The staff of the longtime radio countdown institution American Top 40 knew it had created appointment listening:
As Casey Kasem played the biggest hits from Billboard’s weekly Hot 100.
Still, everyone needs a break from the formula – from Kasem and his staff to his listeners. So, during the 18 years of the original Kasem-hosted shows (1970-1988), more than two dozen special weekly episodes aired.
Last week, and again this week, we’re reviewing songs, from 25 of the special countdowns:
Picked using a random number generator!
One of the dangers when you decide to do a random countdown is that a particular song included is not one you would have chosen.
Hoo boy, is that the case here.
And yet, there’s some great stuff, too, so you have to take the bad with the good.
And… the countdown rolls on…
Simon and Garfunkel
“Mrs. Robinson”
This came from the 1977 special, The 40 Top Girls Of The Rock And Roll Era, songs dedicated to or named for a woman.
Casey summarized the story of “The Graduate,” the movie for which this song was created, describing Anne Bancroft’s character in unflattering ways.
Marvin Gaye
“What’s Going On?”
Gaye ranked No. 19 in the 1978 version of The Top Acts of the 1970s special; in the 1974 version, he ranked 22nd.
Hitting Number 1 in between with “Got to Give It Up” undoubtedly helped. Unfortunately, the 1978 countdown came out during the summer, months before the show moved to four hours, so the version of Gaye’s hit here is truncated.
Smokey Robinson
“Just to See Her”
From the 1988 Triathlon of Rock and Roll special came this then-recent Top 10 hit for Robinson.
This special featured artists who had at least one top 40 hit in the 1960s and the 1970s and a Top 10 hit in the 1980s.
Derek and the Dominoes
“Bell Bottom Blues”
In the latter part of the 1970s, Humble Harve Miller hosted the syndicated show The National Album Countdown.
In 1974, he was an AT40 guest host, and before that, in 1972, AT40 had a one-week National Album Countdown special, using the Top 40 albums from Billboard’s charts. From the album Layla came this track. (Kasem actually back-announced the singles in that week’s respective positions so regular AT40 listeners could keep track.)
The Essex
“Easier Said Than Done”
The 1976 Bicentennial Countdown was up to the Fourth of July, 1963, at this point, with this fun No. 1 pop-R&B nugget.
Kasem explained that the group was made up of five Marines.
Simon and Garfunkel
“Bridge Over Troubled Water”
From 1973’s Top 40 Songs of the Last Five Years special.
Kasem noted that to win Song of the Year at the Grammys in 1971, it had to defeat compositions by the Beatles (“Let It Be”) and the team of Hal David and Burt Bacharach (the Carpenters’ “Close to You”).
K.C. and the Sunshine Band
“I’m Your Boogie Man”
The summer of 1979 was the perfect moment for AT40’s Special Disco Countdown.
Second only to Donna Summer in total tracks on this countdown were this Florida group, with “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” and “Keep It Comin’ Love” as the other three. Why no “Get Down Tonight”? Who knows, but most of the songs in the countdown were from 1976 to 1979.
Rose Royce
“Car Wash”
This is from the 1978 AT40 Goes to the Movies, a countdown that might have actually been just a few months too early.
The Saturday Night Fever singles hadn’t finished their chart runs yet (“Stayin’ Alive” ranked 12th and “Night Fever” and “If I Can’t Have You” weren’t in the countdown.) And “Grease” hadn’t come out yet.
Undisputed Truth
“Smiling Faces Sometimes”
AT40 played with its format to showcase the Top 10 Producers Of The 1970s in a 1974 special.
Each producer was featured by several different singles and artists. Producer Norman Whitfield was represented by this song as well as the Temptations’ “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” and “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” Edwin Starr’s “War” and Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”
Paul McCartney and Wings
“Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)”
Of the 15 non-Beatles songs in the 1981 special The Top 40 Beatles Songs, Together and Apart:
Only Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” and Wings’ “My Love” and “Silly Love Songs” rank higher than this 1980 live track.
Helen Reddy
“You and Me Against the World”
From the 1978 Top Acts of the 1970s, Kasem described Reddy as the “most successful female solo artist of the ’70s.”
Had this special been produced a year later, Donna Summer would have taken that title. I don’t know why the staff decided against Reddy’s Number One hits to favor this dreck.
Elvis Presley
“Blue Christmas”
This song, from 1971’s Christmas Countdown?
It doesn’t get beyond “I’ll have…” before it gets switched or just turned off. It’s an earworm of the worst sort.
The Four Seasons
“Sherry”
I suspect some folks feel the way about this song that I felt about entries Number 10 and Number 9.
With Frankie Valli’s falsetto, I can understand that. Still, I like it, maybe because it’s one of the first songs I remember hearing as a child. This is from the Top 40 Acts 1955-1971 special.
Rod Stewart
“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?”
Boy, did Stewart make enemies with the rock crowd by releasing this chart-topper from his Blondes Have More Fun LP!
I alternate between enjoying it and finding it grating, depending on the mood I’m in. From the 1979 disco countdown.
Gilbert O’Sullivan
“Alone Again (Naturally)”
I don’t hate this song.
But it’s so relentlessly depressing that listening to it once a year is enough for me. (Give me “Get Down” anytime!) From the Top 40 Songs of the Last Five Years special in 1973.
The Beatles
“I Want to Hold Your Hand”
Fortunately, the career-starter in the U.S. for the Beatles erases the melancholy of O’Sullivan.
This comes from the 1976 special The 40 Top Songs of the Beatle Years, of which four were by the Fab Four.
The Emotions
“Best of My Love”
And the magic continues:
With this effervescent 1977 chart-topper, included in the 1979 disco special. (It’s funny, I never really thought of this song as disco.)
Air Supply
“Lost in Love”
This was from the 1983 Top Acts of the 1980s special.
Had the special been at decade’s end, the Australian group might still have made the Top 40 (Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles ranks them 29th), but certainly not the Top 5.
Gene Autry
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
There are worse Christmas songs (Entry Number 9, for starters.)
So I won’t begrudge this. Still, for Number 2 in this countdown, it’s foreshadowing a disappointing ending. From the 1971 Christmas Special.
“And, now, at the Top Of The Charts, It’s…”
Paul Anka
“(You’re) Having My Baby”
YUCK!
This is from the 1974 Top 10 Producers special.
So why couldn’t I have selected one of the other songs featured from Number 1 producer Rick Hall?
Well, for starters, the song preceding it is Donny Osmond’s “Go Away, Little Girl” – and I savaged it the last time we had a random countdown
As for the others:
- Clarence Carter’s “Patches,”
- Mac Davis’ “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me”
- and the Osmonds’ “One Bad Apple”
…All have their own detractors as well as fans. (I like all three.)
But to the main point, it’s the final song played in the countdown, which clearly puts it in the Number 1 spot.
Much as I might wish otherwise.
Oh, well.
Maybe the next time I do a random countdown, I’ll stick with the ‘80s and ‘90s to minimize the chances of a selection I revile as much as “Go Away, Little Girl” or “(You’re) Having My Baby.”
But then…
…would that be as much fun?
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“YUCK!” is right. I guess it shows we shouldn’t leave these things to chance. Next time, best two out of three?
Still, I’ll have “Bell Bottom Blues” in my head for the rest of the day. Fun stuff, Chuck!
Looks like we are at the mercy of a comparatively low-tech random number gizmo.
And here I was, all worried about AI. How quaint.
Another great entry, Chuck! Yeah, the producers special was notorious for giving Rick Hall the number one spot and then his hit streak on the top 40 chart fell off dramatically afterward. Would’ve loved to have heard an updated version or followup to it, as it was a nice tribute to top music producers at the time.
And as for what landed at number one, well, it could’ve been just as disappointing if we had the one for the Top Girls of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Era (it was “Tammy” by Debbie Reynolds from 1957).
Finally, where can I get a copy of the album countdown show? That one sounds like a lot of fun to hear.
We can tell you’re an honest man! I don’t really need to reiterate my feelings on (Y)HMB or else rollerboogie will chew me out, but I’ll just remind that I don’t hate it.
Of all Air Supply songs, at least you ended up with the best one. I am happy to hear “Lost in Love” any time…something I can’t say about hardly any of their other songs.
Fun countdown!
A real variation in quality. Probably the bad outweighs the good for me. On the very positive side there’s Coming Up which is one of McCartney finest moments (video as well), Marvin, Rose Royce, The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel.
When it comes to S&G I’ve gone back and forward over the years on loving BOTW and thinking it overblown, overly sentimental. Mrs Robinson is far more straightforwardly enjoyable. Though I do prefer The Lemonheads version.
I’ve never heard Gene Autry’s Rudolph. Seems to have been overlooked in the Xmas nostalgia-fest these last few years in favour of Brenda Lee and co. Perhaps Gene is due a revival this December.
I think we talked about this before. We both agreed that Odia Coates can sing. Did we ever come to the conclusion that Coates could’ve had a successful solo career if she hadn’t recorded “You’re Havin’ My Baby”, the most fascinating bad song in recording history.
I’m watching The Wiz for the first time today, screenplay by Joel Schumacher. His previous film? Car Wash, which I had seen. Interesting early career: He was Woody Allen’s costume designer and screenwriter for two well-received black-focused films. Car Wash is a joyful film, as is the Rolls Royce song. That’s how Schumacher made it into the Criterion Collection, as a writer.
I think that’s Graham Russell singing lead on “We Are All Alone”, a deep cut from Air Supply’s real debut album, the Australia-only s/t from 1976(!). Maybe Russell should’ve sung more often. “Lost in Love”, in my opinion, has a timeless quality, that the other Air Supply songs lack, even ones I love such as “Chances”. “Lost in Love” is Bill Callahan and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy-approved.
Yes, I think you’re right about our agreement on Odia. The only slightly interesting factor of (Y)HMB is that, in 1974, it was pretty gutsy to have an interracial duet about conceiving a child. And it did introduce most of us to Ms. Coates. That said, I far prefer “I Believe There’s Nothing Stronger Than Our Love,” or even “One Man Woman/One Woman Man.”