Joey's earlier singles on ABC Paramount are Girl Group classics. Hippo Select put out a complete recordings with a cover not many shops would have the guts to put on display.
I had been under the impression that Ms. Francis' last contract with MGM had run out before Mr. Curb had done his "purge" . . .
I remember she recorded a sequel to Tie a Yellow Ribbon on some indie label. That was the last I heard from her.
Unique is right. From around this same time I believe, and quite possibly my all time favorite YouTube clip: Yes, those really are the Lennon Sisters and yes, they really are playing prostitutes. I've got to wonder if they only agreed to it as a condition for working with Sammy! That's the version I have, probably from my grandfather's collection. He was a jukebox repairman in rural PA. I believe she left MGM in 1970, but her last actual record on the label was in 1969. I don't know offhand if that was before or after Mike Curb got involved.
Candy Man" peaked at #25 on the US Hot 100, #3 on the Canadian charts and #1 on the Australian charts. That sounds like a big hit. It was his 7th Hot 100 single of the 25 singles of his that hit the Hot 100.
I was gonna post this but ya beat me to it. There was a station here that played predominantly easy listening or adult contemporary stuff and that's where I first heard this one. I love the bombast, the horn charts and the orchestration. Joey acquits herself pretty well, too and she was a great looker. As for her "sister" Lola, well this says it all: lola heatherton bouncing back to you
I love Burning Bridges! I bought one of the Have a Nice Day series for it despite it having nothing else of interest whatsoever.
The song is great, the energy is three steps beyond, and this has to be one of the greatest go-go dancer performances I have ever seen. And I love the fact that there's no way that guy is playing that saxophone (is there even a saxophone at all in the song they are lip syncing?)!
I had never heard of Nuggets until some time around 1980; eventually I picked up a 2-LP set (a re-release with added material maybe? certainly My World Fell Down by Sagittarius was on it). But I had read a review somewhere and even then, 40 years ago, a comment in it about Public Execution said how remarkably well it cloned Dylan.
I've never really been a big Bowie fan but Starman is brilliant. It was the first song by Bowie that I had ever heard, which means that nothing that preceded it found its way to CHUM-FM (although I'm pretty sure I heard Laughing Gnome once previously, but didn't remember the artist's name).
I know that these choral groups like this are looked upon as square, or whatever.... today and back then as well, it seems like protest music had faded into the background more or less by 72 (At least compared to the late 60's), but one of these groups had a rogue member that pulled the BIGGEST ninja move that year, quite a big deal at the time. (this is not meant to open any political discussion, just looking at a historical event in music)
Or if you like, this one! LOL. From one of the greatest movies of the seventies, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls:
I didn't list all the songs on the 2 album set. The Sagittarius song was one of them, but I figured more obscure than the ones I did mention.
Wunnerful Wunnerful! OK, my jaw is sufficiently off the floor now. Have to love the Cabaret number the best. That movie was huge at the time. I love these bizarre culture clash moments, and the sixties and seventies were full of them. The only thing that would have made that clip weirder is if Lawrence Welk came out dressed as Joel Grey's character in the movie and joined them.
I'll Take You There I like the Staples Singers, although I know only a handful of their songs. I first came across I'll Take You There in a sort of unorthodox way. In college, I was teaching myself how to play keyboards on a newly purchased electric keyboard I had. To practice, I bought a sheet music book of popular songs of the 70s, arranged to be played by beginners. I worked my way through several of the songs we have already talked about, including One Tin Soldier and Theme From Shaft (yep, that was in there). Once I had played all the songs I knew, I tried my luck at some I had never heard. One of those was I'll Take You There (several more will be coming up soon in this thread). So for years, the only version of this song I knew was my crappy attempt to play it on my synthesizer. The song never seemed to be played on stations I listened to, but eventually I did hear it for real. The Staples Singers may Take You There, but the sheet music book and my skill only took me about 40% of the way there. For one thing, my attempts were much slower, turning it into a somewhat turgid ballad. Take my word for it, it works much better faster! And Mavis singing it. And my piano playing not involved! Does anyone else have a story about learning one of these songs in an unusual way? My other one would be that I owned the soundtrack for the Horrendous Sgt Pepper movie starring the Bee Gees before I owned Abbey Road; it took me years to get used to the way the Beatles version of Oh! Darling sounded when I finally did acquire Abbey Road.
That indie label was GSF, who barely lasted a year (1972-73) despite a few random singles on the soul chart.
There's another 60s singer whose career on the charts got a big boost in '72. Wayne Newton's first chart record came in '63 and in the next 5 years he placed 11 songs on the Hot 100 with Danke Schoen (#13) and Red Roses For A Blue Lady (#23) being the most successful. That is until Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast broke into the top 5 in '72, giving Newton his sole Top 10 record. I'm betting those who hate Candy Man feel the same about this one but again, like with that tune, I don't hate it. Fact is, I preferred the follow-up, Can't You Hear The Song, even though it stalled out at #48.
Ah yes, one of Bobby Sherman's better songs...yikes. I didn't know the song was so well regarded that it was covered again. I have no idea why he was popular. I'm assuming he came up further back? I am just starting to follow this thread closely as we're getting to where I am familiar with much more of the material. Real fun reading about my childhood and learning things about this music I didn't know.
Man that's messed up, like child abuse, learning any Beatles songs via the Sgt Pepper soundtrack with the Bee Gees, and that's coming from a huge Bee Gees fan. That has to be about the worst, big exposure album to ever hit the stores. I just heard it recently again after not hearing it since it was new. It's even worse than I remember it. My sympathies to you!
