Doing it to Death (Part 2)

Continuing through 1970

All of the R&B #1s of the ‘70s, reviewed one by one.

"ABC," The Jackson 5 (4/4/70)
"I Want You Back," only much less magical, because it's much more cloying — and frankly, these lyrics are embarrassing. B-

"Turn Back the Hands of Time," Tyrone Davis (5/2/70)
Tyrone Davis was seriously uncool. He didn't have his first hit until he was 30, and was never considered Mr. Fashionable. His music appealed not to the kids driving the culture, but their parents. But it paid off: over the course of 20 years, he had 14 top 10 R&B hits, including batting one out of the park on his first try with '69's "Can I Change My Mind." This was his third single, and he did it again with a midtempo groover made for adults. Like most such things, it's inoffensive, but also a bit on the bland side. B-

"Love On A Two-Way Street," The Moments (5/16/70)
Would it help if I explained that 10 years later they hit the top as Ray, Goodman, & Brown? The creamy harmonies they exhibited so finely on "Special Lady" a decade hence were well in force on "Street," a marvelous marriage of sad, sad lyric and oh-so-oh! singing. The song's subdued, string-laden arrangement nicely sets its vocals like so much gold and diamonds in a ring; sometimes gentle is the way to go. Produced and co-written by Sylvia Robinson, later of “Pillow Talk” (which we’ll get to in ‘73) and Sugar Hill Records fame. A-

“The Love You Save,” The Jackson 5 (6/20/70)
Generally, I don’t love the J5 because a) I feel like Berry Gordy gave into his worst impulses for Motown on their early records, going hard for pop rather than soul, and b) MJ’s vocals are often too cutesy-poo (the curse of child singers). This does nothing to disabuse me of these opinions. C+

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” Stevie Wonder (8/1/70)
A record that I recognize is good without actually liking it. Is that a sitar? B