I happen to like "Run Joey, Run". It's so bad, it's good. It's just an updated 70s version of all those teenage tragedy songs from the early 60s. That's all.
Um....when a discussion of Run Joey Run takes up a whole page, I think the thread is crying out for the next #1.
Eh, wonderfully terrible things often spark a long conversation, if only for everyone to put their two cents in on how much they hate it.
If anyone can take a double dose of "Run Joey Run" and The Brady Variety Hour, it's the battle-scarred veterans who've just gone through '73 and '74.
A weird coincidence took place at this time in '75 with two different bands and their respective final chart songs. Both Three Dog Night and Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods had final chart singles whose titles proved to be prophetic. Three Dog Night - Til The World Ends Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods - Our Last Song Together I can spotlight one tune so I'll go with the obvious:
All new entries on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of 2 August 1975, when 'One of These Nights' hit number one, sorted by the peak positions they would later reach: David Geddes, Run Joey Run, peak # 4 The Ritchie Family, Brazil, peak # 11 Leon Russell, Lady Blue, peak # 14 Carpenters, Solitaire, peak # 17 The Doobie Brothers, Sweet Maxine, peak # 40 Frank Sinatra, I Believe I’m Gonna Love You, peak # 47 Evie Sands, I Love Makin’ Love To You, peak # 50 The Blackbyrds, Flyin’ High, peak # 70 The Grass Roots, Mamacita, peak # 71 East L.A. Car Pool, Like They Say In L.A., peak # 72 Christopher Paul and Sean, For Your Love, peak # 91 source: 1975
Even more eerie: Both acts at this point were on ABC Records (3DN had been on Dunhill, but that label was deep-sixed in '75 and what was left of their roster - also including the Four Tops and some lad named Jimmy Buffett - were shifted to ABC, while their new "partner" label was Dot - er, ABC Dot).
Eternally I'm a week or two behind! Shining Star Whenever I hear about this group, I'm always reminded of the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati where Venus Flytrap is feeling like he's losing touch with his black identity because he hangs around with white people so much. He starts wearing really crazy 70s black outfits to the station as compensation. Jennifer sees him in the hall, looks him up and down, and comments wryly, 'Are you Earth, Wind or Fire?' These guys really were all over the place in the late seventies. I've never been all that fond of their slower stuff. But September is one I find myself singing a lot. And I personally really like their take on the Beatles' Got To Get You Into My Life, which I recall the group had never even heard before recording their funky take on it. This is legit almost as good as the Fabs' version, and I say that VERY rarely. Shining Star is one of the ones I like most. Not my favorite, but when a song this good gets to the top, I'm pleased! Before the Next Teardrop Falls I don't think I ever heard this on the radio back then, and rarely since. Even as far as "country" songs of the time go, it doesn't stand out. Sorry, just not my bag, baby. Next! Thank God I'm a Country Boy I'm by no stretch of the imagination a John Denver fan, nor am I a country boy, but I kinda like this one. Not a lot, but a little. I think it's the fact that he seems to be having such a good time singing it. #1 hit? No, but then again, there are a lot of 1975 songs I would say that about, and as far as they go, this one's not half bad. Interestingly, though, I've never thought of him as a 'country boy'. I guess 'folk boy' wouldn't have scanned as well... Have we seen the below version of him singing the song yet? It's a spirited version, but it's the backing band that makes it truly special. I don't think I've ever seen the Man in Black look so happy.
Does anyone else recall for sure if the Bee Gees sang "Jive Talkin'" at the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary show in 1988? I remember watching that and - at the time - being disappointed that they didn't perform something from when they actually were on Atlantic (or ATCO if you want to be pedantic). In retrospect, though, it made more sense for them to play something upbeat for the festive occasion, and nothing from their ATCO catalog really fit that bill. I didn't much like "Jive Talkin'" then, but I do like it a lot now.
Ah, the good old days when we were thrilled to have the Bee Gees back, a few years before we thought they'd never go away, and a few decades before we sadly realized we'd never see them again ... The legend goes that the "chunka-chunka" that propels "Jive Talkin'" was inspired by the sound their tires made crossing the bridge to get to Criteria Studios in Miami, where they were making the album. And apparently the first bunch of promos they sent to radio didn't have Bee Gees on the label, so low had their Top 40 appeal sunk. In any event, their hits are gonna start rollin' in!