A great performance of a rather meh song, I thought "Love Train" was the weakest of their big hits. JcS
Wow. Not a lot of great songs in the Top 40 the week Love Train hit No. 1. There are some, but many less than stellar ones litter the charts. The quality of pop music had begun its decline... 1973: All Charts US Top 40 Singles Week Ending 24th March, 1973 TW LW TITLE –•– Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 1 3 LOVE TRAIN –•– The O’Jays (Philadelphia International)-10 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 1 KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG –•– Roberta Flack (Atlantic)-9 (1) 3 4 ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA (2001) –•– Deodato (CTI)-8 (3) 4 8 NEITHER ONE OF US (Wants To Be the First To Say Goodbye) –•– Gladys Knight and the Pips (Soul)-9 (4) 5 5 LAST SONG –•– Edward Bear (Capitol)-15 (3) 6 6 THE COVER OF “ROLLING STONE” –•– Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show (Columbia)-17 (6) 7 2 DUELING BANJOS –•– Deliverance (Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell) (Warner Brothers)-11 (2) 8 10 DANNY’S SONG –•– Anne Murray (Capitol)-12 (8) 9 11 BREAK UP TO MAKE UP –•– The Stylistics (Avco)-7 (9) 10 14 AIN’T NO WOMAN (Like the One I Got) –•– The Four Tops (Dunhill)-8 (10) 11 18 SING –•– The Carpenters (A&M)-5 (11) 12 12 I’M JUST A SINGER (In a Rock and Roll Band) –•– The Moody Blues (Threshold)-8 (12) 13 16 CALL ME (Come Back Home) –•– Al Green (Hi)-6 (13) 14 7 COULD IT BE I’M FALLING IN LOVE –•– The Spinners (Atlantic)-13 (4) 15 17 AUBREY –•– Bread (Elektra)-8 (15) 16 30 THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA –•– Vicki Lawrence (Bell)-7 (16) 17 20 DEAD SKUNK –•– Loudon Wainwright III (Columbia)-9 (17) 18 9 DADDY’S HOME –•– Jermaine Jackson (Motown)-16 (9) 19 29 TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLE OAK TREE –•– Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando (Bell)-6 (19) 20 24 SPACE ODDITY –•– David Bowie (RCA)-9 (20) 21 22 HUMMINGBIRD –•– Seals and Crofts (Warner Brothers)-10 (21) 22 25 MASTERPIECE –•– The Temptations (Gordy)-5 (22) 23 23 BIG CITY MISS RUTH ANN –•– Gallery (Sussex)-13 (23) 24 27 STIR IT UP –•– Johnny Nash (Epic)-7 (24) 25 19 DO YOU WANT TO DANCE –•– Bette Midler (Atlantic)-14 (17) 26 45 THE CISCO KID –•– War (United Artists)-4 (26) 27 13 CROCODILE ROCK –•– Elton John (MCA)-16 (1) 28 15 ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH –•– John Denver (RCA)-18 (9) 29 55 THE TWELFTH OF NEVER –•– Donny Osmond (MGM)-4 (29) 30 33 PEACEFUL –•– Helen Reddy (Capitol)-8 (30) 31 32 KISSING MY LOVE –•– Bill Withers (Sussex)-8 (31) 32 36 LITTLE WILLY –•– The Sweet (Bell)-10 (32) 33 31 GIVE ME YOUR LOVE –•– Barbara Mason (Buddah)-11 (31) 34 37 MASTER OF EYES (The Deepness Of Your Eyes) –•– Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)-7 (34) 35 35 HELLO HURRAY –•– Alice Cooper (Warner Brothers)-8 (35) 36 40 COOK WITH HONEY –•– Judy Collins (Elektra)-7 (36) 37 34 GOOD MORNING HEARTACHE –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-11 (34) 38 39 ONE LESS SET OF FOOTSTEPS –•– Jim Croce (ABC)-8 (38) 39 42 A LETTER TO MYSELF –•– The Chi-Lites (Brunswick)-7 (39) 40 47 DAISY A DAY –•– Jud Strunk (MGM)-6 (40) THIS WEEK’S DROPS 44 21 DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT –•– King Harvest (Perception)-22 (13) 46 38 SOUL SONG –•– Joe Stampley (Dot)-12 (37) 49 26 YOU’RE SO VAIN –•– Carly Simon (Elektra)-17 (1) 58 28 DON’T EXPECT ME TO BE YOUR FRIEND –•– Lobo (Big Tree)-13 (8) POWER PLAYS 41 46 WALK ON THE WILD SIDE –•– Lou Reed (RCA)-6 (41) 42 44 BITTER BAD –•– Melanie (Neighborhood)-6 (42) 43 49 SUPERMAN –•– Donna Fargo (Dot)-5 (43) 45 57 WILDFLOWER –•– Skylark (Capitol)-6 (45) 47 52 STEP BY STEP –•– Joe Simon (Spring)-6 (47) 48 66 STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU –•– Stealers Wheel (A&M)-4 (48) 50 59 DRIFT AWAY –•– Dobie Gray (Decca)-5 (50) DEBUTS THIS WEEK 83 — PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND –•– Clint Holmes (Epic)-1 (83) 86 — LET’S PRETEND –•– The Raspberries (Capitol)-1 (86) 88 — ACROSS 110th STREET –•– Bobby Womack and Peace (United Artists)-1 (88) 89 — I CAN UNDERSTAND IT –•– The New Birth (RCA)-1 (89) 90 — MAMA WAS A ROCK AND ROLL SINGER, PAPA USED TO WRITE ALL HER SONGS –•– Sonny and Cher (MCA)-1 (90) 98 — PILLOW TALK –•– Sylvia (Vibration)-1 (98) 99 — SAW A NEW MORNING –•– The Bee Gees (RSO)-1 (99) 100 — DELTA QUEEN –•– Don Fardon (Chelsea)-1 (100)
'Love Train' An A+ song with a beautiful message, I associate it a lot with Soul Train because whenever I think of the Soul Train line dance this is the song they're getting down to. Not my favorite O'Jays hit but still a fantastic number.
I'd also like to give a shout-out to an AMAZING song that was in the top 10 the week 'Love Train' hit #1. Anne Murray's cover of 'Danny's Song', peaked at #7 on the chart but definitely should've been a #1 hit. Great song and vocal by imo an underrated act.
I didn't like it as much as a kid as I do now. It is so quintessentially proto-disco Philly Soul it's almost too perfect. My favorite O'Jays song - by far - is "For The Love Of Money". That deserved to be a #1. "992 Arguments", "Back Stabbers" and "Use Ta Be My Girl" are other favorites.
I was thinking about this song yesterday. I had no idea it was on the chart the same time as the song in discussion . Wildflower - Skylark
Agreed. I got a double dose of this one, since dad and my grandmother were listening to country and my uncle listened to pop radio, and both played the heck out of this song in Arizona. Murray had a beautiful, distinctive voice - "Snowbird" was an early fave when I was a tyke. She had a mid-decade career slump - even on the country charts - but came roaring back toward the end of the '70s, to the point where we'll be discussing one of her songs in this thread. She remained a top 20 act for another three years on the pop charts, and was a country superstar straight thru the '80s.
Time once again (a bit late!) for my pick for the song I most would have liked to see get to #1 that didn't. This time, the year is 1972! 1972 is one of my favorite years of all time in terms of music, but unlike the previous years I've talked about, many of the songs I treasure most were not hits in the States. I have been limiting my choices before to songs that were hit singles on the American charts, while avoiding picking album cuts or songs that I love that were not hits over here. Based on those criteria, there are definitely a few from 1972 that I considered choosing. Among them were Too Late To Turn Back Now, Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, Use Me, Burning Love (the Elvis chart topper that should have been), Rocket Man, Day After Day, Day By Day, Go All the Way, Saturday in the Park (my favorite Chicago song), and Layla. But that list, good though it is, excludes so many of my very favorite songs of the year. 1972 was the year that Glam Rock reached its zenith in the UK, and I love so much about that sound and that time. In '72, David Bowie became a star and released Ziggy Stardust, probably my favorite album of the decade. He was on a roll: he also wrote the exquisite, anthemic All the Young Dudes for Mott the Hoople, AND produced the best solo album Lou Reed ever made, the magnificent Transformer. Then there was T Rex, who released their best album, Slider, and had one #1 hit after another on the British charts without nearly the same level of success over here. Just a couple of months after Bowie hit with Starman, along came the spectacularly weird Roxy Music with their brilliant debut album and single Virginia Plain. And Alice Cooper was also launching twisted salvos with Elected and the single and album School's Out. So, I'm going to break my rule just this once and pick a song from the British charts as the one I wish would have made it big here. A Bowie number would be the obvious choice, but David has several #1 hits upcoming, so as much as I would have liked to have seen Starman, Ziggy Stardust, or Suffragette City make it to the top, I'll save my Bowie talk for when we get to his chart toppers. All the Young Dudes, though... man, that is one great song. Virginia Plain is another of my all time favorite tunes (I pretty much love everything the Eno-era Roxy did), but that one is just a bit too out there for this choice, too. It's hard to imagine a universe where the USA in 1972 was ready to embrace those guys wholeheartedly. Below: Roxy Music in 1972 (L to R): Brian Eno, Andy Mackay, Bryan Ferry, Paul Thompson and Phil Manzanera So that leaves T Rex, another of my all time faves. I went through a huge T Rexstasy phase in college, and the most obvious choice here would be to elevate Bang a Gong (Get it On). It's a corker of a song, and it was by far his biggest hit here in the States, but there are several big hits of his I like more, so as long as I'm cheating, I'll instead pick one of my all time favorites of his, Children of the Revolution. That number was released towards the end of the year and peaked at #2 in the UK. David Bowie and Marc Bolan, the creative force behind T. Rex, had parallel lives. Both were young, good looking dudes that did some modeling when they hit London in the mid-sixties. Both had changed their names (Bolan was born Marc Feld; Bowie, David Jones). And both of them were among the most driven musical stars of the era. They more than anything want to find a way to get to the top, and would spend several years toiling in obscurity before they found their magic entre to the big time. Bowie started out as a mod before trying his hand as a more music-hall-sounding entertainer a la Anthony Newley. He eventually spent some time in a folk trio and even performed as a mime. Nothing worked. But then, suddenly, a remake of one of his songs took off (pun intended) in a big way. Space Oddity was the perfect song to soundtrack the US trip to the moon (OK, maybe not if you were rooting for the astronauts to make it back safely...). The song became a huge hit, but Bowie didn't have any idea why and was not prepared to follow it up. His next few singles stiffed, and he soon was being depicted as a one hit wonder. Bolan also started in the mod scene, doing some time with a notorious mod combo called John's Children. After that group collapsed, he went in the opposite direction, going acoustic and hiring a bongo player to tour as a twosome called Tyrannosaurus Rex. They had some success on the underground hippie circuit. They were quite popular with successful DJ John Peel, and played their share of rock festivals and whatnot. But like Bowie doing mime, they were never going to get to the top with albums with names like My People Were Fair and Had Sky in their Hair, But Now they're Content to Wear Stars on their Brows. Bowie next tried going electric, recruiting Mick Ronson and several others for a backing band. Although the Man Who Sold the World and Hunky Dory were not big hits, they at least pointed him in the right direction towards his breakthrough. Bolan, too, was getting the urge to go electric again. His Beard of Stars album in 1970 was transitional in that it contained several electric numbers, and he finally shortened the group's name to T.Rex and hired a full band to go along with himself and bongo player Mickey Finn. Finally, in late 1970, he released the song that would make him a star. Ride a White Swan, a fully electric rocker, was the hit he had been waiting for. By January, 1971, it reached #2, and for the next two years, Bolan went from smash to smash, becoming one of the biggest stars in the UK. Bolan's hit sound consisted of electric guitar, a boogie beat, weird and at time risque lyrics, and high soaring backing vocals often provided by Flo and Eddie, the lead singers of the Turtles. His next song, Hot Love, which had a long fadeout a la Hey Jude, became the first of his four British chart toppers. By this point, he found himself in the midst of a full blown phenomenon, becoming a teen idol producing mass hysteria wherever he went. In the vein of Beatlemania, the British press dubbed the craze 'T.Rextasy'. Before one TV appearance, Bolan dabbed a few spots of glitter under his eyes. This is sometimes viewed as the start of 'glitter rock', also known as glam rock. Bolan was not only a huge star, but he was helping to lead an entire new movement in music. The hits kept on coming. He released the Electric Warrior album in late 1971, then The Slider in 1972. He had three more chart toppers: Bang a Gong (Get it On), which was also a top ten hit in the States, his only big hit here; Telegram Sam; and Metal Guru, the latter two from the Slider album. By this point he was so big that he managed to get an ex-Beatle, Ringo Starr, to direct a concert film about the T.Rex phenomenon. The film, Born To Boogie, came out in late 1972. Bowie was jealous of the success his friend was having, but in mid-1972, Bowie had his own chart breakthrough with Starman and the album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. For a few months, the two friends were the biggest stars in Britain. But Bowie was able to maintain his stardom and become a legend, mostly by never repeating himself too often. Bolan eventually seemed to run out of ideas, and by mid-1973, the hits slowly started to dry up. Still, he had a few more classics up his sleeve before that happened. I chose Children of the Revolution as the song I most would have liked to see make it big here for a number of reasons. First of all, it's plain awesome. It's a song that has managed to make it into several movie soundtracks over the past twenty years, and listening to it, it just sounds like an iconic hit even though it did nothing over here. It's also typical of the Bolan sound at its best: memorable hooks, great guitar riffs, poetic lyrics that don't seem to mean anything, bongos (!!), Marc's bleating vocals, Flo and Eddie in the background, the works. It got to #2 in the UK. Best of all, there is a radically different version of the song that is just as amazing, if somewhat more basic than the more familiar single version. Ringo filmed this performance of the song as a music video for Born to Boogie, and not only sat in on drums, he recruited Elton Fricking John to play piano. That much star power is impossible to resist! So, here we go: Children of the Revolution by T.Rex, featuring Elton John and Ringo Starr! T. Rex faded off the charts by 1974, while Bowie went from strength to strength. Marc was just starting a comeback in 1977, buoyed by the young punks who idolized him, when he was killed in a car crash. But though he's gone, his classic era songs are still there to carry on the T Rex legacy for all the young dudes and dudettes to come.
Nelson had a rougher time of it I think. Did he get booed at the Madison Square Garden concert he was writing about in Garden Party because he wasn't the 'Ricky' from 10 years earlier that people wanted to see? I seem to remember reading something like that. Just as with The Beach Boys, no one wanted his current music -- they wanted the oldies.
It's amazing to me that "All The Young Dudes" barely grazed the US top 40. That certainly sounds like at least a top 10 hit to me. Really, it sounds like a #1. Given how much play it was getting on oldies radio by the end of the decade and on into the '80s, you'd think it was at least a top 10 cut here.
Love Train. What's not to love? It's propulsive, has a great kumbaya message and you can dance to it! It may not be as atmospheric as Back Stabbers nor as funkified as For The Love Of Money but it has one thing none of their other hits has - a #1 designation. That may not mean so much to a lot of folks here but it fits the title of the thread and even served as the template for the Jacksons later in the decade. Ya might say they were Goin' Places.
To be fair, it wasn't "his current music" that was at issue: the song that may have gotten him booed off the stage was a cover of the Stones' "Country Honk". (That's why "Garden Party" refers to "a song about a honkytonk".) Whatever that song's merits, it was a cover version of a reasonably well-known song by a very different act. Also, this was specifically an oldies revue: other acts on the bill included Bobby Rydell and Chuck Berry. So really, the audience had a right to want the oldies. Also, it's in dispute that it was Nelson the crowd was booing at all; some reports say it was over a disturbance within the audience and the security force's reaction to it. It's also notable that Nelson's only three decent-sized hits since the advent of the Beatles were all cover versions: Dylan's "She Belongs to Me" and the pop standards "For You" and "The Very Thought of You". Since "Garden Party" gave him by far his biggest hit in a decade, maybe he should have pushed harder on his own newer work!
EVERY Billboard #1 rhythm & blues hit discussion thread Love Train. You guys are blowing my mind with all the panning of this song! It has fire and energy. It makes you wanna dance or groove in your seat. This soul singing at it's best! Maybe people around here don't like message songs of people joining together in love. I dunno. Strange bunch. Aside from that, If you strip the vocal tracks, you get pure, straight up disco. A lot of people here have disagreed with me in the past on this, but listen to the Tom Moulton 12" single and see what I mean. Case in point: Love Train 12" version
Surprised at the reception of LT too, I was always under the impression it was one of the songs everybody loved...
That's not something I'd boast about. Seriously, though - I love the song, too! I have an album of Philly Int'l disco remixes that includes "Love Train." To its' credit, probably due to the fact that the tone of the songs are more "soulish," the remixes aren't as obnoxious as they might look on paper.
From what I've read, it wasn't "Country Honk." It was that same song in its' rock & roll version - "Honky Tonk Women." Incidentally, this very same concert was written about in Crawdaddy magazine when it happened. The writer got the same vibe that Rick did - that this oldies crowd was taken aback by Rick's new look and sound, and were indeed booing this Stones tune.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go into the back room and look at some Carly Simon album covers" - Johnny Fever, WKRP
Well, I'm glad someone else likes it as much as I do. I was shocked at all the meh comments. I always thought this was a very fun and up song with great lyrics. Was really questioning my taste until I saw your post. I got a sealed nos vinyl copy of their greatest hits album and play it often, but Love Train is my favorite by them, though Stabbers is no slouch.
Nice post! I love Garden Party but the album imo is terrible, so I don't know how he would have done long term with new material.
I was a teenager during the Reagan 80s. This was right when the MTV video era was coming on strong. I have no love for the Top 40 from that era. Even some of the songs I liked at the time haven't survived. I'd say the "current" acts of that era that I like are all on the non-mainstream side, like the Replacements.
