Different versions were big in different states. It was the same for Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head.
And as a crowning achievement, right in the middle of his run at #1, Smokey Robinsons also had his own TV special, aired on ABC on December 18, 1970. Here's the entire special... lots of GREAT music!
US radio didn't play a whole lot of him between "Tears of a Clown" and those songs either. He didn't have any big hits in the decade or so that came between.
Yeah, he was absent from the pop charts for almost a decade. But he remained massive on the soul charts, and actually spawned a whole sub-genre - quiet storm - based off of his song of the same name.
It probably rubbed Smokey Robinson the wrong way too, it kept him in the group years longer than he wanted, he finally left in 1972. Yep. Some false starts with his solo career but once he got going, he was a big star again on the pop charts. Oddly enough, I liked the Miracles better without him...
Smokey was not absent from the Pop charts during the seventies. Now if you specify the Top 20, then you have something there. He actually had 12 solo singles from '73 to '79 before Cruisin returned him to the Top 10 that year. He placed three songs in the Top 40 during the years '73 - '75 so you could still hear Casey Kasem talk about him at least for the first half of the decade. By the way, Baby That's Backatcha, The Agony & The Ecstasy and Quiet Storm, all from the LP Quiet Storm are excellent. Come to the #1 R&B thread when it gets to that time to hear more. Shameless plug!
Yeah, he was still big on the R&B charts, and I guess it's not fair to say he was "absent" entirely. But compared to his success in the '60s it seemed like quite a comedown on the pop charts. Well, until "Cruisin", which I think is one of the best pop songs ever.
Oh don't get me wrong, he absolutely fell in the seventies from his 60s heights. For someone so iconic with such a wealth of material and not succeed on the Pop charts to the extent his label-mates Stevie, Marvin and Diana did? Must have been galling. Not to mention the #1 his old group The Miracles had later in the decade.
"Painted-on" labels were "real" too - albeit confined only to pressings by Bestway Products, which were trying to save money whichever way possible in record manufacturing. The last "painted-on" label I saw was for "I'll Meet You Halfway" by The Partridge Family. But Bestway's production was sort-of half-and-half - half "painted-on" and half "real" in terms of what was being pressed. They were an early version of what would later be turned out in Britain - and which are referred to within 45cat as "Plasticr@p."
...Who were these " Boys In The Band "? I presume it had nothing to do with the gay male stage play and movie with Lawrence Luckinbill, et al, " The Boys In The Band " - but it was just around that time! TBITB includes no new pop-rock songs (It does include some then-recent past p-r stuff), IIRC, but........... Dougd, post: 17544884, member: 6717"]I too prefer the Five Stairsteps song. Much better than most J5 songs, imo. Ooh Child only hit No. 8? I assumed it hit within the Top 5, judging by all the airplay it received on oldies radio. A great song indeed. The one ahead of it, Ride Captain Ride, which peaked @ No. 4, is one of the year's great rockers. Other songs of interest are bolded. Note the debut of the great Chicago rocker (25 or 6 To 4) and the Supremes song, which I've never heard of. US Top 40 Singles Week Ending 25th July, 1970 TW LW TITLE –•– Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 1 3 (They Long To Be) CLOSE TO YOU –•– The Carpenters (A&M)-6 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 1 MAMA TOLD ME (Not To Come) –•– Three Dog Night (Dunhill)-10 (1) 3 4 BAND OF GOLD –•– Freda Payne (Invictus)-14 (3) 4 2 THE LOVE YOU SAVE / I FOUND THAT GIRL –•– Jackson 5 (Motown)-9 (1) 5 10 MAKE IT WITH YOU –•– Bread (Elektra)-7 (5) 6 5 BALL OF CONFUSION (That’s What the World Is Today) –•– The Temptations (Gordy)-10 (3) 7 6 RIDE CAPTAIN RIDE –•– Blues Image (Atco)-12 (4) 8 8 O-O-H CHILD / DEAR PRUDENCE –•– The Five Stairsteps (Buddah)-17 (8) 9 18 SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED I’M YOURS –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-5 (9) 10 7 LAY DOWN (Candles In the Rain) –•– Melanie with the Edwin Hawkins Singers (Buddah)-14 (6) 11 12 TIGHTER, TIGHTER –•– Alive and Kicking (Roulette)-8 (11) 12 11 HITCHIN’ A RIDE –•– Vanity Fare (Page One)-19 (5) 13 9 GIMME DAT DING –•– The Pipkins (Capitol)-10 (9) 14 24 SPILL THE WINE –•– Eric Burdon and War (MGM)-10 (14) 15 15 ARE YOU READY –•– Pacific Gas and Electric (Columbia)-9 (15) 16 22 TEACH YOUR CHILDREN –•– Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (Atlantic)-8 (16) 17 13 THE WONDER OF YOU / MAMA LIKED THE ROSES –•– Elvis Presley (RCA)-11 (9) 18 26 OHIO –•– Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (Atlantic)-5 (18) 19 14 A SONG OF JOY –•– Miguel Rios (A&M)-7 (14) 20 30 I JUST CAN’T HELP BELIEVING –•– B.J. Thomas (Scepter)-6 (20) 21 20 THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD / FOR YOU BLUE –•– The Beatles (Apple)-10 (1) 22 19 MY BABY LOVES LOVIN’ –•– White Plains (Deram)-15 (13) 23 17 GET READY –•– Rare Earth (Rare Earth)-20 (4) 24 37 LAY A LITTLE LOVIN’ ON ME –•– Robin McNamara (Steed)-9 (24) 25 44 WAR –•– Edwin Starr (Gordy)-3 (25) 26 41 (If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) WHY CAN’T I TOUCH YOU –•– Ronnie Dyson (Columbia)-6 (26) 27 27 SAVE THE COUNTRY –•– The 5th Dimension (Bell)-7 (27) 28 29 SILVER BIRD –•– Mark Lindsay (Columbia)-7 (28) 29 25 MISSISSIPPI QUEEN –•– Mountain (Windfall)-15 (21) 30 31 WESTBOUND #9 –•– The Flaming Ember (Hot Wax)-10 (30) 31 16 LOVE LAND –•– Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (Warner Brothers)-16 (16) 32 68 IN THE SUMMERTIME –•– Mungo Jerry (Janus)-3 (32) 33 21 UNITED WE STAND –•– The Brotherhood Of Man (Deram)-15 (13) 34 28 CHECK OUT YOUR MIND –•– The Impressions (Curtom)-11 (28) 35 32 MISSISSIPPI –•– John Phillips (Dunhill)-11 (32) 36 36 GO BACK –•– Crabby Appleton (Elektra)-12 (36) 37 38 STEAL AWAY –•– Johnnie Taylor (Stax)-8 (37) 38 43 MAYBE –•– The Three Degrees (Roulette)-8 (38) 39 59 TELL IT ALL BROTHER –•– Kenny Rogers and the First Edition (Reprise)-4 (39) 40 42 TRYING TO MAKE A FOOL OF ME –•– The Delfonics (Philly Groove)-8 (40) THIS WEEK’S DROPS 42 40 END OF OUR ROAD –•– Marvin Gaye (Tamla)-7 (40) POWER PLAYS 41 61 OVERTURE FROM TOMMY (A Rock Opera) –•– The Assembled Multitude (Atlantic)-5 (41) 43 74 EVERYBODY’S GOT THE RIGHT TO LOVE –•– The Supremes (Motown)-2 (43) 44 45 THE SLY, SLICK, AND THE WICKED –•– The Lost Generation (Brunswick)-8 (44) 45 46 WHEN WE GET MARRIED –•– The Intruders (Gamble)-6 (45) 46 47 MY MARIE –•– Engelbert Humperdinck (Parrot)-5 (46) 47 69 SUMMERTIME BLUES –•– The Who (Decca)-3 (47) 48 48 (How Bout a Little Hand For) THE BOYS IN THE BAND –•– The Boys In the Band (Spring)-8 (48) 49 65 PAPER MACHE –•– Dionne Warwick (Scepter)-3 (49) 50 — 25 OR 6 TO 4 –•– Chicago (Columbia)-1 (50) NEW THIS WEEK 50 — 25 OR 6 TO 4 –•– Chicago (Columbia)-1 (50) 71 — AMERICA, COMMUNICATE WITH ME –•– Ray Stevens (Barnaby)-1 (71) 74 — WIGWAM –•– Bob Dylan (Columbia)-1 (74) 76 — GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS, BOYS WILL BE BOYS –•– The Isley Brothers (T-Neck)-1 (76) 77 — GLORY GLORY –•– The Rascals with the Sweet Inspirations (Atlantic)-1 (77) 84 — BLACK FOX –•– Freddy Robinson (World Pacific Jazz)-1 (84) 87 — SOMETHING –•– Booker T. and the MG’s (Stax)-1 (87) 88 — HUMMINGBIRD –•– B.B. King (ABC)-1 (88) 90 — SING A SONG OF FREEDOM –•– Frijid Pink (Parrot)-1 (90) 92 — IT’S YOUR LIFE –•– Andy Kim (Steed)-1 (92) 97 — CANDIDA –•– Dawn (Bell)-1 (97) 98 — MORNING MUCH BETTER –•– Ten Wheel Drive with Genya Ravan (Polydor)-1 (98) 99 — IT’S A SHAME –•– The Spinners (V.I.P.)-1 (99) –•– Joni Mitchell (Reprise)-1 (100)[/QUOTE]
...Speaking of time slots, I remember The Brady Bunch being st 8:00 PM Friday night and The Partridge Family at 8:30 and I had drum lessons in the early evening and wouldn't get back home in time to Ser TBB but could see TPF, which was alright by me...it wasn't til' decades later when the whole Generation X thing came along that I realized that I was supposed to worship the Bradys as Symbols Of My Generation! Two more Bradypoimts 'l- the title was sung, in a more professional-sounding rendition, by the Peppermint Trolley Company or something like that? on the first season's episodes. They substituted the Brady Kids' singing in the second, I guess. Was the show originally intended to give more play to Ann B. Davis' Alice character than it worked out as being? The famed title sequence finishes up with Alice's character appearing in the center square and everyone looking at her, while her billing appears on-screen - Maybe it ended up working out that the kids took up more of the show than was originally planned?
I didn't much care for his 70s output until I got his 2-CD anthology several years ago. I very highly recommend it, especially for those who did not listen to much soul music in the 70s. What are you smoking??? No it's not! Any Smokey I heard in the 70s was on Soul Train. I may have heard "Baby, That's Backatcha" on top 40 raion a few times. I don't remember hearing "Crusin'" on the radio in 1979. The only way I heard it was from a popular RCA disco comp that had continuous music on it. I wish I could remember the name of it. My sister had it. Since I was in the right age range to enjoy that Friday night lineup (it started at 7:00 Mountain time for me), I always felt like it spoke to my generation, which is the tail-end of the baby-boomers. That's right. The kids of the show sang the opening credits starting in the second season. I like the third season best. From it's conception, the show was about two families coming together through a second marriage. From Wiki: The Brady Bunch - Wikipedia But, you know, we're getting too much into TV in this music thread. We should carry this discussion to the Video section.
...I recall an early-70s singles review column by Vince Aletti in Rolling Stone in which, reviewing what I guess was Smokey's immediate follow-up to " Tears ", he said " Smokey never could follow up a hit "! What Smokey releases have the original '67 drum track version of " Tears "? nt, post: 17558623, member: 91"]I didn't much care for his 70s output until I got his 2-CD anthology several years ago. I very highly recommend it, especially for those who did not listen to much soul music in the 70s. What are you smoking??? No it's not! Any Smokey I heard in the 70s was on Soul Train. I may have heard "Baby, That's Backatcha" on top 40 raion a few times. I don't remember hearing "Crusin'" on the radio in 1979. The only way I heard it was from a popular RCA disco comp that had continuous music on it. I wish I could remember the name of it. My sister had it. Since I was in the right age range to enjoy that Friday night lineup (it started at 7:00 Mountain time for me), I always felt like it spoke to my generation, which is the tail-end of the baby-boomers. That's right. The kids of the show sang the opening credits starting in the second season. I like the third season best. From it's conception, the show was about two families coming together through a second marriage. From Wiki: The Brady Bunch - Wikipedia But, you know, we're getting too much into TV in this music thread. We should carry this discussion to the Video section.[/QUOTE]
Smokey Robinson is unsung compared to many of his Motown peers. He's just as legendary if not more so than most of them. Rollingstone put him top 5 of greatest song writers of all time, when you think about the sheer amount of hits this man has been its really something else.
You are correct. I misremembered. But that next Bell #1 (which I own, see below) is coming up very soon in the new year. Now that I am thinking of it, I believe my copy of "the next Bell #1" is a painted-on label. I'll be able to confirm this next week, as that single is at my parent's house, which is not near to me (so I can't confirm that today). But I do remember that single being a little different in appearance than the others, and I never really realized why until now.
I think his relative lack of visibility in the '70s (compared to Gaye, Ross, Wonder) made him unsung, at least among my own peers (I don't remember the '60s at all, and have murky memories of 1970-1972). Unlike the aforementioned Gaye, Ross, and Wonder, I never heard of him until the turn of the '80s, and the days of "Cruisin'" and "Being With You".
Oh boy, I do. It must have been huge in Phoenix. It got play on the pop and on the "light rock" stations, as well as more R&B oriented radio. I was just old enough to realize this was a big "comeback" for Robinson.
Well... the next song will take us a ways into 1971, and has quite a bit of legal aspects attatched as well... so before we dive into that one, we will now do our year end review... what songs were your favorites this year that should have been #1 that weren't? This is the top 100 on the Billboard year end chart:
Here's the Hot 100 of 1970. The bolded ones weren't No. 1s. 1970 1 Bridge over Troubled Water Simon & Garfunkel 2 (They Long to Be) Close to You The Carpenters 3 American Woman The Guess Who 4 Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head B.J. Thomas 5 War Edwin Starr 6 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Diana Ross 7 I’ll Be There The Jackson 5 8 Get Ready Rare Earth 9 Let It Be The Beatles 10 Band of Gold Freda Payne 11 Mama Told Me (Not to Come) Three Dog Night 12 Everything Is Beautiful Ray Stevens 13 Make It with You Bread 14 Hitchin’ a Ride Vanity Fare 15 ABC The Jackson 5 16 The Love You Save The Jackson 5 17 Cracklin’ Rosie Neil Diamond 18 Candida Dawn 19 Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) Sly & the Family Stone 20 Spill the Wine Eric Burdon & War 21 O-o-h Child Five Stairsteps 22 Spirit in the Sky Norman Greenbaum 23 Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) Melanie 24 Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today) The Temptations 25 Love on a Two-Way Street The Moments 26 Which Way You Goin’ Billy? The Poppy Family 27 All Right Now Free 28 I Want You Back The Jackson 5 29 Julie, Do Ya Love Me Bobby Sherman 30 Green-Eyed Lady Sugarloaf 31 Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours Stevie Wonder 32 Ride Captain Ride Blues Image 33 Venus Shocking Blue 34 Instant Karma! John Lennon 35 Patches Clarence Carter 36 Lookin’ out My Back Door Creedence Clearwater Revival 37 Rainy Night in Georgia Brook Benton 38 Something’s Burning Kenny Rogers & The First Edition 39 Give Me Just a Little More Time Chairmen of the Board 40 Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) Edison Lighthouse 41 The Long and Winding Road The Beatles 42 Snowbird Anne Murray 43 Reflections of My Life Marmalade 44 Hey There Lonely Girl Eddie Holman 45 The Rapper The Jaggerz 46 He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother The Hollies 47 Tighter, Tighter Alive N Kickin’ 48 Come and Get It Badfinger 49 Cecilia Simon & Garfunkel 50 Love Land Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band 51 Turn Back the Hands of Time Tyrone Davis 52 Lola The Kinks 53 In the Summertime Mungo Jerry 54 Indiana Wants Me R. Dean Taylor 55 (I Know) I’m Losing You Rare Earth 56 Easy Come, Easy Go Bobby Sherman 57 Express Yourself Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band 58 Still Water (Love) The Four Tops 59 Make Me Smile Chicago 60 The House of the Rising Sun Frijid Pink 61 25 or 6 to 4 Chicago 62 My Baby Loves Lovin’ White Plains 63 Love or Let Me Be Lonely The Friends of Distinction 64 United We Stand The Brotherhood of Man 65 We’ve Only Just Begun The Carpenters 66 Arizona Mark Lindsay 67 Fire and Rain James Taylor 68 Groovy Situation Gene Chandler 69 Evil Ways Santana 70 No Time The Guess Who 71 Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) The Delfonics 72 The Wonder of You Elvis Presley 73 Up Around the Bend Creedence Clearwater Revival 74 (If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You? Ronnie Dyson 75 I Just Can’t Help Believing B.J. Thomas 76 It’s a Shame The Spinners 77 For the Love of Him Bobbi Martin 78 Mississippi Queen Mountain 79 I Want to Take You Higher Ike & Tina Turner 80 The Letter Joe Cocker 81 Ma Belle Amie Tee Set 82 The Bells The Originals 83 Yellow River Christie 84 Somebody’s Been Sleeping 100 Proof (Aged in Soul) 85 Vehicle The Ides of March 86 Gimme Dat Ding The Pipkins 87 Lay a Little Lovin’ On Me Robin McNamara 88 Up the Ladder to the Roof The Supremes 89 Travelin’ Band Creedence Clearwater Revival 90 Come Saturday Morning The Sandpipers 91 Psychedelic Shack The Temptations 92 Without Love (There Is Nothing) Tom Jones 93 Are You Ready? Pacific Gas & Electric 94 Woodstock Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 95 I’ll Never Fall in Love Again Dionne Warwick 96 Look What They’ve Done to My Song Ma The New Seekers 97 Walk A Mile In My Shoes Joe South 98 The Thrill Is Gone B.B. King 99 It’s Only Make Believe Glen Campbell 100 Call Me Aretha Franklin
My favorite of 1970 was sitting atop the R&B chart, while Smokey was on top of the Hot 100. It ended up selling 3 1/2 million copies worldwide.
I didn't realize "Band Of Gold" was that old. Even further down the charts it's kind of a low-energy year. I think most of the following tracks though are at least as good as many of the #1s: Get Ready - Rare Earth Band of Gold - Freda Payne Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & the Family Stone Spill the Wine - Eric Burdon & War O-o-h Child - Five Stairsteps Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) - Melanie Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today) - The Temptations All Right Now - Free Instant Karma! - John Lennon Lookin’ out My Back Door - Creedence Clearwater Revival Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) - Edison Lighthouse Snowbird - Anne Murray Come and Get It - Badfinger Lola The - Kinks 25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago Fire and Rain - James Taylor No Time The - Guess Who Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) - The Delfonics I Want to Take You Higher - Ike & Tina Turner Woodstock - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young I’ll Never Fall in Love Again - Dionne Warwick The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King
And once again, the #2 hits, here are all the songs that JUST missed the top spot on the US Charts in 1970. 1. Eddie Holman - Hey There Lonely Girl 2. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Travellin Band 3. The Jaggerz - The Rapper 4. The Ides Of March - Vehicle 5. The Poppy Family - Which Way You Goin Billy? 6. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Looking Out My Back Door 7. The Carpenters - We've Only Just Begun 8. The 5th Dimension - One Less Bell To Answer Significantly less #2 hits than the previous years, only 8 total. CCWR once again the most popular act on this list.
And my pick for best song of the year goes to a song that didn't even chart, Minnie Riperton's 'Les Fleur'