Jumping ahead to 1969, we find one of my Forgotten Hits Favorites ... and one of those songs "you didn't even know you forgot" ... "Fancy" by Bobbie Gentry. (So much attention was paid to her revolutionary track "Ode To Billie Joe" that most folks have forgotten that Bobbie hit The Top 40 two years later with this one.
Kind of surprising to see Nancy Wilson charting with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" ... or The Dells with their version of "Dock Of The Bay". We also find The Original Caste version of "One Tin Solider" debuting at #21 this week ... two years BEFORE Coven would run their version up the chart!
Referring to this 1972 chart from WOLF, you'd have a pretty tough time convincing anybody that there was much good music on the radio during this era.
"Clair" by Gilbert O'Sullivan tops the chart, followed by the God-Awful "Funny Face" by Donna Fargo. You'll also find "I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy, "Pieces Of April" by Three Dog Night and "In Heaven There Is No Beer" by Clean Living as you scale your way down the chart.
However, there ARE a few tracks here worth listening to. The Austin Roberts song at #6 is a goodie that still deserves a spin now and then ... as does Bread's #20 Hit and The Hollies' "Long Cool Woman" follow up hit, "Long Dark Road".
I'm also VERY fond of the Bulldog track at #27. This band features former Rascals members Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli and was one of my favorites at the time. (Here in Chicago it only received airplay on WCFL, where it went to #17.
All kinds of songs I've never heard of before on this KMBY Chart from 1966 ...
A two-sided hit by The E-Types ("The Love Of The Love" / "She Moves Me"), "Heaven Must Have Sent You" by The Elgins, "The Bears" by the Fastest Group Alive and "Johnny Ander" by Gayle Haness.
You'll also find a couple of VERY familiar songs listed here ... but not by the artists you best know them by! Check out the Laura Nyro original version of "Wedding Bell Blues" at #32! And the Johnny Rivers version of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", charting a full year before Glen Campbell's classic version!
