The other day I mentioned that I have been listening to more of the Rewound Radio WLS / WCFL Labor Day Weekend radio special and enjoying hearing some of these songs that were new at the time ... before any of us knew if they were going to be hits yet or not ... or long-lasting parts of our lives' soundtrack. Every track was a new discovery.
Sometimes it's obvious - you just know the minute you first hear it, that this one is destined for greatness ... and timelessness.
Others still strike a chord within us ... even if they happen fall off the radio radar, they still provide a long-lasting memory.
And then there are some that make it where you find yourself scratching your head and wondering how and why, even some fifty years later!
I heard the 1970 hit "Neanderthal Man" by Hotlegs the other day on one of these old tapes. Now nationally, this one only got to #22 in Billboard ... but it climbed to #11 in Record World. (Cash Box placed it at #20 on their weekly chart)
But here in Chicago, it made The Top Five, landing at #4 on the WLS chart and #5 across the river on WCFL. (WLS and WCFL were my whole world when it came to music in 1970 ... and a #11 national showing, even in hindsight, ain't too shabby either ... so as far as I'm concerned, this was a bonafide hit record.)
There's no great hook to this song ... no great lyric ... no impressive singing or instrumentation ... in fact, if anything, it's essentially just a drone ... a constant rhythmic beat that never really goes anywhere, almost hypnotic in a way. (Maybe that was its appeal ... we hadn't heard anything like this before, promoted on a "pop level." I cannot help but wonder if perhaps it subliminally inspired Lindsey Buckingham's "Tusk" in some fashion nine years later.)
"Neanderthal Man" would prove to be a One Hit Wonder for Hotlegs ... but we WOULD hear from all of these guys again a few years later when band members Kevin Godley, Lol Creme and Eric Stewart formed 10cc, who had a couple of hits with songs that actually had real words, real music and real melodies! (In fact, those hits, "The Things We Do For Love" and "I'm Not In Love," have become a major part of the Classic Rock landscape, ranking at #225 and #307 respectively on our list of THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME)
For this new venture, Stewart recruited his old bandmate Graham Gouldman to play bass. Stewart and Gouldman had topped the charts a couple of times before in the mid-'60's with the hits "Game Of Love" and "A Groovy Kind Of Love" while they were both members of The Mindbenders. Between gigs, Graham Gouldman kept busy by writing a number of hits for other artists, most notably "For Your Love" and "Heart Full Of Soul" for The Yardbirds, "Bus Stop" and "Look Through Any Window" for The Hollies and "East, West" and "No Milk Today" for Herman's Hermits. Years later, Stewart teamed with Paul McCartney for a couple of projects ... while Godley and Creme morphed into a duo (get it?) and scored a Top 20 Hit in 1985 with "Cry."
There's a good chance you'll hear MOST if not all of those songs from time to time these days ... and some nearly every day ...
But when's the last time you heard "Neanderthal Man" by Hotlegs???
See ... that's what Forgotten Hits is for! (kk)
[Chant along if you like!]
