This Week's Top 10 Chart

Trick or Treat? That's for you to decide.

As I expected few of you were overly enthusiastic about last week's chart. I was surprised that the thread was actually active all week. That seldom happens even with a good chart.

This week's bag of goodies comes from the mid-seventies. I think it's a little better than last week's list but that's not saying much. There are some real treats here but then there's number seven, a trick if I ever heard one. This is the stuff lounge acts are made of. I'd qualify that with a IMHO but Bill Murray feels the same way too.

I hope you have a great weekend. I'm headed to deepest, darkest Connecticut to see Jackson Brown at Foxwoods this weekend. I'm hoping he still has as much "breath of life" as Steve's remasters.

This week's charts are from November 1, 1975

Code:

 1. Island Girl...........................[B]Elton John[/B]
 2. Calypso/I'm Sorry.....................[B]John Denver[/B]
 3. Miracles..............................[B]Jefferson Starship[/B]
 4. Lyin' Eyes.......... .................[B]The Eagles[/B]
 5. "They Just Can't Stop It" the (Games People Play)
    ......................................[B]Spinners[/B]
 6. Who Loves You.........................[B]Four Seasons [/B]
 7. Feelings..............................[B]Morris Albert[/B]
 8. Bad Blood.............................[B]Neil Sedaka[/B]
 9. Heat Wave/Love Is A Rose..............[B]Linda Ronstadt[/B]
10. This Will Be..........................[B]Natalie Cole[/B]


[B]This Week's Top 10 Albums[/B]

 1. Windsong..............................[B]John Denver[/B]
 2. Wish You Were Here....................[B]Pink Floyd[/B]
 3. Red Octopus...........................[B]Jefferson Starship[/B] 
 4. One Of These Nights...................[B]Eagles[/B]
 5. Prisoner In Disguise..................[B]Linda Ronstadt[/B]
 6. Win, Lose Or Draw.....................[B]The Allman Brothers Band[/B]
 7. Minstrel In The Gallery...............[B]Jethro Tull[/B]
 8. Extra Texture (Read All About It).....[B]George Harrison[/B]
 9. Born To Run...........................[B]Bruce Springsteen[/B]
10. Atlantic Crossing.....................[B]Rod Stewart[/B]

 

Actually, you should probably rephrase that as "This is the stuff that bad lounge acts are made of" .

 

Well, I think it's a good singles chart, not the best, but quite good. The Natalie Cole song is grossly overplayed these days. I'm glad people finally remembered that she had a hit career back in the mid-late 70s, but this is the only one they seem to ever remember.

more later...

 

Okay, here's my take on this week's tricks and treats.

I liked this a lot at the time but it's worn thin for me. Not bad, mind you, but not one of Elton's better 70's singles. I would say, in fact, that this was the beginning of his decline.

A good 2-sider but, once again, not one of this artist's best.

Blech! And you call #7 lounge music?! Actually, I can tolerate this -- but just barely.

A very good single, especially as mastered on the DCC gold "Greatest Hits."

My favorite of this top 10, classic 70's soul.

Who would have thought that the Four Seasons would go disco? It works, though, and I like this one more than "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)".

Too bad this song got played to death. I actually like the arrangement and the vocal performance. The "woah woah woah" part is a bit silly but, then again, so is "yeah yeah yeah" -- and that doesn't ruin an otherwise good record, either.

A guilty pleasure.

Not many singers can base their careers by mostly covering songs which already have definitive performances by others. That being said, I think some of Linda's covers are better than others. This is not one of the better ones, in my opinion.

A close runner up to best of the top 10. Natalie started out with a bang when this single was released. Though I like a number of her later singles as well, I don't think she ever bettered this one.

 

Okay, Dave, consider it decided ....really, not a big mix here....some good to middling numbers, not a lot of junk, but very little of classic import.
I don't think it's a stretch to say that almost all the veterans here have better, more definitive work than what they hit with during this period of their careers.

Singles:

1. B
2. B+/B- (B average)
3. C+
4. B-
5. B
6. C+
7. D
8. B-
9. D+/B+ (C+ average)
10. B-

Albums:

1. B
2. B+
3. C+
4. B-
5. C+
6. C+
7. B-
8. C+
9. A
10. B+

Singles average: 6.5 C+. Albums: 7.5, B-.

If nothing else, much of this Top Ten singles chart is catchy; but, again, everyone here that had been around already had classics in their pocket; I don't hear any here, but gotta concede "Calypso" had JD's patented charming enthusiasm, which always served him well. Still can't get over the stupid synths on the 4 Seasons' stuff they recorded in this period; they updated their sound and did find a brief 2nd life, but at what cost? Linda's version of NY's "Rose" is a decent one, but going near "Heat Wave" was sheer folly, as the only singer to ever do it justice was, natch, Martha Reeves, a talent easily the equal of LR. Natalie Cole was a newcomer here, and it's a solid, brassy number; a bit over the top, but hey, she was new. Sedaka(with help from Elton)came up with another hit, but it's very inconsequential, like the Spinners' hit, smooth but made me long for something as fresh as those early Atlantic singles that finally got them mainstream success. As for Mr. Albert....IIRC, there were later lawsuits over the authorship of this one....the royalty checks were nice, but the fascination with this one eludes me.

The albums are almost all in the B & C range; again, most of these acts had done much better, or worse.....BORN TO RUN is the only great album here(and missed an A+ only because of the out of place "Meeting Across The River," which still doesn't seem to belong...well, on this album!), and WYWH, although thin on plot, is a joy to listen to....great production, and very imaginative and atmospheric, not the dud some thought it was at the time, a weak followup to DSOTM. The rest all have their merits, but also, at times, very average music balancing out the quality stuff. "Miracles," edited or Lp length, sounds like a 'pod' body-snatchers band, lounge lizards who, once upon a time, were capable of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love" but reduced to singing swill. Even so, never could get it out of my head.


ED

 

True, it's unfortunate that you don't hear more of Natalie Cole's 70's era hits on the radio. I've always loved "I've Got Love On My Mind", "Sophisticated Lady", and "Stand By".


The rest of the top 10 is just ok. The real standouts that have held up well over time to me are The Eagles, The Spinners, and the Four Seasons.

 

I also loved this song when it was out. I still enjoy hearing it now that it's peak is long over.

I agree with lv70smusic.

This track is deceptive. It is a stroke of genius! Great track! Sexual foreplay, intercourse, and climax all in a seductive package,

One of my all-time favorite Eagles songs.

One of their best tracks, and one of their last of the suave R&B that made them great.

An often-forgotten gem in their arsenal. Overshadowed by "Oh What A Night (December 1963)" from a couple of months later.

Aw c'mon! This song isn't that bad! It just didn't fit in with most everything else that was "in" at the time. I believe that if it were released today it would be as big as the Norah Jones song.




[/QUOTE]

 

This is overall a very decent chart and I agree that not all of the songs are true classics, but decent songs nonetheless. The music on the album chart is decent as well.

 

I've always considered the Spinners song to be the oddest use of a parenthetical title in pop music:

They Just Can't Stop It the (Games People Play)

Who the heck came up with that punctuation??

Great song, anyway.

 

I'm thinking that they added "Games People Play" in -parentheses because that's what listeners remember, not the real title. If you listen to the lyrics, the title "They Just Can't Stop It" fits better.

 

I can still enjoy all of 'em, some more than others of course.

Miracles, They Just Can't Stop It (Games People Play), Heat Wave/Love Is A Rose, Lyin' Eyes and Who Loves You, I've never grown tired of.

 

The cream of the crop, I think.