitable for todays radio.
Mr. M
wrote:
I liked Machine Gun (good one for name-that-tune)
-never liked Brick House
- liked Sail On, Still, Old Fashioned Love, Lady(You Bring Me Up), Oh
No.
Mr. M
Chris S.
Until I got it straight, always mistakenly assumed "Machine Gun" was
a Billy Preston song...to my younger ears it sounded a lot like "Outa
Space" and "Space Race"
> -never liked Brick House
> - liked Sail On, Still, Old Fashioned Love, Lady(You Bring Me Up), Oh
> No.
>
"Oh No" is one of my absolute favorite songs by the group. Its
inclusion in the film "The Last American Virgin" (a sorely underrated
film if you look past most of the first half of the movie) made an
indelible impression on me at a young age. The film was made a year or
so after the song was a hit but it (and Quincy Jones/James Ingram's
"Just Once") was a perfect song for the storyline.
BobbyM
news:7pphnk...@mid.individual.net...
> On 27/12/2009 16:06, Mr. M wrote:
>>>
>>> Among their 1970s "comeback" stuff, I prefer "Who Loves You" over
>>> "December 1963" and wish more people remember "Silver Star."
>>>
>> In the early 70s, they went through a period where they were on
>> Motown, or Mowest, one of those. Some of their songs were really
>> good, but I don't think any made the top 100. One song from 1974 that
>> my local station did play was called "Hickory" and they sounded every
>> bit as good as anything they did in the 1960s in their hey day.
>>
> an oldie from the 60s reactivated or a current / recent song but on a
> different label (Who Loves You and subsequent singles appeared on Warner
> Bros). It sounds like the latter based on what you've wrote.
"The Night" first appeared on a Mowest lp in 1972; apparently a promo only
45 was issued in Aug72. It shows up again on a Valli solo Motown lp in
1975; I haven't heard this album but I'm guessing it's the same recording.
50s
> On the Country charts, no #1 single from 1980-'89 spent more
> than 3 weeks on top and for the years 1986 and '87 there were no
> singles besides the one sitting at the pole position for the last week
> to get 2 weeks at the top
This is not correct. In 1987 "Forever And Ever Amen" by Randy Travis
was # 1 for the last 3 weeks in June.
Robbie
The single release in 1975 of The Night was credited to Frankie Valli
and the Four Seasons so it's most likely that 1972 recording.
Chris S.
I stand corrected...it was 1985 and 1986, (not 1986-'87) that had no
#1 songs last two weeks except for the one at year's end when the
charts were frozen.
But that's part of what I was mentioning earlier...from 1980-'89, only
four songs were #1 on the country charts for three weeks (none longer)
and three of them were in 1980.
50s
> On Dec 27, 6:11 pm, 50s <Savo...@aol.com> wrote:
>
> > On Dec 27, 10:58 am, "Chris S." <chrisstufflestr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > On the Country charts, no #1 single from 1980-'89 spent more
> > > than 3 weeks on top and for the years 1986 and '87 there were no
> > > singles besides the one sitting at the pole position for the last week
> > > to get 2 weeks at the top
>
> > This is not correct. In 1987 "Forever And Ever Amen" by Randy Travis
> > was # 1 for the last 3 weeks in June.
>
> I stand corrected...it was 1985 and 1986, (not 1986-'87) that had no
> #1 songs last two weeks except for the one at year's end when the
> charts were frozen.
Still wrong.
In 1985 "Lost In The Fifties Tonight" was #1 for 2 weeks starting on
Sep. 28.
1986 was the only year where there were no songs that were # 1 for
more than a week, until the final song of the year.
Robbie
From my limited knowledge of the Billboard country charts there was
always an air of the charts being slightly contrived back then simply
because the turnover of songs at #1 was so high. Not only that but there
was a period (late 70s / early 80s) where the #1 would regularly take a
massive drop the following week which might be plausible if it happened
once or twice but to happen on a fairly regular basis seems unlikely.
Especially given the delay that is built into the compilation / dating
of Billboard charts so that Billboard's often used excuse in the past to
justify these big drops that once a record hit number one radio stations
would drop the song and move on to another big track seems lame since
the chart showing the record actually climbing to #1 would be issued
towards the end of the airplay week which contributed airplay data to
the chart for the following week. In other words stations would not know
a song had actually climbed to #1 for much of the following airplay week
so were unlikely to have dropped it so quickly to cause such a massive
drop off in airplay.
Chris S.
>
> Still wrong.
>
> In 1985 "Lost In The Fifties Tonight" was #1 for 2 weeks starting on
> Sep. 28.
>
> 1986 was the only year where there were no songs that were # 1 for
> more than a week, until the final song of the year.
Odd...when I looked at the list of #1 country songs from 1985, there
were 51 in total. And sure enough, I went back and looked and there
were two with 2 weeks. When I looked at my lists, I just looked for
the years with 51 songs in all...were there 53 Saturdays in 1985?
I'll say it again...I don't try to put myself out as an expert here,
so thanks again Bruce for letting me know when I'm missing something.
Dana
download it. go to
http://www.randomc.com/~dana and click the oldies link and it should be up
there in about an hour or so.
Joe
I Cheated the Hangman. Never heard that one nor Barry White. Both had
a lot of hits but those are lessor know ones or not known at all.