Billboard Debut Hits -- December 11, 1976
Chris S.
on the Billboard Hot 100 during a certain week from the 1970s. This
week's entry covered the new songs from December 11, 1976. Here's a
link to the blog if you'd like to check it out:
http://70smusicmayhem.blogspot.com/
New songs this week:
ABBA - "Dancing Queen"
Deniece Williams - "Free"
Bryan Ferry - "Heart on My Sleeve"
BumbleBee Unlimited - "Love Bug"
Barbra Streisand - "Love Theme From A Star is Born (Evergreen)"
Bob Seger - "Night Moves"
Stephen Bishop - "Save it For a Rainy Day"
Blaze - "Silver Heels"
David LaFlamme - "White Bird"
Al Stewart - "Year of the Cat"
The Bay City Rollers - "Yesterday's Hero"
Two of these became #1s, one ("Free") is an overlooked gem, one
("Night Moves") is a personal favorite despite its incredibly heavy
airplay...and four are remakes. Plus, I rediscovered how much I
enjoyed the instrumental breaks from "Year of the Cat." Some great
songs, even though a few on the list were uneven.
For the record...the remakes are: "Heart on My Sleeve" (Gallagher &
Lyle), "Silver Heels" (Fleetwood Mac, written by Bob Welch), "White
Bird" (done originally by LaFlamme's group It's a Beautiful Day) and
"Yesterday's Hero (John Paul Young). Except for the Fleetwood Mac cut,
the other singles had charted in their original versions ("White Bird"
didn't reach the Hot 100 but bubbled under in '69).
Mr. M
<chrisstuf...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I just added a new post to my blog, where I review songs that debuted
>on the Billboard Hot 100 during a certain week from the 1970s. This
>week's entry covered the new songs from December 11, 1976. Here's a
>link to the blog if you'd like to check it out:
>
>http://70smusicmayhem.blogspot.com/
>
>New songs this week:
>
>ABBA - "Dancing Queen"
>Deniece Williams - "Free"
>Bryan Ferry - "Heart on My Sleeve"
>BumbleBee Unlimited - "Love Bug"
>Barbra Streisand - "Love Theme From A Star is Born (Evergreen)"
>Bob Seger - "Night Moves"
>Stephen Bishop - "Save it For a Rainy Day"
>Blaze - "Silver Heels"
>David LaFlamme - "White Bird"
>Al Stewart - "Year of the Cat"
>The Bay City Rollers - "Yesterday's Hero"
>
I didn't realize SIFARD went back to 1976
Year Of the Cat was a great album - nothing wrong with the song, but
it helps to listen to the whole album from beginning to end
I have YH on a 45 by John Paul Young, never really cared much for the
song - I never realized it was also done by the BCRs. For some
reason, the song reminds me of Richard Cocciante - When Love Has Gone
Away - not that great either - both are dragged out songs - not really
well suited to a 45.
Mr. M
Chris S.
> I didn't realize SIFARD went back to 1976
>
FWIW, these songs mostly peaked in 1977 and are usually shown as hits
from that year.
Hey, Mr. M...I've read several messages mentioning a "Whitburn
project." What is that? You can email me about it if you'd like to
keep specifics off this board.
Robbie
Two UK number ones on that list - Dancing Queen, which had been a number
one in September 1976 and Free, which reached #1 in May 1977. Only Love
Theme From A Star Is Born and Heart On My Sleeve (as part of a 4 track
EP of which the hit song was a cover of The Price Of Love) were also big
hits. Year Of The Cat should have been a massive hit, it received much
airplay but stalled at #31 on the UK singles chart.
The Bay City Rollers had been massive in the UK in 1974 and 1975 but as
their chart fortunes took a turn for the worse here in 1976 they had a
period of success in the US.
My favourite from the list is Year Of The Cat, I still have the 7"
single (one of only two I still own, the other being Bohemian Rhapsody).
I also liked Night Moves but Bob Seger was destined never to have much
of a success in the UK. His biggest period was in 1995 following the
release of a Best Of when We've Got Tonight was reissued and reached the
top 40 with Night Moves a subsequent single that just missed the top 40.
Apart from the Stephen Bishop single I don't know the remaining songs.
The corresponding UK chart of this date, December 11, 1976 is notable
because the Sex Pistols made their chart debut with Anarchy In The UK,
the song which kick started the punk craze that gripped both music fans
and media alike in the months that followed.
Mr. M
It's an on going project that's been going on for several years to
acquire and post every song to ever hit the Whitburn Pop Annual book,
which is based on Billboard top 100 charts. Basically every song to
ever chart, at least from 1950 to the present, has been posted at
sometime, but there are a few missing ones, and a couple of fakes in
the book that don't really exist - they are even working on songs
going back to the early part of the 20th century, a lot of them from
the original 78s. if you are interested in seeking it out, you will
need a good news reader such as Agent, and a premium newsserver such
as Giganews.
Mr. M
Nutella
Oliver's Army directly off of Dancing Queen.
Night Moves - I was 13 or 14 also..."And points all her own sitting
way up high" just wasn't sinkin' in at that time.
Good blog. Enjoyed the read, brought back some memories of the times.
Chris S.
>
> It's an on going project that's been going on for several years to
> acquire and post every song to ever hit the Whitburn Pop Annual book,
> which is based on Billboard top 100 charts. Basically every song to
> ever chart, at least from 1950 to the present, has been posted at
> sometime, but there are a few missing ones, and a couple of fakes in
> the book that don't really exist - they are even working on songs
> going back to the early part of the 20th century, a lot of them from
> the original 78s. if you are interested in seeking it out, you will
> need a good news reader such as Agent, and a premium newsserver such
> as Giganews.
>
Wow...I just went and searched out the info. Read a long FAQ page and
am a little overwhelmed by the stuff needed to get into that project.
There are so many different avenues. Anybody here have any
recommendations about good newsreaders? And...if I were to seek out a
server, if I were looking to grab MP3s -- say, the ones needed to
review the 7-20 songs I post here each week -- what bandwidth should I
be seeking out?
Or...is there a copy of the Whitburn database I can grab somewhere?
Chris S.
Thanks for the kind words about my blog.
I'll need to pull out my Elvis Costello stuff and listen to "Oliver's
Army" (love that song BTW) and see how that piano bit goes.
Chris S.
>
> Two UK number ones on that list - Dancing Queen, which had been a number
> one in September 1976 and Free, which reached #1 in May 1977. Only Love
> Theme From A Star Is Born and Heart On My Sleeve (as part of a 4 track
> EP of which the hit song was a cover of The Price Of Love) were also big
> hits. Year Of The Cat should have been a massive hit, it received much
> airplay but stalled at #31 on the UK singles chart.
Robbie, during my first period of posting in this newsgroup (7-9 years
ago) there was a guy from the UK named Nigel Jones who posted the new
songs from each week's UK charts from about 1973 through 1983 or '84.
While his writeups of each song weren't anywhere near as verbose as
mine, the entire project was fun to read. It was his sharing of that
info here that likely planted the seed for the blog (that and Andreas
G's posts about Radio Luxembourg at the same time). Not sure what
newsreader you're using, but those posts are still available in Google
Groups.
Nigel had placed all of his reviews on a site he called Years of
Gold...but that site (and Nigel himself) have seemed to disappear into
history.
>
> The corresponding UK chart of this date, December 11, 1976 is notable
> because the Sex Pistols made their chart debut with Anarchy In The UK,
> the song which kick started the punk craze that gripped both music fans
> and media alike in the months that followed.
Sadly, that's a craze that won't get a lot of mention in my blog...not
because of any feelings I may harbor on the subject but because few
songs from the punk movement ever charted here through 1979. It's a
shame, as punk produced a lot of characters and some great music that
would have been fun to discuss.
Robbie
> On Dec 13, 1:53 pm, Robbie <ngrobbi...@hotmailSPAM.com> wrote:
>> Two UK number ones on that list - Dancing Queen, which had been a number
>> one in September 1976 and Free, which reached #1 in May 1977. Only Love
>> Theme From A Star Is Born and Heart On My Sleeve (as part of a 4 track
>> EP of which the hit song was a cover of The Price Of Love) were also big
>> hits. Year Of The Cat should have been a massive hit, it received much
>> airplay but stalled at #31 on the UK singles chart.
>
>
> Robbie, during my first period of posting in this newsgroup (7-9 years
> ago) there was a guy from the UK named Nigel Jones who posted the new
> songs from each week's UK charts from about 1973 through 1983 or '84.
> While his writeups of each song weren't anywhere near as verbose as
> mine, the entire project was fun to read. It was his sharing of that
> info here that likely planted the seed for the blog (that and Andreas
> G's posts about Radio Luxembourg at the same time). Not sure what
> newsreader you're using, but those posts are still available in Google
> Groups.
>
> Nigel had placed all of his reviews on a site he called Years of
> Gold...but that site (and Nigel himself) have seemed to disappear into
> history.
I remember Nigel's weekly posts from the late 90s onwards. Very
entertaining read and yes, they suddenly stopped in May 2002. Nigel said
he was taking a break for a few weeks and would be back but never did
return. I emailed him about a year later, in 2003, to see if he would be
continuing his posts and got a reply - albeit about 8 months after I'd
sent the email! - that he'd moved house and would be starting to post
again soon. His Years Of Gold website was then updated a few months
after that saying he would be back soon and then... nothing. The site
itself only vanished in September this year, presumably he decided not
to renew the hosting fees. I used to like reading his comments.
I remember Andreas's postings of the Luxembourg chart, like Nigel's
posts they were very enjoyable as I thought those Luxembourg charts were
lost forever so it was a pleasant surprise to see someone posting them.
>
>> The corresponding UK chart of this date, December 11, 1976 is notable
>> because the Sex Pistols made their chart debut with Anarchy In The UK,
>> the song which kick started the punk craze that gripped both music fans
>> and media alike in the months that followed.
>
>
> Sadly, that's a craze that won't get a lot of mention in my blog...not
> because of any feelings I may harbor on the subject but because few
> songs from the punk movement ever charted here through 1979. It's a
> shame, as punk produced a lot of characters and some great music that
> would have been fun to discuss.
Had punk happened a decade, or even half a decade, earlier then I'm sure
some of those singles would have made the Hot 100, but by 1977 the
turnover of chart hits on the Hot 100 had dropped considerably from that
of even just a few years previous. I'd imagine punk singles from 1977
that got a US release may not have sold much anyway but chart
conditions, in which airplay counted for a higher % of chart points from
1973 onwards, counted against those singles and acts.
Mr. M
>I liked ABBA a lot, back in the day.
I really liked "I Do, I Do, I Do"
Mr. M
Andreas
I liked Nigel's post as well, and even more his website. I didn't have
broadband dsl when he started posting, so to avoid online costs, I even
saved his website (well, most of it) to my local harddisk, and I still have
it. It was a bit awkward to navigate at first, but once you got into the
charts section, it was great fun.
When I noticed his website was offline, I was glad I had it saved so I can
go through it when I like. We used to send emails to each other from time to
time, but like Robbie said, suddenly he was gone and never returned.
Regarding Radio Luxembourg, it's nice to know that people did enjoy reading
the charts because there were always discussions about the posting of charts
here in this group; back in the day many others posted different charts but
it seems they have all gone by now.
Just as a reminder, the Radio Luxembourg charts are still online on my
private website. I will send the link to anyone interested. The charts for
1979 will be completed in a few weeks, but I am still missing out on
1970-1972, so I would be glad if anyone could help me complete those years.
I have a few charts from that time, some incomplete, which I hope to publish
sometime next year.
Andreas
Chris S.
>
> ABBA always amused me because they were the only pop group that ripped
> off Rachmaninoff licks. Dancing queen is full of them.
>
Funny you mention Rachmaninoff. Guess what song is is in next week's
review?
"All By Myself" -- a song that cribbed "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C
Minor" almost in its entirety, so much that Rachmaninoff's name is on
teh writing credit. Eric Carmen used the composer's work for his
followup hit "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" as well.
Chris S.
>
> Regarding Radio Luxembourg, it's nice to know that people did enjoy reading
> the charts because there were always discussions about the posting of charts
> here in this group; back in the day many others posted different charts but
> it seems they have all gone by now.
>
> Just as a reminder, the Radio Luxembourg charts are still online on my
> private website. I will send the link to anyone interested. The charts for
> 1979 will be completed in a few weeks, but I am still missing out on
> 1970-1972, so I would be glad if anyone could help me complete those years.
> I have a few charts from that time, some incomplete, which I hope to publish
> sometime next year.
I'd love to get that link. My email address is chris%stufflestreet at
yahoo dot com. (remove the %).
Robbie
1970 to 1972 was a bit before my time so I never listened to Luxembourg
then (the first time I listened in was in April 1974) and don't know who
the chart compiler was. In the 60s the Luxembourg chart was the same as
the NME (British music paper) chart. By 1974 the charts were compiled in
house by Luxembourg. Would you know if the charts in 1970 to 1972 were
the same as the NME charts or compiled in house? If it was still the NME
charts in the years 1970 to 1972 I have them all both in book form and
on my computer.
If you are unsure, give me a random top 5 that you have from that period
and I'll check it against what I have.
Andreas
"Robbie" wrote:
> 1970 to 1972 was a bit before my time so I never listened to Luxembourg
> then (the first time I listened in was in April 1974) and don't know who
> the chart compiler was. In the 60s the Luxembourg chart was the same as
> the NME (British music paper) chart. By 1974 the charts were compiled in
> house by Luxembourg. Would you know if the charts in 1970 to 1972 were the
> same as the NME charts or compiled in house? If it was still the NME
> charts in the years 1970 to 1972 I have them all both in book form and on
> my computer.
>
> If you are unsure, give me a random top 5 that you have from that period
> and I'll check it against what I have.
I read somewhere about that matter but forgot where it was, so I'm not sure
now when RTL changed from NME to own charts. I have some RTL charts from
1970 which we could compare, but they're all packed in boxes now as I will
move in a few days. After the move is finished, I will be offline for one or
two weeks but after that I'll get back to your offer.
Andreas
Robbie
I've just done a quick check, starting with the first chart you have
posted at your site (January 2, 1973) and the Luxembourg chart is
different to the NME chart, as are the charts in the immediate weeks
after that date. So whenever Luxembourg began to compile its own charts
it was definitely before 1973.
Robbie
> In article <7okrgpF...@mid.individual.net>, Robbie
> <ngrob...@hotmailSPAM.com> wrote:
>
>> I also liked Night Moves but Bob Seger was destined never to have much
>> of a success in the UK.
>
> for the UK audience, like Grand Funk Railroad.
>
The saddest thing is though Dennis, he's from Scotland in the UK. He's
another artist who found bigger success outside the UK rather than back
in his homeland. Like Peter Frampton from the same time he was never
appreciated back home.
I love Year Of The Cat and the follow up single On The Border. Both were
brilliant songs.
BobbyM
news:7oqnrjF...@mid.individual.net...
> Dennis M wrote:
>> In article <7okrgpF...@mid.individual.net>, Robbie
>> <ngrob...@hotmailSPAM.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I also liked Night Moves but Bob Seger was destined never to have much
>>> of a success in the UK.
>>
>> That's not too surprising, he's probably too gritty and
>> "American-sounding"
>> for the UK audience, like Grand Funk Railroad.
>
> The saddest thing is though Dennis, he's from Scotland in the UK. He's
> another artist who found bigger success outside the UK rather than back in
> his homeland. Like Peter Frampton from the same time he was never
> appreciated back home.
Peter Frampton lost a lot of his appreciation in the US after not being able
to properly follow up the live album, and that Sgt Pepper debacle made
matters even worse.
Mr. M
>
>I love Year Of The Cat and the follow up single On The Border. Both were
>brilliant songs.
He had a great song on one of his early albums - the song was called
"What's Goin' On" - it was one of the most biting and cynical songs
about music stars that you'll ever hear and I think I liked it better
than anything on YOC. I heard it a few times on FM back around '75
and for years I didn't even realize it was Al Stewart. It had the
line "now you come to me and you got green streaks in your hair, you
walk like Greta Garbo but you talk like Yogi Bear (!)
Mr. M
Robbie
That Sgt Pepper debacle made matters worse for every act involved! Only
Earth, Wind and Fire actually managed to record a decent song (Got To
Get You Into My Life). What were they all thinking of when they did that?
Mr. M
>
>That Sgt Pepper debacle made matters worse for every act involved! Only
>Earth, Wind and Fire actually managed to record a decent song (Got To
>Get You Into My Life). What were they all thinking of when they did that?
The scary thing is I saw the movie the first day it came out, before I
read any reviews and l really liked it!
Mr. M
Robbie
Could you still watch it now?
Mr. M
It would be interesting to give it a try - I never bought a DVD player
because I didn't want to go on a buying spree the way I did with cd's.
Even now, when I go into a store and look at all the tv series sets
that have been release, I really have to resist buying a player - I
don't want to get started on it.
The movie doesn't seem like it shows up on TV very often - a few
years back I found a copy of the album sound track - I tried recording
the lp to my computer but I had enough of it after a few songs!
Chris S.
Demand" service I have at home. I was 6 when the movie came out and
had only heard bad things about the film.
Thinking that it can't be nearly as bad as they said it was...it has
Steve Martin and George Burns and Billy Preston, for Pete's sake...I
ordered it and watched it.
When it was over, I immediately felt it was 90 minutes of my life I'll
never get back. I still wonder whether that film or the demise of
disco had the more negative impact on the Bee Gees' career.
But I'll agree that EW&F's take on "Got to Get You into My Life" was a
highlight of the project.
BobbyM
news:a0mgi5dn76ou79ebp...@4ax.com...
The movie was probably Robert Stigwood's idea of how to milk some more money
out of the Bee Gees, who were a very hot property at the time and it also
followed 2 other successful movies Stigwood had been responsible for:
Saturday Night Fever & Grease. The only thing is those movies featured
original songs or songs we weren't overly familiar with &, in the case of
Saturday Night Fever particularly, a decent storyline & plot . This movie
had nothing to offer but other people doing Beatles' songs & we all knew
that no one could do the Beatles better than the Beatles. Sure, there were
a couple of hit singles from the movie, but was Aerosmith's "Come Together"
or Earth, Wind & Fire's "Got to Get You into My Life" better than the
Beatles' versions? There's been loads of musicals that had no real plot
(e.g. those black & white r&r movies of the 50's) but we were willing to sit
thru them to see particular artists perform & we'd then rave about those
performances. Remember seeing Chuck Berry in "Go, Johnny, Go"? Sgt. Pepper
had neither the storyline nor the artistic performances to draw people to
the theater.
Dana
even him record the call letters. Anyone remember that back in 1979?
Dana
a guy from Georgia playing base on that song I am Getting closer to my
home. Wonder if that is true? His name is Jett Jackson. Can someone check
the cover and see if I am right? I am blind and can't read the cover.
Check out my web site and click the oldies link.
http://www.randomc.com/~dana