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The Premiere Episode of Chuck Small’s “Who Sings It ? “

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Recently, I spent a weekend readjusting the contents of three rooms in my house to better accommodate a collection of scrapbooks I’ve created over the years.

This became one of those projects where one task spawns another.

By the end of the weekend, I had:

  • Reorganized our library room, donating or tossing a few dozen books my husband and I never re-read.
  • Thinned boxes of memorabilia, asking myself if someone looking through it after I’m gone would know what it was or why it was important to me.
  • And shifted personally created compact discs to a closet to make room for displaced books from the “new” scrapbook shelves.

That last task re-engaged me with lots of music I hadn’t heard in a while.

Between 2000 and 2010, as listening to digital music became dominant, I converted hundreds of 45s, album cuts and cassette tracks to mp3s to put them on my iPod. While doing that, I created a series of compact discs to house the digital files and listen to on the stereo or in the car.

One series I developed was:

“Who Sings It?”

Realizing I had a host of songs that, even if not always technically “one-hit wonders,” still inspired that question from a casual listener, I decided to collect them.

Not all of them hit the Top 40, and I’ll note when that’s the case.

Over the next several weeks, I look forward to sharing these with you. I’m re-creating the sets on Spotify.

Here’s the playlist for this week – but some songs aren’t on the streaming service. (Others are in re-recorded versions that don’t have the full charm of the vinyl.)

Who Sings It – Volume One:

When I can find the missing tracks on YouTube, I’ll share those links here:

Cymarron’s “Rings”
(1971):

This isn’t on Spotify, though Lobo’s (not quite as good) remake of a few years later is. Here’s a YouTube link:

I remember watching this faceless group lip-synch this on a Howard Cosell variety show on ABC. The show didn’t last long, and neither did Stallion.

Stonebolt’s “I Will Still Love You”
(1978):

This song by a Canadian group seems a little ahead of its time. To me, it feels of a piece with Journey’s “Open Arms,” REO Speedwagon’s “Keep on Loving You” and other pop-rock ballads of the early ’80s:

Side Effect’s “Keep That Same Old Feeling”
(1976):

This is one of those tracks that I owned because I heard it initially on Chicago radio. In this case: R&B/disco standout WGCI-FM. It didn’t chart on the Hot 100. It’s evidently a remake of a song by the Crusaders, though I didn’t know that at the time.

Mary Welch’s “Take It Like a Woman”
(1979):

Another non-Hot 100 hit, this one I heard on suburban Chicago’s adult contemporary outlet WYEN-FM. Evidently, Debby Boone covered it a few years later, which I guess makes sense given the sound and lyrical content of this track. (This one isn’t available on YouTube or Spotify. Guess some songs aren’t meant to stand the test of time.)

I intended to put the tracks in chronological order (when I could – for example, I originally thought the Side Effect track was from 1978 instead of 1976). But the discs themselves bounced all over the ’70s before later installments tackled the ’80s and ’90s.

I’ll go through the ’70s first and we’ll see whether there’s enough enthusiasm to dive into the later decades.

Which ones do you like? Hate? Share your thoughts in the comments:

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Chuck Small

Journalist-turned-high school counselor. Happily ensconced in Raleigh, N.C., with hubby of 32 years (10 legal).

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mt58
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December 12, 2023 10:58 am

Hey, Good Friends,

Chuck, because he is Chuck, always thinks of others. He asked if we could pin this here.

Commenter Poor Little Fool was a nice person and friend. We miss his kind nature and his thoughtful contributions. Perhaps was can do something a little something nice for his niece and nephew.  

From Chuck:

I don’t normally share these, but there’s a GoFundMe out there for Poor Little Fool’s great-niece and great-nephew, who were born prematurely recently.

I’ve shared it with some of our folks on Instant Messenger but wanted to make sure you were aware of it, too.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/preemie-twins-nicu-care

lovethisconcept
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December 13, 2023 6:47 pm
Reply to  mt58

Thank you so much for posting this. Still miss Poor Little Fool.

Phylum of Alexandria
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December 12, 2023 8:11 am

Thanks Chuck, that’s a great idea. I’m perhaps a bit too young to have many “who sang that” impressions from this particular era, as my exposure to 70s radio singles was limited to the mega hits later on. Unless perhaps I heard something playing in a show or movie.

I don’t recognize any of these songs, though some of them sound like solid singles. I’d definitely be interested in a similar run of later songs. At least by the mid to late 80s I’m thinking my brain would have accrued some random tunes of unknown artistry. Definitely the 90s. Though I believe you said that’s when you stopped following the charts.

rollerboogie
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December 12, 2023 8:13 am

This was intriguing. I was around in the 70s and into music, but I did not know any of the songs featured today, not one.
Some thoughts-

Loved the references to Chicago radio stations. WYEN, we barely knew ye.
You were listening to GCI in the 70s? Very cool. My brother, who would eventually become a radio deejay himself, used to put it on just to see if he could get his voice to go as low as the guy announcing the station’s call letters. That station is remarkably still around, though it’s r&b and hip-hop these days.

The Side Effect song has an ample usage of vibraslap in the opening. I can always get behind that.

Stonebolt sounds like a made up band name from a Christopher Guest mockumentary. I would totally watch that, by the way.

rollerboogie
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December 12, 2023 8:44 am
Reply to  rollerboogie

I did know a good amount of the songs on the playlist. None of them are in the “gotta have it” category for me.

Last edited 11 months ago by rollerboogie
Virgindog
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December 12, 2023 8:19 am

Man, I love some of these songs, merely remember others, and haven’t heard a few of them. “Smoke From A Distant Fire” is tops on my list. I had to learn it for a cover band and my admiration for it grew. It’s much more intricate than it sounds.

I remember “Beautiful Sunday,” “Rings,” “Substitute,” and “Run For Home,” but never would have come up with Daniel Boone, Cymarron, Clout, and… who? Lindisfame? Is that right? I thought Lindisfame was an IKEA end table.

Nice job shaking off the cobwebs in my brain that have been growing since the 1970s. Thanks, Chuck, looking forward to more!

mt58
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December 12, 2023 8:29 am
Reply to  Virgindog

I’m with you there on the Sanford Townsend record. Such a fun tune to play in cover bands.

The only problem, and I think the reason why it was rarely heard in the cover band universe is because of the vocal prowess necessary. Right up to the very last note, the lead singer is working it hard. Speaking for myself, I was never able to get through it without cheating.

rollerboogie
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December 12, 2023 8:42 am
Reply to  mt58

That’s saying something. Didn’t you once do a parody of Take One Me by a-ha for us and effortlessly nail the sky high vocals?

Last edited 11 months ago by rollerboogie
Virgindog
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December 12, 2023 8:46 am
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He did, and it bears repeated listenings.

https://youtu.be/EA9HgVBdWIE

mt58
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December 12, 2023 9:03 am
Reply to  Virgindog

Everyone should be blessed with such nice friends.
Thanks to both of you for remembering.

Phylum of Alexandria
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December 12, 2023 9:05 am
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Wow, I never saw that.

Mt, Bowie cover when?

mt58
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December 12, 2023 9:19 am

A cover of 4:33 might be a kinder gesture to the group…

Phylum of Alexandria
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December 12, 2023 9:34 am
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Mister, it’s a deal!

Low4
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December 12, 2023 6:43 pm
Reply to  Virgindog

Great job. How did you hit that note?

mt58
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December 12, 2023 8:39 pm
Reply to  cstolliver

Just for the listeners,,,

mt58
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December 12, 2023 8:39 pm
Reply to  Low4

With great fear and apprehension!

dutchg8r
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December 12, 2023 9:51 am

I’ll give these a listen during my commute home tonight; I’m still trying to comprehend the phrase “Howard Cosell Variety Show”.

Then again, I did wind up with a 12″ as a wee lass of Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali, and as a 4 YO I thought it was a comedy act. Even though I knew Cosell was a broadcaster and Ali was, well, Ali, but they were a really weird Martin and Lewis type team. So maybe Cosell leading a variety show wouldn’t have been that bad??!!

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December 12, 2023 12:46 pm
Reply to  dutchg8r

I have a feeling there was a very good reason it was short lived. Most folks found him annoying as hell. Cosell was well aware of it and was even willing to parody himself in the 1973 Disney classic The World’s Greatest Athlete.
After his non-stop commentary of a track event, his broadcast partner ends up dumping a trash can on his head, if memory serves.

Virgindog
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December 12, 2023 3:46 pm
Reply to  rollerboogie

He makes a great appearance in the last scene of Woody Allen’s Sleeper, too. Playing himself, of course.

https://youtu.be/shijJmRYnEg

Last edited 11 months ago by Bill Bois
mjevon6296
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December 12, 2023 4:42 pm
Reply to  dutchg8r

Here is an interesting side on the Howard Cosell show: It was called “Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell” and started somewhere near the famous NBC late night show we now now as “Saturday Night Live” which had to start out as “NBC’s Saturday Night” as its name.

As a kid, I did see a couple of the Howard Cosell shows (before it was cancelled.) In five years, I was a teenager and regularly watching Saturday Night Live.

(I hope Ozmoe can correct me if I got any of that wrong.)

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December 12, 2023 4:46 pm
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You got it all right and in there before I did, mjevon6296!

Ozmoe
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December 12, 2023 4:46 pm
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Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell failed in part because of too many cooks spoiling the food. As producer Rupert Hitzig told me when I did my book on Monday Night Football, each week the show and its lineup were crafted by “four of the biggest egos in television”–Cosell, executive producer Roone Arledge, comedian Alan King and newly arrived ABC head of programming Fred Silverman. That, and the fact that it ran against The Jeffersons on CBS helped doom it as well.

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December 12, 2023 6:50 pm
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George Jefferson said, Move on DOWN, Cosell…. 😁

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December 12, 2023 6:52 pm
Reply to  dutchg8r

I think they were trying to recapture/recreate the magic of the Ed Sullivan show. They went so far as to book the Bay City Rollers, hoping to launch them in the USA like Sullivan had the Beatles. No knock against the Bay City Rollers, but . . .

I really miss variety shows, of which there were plenty back in the day. Glen Campbell, Tom Jones, Sonny and Cher, the Brothers Smothers, no doubt others, not to mention the daytime chats like Mike Douglas and Merv. They brought all sorts of performers to the public, not to mention weird mash-ups like, well

https://youtu.be/R6FIVEUld4U?si=QokbU0wrHSd7WOYN

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December 12, 2023 7:13 pm
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And let’s not forget The Captain and Tennille variety show. I was 10 when it aired and I probably saw every episode.

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December 12, 2023 8:11 pm
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Aww yeah! You said the magic words for me to have a reason to post this gem-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSeWcZICF7E

rollerboogie
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December 12, 2023 9:01 pm
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My twisted self just loves it for so many reasons, and believe me art imitating life is right up there.

mt58
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December 12, 2023 8:40 pm
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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

JJ Live At Leeds
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December 12, 2023 9:51 am

Another great series. I’m not old enough to remember the 70s but some of these songs have a heady scent of nostalgia, Sunday mornings with the radio playing golden oldies as my mum cooked dinner and Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes seeming to feature most weeks.

Lindisfarne is an even bigger nostalgia rush and took me by surprise to see them here. The band are from Newcastle and are/were like the musical representation of Geordies and the surrounding area. We had the Back and Fourth album that Run For Home came from, that got a lot of play from my parents. There’s a track on there called Warm Feelings that my dad picked to be played at my mums funeral.

The name Lindisfarne comes from the name of a small island a few miles up the coast from Newcastle and the village where I grew up. Its also known as Holy Island due to being an important site for early Christianity. Though vdog alluded to it sounding like an IKEA item it does have a Scandinavian connection; in that the Vikings came over to do some of their pillaging and destroyed the monastery.

Elsewhere the Guardians of the Galaxy effect is noted as I realise that I know Wham-Bam-Shang-A-Lang very well.

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December 12, 2023 10:06 am

Ah, the Viking influence makes sense. I just looked at Lindisfarne on Google Street View and have added it to my list of places to visit someday. We’ll see….

JJ Live At Leeds
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December 12, 2023 10:48 am
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It’s a lovely place, there’s the rebuilt monastery (now crumbling due to passing centuries rather than Scandinavian marauders), a small castle, cosy pub and cafes and Lindisfarne Mead to drink. Just have to be very careful as the tide means its only accessible by causeway twice a day for a few hours at low tide. Many many unaware visitors have ruined their cars trying to get off the island in the face of the incoming tide – only to find the tide is quicker. It entertains the locals.

I kayaked round it as a teenager. That was a long tiring day. The sandbanks make it a lot bigger than it looks when you’re circumnavigating it.

Last edited 11 months ago by JJ Live At Leeds
rollerboogie
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December 12, 2023 12:39 pm
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And perhaps pick up a nice end table…

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December 12, 2023 1:01 pm

Though it be cringeworthy, I have such strong memories of hearing “Undercover Angel” as a 7 year old, that I can’t help but love that song. It’s my favorite of your batch, though there are plenty of other good ones.

And I have to agree…of all of those youtube links you put below your playlist, I didn’t know any of them either!

Thanks for the entry, Chuck!

JJ Live At Leeds
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December 12, 2023 1:57 pm
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As a newcomer to Undercover Angel I’d put it in the top half of the playlist. Though I’ve just looked up the lyrics and realised that it’s best listened to without fully concentrating on what he’s singing.

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December 13, 2023 7:13 am

Exactly.

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December 12, 2023 3:32 pm

Me, while reading this:

who
Ozmoe
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December 12, 2023 4:41 pm

I’d just add here that Cymarron’s version of Rings is much better to me than Lobo’s take in several regards, including an odd lyric change. In Cymarron’s 1971 hit version, the group sings about playing James Taylor on the stereo. Inexplicably, Lobo changes that to the Allman Brothers, even though Taylor was still popular when Lobo’s version came out in 1974. I may be prejudiced since James Taylor is considered a North Carolina success story, but still …..

And oh my gosh, you had the Sugar Bears “You Are the One” on your setlist as well? I am amazed truly!

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December 12, 2023 5:40 pm

Interestingly, the first two songs on your playlist were sung by the same guy, Tony Burrows, a very busy London session singer of the time. I understand that he had four concurrent top 20 hits in the UK one week, all under different “band” names. I don’t believe these bands actually existed outside of the studio (until it was time to make some money on the road, that is). If I’m not mistaken, he performed four those songs on one episode of TOTP.

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December 12, 2023 8:42 pm
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“he performed four those songs on one episode of TOTP.”

Yikes – That I have to see!

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December 12, 2023 9:02 pm
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Alas, I stand corrected. (Guess I should do research before posting.) According to Mr. Wikipedia, it was two songs on one show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Burrows

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December 13, 2023 2:34 pm

I haven’t heard that Rings song for over 50 years! And it must have lived its life on the top 40 before I started reading the charts every Saturday in the paper, because I always thought it was called “Ring” and had no idea who sang it. It triggers memories of also hearing “Hitching a Ride” (which I would have to google to see who sings that, leaving as an exercise for the curious), so they probably charted at the same time.

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December 13, 2023 3:14 pm

Nice topic Chuck, your collection is a great idea, even if we’re living in the Shazam era, many of us don’t know which song are listening sometimes.

I’ll give a listen to the playlist.

P.S.: I haven’t catch up with past readings yet, but I just read the last episode of the “Fantastic 40” series and I enjoyed very much.

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December 20, 2023 1:17 am

My goodness. These are deep, deep, deep cuts.

“Rings”- Cymarron: It’s like an ode to rotary phones. I also like the line: “I’ve got James Taylor on the stereo.” Smooth Talk, starring Laura Dern, was a good reminder that all music started off as a young person’s music. She sings a few bars of “Handy Man”. Her character is fifteen. The film’s release date is 1985. So she was eight when “Handy Man” hit the airwaves. Maybe it was her mother’s music, but a teenager could probably sing James Taylor without anybody doing a double-take. I have a vivid memory of “Hard Times” during it’s chart-run. I thought of it as my mom’s music. But we both liked Melissa Manchester. She thought “You Should Hear How She Talks About You” was for the kids. To this day, “Midnight Blue” is her jam.

“Old-Fashioned Boy”- Stallion

For five seconds, “Old-Fashioned Boy” sounds like “10th Avenue Freezeout”. West coast E-Street Band?

“I Will Still Love You”- Stonebolt

If the makers of One on One couldn’t afford Seals and Crofts, these guys would have filled in nicely. I see Annette O’Toole. Fastbreak is the gem of seventies-era basketball films, but One on One comes close. The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh is just crazy.

“Keep That Old Feeling”- Side Effect

This is what the characters in Thank God It’s Friday listen to when they’re chilin’ at home. Finally watched it. Good stuff. FM, too. Am I hearing things, but isn’t there a subtle Steely Dan influence?

My favorite song out of this bunch is “Old-Fashioned Boy”.

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