My Seventies Music

Tag: Billboard Hot 100

  • The Captain & Tennille – “Love Will Keep Us Together” And “Do That To Me One More Time”

    The Captain & Tennille single "Love Will Keep Us Together" (1975)

    The Captain & Tennille certainly picked the right song when they sang “Love Will Keep Us Together” back in 1975 – not only did the record go to Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 nine weeks after its debut, the husband and wife team really are still together.

    “Do That To Me One More Time” also did pretty well for them. It too went gold and reached Number 1 in 1979.

    “Captain” Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille married on 11 November 1975, and the following year they sang in the White House for Queen Elizabeth II and President Gerald Ford during the American Bicentennial celebration.

    Toni Tenille was also involved as a session singer on albums by top artists such as The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, Elton John and Art Garfunkel.

    Here’s the Neil Sedaka/Howard Greenfield song “Love Will Keep Us Together” that did so well for The Captain & Tennille in 1975 (looks like she’s going to jump off the chair any minute…):

    And their 1979 hit “Do That To Me One More Time”, written by Toni Tennille, at a somewhat more sedate pace:

    Nice beach.

    Paul

  • Jim Stafford – “Spiders And Snakes”, “Swamp Witch”, “Wildwood Weed” And “I Got Stoned And I Missed It”

    For some reason I just recalled “Spiders And Snakes” by comedian and musician Jim Stafford, which reached Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1974.

    Not that I remembered that, but a little research goes a long way….

    In fact at first I just remembered the line “I don’t like spiders and snakes but that ain’t what it takes to love me like I wanna be loved by you”.

    Some things just stick in your mind :-).

    Then I found that it was sung by Jim Stafford, and the name was instantly familiar.

    So here’s “Spiders And Snakes”:

    The previous year, i.e. 1973, he had a chart hit with “Swamp Witch”, another familiar title, which was produced by his friend Kent LaVoie, otherwise known as Lobo:

    And in 1975 “Wildwood Weed” peaked at Number 7:

    A year later Jim Stafford reached the Top 40 with a song in a similar vein, “I Got Stoned And I Missed It”:

    Y’all come back now.

    Paul

  • Crystal Gayle – “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”

    I only really know one song by American country singer Crystal Gayle, but I really like it, especially the piano accompaniment: “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”.

    The song was a hit worldwide in 1977, reaching Number 1 on the U.S. Country charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album it was taken from , “We Must Believe In Magic”, went platinum.

    This performance of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle appears to have been in Australia, judging by the accent of the announcer (or is it South Africa?):

    Apparently Crystal Gayle, who is the younger sister of Loretta Lyn (never knew that till now), has blue eyes.

    Fancy that.

    Paul

  • The Knack – “My Sharona” And “Good Girls Don’t”

    "My Sharona" by The Knack (1979)

    One song I remember from 1979 was “My Sharona” by The Knack.

    It was apparently the biggest hit of the year and spent six consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart as well as five weeks at No. 1 in Australia.

    The followup single “Good Girls Don’t”, from the same album “Get The Knack”, peaked at No. 11. The album itself went to No. 1.

    Here’s “My Sharona”:

    This is the “cleaned up” version of “Good Girls Don’t”:

    And here is “Good Girls Don’t” in the the original, “unexpurgated” version:

    I nearly fell off my chair when I heard this version the first time. (Especially on New Zealand radio, I was surprised it wasn’t censored.)

    Incidentally, while preparing this I read that lead singer Doug Fieger passed away just three months ago, on February 14, 2010. Drummer Bruce Gary, who had not participated in more recent reunions, died in 2006. Both were in their mid Fifties.

    Hard to believe when you watch the lively videos, and all the more reason to be thankful that we can.

    Paul

  • Pickettywitch – “Same Old Feeling”

    In 1970 English band Pickettywitch, with female lead singer Polly Brown (sometimes billed as Polly Browne) had a hit single with “Same Old Feeling”.

    It reached Number Five on the UK singles chart that year, and No. 67 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1970.

    Pickettywitch only actually existed, with several lineup changes, from 1969 to 1973.

    I’m not surprised “Same Old Feeling” did so well, even if it didn’t make it to the very top of the charts.

    It has a very memorable tune, and I can still remember at least some of the words…

    “I still get the same old feeling, Tearing my heart inside out, Telling me without a doubt, I’m still not over you, I still get the same old yearning…”, that’s about as far as I go. 🙂

    Anyway, see for yourself, or rather listen, here is “Same Old Feeling”:

    OK, so I went back and checked… turns out I kind of remembered the words. Just got them a bit mixed up.

    This is what she really sings:

    “But I still get that same old feeling, Tearing at this heart of mine, Telling me that baby I’m, Not really over you, I still get that same old yearning, Tearing my heart inside out, Oh but now there can’t be any doubt, I’m still not over you.”

    Oh well. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. But it’s all over now, baby blue…

    Paul

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