I may have recommended this album before, but it bears repeating. Any Glen Campbell fan should check out Reunion: The Songs Of Jimmy Webb. It wasn't a big hit, but it is a brilliant record.
"Got To Give It Up" is a disco parody by Marvin Gaye: Got To Give It Up by Marvin Gaye - Songfacts Motown Encyclopedia
Here's the chart the week Leo Sayer topped it. My favorites highlighted. US Top 40 Singles Week Ending 14th May, 1977 TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Peak To Date) 1 2 WHEN I NEED YOU –•– Leo Sayer (Warner Brothers)-12 (1 week at #1) (1) 2 4 SIR DUKE –•– Stevie Wonder (Tamla)-7 (2) 3 1 HOTEL CALIFORNIA –•– Eagles (Asylum)-12 (1) 4 3 SOUTHERN NIGHTS –•– Glen Campbell (Capitol)-14 (1) 5 9 COULDN’T GET IT RIGHT –•– The Climax Blues Band (Sire)-13 (5) 6 6 RIGHT TIME OF THE NIGHT –•– Jennifer Warnes (Arista)-16 (6) 7 7 SO IN TO YOU –•– The Atlanta Rhythm Section (Polydor)-16 (7) 8 11 I’M YOUR BOOGIE MAN / WRAP YOUR ARMS AROUND ME –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-12 (8) 9 14 GOT TO GIVE IT UP (Part 1) –•– Marvin Gaye (Tamla)-5 (9) 10 10 I WANNA GET NEXT TO YOU –•– Rose Royce (MCA)-12 (10) 11 12 LIDO SHUFFLE –•– Boz Scaggs (Columbia)-10 (11) 12 17 LUCILLE –•– Kenny Rogers (United Artists)-8 (12) 13 13 CAN’T STOP DANCIN’ –•– The Captain and Tennille (A&M)-9 (13) 14 26 DREAMS –•– Fleetwood Mac (Warner Brothers)-5 (14) 15 20 LONELY BOY –•– Andrew Gold (Asylum)-9 (15) 16 18 CALLING DR. LOVE –•– Kiss (Casablanca)-9 (16) 17 19 HELLO STRANGER –•– Yvonne Elliman (RSO)-9 (17) 18 8 I’VE GOT LOVE ON MY MIND –•– Natalie Cole (Capitol)-16 (5) 19 22 FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME –•– Foreigner (Atlantic)-8 (19) 20 21 ANGEL IN YOUR ARMS –•– Hot (Big Tree)-13 (20) 21 29 GONNA FLY NOW (Theme From “Rocky”) –•– Bill Conti (United Artists)-4 (21) 22 24 AIN’T GONNA BUMP NO MORE (With No Big Fat Woman) –•– Joe Tex (Epic)-7 (22) 23 25 DANCIN’ MAN –•– Q (Epic)-10 (23) 24 5 DON’T LEAVE ME THIS WAY –•– Thelma Houston (Tamla)-22 (1) 25 27 HEARD IT IN A LOVE SONG –•– The Marshall Tucker Band (Capricorn)-10 (25) 26 28 WHODUNIT –•– Tavares (Capitol)-8 (26) 27 15 YOUR LOVE –•– Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. (ABC)-9 (15) 28 40 UNDERCOVER ANGEL –•– Alan O’Day (Pacific)-7 (28) 29 35 SHOW YOU THE WAY TO GO –•– The Jacksons (Epic)-6 (29) 30 32 UPTOWN FESTIVAL (Motown Medley) (Part 1) –•– Shalamar (Soul Train)-10 (30) 31 16 DON’T GIVE UP ON US –•– David Soul (Private Stock)-16 (1) 32 34 MY SWEET LADY –•– John Denver (RCA)-10 (32) 33 37 MARGARITAVILLE –•– Jimmy Buffett (ABC)-7 (33) 34 36 CINDERELLA –•– Firefall (Atlantic)-8 (34) 35 39 LOVE’S GROWN DEEP –•– Kenny Nolan (20th Century)-7 (35) 36 41 SLOW DANCIN’ DON’T TURN ME ON –•– The Addrisi Brothers (Buddah)-6 (36) 37 54 MAINSTREET –•– Bob Seger (Capitol)-4 (37) 38 38 BACK IN THE SADDLE –•– Aerosmith (Columbia)-6 (38) 39 55 JET AIRLINER –•– The Steve Miller Band (Capitol)-3 (39) 40 44 SLOWDOWN –•– John Miles (London)-8 (40) THIS WEEK’S DROPS 44 30 RICH GIRL –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-17 (1) 53 33 CHERRY BABY –•– Starz (Capitol)-9 (33) 54 23 TRYING TO LOVE TWO –•– William Bell (Mercury)-13 (10) 57 31 LOVE THEME FROM “A STAR IS BORN” (Evergreen) –•– Barbra Streisand (Columbia)-23 (1) POWER PLAYS 41 50 HIGH SCHOOL DANCE –•– The Sylvers (Capitol)-4 (41) 42 47 ARIEL –•– Dean Friedman (Lifesong)-5 (42) 43 51 EVERYBODY BE DANCIN’ –•– Starbuck (Private Stock)-5 (43) 45 46 I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW –•– The Rubinoos (Beserkley)-11 (45) 46 58 GONNA FLY NOW (Theme From “Rocky”) –•– Maynard Ferguson (Columbia)-4 (46) 47 60 ON THE BORDER –•– Al Stewart (Janus)-4 (47) 48 61 DO YOU WANNA MAKE LOVE –•– Peter McCann (20th Century)-4 (48) 49 64 I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR EVERYTHING –•– Andy Gibb (RSO)-4 (49) 50 65 THIS IS THE WAY THAT I FEEL –•– Marie Osmond (Polydor)-4 (50) DEBUTS THIS WEEK 73 — LIFE IN THE FAST LANE –•– Eagles (Asylum)-1 (73) 80 — KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU –•– Abba (Atlantic)-1 (80) 86 — PEACE OF MIND –•– Boston (Epic)-1 (86) 89 — DA DOO RON RON –•– Shaun Cassidy (Warner Brothers / Curb)-1 (89) 95 — HOT TO TROT –•– Wild Cherry (Epic)-1 (95) 96 — ALL THE KIDS ON THE STREET –•– The Hollywood Stars (Arista)-1 (96) 97 — FEEL THE NEED –•– The Detroit Emeralds (Westbound)-1 (97) 98 — DANCE AND SHAKE YOUR TAMBOURINE –•– The Universal Robot Band (Red Greg)-1 (98) 99 — FREDDIE –•– Charlene (Duncan) (Prodigal)-1 (99) 100 — DISCOMANIA –•– The Lovers (Marlin)-1 (100)
Angel in Your Arms - wow, I completely forgot about this song; this was a blast from the past. Definitely one that my friends and I enjoyed singing along to, with a vengeance, lol. I have to admit I didn’t know this was sung by a trio, I thought it was a solo performer. Got to Give It Up - a really cool tune, great to listen to while riding in the car- it just has that vibe. I didn’t know it hit #1 though.
From the list posted by Dougd above, I have to give a shout-out to Kenny Rogers and “Lucille” - this was the first time I’d ever heard of “Kenny Rogers” and this song was very popular as reflected by its #1 rank on the country charts (although his hits with First Edition were familiar to me, I wasn’t aware of who performed them at the time). This is a great example of a mis-heard lyric: we heard “four hundred children and a crop in the field” instead of “four hungry children.”
In the 80's, when Motown was endlessly re-releasing material from their glory days while Stevie Wonder, Rick James and a certain former Commodore's current efforts kept them out of the red, there was a 2-record set entitled "25 #1 Hits from 25 Years" that I picked up in the hopes of replacing some worn 45s with clean, stereo counterparts. Side 4 included the single edit of "Got to Give it Up," which, despite my having been eleven and having lived beside the radio in 1977, I'd never heard before. I was underwhelmed. Throw my vote in with the "this just barely qualifies as a melody" school of detractors.
Got To Give It Up is my favorite #1 of 1977, and much more than that. I've been waiting for at least five years of chart time (on this thread) to talk about this song. I can't overstate how much I like it -- it's among my favorite #1s of "all time" (although I don't get into comparisons across different decades, it's like comparing apples and oranges). This is one of the few songs from the '70s that I will unabashedly turn up loud no matter where I am, in the house, or driving. If I didn't have to worry about getting a noise ordinance, I'd roll down my windows when I'm driving too. (obviously not on a an expressway, though --- I wouldn't be able to hear it due to the air movement, and I'd also get lousy gas mileage!) I should state that it's only been in the last 20 years or so that I have felt this way about this song. In other words, I was NOT inundated with this all the time in 1977, although I do remember hearing it then. I then forgot about it for a long time (decades). But when I heard it much later, I realized that I remembered hearing it in the '70s. Also should state that I like the shorter single version, the 10+ minute version was too much even for me -- but six minutes would have been nice. =========================================================== Another song that I heard long after the fact, but love now, is Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing". I remember hearing that on the radio while driving in the Nevada desert in 1994, and for some reason (the barren location, the thoughts I was having, where I was in my life at that time) it really hit home for me that day. ======================================================= I note that the common thread for both of the songs I mention here is -- hearing them long after the fact, after things have considerably changed, and not having them mentally tied to my youth, even though they date from then.
Remember Shannon from about a year ago? Big hit that most had a fondness for but the artist, Henry Gross, was never able to capitalize on with Springtime Mama being his only other Top 40 hit. Well, he released another tune around this time that I really enjoyed although apparently no one else did as it failed to even reach the Hot 100. Astounding since it's another great Beach Boys tribute and they were in the midst of another resurgence in popularity in the second half of the 70s. Henry Gross - What A Sound
Was out of town for the past few days and am playing catch up again. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac My parents had a couple of campers when I was growing up. A pull travel trailer and then later a small Winnebago. My dad would pool all of his vacation together and every summer, starting in my summer after the 3rd grade, we would hit the road. We would go on really long trips to. In the summer of 1976 my dad took almost four weeks off and we drove from South Carolina to California, going out the southern route and coming back through the Northern west and the Midwest. The Winnebago had a driver's seat and passenger's seat in the front and then seats in the actual camper. My dad always drove and I always sat up in the front, keeping track of the maps and gas mileage - my dad was a stickler for knowing the exact gas mileage he got on every tank (in a Winnebago, this wasn't good). Another thing about riding up front, I had pretty much free reign of the radio/8 track player in the dash. Because we were usually driving, and we only got AM, I was constantly changing the radio station. Summer of 1977 we went up the East Coast, into Canada and Nova Scotia. This would be the last trip that we would ever take this way. Summer jobs and wanting to stay in town the summer with my friends (as much as that hurts me looking back) were starting to take their toll on time away from home. Anytime I hear "Dreams" I have really visceral memories of that final trip. No matter where we were on that trip, it was all over the radio. The power of music to carry you back to a certain time and place always amazes me. 5 seconds of this song and I am immediately transferred back to the front seat of that camper, trying to navigate my dad around the cities of the Northeast (he absolutely hated driving our camper in anything close to a city or metropolitan area).
Oh, man, I loved that Henry Gross song "What A Sound". It was only played for a couple of weeks on radio, but I got a decent recording of it on my cassette player. I looked for the album for a long time, and when I finally found a copy, it was warped! What A Sound was track 1 on side B and the warp was so severe, the track wouldn't play without causing the tone arm to jump. Took me years to find the compilation CD.
Well that sucks! I bought the 45 back then but have yet to get it on CD. Guess I should search out a best of comp.
Spending time with you dad and mom is important. I recently lost my father. He'd been in a nursing home for 5 years with dementia and Alzheimers. He was 82. He wasn't communicative for the past 4 years or so. There are many things I wish I'd said to him, even in his latter state of non-communication.
There's a Songs That Sound like The Beach Boys thread where 'What A Sound' was discussed and praised. Brilliant stuff and a shame he didn't have a bigger career. I never tire of this or 'Shannon' which says a lot about how dynamic and clever both songs are
Back in the first 10 years or so of the Hot 100s existence, more than one version of a song in the Top 40 was quite common but by this point in time IIRC, this was no longer the case. Well, Gonna Fly Now joins that bygone circle as besides hitting the top with Contis' version, it also reached #28 with Maynard Fergusons' take. As a stirring, movie theme song it's okay. I guess if I liked that movie I'd think better of it but since a lot of folks did, I'm not surprised it hit the top even if it did take almost seven months to do so.
Nice song! Funny, I have that album but only play Shannon. Guess I need to five the whole thing a listen...so glad you posted it.
This whole album is excellent, even if Bill Conti repeatedly used variations of the theme throughout it. I haven't played the album in decades. Maybe I will later on. I love Maynard Ferguson's version. It smokes! I always loved horn-infused rock/jazz music. I bought the 45, and then the album. The trumpet players in my school band were always bringing in albums like his to play on the stereo in the band room.
The summer camp I stayed in had both this rendition by Mr. Ferguson as well as Mr. Conti's original in their collection. The Conti version also has the trademark highly compressed sound (and presumably not too wide stereo) that was a trademark of United Artists Recording Studios' mastering. Wonder how much that factor (the compression) contributed to its success, besides being part of a highly successful movie.
Which album do you have because the two songs are from different albums? What A Sound is on Show Me To The Stage.
I'm betting the movie played a big part in the songs' success even though quite a bit of time passed between the films' release and the record hitting #1.
