Pop Top 40: Hot 100 week ending 1/10/76

Lots of classics in this top 10, and a very tidy microcosm of its time: soft pop ballads, glam-adjacent, and some honest to goodness funk/soul/disco classics, with a mother of a novelty classic at #1. All that’s missing, really, is the rock, which wasn’t even much in evidence in the top five of this week’s album chart, led by Chicago IX (hits) and followed by Earth, Wind & Fire (simultaneously topping both the Soul singles & albums charts), America (hits), Joni Mitchell’s Hissing of Summer Lawns (!!), and John Denver. (The highest-charting rock album of the week was Kiss’s Alive!, down at #13; rock qua rock was in a brief, momentary lull.) But none of ’em are in the top 10 of the singles chart.

[this week, last week, title, artist (label), weeks on chart (peak)]
1 6 CONVOY –•– C.W. McCall (MGM)-6 (1 week at #1) (1) — C.W. McCall wasn’t, technically speaking, a novelty artist; he was a country guy whose biggest (and only pop) hit was a novelty song — one that helped spur the ’70s craze for CB radio amongst non-truckers, in a bit of a “chicken or the egg” moment. This was concurrently sitting atop the country singles chart, with parent album Black Bear Road doing the same on the country album chart (it peaked at #12 pop). I’ve checked out some of its other tracks, and they’re not very good. McCall’s schtick was story songs, but unfortunately, he wasn’t very good at writing them. And he co-wrote all of them. “Convoy” is a fun novelty record if you remember it from its time; if not, it’ll probably make you scratch your head, and there’s really no reason to do any further exploration.
2 2 I WRITE THE SONGS –•– Barry Manilow (Arista)-9 (2) — Ironically enough, Barry didn’t write this. He sings the hell out of it, especially as the bombast cranks up (he co-produced with Ron Dante) — but Mr. Manilow certainly knows from bombast, and I mean that as a compliment. In fact, I like the performance and production much better than the actual song.
3 3 THEME FROM “MAHOGANY” (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-11 (3) — The film is gleefully, I think unintentionally, insane. Its drippy theme ballad, not so much.
4 4 LOVE ROLLERCOASTER –•– The Ohio Players (Mercury)-9 (4) — They did better than this, and sadly, time — and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — has turned this into a bit of a cartoon. However, you definitely need a comp on them, because their funk was greasy and often nas-tay. Go for 1995’s Funk on Fire or 2008’s Gold doubles.
5 1 SATURDAY NIGHT –•– The Bay City Rollers (Arista)-14 (1) — By the time this charted in the US, Scotland’s Bay City Rollers has already enjoyed eight top 10 singles in their native UK, including a pair of #1s. Amazingly, an earlier version of “Saturday Night” had flopped in the UK (in 1973), while this became not only their first US hit but their only #1 here, the first chart-topper of ‘76. They were massive teen idols, but they also nicely paired their pop instincts with something more substantial (aka flirting with glam). This is a positively un-unlikeable record.
6 7 FOX ON THE RUN –•– Sweet (Capitol)-9 (6) — Sweet were arguably the only major glam band to make it big in the US, with this the third of four top 10 singles they had here. In the UK it was their ninth top 10, and their last in either country until 1978’s “Love Is Like Oxygen” (at which point they really weren’t glam anymore — in ’78, who even was?). For my money, they’re also about the best glam group there was, with a catalog of killer singles — and glam was a singles medium at heart. This has the requisite rock crunch but is still, at root, a pop record with a chewy center. Unbeatable, really.
7 9 I LOVE MUSIC (Part 1) –•– The O’Jays (Philadelphia International)-11 (7) — Philly soul firing on every cylinder, including some you didn’t even know it had. This is Gamble/Huff at their peak, aided in no small part by the incredibly rich voice of lead singer Eddie Levert, who took the O’Jays from the realm of “just great” to “essential.”
8 8 THAT’S THE WAY (I Like It) –•– K.C. and the Sunshine Band (T.K.)-12 (1) — Harry Wayne Casey and his band are unfairly seen as a singles machine. Yes, their singles were pretty damned impeccable — five pop and four R&B #1s speak for themselves — but their albums of the era are worth all of your time as well. That said, this song is so catchy and so well-constructed, -arranged, and -performed, its lyrical simplicity can easily be forgiven. Those horn charts! Those backing vocals! R&B/disco bliss, right here.
9 11 LOVE TO LOVE YOU BABY –•– Donna Summer (Oasis)-6 (9) — Absolutely classic. For everything you may need to know about Summer’s career, especially chart-wise, listen to this episode of Chris Molanphy’s marvelous Hit Parade podcast, devoted to Queen Donna. I’ve put the single version in the accompanying playlist (below), but obviously for full impact you need the 16-minute album version.
10 12 TIMES OF YOUR LIFE –•– Paul Anka (United Artists)-9 (10) — On its way to #7, this former Adult Contemporary chart-topper — surprisingly, Anka’s one and only — began its life as a jingle recorded for a Kodak commercial. Upon seeing how popular the ad became, Anka recorded and released a full-length version. It’s a fairly basic easy listening record of the era, with swooning strings and cooing female backgrounds, and those aren’t necessarily bad things. I most certainly prefer it to a similarly-titled song from two decades later.

11 13 WALK AWAY FROM LOVE –•– David Ruffin (Motown)-10 (11) – The sound of Motown trying to sound like Philly International, and I’m alright with that. Mid ‘70s mid/uptempo R&B which was neither funk nor disco, which was an increasingly rare proposition.
12 14 COUNTRY BOY (You Got Your Feet In L.A.) –•– Glen Campbell (Capitol)-10 (12) – Arguably the king of country crossover before Kenny Rogers’s ascension to the throne, and boy does this song exemplify it – its title alone! Made it one notch higher on the pop chart and to #3 country because he was a country star at the time, though records like this make me question why exactly.
13 15 SING A SONG –•– Earth, Wind and Fire (Columbia)-8 (13) — You know who’s one of the best bands of all time? Earth, Wind and Fire, that’s who. They were flawlessly funky and soulful — the two aren’t always in tandem — and wrote songs to beat the band. This new song on their mostly live double Gratitude was sitting atop the R&B chart, as was its parent album, and is buoyantly happy without being cloying.
14 16 YOU SEXY THING –•– Hot Chocolate (Big Tree)-11 (14) — Silly but not dumb, which is a crucial distinction.
15 17 ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE (Live Version) –•– Kiss (Casablanca)-9 (15) – When I saw KISS live in the 2010s, Paul Stanley’s stage banter sounded like nothing so much as a Jewish grandmother. But you really owe it to yourself to listen to this compilation of his “greatest” hits. Oh, and (obviously) this song is a deserved certified classic.
16 18 FLY AWAY –•– John Denver (with Olivia Newton-John) (RCA)-6 (16) —Across 1974-75, Denver had six top 20 pop singles, five of which also topped the A/C chart, this being the last. It’s one of his best, a gentle ballad with superb harmony vocals from ONJ — fitting as they were both primarily pop singers who’d crossed country.
17 34 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER –•– Paul Simon (Columbia)-4 (17) — Eh.
18 20 EVIL WOMAN –•– Electric Light Orchestra (United Artists)-9 (18) — As Jeff Lynne goes, this proto-DOR single is pretty good. Had it come three years later it might’ve been akin to the “disco move” of “Miss You”; better that it wasn’t.
19 5 LET’S DO IT AGAIN –•– The Staple Singers (Curtom)-12 (1) — A pop and R&B #1, this soundtrack title track led off the second of four soundtrack albums Curtis Mayfield wrote and produced but didn’t sing in the ‘70s: Gladys Knight & the Pips’s ‘74 Claudine, this from ‘75, Aretha Franklin’s ‘76 Sparkle, and Mavis Staples’s ‘77 A Piece of the Action. All are superb. This pairing of Mayfield’s classic Chicago soul with the Staples’s harmonies is unbeatable.
20 22 LOVE MACHINE (Part 1) –•– The Miracles (Tamla)-12 (20) — Just because the Miracles had success post-Smokey Robinson doesn’t mean it was deserved. This is all but a novelty record.

21 23 OVER MY HEAD –•– Fleetwood Mac (Reprise)-10 (21) — Their self-titled ‘75 album is known for being The One Where Lindsay and Stevie Joined the Band, but don’t let that let you forget that Christine McVie was already penning some of their best songs, like this one. Her easy-going tempos and melodies were perfect for the mid ‘70s — and like her maiden name, just generally Perfect.
22 28 BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO –•– Neil Sedaka (Rocket)-5 (22) — Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before: Teen idol tops the chart in the early ‘60s with an uptempo signature song, and then 13 years later re-records it as a torchy ballad and hits the top 10 with it again. That’s a baller move right there. I love this elegant take on “Breaking Up,” a song for which I don’t care in its original version. But this one is swoony and gorgeous.
23 25 LOVE HURTS –•– Nazareth (A&M)-8 (23) — How is this butt-rock classic not on Freedom Rock?!
24 26 WINNERS AND LOSERS –•– Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds (Playboy)-10 (24) — The follow-up to their ‘75 #1 “Fallin’ in Love” would only make it to #21, but is as nearly as good, if mid ‘70s soft rock is your thing.
25 27 WAKE UP EVERYBODY (Part 1) –•– Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (Philadelphia International)-8 (25) — I mean, it’s got Teddy Pendergrass singing. What more do you need to know? Fine, it’s also classic Philly soul.
26 24 FOR THE LOVE OF YOU (Parts 1 and 2) –•– The Isley Brothers (T-Neck)-9 (22) — This future Quiet Storm classic was the seventh of 11 consecutive R&B top 10s. Not as big pop, peaking at #22, but it was also from their sole #1 pop album of the decade, The Heat Is On, one of five top 10s they had in the ‘70s. R&B groups were surprisingly (at least in retrospect) huge on the album chart through the decade, deservedly if you ask me. This sweet ballad is nearly perfect, Ron Isley’s vocal complemented by a squealing keyboard.
27 29 BABY FACE –•– The Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps (Wing and a Prayer)-9 (27) — A genuinely weird one: this cover of the 1926 Tin Pan Alley standard by a studio-only disco group got to #2 on the disco chart, as well as top 20 pop. As for its quality, I mean, it’s a generic disco version of “Baby Face,” which should really tell you all you need to know.
28 30 SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT –•– Helen Reddy (Capitol)-6 (28) — You may know Barry Manilow’s 1979 top 10 version better; it’s the type of song he was seemingly made to sing. Reddy’s version, like the majority of her catalog, hangs a bit limp.
29 10 FLY, ROBIN, FLY –•– Silver Convention (Midland International)-14 (1) — Eurodisco ebullience.
30 19 SKY HIGH –•– Jigsaw (Chelsea)-20 (3) — Big (BIG!) horns, a string section, and a disco slip-beat, along with a keening vocal, combine to make a killer pop record.

31 21 NIGHTS ON BROADWAY –•– Bee Gees (RSO)-15 (7) — The Brothers Gibb on the cusp of going all in for disco, dipping their toes in the cool waters. This chugs and percolates perfectly.
32 31 PART TIME LOVE –•– Gladys Knight and the Pips (Buddah)-10 (22) — Their final top 40 pop hit for 12 years, this was written by Bread’s David Gates, which should tell you plenty. Knight sings it as well as she can, but it’s still a David Gates composition.
33 35 HURRICANE (Part 1) –•– Bob Dylan (Columbia)-7 (33) — A rare top 40 appearance — his next-to-last — and an even rarer UK top 10 (!), especially crazy when you consider this is a talkin’ blues about the wrongly imprisoned boxer Ruben “Hurricane” Carter. I’m inclined towards Dylan’s talkin’ blues, but your mileage may vary.
34 36 LET IT SHINE / HE AIN’T HEAVY… HE’S MY BROTHER –•– Olivia Newton-John (MCA)-6 (34) — As was her wont during this period, “Shine” is a fairly straightforward country record — and while it only got to #30 pop, it was a #5 country and #1 A/C record. That voice, lord, her tone: so golden. (The Hollies cover on the b-side was listed on the chart but doesn’t appear in most chart records.)
35 37 LET’S LIVE TOGETHER –•– The Road Apples (Mums / Polydor)-12 (35) — The only hit, at its peak, from a generic Boston pop/rock combo. Because they were clearly hedging their bets in ‘75, it has oddly-suited strings that don’t help at all.

36 40 SQUEEZE BOX –•– The Who (MCA)-7 (36) — Middling Who, about whom I’ve never been all that hot to begin with. (Also, Townshend > Daltrey as a vocalist.)
37 41 PALOMA BLANCA –•– The George Baker Selection (Warner Brothers)-7 (37) — What would go on to be Billboard’s #1 AC (then termed Easy Listening) record of 1976 is a slice of very, very European cheese, completely with easy listening strings, cooing female vocals, a pompous-sounding male lead, and an oompah beat that in American hands probably would’ve been disco-er.
38 53 THEME FROM “S.W.A.T.” –•– Rhythm Heritage (ABC)-9 (38) — Heading for a rightful #1 by the end of February, this TV theme cover is funkier than it has any right to be. Also, if you think you recognize this as a sample, you’re right.
39 44 GOLDEN YEARS –•– David Bowie (RCA)-5 (39) — A great single, and if you want more I refer you to Chris O’Leary, our pre-eminent Bowie expert.
40 50 SLOW RIDE –•– Foghat (Bearsville)-5 (40) — The mid-to-late ‘70s were a key time for butt-rock.