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Top Singles of July 29, 1978

Let's take a look at what was topping the various single charts on July 29, 1978.

	Billboard	CashBox	Record World
1	"Shadow Dancing" Andy Gibb	"Miss You" Rolling Stones	"You're the One That I Want" John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John
2	"Baker Street" Gerry Rafferty	"Grease" Frankie Valli	"Shadow Dancing" Andy Gibb
3	"Miss You" Rolling Stones	"Shadow Dancing" Andy Gibb	"Miss You" Rolling Stones
4	"Last Dance" Donna Summer	"Baker Street" Gerry Rafferty	"Grease" Frankie Valli
5	"Grease" Frankie Valli	"Last Dance" Donna Summer	"Last Dance" Donna Summer
6	"Three Times a Lady" Commodores	"Three Times a Lady" Commodores	"Three Times a Lady" Commodores
7	"Still the Same" Bob Seger	"Use Ta Be My Girl" O'Jays	"Baker Street" Gerry Rafferty
8	"Use Ta Be My Girl" O'Jays	"Still the Same" Bob Seger	"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" Meatloaf
9	"The Groove Line" Heatwave	"Love Will Find a Way" Pablo Cruise	"Copacabana (At The Copa)" Barry Manilow
10	"Love Will Find a Way" Pablo Cruise	"Bluer Than Blue" Michael Johnson	"Still the Same" Bob Seger

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Exclusive MFD meta-analysis of the above charts:

1. "Shadow Dancing" (27 pts)
2. "Miss You" (26 pts)
3. "Grease" (22 pts)
4. "Baker Street" (20 pts)
5. "Last Dance" (19 pts)
6. "Three Times a Lady" (15 pts)
7. "You're the One That I Want" (10 pts)
8. "Still the Same" (8 pts)
9. "Use Ta Be My Girl" (7 pts)
10. "Love Will Find a Way" (3 pts)
11. "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" (3 pts)
12. "The Groove Line" (2 pts)
13. "Copacabana (At The Copa)" (2 pts)
14. "Bluer Than Blue" (1 pt)

MFD Random Five #30

In which I click the shuffle icon on the iTunes app and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "I'm in You" by Peter Frampton (1977, A&M)
   It's hard to believe this sappy thing is Frampton's biggest hit. Is it because it was riding the momentum of the earlier, mammoth Frampton Comes Alive album? That's the only explanation I can think of. I'm not into this one, but I will admit to liking Frampton's guitar work here.


2. "All You Need is Love" by New Musik (1982, Epic)
   A synthpop cover of a Beatles classic wasn't a great idea, but I'm sure it's not the worse thing I'll hear today. The original was a swinging shuffle where this thing is as square as a plumb line and needlessly drags tunes like "Greensleeves" into the mix.


3. "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" by Leo Sayer (1976, Warner Bros.)
   A fun, uplifting tune that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in January, 1977. Love the build up to the chorus. And that's gotta be studio ace Steve Gadd on drums. I'm not admitting to a decades old copyright violation, but I may remember someone recording this tune off the radio.


4. "Time is Time" by Andy Gibb (1980, RSO)
   A #15 hit for Gibb, this thing has catchy chorus but not much else going for it. Is it possible that, by late 1980, the nation was experiencing Barry Gibb supersaturation or was Barry simply running out of steam? Discuss amongst yourselves.


5. "Can't Hide Love" by Carmen McRae (1976, Blue Note)
   A rote cover of the Earth, Wind & Fire tune is a complete waste of McRae's talents. If you're gonna use a big band, use a big band arrangement. But I like it better than the folks over at Allmusic that write "This is the type of session that killed Blue Note the first time around." Yikes.

AT40, February 16, 1980 [Part 4 of 4]

I'm breaking down the AT40 show of February 16, 1980 track by track. 

So what was I doing around the time of this AT40 episode's broadcast?  My brace-faced, cowlick-headed, 95-pound-soaking-wet self was smack dab in the middle of 8th grade. I was involved in several school activities including band, speech and drama club, tennis team, plus I was more than a little girl crazy. Being a preacher's kid, I also had church activities to attend. Did I mention girls? And the Winter Olympics were going on, so I'm sure I was watching that, as well (anything to avoid homework.)

Now, on with the countdown:

#10: "Desire" by Andy Gibb. Before he was host of TV's "Solid Gold," Andy Gibb was steadily hitting the Top 40 singing songs written and produced by big brother Barry. This song must not have been played much on the radio station in the Houston market because I have very little memory of it, especially since it was a #4 hit. Go figure. Sounds more like a Bee Gees tune than an Andy Gibb single, but that's splitting hairs, isn't it?

#9:  "On the Radio" by Donna Summer. This followed a familiar formula for Donna's tunes at the time in that it starts slow then goes double time (see also: "Last Dance," "Dim All the Lights," and "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)"). A new Summer tune was always welcome in my neck of the woods. Around this time, we learned how to disco dance in PE class. I always danced with a girl named Tiffany and, I must say, we were awesome disco dancers (for 13 year olds).

#8:  "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg. I disliked this song when it was on the charts because I thought it was girly and schmaltzy. Now that I'm a lot older and slightly more mature, I think it is one of the most beautiful ballads this side of The Beatles' "Yesterday." Casey gives a mention to Jerry Hey for the flugelhorn solo (pronouncing his name "hī" when I always assumed it was pronounced "hā).

American Top 40 is heard in the 50 states and around the world every week on great radio stations like

• WGOW - Chattanooga, Tennessee
• KJOY - Stockton, California
• 3DB - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

#7:  "Sara" by Fleetwood Mac. When I reviewed a Fleetwood Mac greatest hits album back in 2011 over at The CD Project, I said I wasn't a fan of this song. Just last year, I put that same CD in my truck and listened to "Sara" on repeat for at least a week. So, I'm exercising my right to change my mind. This is top-notch Stevie Nicks. This single would peak here at #7, where it held for 3 weeks.

#6:  "Yes, I'm Ready" by Teri DeSario with K.C. I didn't know it at the time, but this is a cover of a 1965 Barbara Mason tune. Despite a fairly catchy chorus, I can't muster up more than a "meh" for this remake. It was popular at the time, peaking at #2 and spending 2 weeks atop the Adult Contemporary chart.

Before playing the next tune, Casey shares the story of Quincy Jones' life-threatening brain aneurysm in 1974. Of course, Q lived on to become one of the biggest record producers of all-time, including...

#5:  "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson. After four weeks at #1, this single fell to the #5 spot. A fantastic dance cut, but then again I like the entire Off the Wall album. In 8th grade, I had a crush on a brunette that loved this song so of course I had to love it as well.

#4:  "Cruisin'" by Smokey Robinson. Peaked here at #4. So smooth, so soulful, so good. As disco began to fade away, we were treated to quite a few soul ballads in the early '70s tradition.  This might be the best of them.  Maybe Smokey's strongest vocal ever?

Before we continue, Casey tells us what's atop the other charts:

• R&B: "Second Time Around" by Shalamar
• Country: "Love Me Over Again" by Don Williams (Casey announces it as "Love Me Again")
• Album: The Wall by Pink Floyd
• Disco: "Vertigo/Relight My Fire/Free Ride" by Dan Hartman

#3:  "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers. I'll admit knowing all the words to this story song because it was all over the radio. Now I view it as more of a novelty tune and grates on me as such.

#2:  "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen. I liked this when it was released because there was nothing else like it on the radio (which you can say about most Queen tunes now that I think about it). But when The Stray Cats brought back rockabilly full-time, I couldn't stand it. Fickle much, Mark? Dr. Brian May was usually only afforded short 2 or 4 measure solos, but he gets a full 8 on this one. After this week at #2, it would spend the following 4 weeks at #1 before being unseated by Pink Floyd.

#1:  "Do That to Me One More Time" by The Captain & Tennille. My sister was a huge C&T fan and, because she was older than me, she got to choose what LPs we listened to.  As a result, I know the words to every C&T song released between 1975-1980, including this one.  I'm not wild about this song, but man-oh-man did Toni T. have some golden pipes.

"Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."

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Previously, I've looked at these AT40 episodes track by track:
September 18, 1982
October 24, 1981
July 19, 1980
June 9, 1979
April 23, 1977

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Olivia (1978)

Last night, I received the following text message:

Ever see the Olivia Newton-John TV Special with Abba and Andy Gibb? I don't remember ever seeing it but I just watched the ever loving crap out of it on YT.

And now you can watch the ever loving crap out of it, too. And you should:

This is the original feed, not what actually aired. More information about this clip is available over at the YouTube site. Other than the sweet tunes and gorgeous Olivia, what strikes me is that this is filmed one-take with a live orchestra and the medley lasts almost 19 minutes. Impressive. Sure, there's some clunkers (the most obvious is at 12:10), but it's more entertaining than any lip-synching performance.

The best I can determine, the Olivia special was aired Wednesday, May 17, 1978 on ABC. Here's the running order for this medley:

• If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
• Dancing Queen
• Fernando
• I Just Want To Be Your Everything
• Have You Never Been Mellow
• Please Mr. Please
• Take A Chance On Me
• (Love Is) Thicker Than Water
• Shadow Dancing
• Hopelessly Devoted To You
• If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
• Thank You For The Music

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H/T to Herc over at Herc's Hideaway for hipping me to this video and to YouTube user ArgoWho for uploading and sharing this clip. Many thanks.