This song sounds like it would've been a terrific rollerskating song around Halloween 1970, but I see that Kingsway Skateland didn't open in Paducah until 1973. Maybe I'll commence a crowdsourcing of Paducah's rollerskating history at the "You Know You're From Paducah If ..." Facebook page this afternoon.
Yeah, I did. Another thing they did was make the band not just play old covers but also more contemporary stuff, in order to appeal to younger people in the bar. So, for example, in addition to this old Canned Heat song, an old Tom Petty song, etc., they also did Pink. And the only time they did an original composition, it was just for family, because no bar crowd wants to hear the bar band play originals. That was really good thinking.
31. Diana Ross, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." It's the arrangement that I like so much in this version. I think that's the right word. I love how it opens where it does, and I like how she goes back and forth from quiet to loud moments. Remember how 8-tracks would sometimes not finish a song before switching tracks and how it would fade out and then fade back in? This version is like the fade-in Part 2 of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell version of the same song. Part 3, then, is "Missing You," which also is the greatest song of all time.
Wait. Casey just said that was No. 29. How'd that work? Apparently, one of those songs wasn't in the countdown. It was some dedication or something or another. The HP regrets the error.
YouTube user "MrTrashcan1" writes, "The hit that's never played today. But it received plenty of airplay back then. The version you most commonly hear on YT is the shortened CD version. This is the original 45 single that was played on the air. What is the difference? If you listen at 2:38 on my video the original version goes into a bridge consisting of a repeat of a stanza--the first part is female voices singing 'ooo,' and then Freda finishes the stanza, then goes into repeating choruses. In the newer CD version, the bridge is replaced by a reprise of the intro, followed by repeated choruses."
23. Wilson Pickett, "Engine No. 9." OK, another I've never heard. I was guessing this might've been Wilson Pickett's last hit, but I was totally wrong. He's going to get to No. 14 with this one but then to Nos. 17 and 13 with other songs in 1971. And, as late as 1987, he's going to get on the R&B charts.
22. Teegarden and Van Winkle, "God, Love and Rock-'n'-Roll." That's four in a row I'd never heard before. Hard to imagine that I've listened to so much oldies radio since about 1986 and somehow never heard the No. 26, 25, 24 or 23 songs in the whole country the week of Oct. 31, 1970.
No. 20. Simon and Garfunkel, "El Condor Pasa." Casey calls them, "America's most famous urban folksingers." When I was about 15, "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail" was about the most perceptive, intelligent sentence I had ever heard or read. Now I more frequently say some version of "sometimes you're the window; sometimes you're the bug."
18. Brian Hyland, "Gypsy Woman." This is the fastest-climbing song on the AT40, up 17 slots, says Casey. And Wikipedia says this guy is a cousin of Three Stooges Larry! I love Wikipedia. And Casey.
13. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, "Tears of a Clown." Such an odd thing, the old TV lip-sync performances to the studio versions. I think I was pretty old--13, 14, maybe--when I started to suspect they weren't the real deal. My daughter would absolutely sniff this stuff out now, and she's only 7.
11. Bread, "It Don't Matter To Me." There was a time when I just couldn't tolerate more than a few bars of any Bread hit, and now I hardly ever tune away. This thing is just beautiful.
2. The Carpenters, "We've Only Just Begun." This is the highest position that a tune first used in a commercial has ever reached, Casey tells us. It started out as a song for a bank commercial.
By and large, I always find the first half of these countdowns a lot more entertaining than the second half, only because the bigger hits have typically been played more frequently in the years since. Anyway, same is true for this countdown, too, as "I'll Be There" from the Jackson 5 tops this week's AT40. It's a good song. And I could do without ever hearing it again.
Oh, well, that was fun. Rest in peace, Casey Kasem.
This seems like a very accurate representation of life in the workplace for middle-aged bald men.
ReplyDeleteTotally
DeleteAmerican Top 40 for Oct. 31, 1970 ...
ReplyDelete40. "For the Good Times," Ray Price. This song stops me dead in my tracks every time I hear it. It's like "Silverado" for that one guy on Seinfeld.
ReplyDelete39. The Temptations, "Ungena Za Ulimengu (Unite The World)." Another good one.
ReplyDelete38. Elvis Presley, "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me." Casey tells us this is Elvis's 116th hit. He breaks his record for total appearances in the T40 with each new entry.
ReplyDelete37. Dionne Warwick, "Make It Easy On Yourself." Third trip to the T40 for this song. Jerry Butler took it to No. 20 in 1962, Casey says. I like Dionne Warwick, but I love Jerry Butler.
ReplyDelete36. Stevie Wonder, "Heaven Help Us All." One of about 10 Stevie Wonder songs that are each the greatest song of all time.
ReplyDelete35. The Guess Who, "Share the Land." Fourth T40 appearance this year for the band. I love their big Canadian flag in the linked video.
ReplyDelete34. Mashmakhan, "As The Years Go By." More Canadians. I have heard this thing before but maybe only once or twice.
ReplyDeleteThis song sounds like it would've been a terrific rollerskating song around Halloween 1970, but I see that Kingsway Skateland didn't open in Paducah until 1973. Maybe I'll commence a crowdsourcing of Paducah's rollerskating history at the "You Know You're From Paducah If ..." Facebook page this afternoon.
33. Canned Heat, "Let's Work Together." My wife and I this past week watched a terrific movie from Netflix, Rikki and the Flash. It stars Meryl Streep as a musician who ditched her family years before and now leads a bar band with Rick Springfield. One of the great decisions that Jonathan Demme made in making this film is that each performance of the bar band would be an actual, first-take, live performance of that band. So, all of the music in the thing sounds about like this.
ReplyDeleteThat looked like a good movie. I'm glad you liked it.
DeleteYeah, I did. Another thing they did was make the band not just play old covers but also more contemporary stuff, in order to appeal to younger people in the bar. So, for example, in addition to this old Canned Heat song, an old Tom Petty song, etc., they also did Pink. And the only time they did an original composition, it was just for family, because no bar crowd wants to hear the bar band play originals. That was really good thinking.
Delete32. Bobby Sherman, "Julie, Julie, Julie, Do You Love Me?"
ReplyDelete31. Diana Ross, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." It's the arrangement that I like so much in this version. I think that's the right word. I love how it opens where it does, and I like how she goes back and forth from quiet to loud moments. Remember how 8-tracks would sometimes not finish a song before switching tracks and how it would fade out and then fade back in? This version is like the fade-in Part 2 of the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell version of the same song. Part 3, then, is "Missing You," which also is the greatest song of all time.
ReplyDelete30. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, "Our House." My oldest brother has seen CSNY about a dozen times, and he always feels like the show he saw most recently is their best one yet. He started out with them in 1969 or '70, and he saw them in Indianapolis last year. So, you know, good for CSNY, and good for Sam.
ReplyDeleteCasey says that it appears "Our House" is probably done climbing the charts.
ReplyDelete29. Led Zeppelin, "Gallows Pole." There is a lot of live Led Zeppelin from back in the day out there.
ReplyDelete28. Blood, Sweat & Tears, "Lucretia MacEvil." The turntable in that video appears as though it once lived on Allen Lane in Paducah.
ReplyDeleteI always wanted one of those with the lights that would come on when the turntable was playing. I thought those were awesome.
DeleteWait. Casey just said that was No. 29. How'd that work? Apparently, one of those songs wasn't in the countdown. It was some dedication or something or another. The HP regrets the error.
ReplyDelete28. Christie, "Yellow River."
27. The New Seekers, "Look What They Done To My Song."
26. The Who, "See Me, Feel Me (Listening To You)." The Who played at the closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympics? Did I know that?
25. Candi Staton, "Stand By Your Man." Well, I'd never heard this. It's excellent.
ReplyDelete24. Freda Payne, "Deeper and Deeper." Wow. Well, I don't know that I'd ever heard this either. I like it, too.
ReplyDeleteYouTube user "MrTrashcan1" writes, "The hit that's never played today. But it received plenty of airplay back then. The version you most commonly hear on YT is the shortened CD version. This is the original 45 single that was played on the air. What is the difference? If you listen at 2:38 on my video the original version goes into a bridge consisting of a repeat of a stanza--the first part is female voices singing 'ooo,' and then Freda finishes the stanza, then goes into repeating choruses. In the newer CD version, the bridge is replaced by a reprise of the intro, followed by repeated choruses."
DeleteThank you, Mr. Trashcan1.
23. Wilson Pickett, "Engine No. 9." OK, another I've never heard. I was guessing this might've been Wilson Pickett's last hit, but I was totally wrong. He's going to get to No. 14 with this one but then to Nos. 17 and 13 with other songs in 1971. And, as late as 1987, he's going to get on the R&B charts.
ReplyDelete22. Teegarden and Van Winkle, "God, Love and Rock-'n'-Roll." That's four in a row I'd never heard before. Hard to imagine that I've listened to so much oldies radio since about 1986 and somehow never heard the No. 26, 25, 24 or 23 songs in the whole country the week of Oct. 31, 1970.
ReplyDeleteThe No. 1 and No. 2 chart runs for a hit, Casey tells us, both came in 1957. That seems pretty remarkable to me. The second-longest was "So Rare" by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. It stuck around for 38 weeks, topping out at No. 2 in the T40. We'll hear the song that charted 39 consecutive weeks in 1957 a little later in the show, Casey tells us.
ReplyDelete21. Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, "Express Yourself." Finally one I actually know.
ReplyDeleteNo. 20. Simon and Garfunkel, "El Condor Pasa." Casey calls them, "America's most famous urban folksingers." When I was about 15, "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail" was about the most perceptive, intelligent sentence I had ever heard or read. Now I more frequently say some version of "sometimes you're the window; sometimes you're the bug."
No. 19. James Brown, "Superbad." The woman dancer in that Soul Train clip is just amazing.
18. Brian Hyland, "Gypsy Woman." This is the fastest-climbing song on the AT40, up 17 slots, says Casey. And Wikipedia says this guy is a cousin of Three Stooges Larry! I love Wikipedia. And Casey.
ReplyDelete17. Joe Cocker, "Cry Me a River." I totally get why 42-year-old Mom in 1970 just couldn't begin to fathom what was going on.
16. Glen Campbell, "It's Only Make Believe. This one made it to No. 10 last week, and now it's on its way back down.
Oh, wow. Johnny Mathis's "Wonderful, Wonderful" is the 1957 song with the longest-ever stay in the top 100.
15. The Four Tops, "Still Water." Have heard this one--but not nearly enough. Solid song.
ReplyDelete14. Bobby Bloom, "Montego Bay." Sad story.
13. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, "Tears of a Clown." Such an odd thing, the old TV lip-sync performances to the studio versions. I think I was pretty old--13, 14, maybe--when I started to suspect they weren't the real deal. My daughter would absolutely sniff this stuff out now, and she's only 7.
12. 100 Proof Aged In Soul, "Somebody's Been Sleeping In My Bed." This is a fine song with a lot going on and a lot of energy, and I think it might well have been my favorite song at one point or another in 1970.
ReplyDelete11. Bread, "It Don't Matter To Me." There was a time when I just couldn't tolerate more than a few bars of any Bread hit, and now I hardly ever tune away. This thing is just beautiful.
10. The Kinks, "Lola." It feels like I've heard "Lola" every day since about 1983.
9. Dawn, "Candida."
ReplyDelete8. Neil Diamond, "Crackling Rosie."
7. Partridge Family, "I Think I Love You." Two weeks on the charts, and it's already No. 7. I love the Partridge Family.
6. Free, "All Right Now." This song, of course, gets played once every couple of hours on some radio station in Evansville.
5. R.D. Taylor, "Indiana Wants Me." You'd think it'd be this one, but it's not.
4. Sugarloaf, "Green-eyed Lady." Who purchased this record? Who?
3. James Taylor, "Fire and Rain." You know Casey thinks a song is a big deal when he goes into in an extra-deep, extra-deliberate recitation of the lyrics.
2. The Carpenters, "We've Only Just Begun." This is the highest position that a tune first used in a commercial has ever reached, Casey tells us. It started out as a song for a bank commercial.
By and large, I always find the first half of these countdowns a lot more entertaining than the second half, only because the bigger hits have typically been played more frequently in the years since. Anyway, same is true for this countdown, too, as "I'll Be There" from the Jackson 5 tops this week's AT40. It's a good song. And I could do without ever hearing it again.
ReplyDeleteOh, well, that was fun. Rest in peace, Casey Kasem.