1976-1985: My Favorite Decade: Little River Band

Let's travel back and take a look at the American Top 40 episode for August 4, 1979 track by track:

As was the custom back then, Casey starts the show by playing the top three songs from the preceding week: "Good Times" by Chic, "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward, and "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer. Disco in full effect! Then it's on with the countdown, with Casey stating there are five debut records this week:

#40: "Born to Be Alive" by Patrick Hernandez. The first of the five debut records, this fun, hard driving dance tune had already topped the Disco charts back on July 14. An international hit, this topped the charts in no fewer than 14 countries. It would spend a total of 11 weeks on AT40, eventually peaking at #16 on September 29.

#39: "Hot Summer Nights" by Night. This is a cover of a 1978 Walter Egan single (he got to #55 on the Hot 100 with it). To this listener, the band sounds like a bad combination of Quarterflash and John Stewart. Your mileage may vary, but I'll take a pass. Debuting this week, it would get as high as #18 in its 8 weeks in the Top 40.

Before taking a commercial break, Casey teases an upcoming tune with the following: "In the history of the rock era, Japanese singing star Kyo Sakamoto has been the only Oriental recording artist ever to hit the American charts. But no more. Coming up is the second: Japan's number one recording act."

Over the intro to the next song, Casey recognizes the following AT40 stations:

WDXY - Sumter, South Carolina
WEEO - Waynesboro, Pennsylvania
WFTQ - Worcester, Massachusetts

#38: "Highway Song" by Blackfoot. Being born and raised in the South, you'd think I'd like Southern Rock a lot more than I do. I'm tempted to call Blackfoot a "poor man's Skynyrd," but I'm pretty sure someone has beaten me to that line. Debuting on AT40 this week,this single would spend 6 weeks on AT40, peaking at #26.

#37: "Kiss in the Dark" by Pink Lady. The hottest Japanese act at the time. Harmless disco fluff sung phonetically. But when I think of this duo, I always think of their ill-advised variety show co-hosted by comedian Jeff Altman (warning: inappropriate cultural stereotypes, offensive references, and all-around bad writing ahead for those brave or foolish enough to click the play icon below):

This song, the duo's only Top 40 hit, peaked here at #37 in 3 weeks in the Top 40.

"Coming up, a Long Distance Dedication from Betsy in Anchorage, Alaska to her little sister, the only person who stood by her in her fight with drugs."

#36: "Heaven Must Have Sent You" by Bonnie Pointer. A cover of a Holland-Dozier-Holland soul song that was a 1966 hit for The Elgins. Sounds a lot like The Supremes' Where Did Our Love Go (another Holland-Dozier-Holland song). One of those innocuous tunes that, while I won't seek it out, I won't change the station should it ever come on. Spending a remarkable 15 weeks on the chart, this single would make it to #11 in mid-October.

Long Distance Dedication: "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers (#1, 1972).

Dear Casey, a year and a half ago I got a divorce and came back to live in Alaska with my family. I found life here to be different - there were hardly any people between the ages of 21 and 28 in the small town where I lived. So, I became friends with some 18 year olds. The drug scene is still in full swing here. I had never even seen drugs before, but I quickly became involved. They really messed me up. I became depressed and I didn't care what I did. I started seeing a doctor for my depression and my family treated me as if I was crazy. The only person to stand by me and give me support was my little sister. She got me involved in some hobbies and helped me realize that this is my life; that I should live it for myself in my own way and not for my friends. Since then, I've moved to Anchorage and I'm attending beauty college. I truly believe if my little sister hadn't stood by me and let me know I was loved, I would still be messing up my life. She was always there for me to lean on. So I would like to dedicate "Lean On Me" to my sister, Beverly, to let her know I will always be here if she needs someone as she was for me.

#35: "Let's Go" by The Cars. A great New Wave rocker and easily the best tune on The Cars' second album, Candy-O. During the years 2011-2016, I was the local high school's baseball announcer and scoreboard operator, so I got to pick all the pre-game and between inning music. I usually came up with new playlists every year and tried to keep things current, but this song always made the cut. On this date, it was ascending the charts and would eventual make it as high as #14 in 9 weeks on AT40.

#34: "Morning Dance" by Spyro Gyra. My love for this jazz fusion/smooth jazz/instrumental pop group can't be overstated. And although I wouldn't buy my first SG album for a few more years, this song was my first exposure to them. Casey gives a brief overview of the band name origin over the intro (group leader Jay Beckenstein like the word Spirogira, a genus of green algae, when he heard it in biology class). Not to be confused with British prog band Spirogyra. This song would top the Adult Contemporary chart and would peak at #24 on the pop chart on August 25.

Casey then gives the Universal City, California address where listeners can write to request their free copy of the AT40 Worldwide Listening Directory, a listing of stations that carry AT40.

AT40 Archives: "Cat's in the Cradle" by Harry Chapin. At the time, Casey was counting down the #1 songs of the 1970's, so we're treated to three former #1's during this countdown; this is the first. From December 1974, this was the 121st number one single of the decade. I never liked this song from the get-go, but once I became a parent, I despised it even more.

--end of hour one--

#33: "Lonesome Loser" by Little River Band. The fourth of the five debut singles, and while this isn't my favorite LRB tune, I like it better now than I did in 1979. When "Lonesome Loser" hit the airwaves in '79, I was an awkward, angst-ridden teenager who often mistakenly thought of himself as a loser. I certainly didn't want to reminded that I was a lonesome loser by the radio. This would go on top peak at #6 in 14 weeks in the Top 40.

#32: "Goodbye Stranger" by Supertramp. The highest debuting song of the week (it would eventually peak at #15) and for good reason: it's a great tune. From the electric piano to the fantastic guitar solo to the falsetto vocals, I dig it. AT40 edits the crap out of it for this episode, playing only 3:10 of its 5:49 length, so I don't even get the guitar solo.

"We're counting down to a foreign group who are the most profitable business enterprise in their entire country. They make a bigger net profit than Volvo, Saab, or Ingmar Bergman. Details and their current hit are coming up." Place your bets. Answer tomorrow.

#31: "Shadows in the Moonlight" by Anne Murray. One of the top Adult Contemporary artists of My Favorite Decade, this was one of Murray's AC chart toppers. I was never enough of a Murray fan to ever purchase any vinyl, but I remember usually enjoying her tunes on the radio. In addition to topping the AC chart, this song was also #1 on the country chart. Over here on AT40, however, it had already peaked at #24 the week prior to this show and was on a rather speedy descent, dropping all the way from #31 here to #94 the next week.

Billboard, August 4, 1979, p. 56

More to come...

This decision wasn't as tough as it probably should have been. "Reminiscing" is not only my favorite Little River Band tune, it's one of the great soft-rock songs of the late '70s. Apparently I'm in good company as John Lennon and Frank Sinatra are reported to have declared their love for it as well; the latter calling in "the best 1970's song in the world." The laid back groove, the smooth just-off-the-beat vocals, the sublime electric piano, the references to Glenn Miller and Cole Porter, the string and background vocal arrangements, the Bob Venier trumpet solo - it all works for this soft rock kid.

"Reminiscing" peaked at #3 on the pop chart and #10 on the Adult Contemporary chart in late summer/early fall 1978. For a song this good not to have reached the top spot on at least one of those charts seems almost criminal.