Monday, January 2, 2023

Coast-To-Coast Surveys - 1972 (into 1973) - December 31st - ALASKA

Wrapping up this year's special survey features, we make our final stop in Alaska to look at this KNOM chart from Nome, Alaska

 

And who would have thought that Country Music would be so big in Alaska that they'd actually have to run TWO Top Charts each week in order to meet the Pop and Country demand?!??!!

There are a few Forgotten Hits Favorites on this week's list ...

"I Wanna Be With You" by The Raspberries, "Sunny Days" by Lighthouse and "The World Is A Ghetto" by War all win spins this week as we post our final 1972 Chart.  (kk)

(No charts coming next year ... I found 1973 and 1974 to be the most boring years in music since the rock era began.  Music rebounded slightly in 1975 ... and then Disco hit!!!  lol  Just not my thing ... although I WILL admit that I find listening to some of these disco tunes now, some fifty years later, is a bit more tolerable.  I might even like a couple of them!!!)

Thanks to everybody for sticking it out with us for our complete run of 1972 Charts from Coast To Coast ... well, except for Vermont, of course, which, for some inexplicable reason, we never were able to turn up a chart for.  

But I promise that if we ever find one, we'll run it as a special feature whenever that happens to come along!  

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

It's on to 2023!  (kk)

Sunday, January 1, 2023

The Top 72 Songs of 1972

As we do every year (as part of our Fifty Year Flashback Series), 

today we are featuring THE TOP 72 SONGS OF 1972

compiled by data accumulated from all of the major trade publications 

(as well as also factoring in the rankings from Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual and the book "Ranking the '70's" by Dann Isbell and William Campbell)

You'll find a few surprises on this list ... 

Some of the songs that didn't seem to do so well during the course of the year seem to rank higher than you might expect them to ... 

While there are also some much bigger hits (based on the weekly charts we ran every Monday this past year) that have maybe placed a little lower than you might have expected on the combination Year-End Chart.

Some have aged better than others ...

Some have remained radio airplay staples while others have virtually disappeared from the airwaves for decades now ...

But this list shows you how these songs stacked up at the time ...

And not necessarily the way we feel about them today.

Consider it a snapshot of pop music's biggest hits ... 1972.

We're not here to argue (although I'm certainly prepared to do so!!! lol)  

We're just here to report ...

So, without further adieu, here are 

THE TOP 72 SONGS OF 1972

# 1 - ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY) - Gilbert O'Sullivan

# 2 - American Pie - Don McLean

# 3 - Without You - Nilsson

# 4 - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Robert Flack

# 5 - Lean On Me - Bill Withers

# 6 - I Gotcha - Joe Tex

# 7 - The Candy Man - Sammy Davis, Jr.

# 8 - Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me - Mac Davis

# 9 - Let's Stay Together - Al Green

#10 - Brandy - Looking Glass

 

#11 - Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast - Wayne Newton

#12 - A Horse With No Name - America

#13 - Heart Of Gold - Neil Young

#14 - The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Robert John

#15 - I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers

#16 - If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right - Luther Ingram

#17 - My Ding-A-Ling - Chuck Berry

#18 - Oh Girl - The Chi-Lites

#19 - Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress) - The Hollies

#20 - Nice To Be With You - Gallery

#21 - Brand New Key - Melanie

#22 - Song Sung Blue - Neil Diamond

#23 - Outa-Space - Billy Preston

#24 - Everybody Plays The Fool - The Main Ingredient

#25 - Ben - Michael Jackson

#26 - Rockin' Robin - Michael Jackson

#27 - Back Stabbers - The O'Jays

#28 - Precious And Few - Climax

#29 - Too Late To Turn Back Now - Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose

#30 - Betcha By Golly Wow - The Stylistics

#31 - Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards

#32 - Down By The Lazy River - The Osmonds

#33 - Go All The Way - The Raspberries

#34 - Nights In White Satin - The Moody Blues

#35 - I'm Still In Love With You - Al Green

#36 - Slippin' Into Darkness - War

#37 - Last Night I Didn't Get To Sleep At All - The Fifth Dimension

#38 - Black And White - Three Dog Night

#39 - Burning Love - Elvis Presley

#40 - Hurting Each Other - The Carpenters

#41 - I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash

#42 - Scorpio - Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band

#43 - Look What You've Done For Me - Al Green

#44 - Day After Day - Badfinger

#45 - How Do You Do? - Mouth and MacNeal

#46 - Hold Your Head Up - Argent

#47 -Jungle Fever - Chakachas

#48 - In The Rain - The Dramatics

#49 - Clean Up Woman - Betty Wright

#50 - Puppy Love - Donny Osmond

#51 - Sylvia's Mother - Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show

#52 - Mother And Child Reunion - Paul Simon

#53 - Everything I Own- Bread

#54 - The Happiest Girl In The Whole USA - Donna Fargo

#55 - Saturday In The Park - Chicago

#56 - Garden Party - Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band

#57 - Popcorn - Hot Butter

#58 - A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done - Sonny and Cher

#59 - The Way Of Love - Cher

#60 - Never Been To Spain - Three Dog Night

#61 - Where Is The Love - Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway

#62 - Me And Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul

#63 - Starting All Over Again - Mel and Tim

#64 - School's Out - Alice Cooper

#65 - I Am Woman - Helen Reddy

#66 - Family Affair - Sly and the Family Stone

#67 - You Don't Mess Around With Jim - Jim Croce

#68 - Bang A Gong - T. Rex

#69 - Morning Has Broken - Cat Stevens

#70 - Use Me - Bill Withers

#71 - Beautiful Sunday -Daniel Boone

#72 - Cherish - David Cassidy

Saturday, December 31, 2022

Phil Nee Interviews Randy Bachman

2022 draws to a close with one last interview by Phil Nee, who has graced this column nearly every Saturday this past year, sharing conversations from his archives of nearly forty years with WRCO Radio in Wisconsin.

We want to thank him again for allowing us to relive so many of these memories every week in Forgotten Hits.

And, appropriately enough, after kicking off our 2022 Series with Phil's interview of Burton Cummings, it only seemed fitting to close things down with his interview with Randy Bachman!

Together, these two became the foundation of The Guess Who's biggest hits, 1969 - 1970, writing songs like "These Eyes," "American Woman,""Laughing," "No Time" and several others.  Randy would go on to more success with Bachman-Turner Overdrive ... while Burton would enjoy a successful solo career.  (The two reunited last year for a special concert celebrating Manitoba's 150th anniversary ... and did a brief series of shows in Canada.  Unfortunately, the US leg of the tour was cancelled due to Covid restrictions.)

While we've seen Burton Cummings perform numerous times over the years (and have been to a couple of other Guess Who reunion shows), we have only seen Randy Bachman's solo show once ... but it really was quite amazing.  He is an incredibly talented songwriter and musician.

So, Phil ... run us thru the paces once last time for 2022!!!  (kk) 

It has been an honor to be included in Kent's Forgotten Hits this past year.  It was fun digging through the archives to find favorite moments from 36 plus years of my Those Were the Days radio show.  
 
This will be my last post ... however, we do take requests.  Just ask Kent to get in
touch with me if you are wondering about an artist or group that may have appeared on our airwaves.  Although it has been a year of interview highlights, we barely scratched the surface of my collection.

The first Those Were the Days / Forgotten Hits interview post happened on
December 30th of last year when we featured highlights of an interview
with Burton Cummings.  Today we have moments from a talk with Burton's
former band mate,  Randy Bachman.  
 
Randy joined me in 2002 and we talked about a recent release at that time called 'This Time Long Ago,' which was a compilation cd of early Guess Who tracks.
 
 
It was a great talk with Randy Bachman.  He has long been a favorite of mine.  He was very generous with his time and I was able to ask him many questions.  Randy provided great insight into his songwriting.
 
 
The Guess Who made the Billboard chart 21 times between 1965 and 1975. 
Randy Bachman was around for 'Shakin All Over' in 1965 through 'American
Woman / No Sugar Tonight' in 1970.  
 
I asked Randy about some Guess Who faves.
 
 
Bachman-Turner Overdrive charted 12 times in Billboard.  'Let It Ride' hit American radio in early 1974, followed by Takin' Care Of Business,' which went on to become a classic rock staple. There is quite the backstory to Takin' Care Of Business.
 
 
Bachman-Turner Overdrive was originally known as Brave Belt. When they
moved from a country/rock sound to more of hard driving style, they hit
it big and even accomplished a number one record in the States (You Ain't
Seen Nothin' Yet.)
 
During our 2002 interview, Randy Bachman talked with me about the legacy of BTO.
 

Friday, December 30, 2022

Today Chuck Buell Asks The Musical Question: What Are You Doing New Year's Eve???

Whatever your plans are for celebrating New Year’s Eve, going out, staying home or a combination of both …

 

( By the Way, nobody ever told me that 20-20 was going to be a Trifecta! )

 

I hope you and your baby have a Memorable Celebration as we bring in another go of it with 20-23!!

 

So, for every Forgotten Hitter who’s hoping for a better year, here’s my Special “Chuck Buell ‘My Baby’ New Year’s Eve Minute Medley - the 'Extended Director’s Cut'" to kick off my New Year’s Eve Extravaganza!

 

Starring ~~~ Chicagoan, Ken Nordine!  And his original composition about going out with his Special Someone, ‘My Baby!’

 

With opening acts, The Ronettes!  Be ‘My Baby!’

 

The Tremeloes!  Here Comes ‘My Baby!’

 

The Drifters!  There Goes ‘My Baby!’

 

Buddy Holly!  Maybe ‘(My) Baby!’

 

And Tommy James and the Shondells!  ‘My Baby’ Does the Hanky Panky!'

 


Happy New Year!


CB ( which stands for “Celebration ‘Baby!’”

 

  

So although the clock on the wall tells us that in a matter of just a few hours, 2022 is about to turn into 2023, I cannot help but ask myself ...

WAIT A SECOND ...

WHAT YEAR IS IT AGAIN?!?!

Part of that confusion may come from glancing at this week's Billboard Top 40 Pop Music Chart ...

Thanks to the way the charts are compiled and configured these days, this week's Top 40 contains songs by:

ANDY WILLIAMS - Happy Holiday / The Holiday Season (#40) and It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (#6)

JOHN LENNON - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) #38

CHUCK BERRY - Run Rudolph Run (#34)

THE JACKSON FIVE - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (#33)

PAUL McCARTNEY - Wonderful Christmastime (#32)

THE BEACH BOYS - Little Saint Nick (#30)

GENE AUTRY - Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (#28) and Here Comes Santa Claus (#25)

ELVIS PRESLEY - Blue Christmas (#27)

PERRY COMO - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (#24)

FRANK SINATRA - Jingle Bells (#22) 

BING CROSBY - White Christmas (#18)

DEAN MARTIN - Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow (#17)

NAT "KING" COLE - Deck The Halls (#16) and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) #11

DARLENE LOVE - Christmas Baby (Please Come Home) #15 

THE RONETTES - Sleigh Ride (#13) 

JOSE FELICIANO - Feliz Navidad (#8)

WHAM! - Last Christmas (#5)

BURL IVES - A Holly Jolly Christmas (#4)

BOBBY HELMS - Jingle Bell Rock (#3)

BRENDA LEE - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (#2)

and MARIAH CAREY - All I Want For Christmas Is You (#1)

That's right, folks ...

21 Vintage Artists ... singing 24 different Christmas songs (!) ... have taken over The Top 40 this week!!!  (That accounts for 60% of the entire chart!!!)

And there are more ...

The Eagles, Eartha Kitt, Donny Hathaway and The Vince Guaraldi Trio account for four of the next ten songs on the countdown ...

An unprecedented take-over of the charts!

(If somebody had posed the trivia question:  In what year did Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Jose Feliciano, The Beach Boys, Brenda Lee, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Chuck Berry ALL have Top 40 Hits during the same week, nobody could have EVER predicted that the answer to that question would be 2022!!!  And just watch ... this could very well BE a music trivia question a few decades from now!!!)

Pretty Amazing!!!  But true!!!

https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/

"Still listening to the hits of the '50's, '60's and '70's"???

You betcha!  (kk)

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Thursday This And That

Me-TV’s got a great programming idea planned for New Year’s Day …

 

An all-day salute to “Firsts on the First” … pilot episodes from some of your favorite television shows from the ‘60’s.  

 

These include the first episodes of “The Honeymooners,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Leave It To Beaver,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Gilligan’s Island” and more.

 

(You can see the whole schedule via the link below)  kk

https://www.metv.com/stories/metv-rings-in-the-new-year-with-the-first-a-presentation-of-pilots-and-premieres

 

They also pay tribute to some of the many stars we lost this past year …

https://metv.com/lists/in-memoriam-remembering-the-stars-we-lost-in-2022

 

We’ve all spoken out at one time or another about the complete saturation and repetition of Christmas Music being played during the holiday season (which now seems to kick off before the Halloween decorations have even come down.)

 

Well, Tom Cuddy sent us this article profiling The Lite, Chicago’s ratings leader for Christmas Music for over a decade now … and the results are quite shocking.  (They use the example that while many people claim they’ve heard Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” five hundred times, the TRUTH is (if they actually caught every time WLIT played it this year) it would only be 199 times … which isn’t even the top song played ... (so I guess there's SOME comfort in that!!!  lol)  

 

In fact, Mariah's chart-topping favorite doesn’t even make WLIT's Top Five this season!  For those of you keeping score (and who love this kinda stuff like I do!), The Top Five were actually:

 

“Carol of the Bells” by Mannheim Steamroller, which was played 224 times between November 1st (when WLIT kicked off their Christmas Music this year) and December 26th (when they wrapped things up) ... that was good enough for first place, followed by “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams (222); “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano (218); “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by LeAnn Rimes (215); and “Winter Wonderland” by Amy Grant (211).  Wow!

 

You can read the whole story here:  https://www.insideradio.com/free/computer-programmer-goes-to-extremes-to-track-wlit-s-most-played-christmas-songs/article_340659b8-86f7-11ed-8bda-43f348273b52.html

 

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift continues to break chart records … she has had a PHENOMONAL year!!!  Tom also sent us this ...


Taylor Swift's 'Midnights' Is the First Vinyl Record to Outsell CDs Since 1987
https://hypebae.com/2022/12/taylor-swift-midnights-vinyl-record-outsell-cds-1987

>>>If You Listen Close To The Start Of "ME & MRS JONES" -- Just Before Billy Starts Singing, Doesn't The Music Sound Like "ONCE I HAD A SECRET LOVE?"  Or Is It Just Me That Hears It?  (FB)

Mr. Buongervino is right. Even Wikipedia noted that "Secret Love" is referenced in the sax lines in "... Mrs. Jones." 

As a result, Gilbert/Gamble/Huff were sued (separately?) by Fain and Webster, who reportedly won a share of the song's royalties!

Bob Frable

 

Frank was also won over by Rewound Radio’s Top 77 Countdown this year …

kk …

Monday I Listened To & Wrote Down All 77 Songs In The Rewound Radio Countdown.

On Tuesday, I Requested A Platters Song. I Was Able To Send A Message To Allan Sniffen, In The Studio.

At 5:35 PM, He Played #710 - "WITH THIS RING" by Sonny Turner & Platters (1967)

Good Countdown ... But Not Enough 1950's Tunes To Suit Me.

I Liked It Better When "IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT" (Me & Glen Fisher Love This One!) Was Always # 1 … Instead Of "HEY JUDE"

And … Can Any Of Your Experts Explain How "MAC ARTHUR PARK" by Richard Harris Gets Enough Votes To Check In At #5???

FB

LOL … it’s SO funny that you said this as we had a BIG discussion about “MacArthur Park” over the Christmas Weekend.  Honestly, I don’t get it either … and I tried REALLY hard to listen to it on Monday when Rewound hit #5 in the countdown … in fact, Frannie and Paige listened, too … they both LOVE the song.  (The whole while it was playing, all I kept thinking was “There’s seven minutes I’ll never get back!!!”)

Don't get me wrong ... I fully expected it to make the countdown … but #5?!?!?  Seriously!?!?

By the way, you don’t have to write down all the songs and artists …

The Top 77 are already posted on the site ... 

https://musicradio77.com/Top%2077%202022.html

And in another day or two, you’ll be able to see the entire list …

This means EVERY song that got voted for … typically somewhere around 3000 titles!

(Even 'tho Progressive Insurance keeps telling us that "you don't have to print the Internet," I still print it out every year … usually about 35 pages … and an entire ink cartridge!!!  Lol  But I’ve just GOTTA have it!)

Keep watching the Rewound Radio Website to see when it’s been posted.

http://rewoundradio.com/

(I also agree with you that it’s time for another song to top this chart … and said so when the voting for this year's countdown was first announced.)  If I’m not mistaken, the only song to ever reach #1 BESIDES “Hey Jude” was “Rag Doll” by The Four Seasons, which came in at #3 this year.  (I was happy to see how much “God Only Knows” has grown in stature.  It came in at #2.)  Still, this means that "Hey Jude" has topped Rewound's Top 77 Favorites Chart for 24 out of its 25 years!!!  (I am also from the listening era when "In The Still Of The Nite" topped the chart every year ... but I got tired of that monopoly, too, after a while.)

Another of the usual suspects, “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones was voted #4 … so there’s your Top Five.

I heard Allan say that the year with the most countdown songs this year was 1971 … which kind of surprised me.  I don’t know if that means the audience is getting a bit younger (?)

But in listening to the playback since Christmas Day, I also feel like there are a LOT more repeats this year for some reason.  One of the things I really enjoy about their programming the week between Christmas and New Year’s is that you’re going to hear around 3000 songs with VERY little repeats … but this year it seems I heard quite a few every time I turned it on.  (And, because of my new work situation, that meant typically on the way to and from work … and maybe a little bit at lunch time.  With that limited of a listening space, I’m not sure I should have heard ANY!!!)

Still, I put Rewound’s programming up against them all when it comes to musical variety.  You can listen for hours … and days on end … and still be surprised multiple times by what you’re hearing.  (kk)

By the way, FOUR of MY Top Ten Favorites made The Top 77 this year:

"Since I Don't Have You" by The Skyliners came in at #61, Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" was #54, "Cara Mia" by Jay and the Americans was this year's #52 song and "Because" by The Dave Clark Five ranked at #47. 

And once again disproving Jack Levin's theory that The Beatles' popularity was bought with Capitol Records' publicity dollars and they probably won't have made it otherwise, The Fabs have an incredible TWELVE of the Top 77 picks, including the #1 Hit (again, for those of you keeping score, that's just over 15%) some 58 years after the original hype of Beatlemania.  (I'd say that's money pretty well spent!!!)  kk

>>>At what time period was the song Lake Shore Drive considered to be at the height of its popularity?  (Ron Lange)

I considered that same question when I found it in your Top 3333 Classic Rock Chart.  I came up empty, almost.  It didn't chart in Billboard and it doesn't even appear in the ARSA database.

I finally found one sole mention of it in Billboard, where in showed up as a "Top Request / Airplay" on WZMF Milwaukee on page 86 of Billboard's August 16, 1975 issue … years after it was recorded, but that's all I found.

Ed Erxleben

Our Top 3333 Countdown shows it as 1971 because that’s when the album was released.  (Dann Isbell put together the extensive list of original LP’s and release dates to coincide with our list of favorites … an exhaustive search to say the least.)

One of the things I’m looking forward to doing in 2023 is updating our TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK SONGS OF ALL TIME List …

After receiving literally HUNDREDS of emails offering opinions about what really should and shouldn’t be on the list … and continuing to monitor the tracks and artists that Classic Rock Radio are actually playing, I can see that a bit of “fine-tuning” is in order.

Don’t get me wrong …

Part of the reason for doing the list was to show Classic Rock Radio some of the HUNDREDS of other great classic rock songs they are overlooking by concentrating on the same 300-500 again and again and again.  We rediscovered SO many great tracks once we opened it up to our readers to nominate their favorites.

But as much as we believe that Classic Rock Radio should also embrace some of the “Roots of Rock” artists who helped to pave the way, the general consensus seems to be that “That’s What Oldies Radio Is For.” 

There are a few other artists who, by popular opinion, really don’t belong on a list such as this … so, somehow, someway, we’re going to revamp/revise and update the list to be more Classic Rock friendly.

And then, once that's done, our main goal will be to find somebody to actually PLAY it … start to finish …

Count down all 3333 Tracks … IN ORDER … so that Classic Rock Music Fans can enjoy our efforts in their entirety rather than as just a random “surprise” track every now and then.  Hopefully, 2023 will afford us the time to do so. (Otherwise, we may not get around to this for DECADES … although I HAVE to admit that it would be pretty cool to count down The Top 3333 in the YEAR 3333!!!  Can you guys stick around long enough to listen?!?!)  kk

 

COMING UP:

 

After a little bit of shuffling of our own, we've now got Chuck Buell's New Years Eve piece scheduled for tomorrow ...

 

Phil Nee's final interview in our year-long series (with Randy Bachman!) coming up on Saturday (which IS New Year's Eve!) ...


And THE TOP 72 SONGS OF 1972 going up on the site on Sunday, January 1st ... 


(with our final Coast-To-Coast 1972 Survey posting on Monday, the 2nd ...


and this time we're going all the way up to Alaska!!!)


Good stuff to get you thru your holiday weekend ...


Right here in Forgotten Hits!  (kk)