EVERY Billboard #1 hit discussion thread 1958-Present

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by alphanguy, Jan 29, 2016.

  1. bare trees

    bare trees Senior Member

    For me, that is the beauty of "One Of These Nights". It's a great example how an act not normally associated with disco can incorporate elements of that music into the sound that they are known for and do it successfully.
     
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  2. tmoore

    tmoore Forum Resident

    Location:
    Olney, MD
    Easily my favorite Eagles song. Not even close.

    Probably my favorite #1 of the '70s, at least through 1976.

    I remember being in Ocean City MD (a beach town) in the summer of 1980, and being 13 years old. It was right around this time I started noticing girls.
    Went into a T-shirt/souvenir store and this song came on --- try to picture what I was seeing, hearing, and thinking at that moment. That will always be my indelible memory of this song. Sort of hints at sex, but is not explicit.
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2018
  3. tmoore

    tmoore Forum Resident

    Location:
    Olney, MD
    I already answered that question, and I think Grant may have too (but I won't speak for Grant).

    I don't have a stake in this either (ultimately it's not that important); but I thought I owed an explanation as to why I felt that way.
     
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  4. tmoore

    tmoore Forum Resident

    Location:
    Olney, MD
    Yes, I remember hearing both edits on the radio. Not sure which edit came from where, though.
     
  5. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I don't care if some people don't like the band or not, this song smokes! It was all over the radio, too!
     
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  6. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Yes, they clipped out that bass and drum intro and it starts cold with the power guitar chords. The ad-lib part near the end was edited.
     
  7. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    "One of these Nights"

    Talk about "how much more 70s can you get?"--the Eagles doing a semi-disco song.
     
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  8. Dougd

    Dougd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fla.
    Wow. Never considered an Eagles song to be "disco."
     
  9. The Slug Man

    The Slug Man Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Semi-disco. :D Mainly the drum beat and the funky guitar stabs.
     
  10. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    One of These Nights is a pretty good song, for sure. Not to be confused with One of Those Nights by the Partridge Family (which is also a pretty good song, for sure).

    I'd hazard a guess that they had heard the intro to Story in Your Eyes by the Moody Blues (an excellent song, for absolutely sure) when they came up with the one for One of These Nights. They do have similarities.
     
  11. Dougd

    Dougd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fla.
    The Eagles, like some other groups, copied a lot from others.
    Hotel California's opening sounds much like a Jethro Tull song.
     
  12. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Eagles are also known for snatching prey away from others, often in mid-flight. The more you know.....
     
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  13. Witchy Woman

    Witchy Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Third Coast, USA
    I can’t imagine anyone getting the Eagles confused with the Partridge Family. :D

    “One of These Nights” is one of my 5 favorite Eagles songs. I don’t consider it a re-write of “Witchy Woman” but rather a continuation of a theme - dark, haunting, occultish, dangerous - which began with “Witchy Woman” and “Take the Devil” (a deep cut from the band’s debut album) and culminates in a future #1 that is the band’s signature song.

    Don Henley’s falsetto and Randy Meisner’s sky-high vocals (I believe it’s his natural singing voice, not falsetto) are highlights, but I also love Don Felder’s melodic guitar solo. Glenn Frey considered this their breakthrough song.
     
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  14. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    The One of these Nights album was where it started for me with the Eagles: I bought a secondhand copy in 1988 or 89 (age 15-16). It was "Take it to the Limit" that I was after (that's one of the very first songs I can recall hearing on the radio when it was a hit, when I was 3), but I loved the whole album, and a year later I owned their first four all told. I do recall OOTN from before I bought the album, but I don't have any distinct memories of it - it's just one of those songs that were always there, since it was a hit just before I was old enough to notice anything on the radio. But it's a nice little rocker that starts the album off in style and a great intro to what the Eagles were all about. Not quite in my Eagles top ten, but close.

    I had a friend like that too, and he took it to an even higher level than that. He also refused to listen to Billy Joel (not to excuse homophobia or anything, but Joel was married to a supermodel at the time!) because, since they both played the piano and had some similarities in their style, it was too easy to confuse the one for the other.
     
  15. Witchy Woman

    Witchy Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Third Coast, USA
    Wish I had a better quality pic than this, but this beautiful artwork for the album was created by Boyd Elder. I know this thread is about singles, not albums but I thought it deserved a mention given that Mr. Elder has passed away yesterday.

    [​IMG]

    Valentine’s Boyd Elder Has Died At Age 74
     
  16. sunspot42

    sunspot42 Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Boy, mileage. I got their album set off HD Tracks a few years ago (sounds good but not great - better than the CDs maybe) and there's a noticeable uptick in the quality of their songwriting on this record. The title cut opens the record and just lifts out of the groove, a very creative blend of their country/rock sound with a disco-esque foundation. "Too Many Hands" really rocks, "Journey Of The Sorcerer" is just nuts (props for getting picked to be the theme for the BBC's Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - that was a brilliant choice), "Lyin' Eyes" is probably my favorite story song of the '70s (it also sounds incredible, and is one of their last straight-up country tunes - it's very countrypolitan and made it into the US country top 10), and "Take It To The Limit" is truly epic. The album tails off a bit at the end, but "After The Thrill Is Gone" is about as good as the big hits - I'm surprised nobody has had a hit cover with it.
     
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  17. Manapua

    Manapua Forum Resident

    Location:
    Honolulu
    Lyin' Eyes also gave the band their first Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.
     
  18. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I'm calling it R&B with funky guitar licks from Joe Walsh.

    Actually, Don Henley explained that the song is about putting things off in your life. But, he sure loves the supernatural imagery to keep the song from sounding preachy, something the haters of the band is often accused of doing.

    I first got the album in the 90s when they did their first round of CD remasters. I immediately loved the album, and the instrumental "Journey Of The Sorcerer" was a nice surprise.

    It's a shame that there are so many ignorant-ass people in the world.
     
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2018
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  19. Hey Vinyl Man

    Hey Vinyl Man Another bloody Yank down under...

    Don Felder says in his book that the line "I've been searching for an angel in white" was originally "I've been searching for the daughter of God," but the rest of the band talked him out of it due to concerns that it'd get them in trouble like the Beatles with the bigger-than-Christ incident.
     
  20. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    The song is credited to Don Henley and Glenn Frey.
     
  21. Witchy Woman

    Witchy Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Third Coast, USA
    Those aren’t Joe Walsh’s licks. He doesn’t join the band until Hotel California.

    I know Henley has said that but I still believe the song has a theme. He was very intentional in his lyric-writing.
     
  22. Witchy Woman

    Witchy Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Third Coast, USA
    Henley did indeed write the line but Felder in his book discusses why Henley changed it.
     
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  23. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    I thought I read somewhere that Walsh was an unofficial member in 1975, and did have uncredited work on the album.

    Yes, the theme of the song is procrastination.
     
  24. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Hey Vinyl Man above stated that Don Felder claims he wrote the line. Now: which Don is telling the truth? I'm inclined to believe Don Henley because he is officially listed as a co-writer, and has his signature supernatural lyrics.
     
  25. Witchy Woman

    Witchy Woman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Third Coast, USA
    I’ve never heard that and I’m unaware of any source that claims that. Leadon was still very much a part of the band on OOTN and he and Felder very capable lead guitarists. Frey was no slouch either, for that matter. Walsh did tour with them around 74-75 and even joined them on stage. Maybe that’s what you’re thinking of.

    I don’t know if Hey Vinyl Man really meant to say that Felder made that claim. I read the book and Felder never said he wrote the line or any of the lyrics. Again, he was relating why Henley changed it, because Felder and others didn’t think “daughter of God” would go over well.
     

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