The second of our three straight "N-States" takes us to Nevada ... and this chart from KCBN in Reno.
This chart presents the perfect example of why some hits never realized their full potential, simply because they were peaking on the charts in various cities at different times.
Here, for example, we find Looking Glass still holding down the #1 spot with their big hit "Brandy" ... but coming in at #2 (and still on the rise) is Wayne Newton's "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast," which had already peaked elsewhere in the country several weeks ago.
Sailcat's "Motorcycle Mama" is just first climbing the chart (moving from #29 to #25 in only its second week) yet was the #3 record in town just a couple of weeks ago when we swung by Utah.
Python Lee Jackson's hit "In A Broken Dream" has shown up on a few charts recently ... and ALWAYS coming in much higher than its national peak of #55 ... how much higher MIGHT it have gone had all these stations been reporting its Top 20 status at the same time? (Oh yeah, and by the way, the guying who is singing this tune that sounds so much like Rod Stewart ... IS Rod Stewart! After Rod started having his own success on the charts, GNP Crescendo re-released this track to try and cash in on his newfound popularity! Stewart, an undiscovered star at the time, was simply hired as a sessions singer when he group first recorded this track in 1969. The Australian band actually reformed when their record started to show some traction in '72 ... but they never had another hit ... and, without Stewart on board, didn't really sound the same anymore anyway!)
And what exactly is "The Girl You Think You See" by Carly Simon ... popular enough to be this week's #9 record and also on the rise? (This record didn't chart nationally at all!) This had to be a single release that went completely unnoticed between "Legend In Your Own Time" in March and "You're So Vain" in December! (Boy, I'm sure hot hearing "hit single" on this one!)
And check out "Alabama Wild Man" by Jerry Reed, up 9 points from #24 to #15! (Reed was hot, coming off his hits "When You're Hot, You're Hot" and "Amos Moses" ... so he dug this chestnut out of his 1968 file and recut the track for '72. Nationally, it only reached #51.)
And how about "Starman" by David Bowie, coming in at #19?!?!?! This one never even made The Top 60 on the national charts! The Rolling Stones show a two-sided hit premiering on this week's chart at #28 ... although I don't think "All Down The Line" got much airplay anywhere else.
I think most people probably discovered our FH Buddy Ian Lloyd and Stories when their hit "Brother Louie" went to #1 the following year ... but I loved them the minute I heard "I'm Coming Home" in '72, which climbs seven spots on this week's chart. (If "Brother Louie" also sounded a little bit like Rod Stewart, then "I'm Coming Home" sounds a AWFUL lot like Paul McCartney ... and, in my opinion, was better than ANYTHING McCartney himself put out this year!!!)
And I'm lovin' this Top Ten Albums Chart ... everything from The Rolling Stones and Elton John to Cheech and Chong and Nilsson to Janis Joplin and Jethro Tull to Roberta Flack and Bill Withers to Santana and Neil Diamond. (And yes, radio really DID sound like this in 1972 ... and nobody ever questioned a thing!!!)
