1972 Surveys - April 8th - Louisiana

 

This somewhat soulful survey from WTIX features some rather high-charting titles you don't always see on a 1972 Top 40 list ...

Tracks like "Help Me Make It Through The Night" by Gladys Knight and the Pips (#4 here and #33 in Billboard), "The Day I Found Myself" by The Honey Cone (eventually a #15 pop hit ... but not one you ever hear these days ... nor one that we ever heard here in Chicago), "If You Love Me Like You Say You Love Me" by Betty Wright (#29 here, but never even made the Hot 100 in Billboard, bubbling under at #104) and "Walk In the Night" by Jr. Walker and the All Stars (here shown as "Walking"), #30.  (This one has become a recent favorite of mine due to its use as the closing theme song to our DJ Buddy Sam Tallerico's "Lost And Found Oldies Show."  (LAFOS)

And right in the middle of it all is Alice Cooper again, sitting at #5 with "Be My Lover," a song we have seen scoring well on several of our 1972 coast-to-coast charts now, but only peaking at #36 nationally (and #49 in Billboard).

And how about "Waking Up Alone" by Paul Williams (#17)??? This record peaked at #60 in Billboard.  (I don't think I've ever heard it before ... so I had to check it out!)

Meanwhile, all of the usual suspects are here, too:  "A Horse With No Name," "Heart Of Gold," "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," "Without You," "Everything I Own," "Precious And Few," et al ... and once again J.J. Cale's hit "Crazy Mama" sits comfortably in The Top Ten.  I also liked "In The Rain" by The Dramatics, this week's #3 hit.

So I think I'll do a little bit of a "discovery mission" this time around and feature a few tracks that I wasn't familiar with.

See if you remember any of these!

  

=====================================================================

CORRECTION:

According to numerous emails we received yesterday, that video clip that we featured in our Sunday Comments Page and deemed to be our CLIP OF THE WEEK was NOT actually Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena performing the Lionel Richie tune "Endless Love."

This clip has apparently come under serious scrutiny of late in light of the horrible conflict besetting Ukraine at this time.

When I first received the video, I was skeptical myself, as I was unaware that prior to becoming President of Ukraine, Zelensky was a comedian / singer / entertainer.

But looking at photographs of him over the past 10-12 years, I determined that he (and his wife) looked enough like the singers performing the song that it must be legit.  Naturally, I was also emotionally vested in the clip, knowing what the two of them have been through these past few months ... and even commented to that effect by stating "the couple will never know the peacefulness of this moment again" ... a sad, sad commentary on the current state of affairs going on at the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This clip we just found  "fact checks" some of the points raised ... as does this article from "Factly" ... https://factly.in/unrelated-video-shared-as-visuals-of-ukraine-president-zelensky-singing-endless-love-along-with-his-wife/ 

But perhaps the most damning evidence is this clip posted back in February of a clip posted by the group Boyce Avenue showing the band's lead singer Alejandro Manzano performing the tune with English Singer Connie Talbot, who also posted the clip on her own website back in February as well. (We were certainly in the dark on this one ... and VERY late to the party ... the Boyce Avenue clip already has nearly eight million views!!!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv8XHiTkDYg

We were first made aware of this Boyce Avenue clip later in the day after our Sunday Comments were posted by Forgotten Hits Reader LJ Coon.  (He's the guy who has been trying for YEARS now to get an investigation opened into the REAL circumstances surrounding the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper.)

So thank you, LJ, for setting the record straight ... and apologies to anyone out there we may have misled by our post ... we were only going by the information we were sent by FH Reader Gary Pike.  Sounds like this clip has REALLY been making the rounds on social media these past few days!!!

All that being said, I STILL stand by my comment that this is BY FAR the most beautiful reading of this song that I have ever heard.  While I'm not at all familiar with Boyce Avenue, Alejandro Manzano or Connie Talbot, I WILL be doing some more research to hear what else they've done ... as this clip is just absolutely beautiful.  I am happy to now properly credit it to the duo who created this incredible reading.  (kk)