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American Top 40, 7/4/70

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by old_tony, Jul 4, 2009.

  1. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Boy, talk about a time capsule. There's some dated shit on that chart. :)

    I know very few songs on that list, but "Ball of Confusion" gets heavy jukebox rotation when I'm at the bar. And "Question" is a classic.

    "Mississippi Queen" is still a staple on Classic Rock stations in the South.

    Several songs on the list have been covered —"Love on a Two Way Street" by Stacy Lattisaw, "Signed Sealed Delivered" by Peter Frampton, "A Little Bit of Soap" by Nigel Olsson, and "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree.
     
  2. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    CSNY already had "Teach Your Children" out in regular release when Kent State happened, whereupon they rush-recorded and released "Ohio" to cash in. Not saying it's not a good song, but it was just a cash grab.

    As for Ray Stevens, and I heard this song on regular oldies radio just a few days ago, I think he blew a lot of people away with "Everything is Beautiful." I think many people probably didn't know he had this kind of a song in him, and it was justifiably the biggest hit he had ever had to that point.

    Until "The Streak" came along about four years later, that is. :D

    That said, if you ever get the chance to check out Ray's version of "Misty," do so. It came out after "The Streak" and is quite a good country arrangement.
     
  3. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    JJ, I actually had a Ray Stevens album in the late 70s that wasn't so much novelty stuff, although it wasn't all that straight, either. It was the album called "The Feeling's Not Right Again."

    The title track was somewhat of a takeoff on Barry Manilow's "Trying to Get the Feeling Again" and the album art was even a knockoff of a popular Manilow popular album around that time.

    Not only that, but the album had a song named "I Need Your Help, Barry Manilow." Here are the lyrics to that song:

     
  4. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    I listened to "Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)" by Melanie for the first time and wow, what a powerful song that turned out to be. Her vocals are kind of rough in a Janis Joplin way (not quite as rough as Joplin's), but the gospel backing vocals made the song. I believe the song is a Woodstock tribute.
     
  5. patchs

    patchs Active Member

    I know I'm late to the party here.
    I'm sure you've heard that Casey retired last weekend, sad news but I'm glad we have all those old countdowns to listen (and record).
    Here's a link that all of you AT 40 fans will love.
    http://www.charismusicgroup.com/calendar.htm
     
  6. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    Wow, that is very, very cool.......

    This show was the very first AT 40 I ever listened to from start to finish, as opposed to snippets here and there. It was December 12, 1987, and "Faith" by George Michael was the No. 1 song. Great memories. :)
     
  7. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Oh my FUCKING GOD DOES BUBBLER KNOW ABOUT THIS?!?! This is what we've been looking for!!!!!

    Holy fuckin shit, this is awesome. Great work, Patchs!!!
     
  8. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    AWESOME find, Patchs!!

    All you other music nerds need to check this link out. Here's a random top 10 from the summer of 1983 (July 9, 1983). I thought it would be good, but DAMN --

    10. "Our House" -- Madness
    9. "Don't Let It End" -- Styx
    8. "Come Dancing" -- The Kinks
    7. "Time" -- Culture Club
    6. "Wanna Be Startin' Something" -- Michael Jackson
    5. "Too Shy" -- Kajagoogoo
    4. "Never Gonna Let You Go" -- Sergio Mendes
    3. "Flashdance: What a Feeling" -- Irene Cara
    2. "Electric Avenue" -- Eddy Grant
    1. "Every Breath You Take" -- The Police

    The programming notes were interesting, too. For the condensed version, check out the "Format and Commercial Clock" for each hour. It's a giant pie graph ... reminded this fossil of those good ol' photo sizing wheels!

    Great, great stuff, Patchs!
     
  9. patchs

    patchs Active Member

    You're all very welcome.
    I feel a little guilty for not having been on the board much the last few months. Call it a make up gift.
    I've recorded some AT40s and then saved the pdf of the date.
    There's also a AT40 message board, which I rarely go on but here's the link:
    http://at40fg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=classic
     
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