Welcome to another Sun-Soaked episode of The Songs Of The Summer Series from friend and Contributing Author Ozmoe!
This week: Remembering 1970…
As a reminder or for those just joining us, I categorize a summer song basically as the fun tune you’d like to do at karaoke with your friends. It’s hummable, singable, danceable, and probably some other kind of optimistic labels I can’t think of right now.
tnocs.com summer charts expert ozmoe
On Memorial Day 1970, the saccharine sounds of Ray Stevens’ Everything is Beautiful was Number One…
… and only three months later, the powerful protest of Edwin Starr’s War stood atop the pop chart.
Good God, y’all!
That sort of contradiction defined the music scene in the United States that summer. There were veteran holdover acts, like Elvis Presley and the newly dissolved Beatles, with their final chart entry for a time, The Long and Winding Road. At the same time, many new artists started coming to prominence, including one we’ll mention shortly.
As it was the start of a new decade, programmers seemed uncertain as to exactly what might resonate with their audience, so there was considerable variety on the charts. You had everything from the poignancy of Love on a Two-Way Street…
…to the, well, whatever it was that Gimme Dat Ding was offering.
Of course, amid this mix were the traditional candidates for summer song of 1970. These were the upbeat tunes that promised good times and were easy to sing and dance along with, should you choose to do so.
So, without further ado, consider the contenders for bringing out the fun more than a half-century ago.
Comment and rank your top three below – with “One” being your favorite.
As always, all are listed chronologically based on their Billboard Hot 100 peak.
• Simon and Garfunkel: Cecilia
Paul and Art considered this concoction so radio friendly that they were shocked when Clive Davis, then president of Columbia Records, informed them that instead their new album’s debut single would be Bridge Over Troubled Water. Having that massive hit behind them was a smart move, as the duo’s follow-up showed that they still had a somewhat lighter side musically in their repertoire. Even so, it was much more densely written and designed than your standard summer song, while daring you not to move along with it. Clive was right, in this case.
• Vanity Fare: Hitchin’ a Ride
I first thought this was Spanky and Our Gang, or maybe The Cowsills. While I erred, I was right in seeing how catchy this was from its opening lyrics:
“A thumb goes up, A car goes by…”
…to its thumping beat. An all-male quintet from the United Kingdom, Vanity Fare previously scored with Early in the Morning on both sides of the Atlantic. The latter charted higher in the UK than this but vice versa in America. The group had only one US chart entry thereafter and barely so, at number 98 with (I Remember) Summer Morning. We remember Hitchin’ a Ride much better.
• Blues Image: Ride Captain Ride
What a mesmerizing keyboard intro. And what smoking guitar riffs in the middle and end too. Ride Captain Ride is as much a testament to the work of producer Richard Polodor as to Blues Image, as Polodor effortlessly shifted sounds up front throughout the record including vocals yet made it all flow smoothly. The result was a distinctive mood for a story song that also worked well as a midrange rocker. Blues Image was basically a one-hit wonder band (their follow-up Gas Lamps and Clay was their other chart entry, peaking at 81), but this hit was a wonder indeed.
• Freda Payne: Band of Gold
Who could’ve thought that you could get a funky crowd pleaser with a song about male impotence? Freda Payne didn’t at first. She couldn’t understand why a couple wasn’t having sex for whatever reason (the lyrics imply the man was at fault, but some disagree with that interpretation). She put her qualms aside and delivered a vocal as confident as Dennis Coffey’s electric sitar and Ray Parker’s lead guitar – on the same record – along with soaring strings and a pounding drumbeat. This was even bigger in the UK, where it topped the chart for six weeks.
• Alive & Kicking: Tighter, Tighter
Setting the stage for a lot of soft rock that followed, Tighter, Tighter came across as a mellow version of Tommy James and the Shondells until its rocking finish. That’s not surprising when you know that James co-wrote and co-produced this song. The back-and-forth verses between lead singers Pepe Cardona and Sandy Toder gave both male and female listeners an opportunity to sing along with their genders if desired, a great selling point for any song. The group was no longer alive and kicking a year or so after this hit but reformed a few years later.
• Stevie Wonder: Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours
In his stellar career, this one ranks among Stevie’s best. Exuding excellence at every moment from every musician involved, it’s a banger that’s cleverly written and superbly produced by just Stevie himself. The success of this record was a statement to Motown that Wonder could and should handle his recordings. The result was a string of some of the best pop music of the 1970s and 1980s. As was the contradictory nature of hits in the summer of 1970, this peaked at number three behind two sedate songs, Make It With You by Bread and Close to You by the Carpenters.
• The Jackson Five: The Love You Save
The third Motown release in a row for the quintet from Gary, Indiana resulted in the third consecutive chart topper for these gentlemen. Unlike their fellow Motown act Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five at this point relied a lot on the label’s writers and producers, who understood how to make this “bubblegum soul” stick rather than be sticky. This record’s progress on the Hot 100 showed the Five had staying power. It was highest debut on the May 30 chart, coming on at number 45, the biggest mover the following week to number 15, then 10 and finally, Number One.
• Mungo Jerry: In the Summertime
Well, here’s an obvious choice if there ever was one for a summer song. A little surprisingly, it peaked on Sept. 12, the week after Labor Day. But it did move into the top 40 by late July and got plenty of airplay thereafter to propel it into the top 10. It’s an easygoing tune performed with gusto along with whistles and the sound of an engine revving up. This was a worldwide smash that went to number one in most countries except the United States, where it peaked at number three. Nevertheless, most American oldies stations still play it, and not just during summertime.
If you think I missed any other deserving nominees, list them below along with your vote for The Top three of 1970.
We’ll have another installment. profiling another year, next week!
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For me, summer in 1970 is primarily about soul.
I think I’d put “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” at the top, followed by “Band of Gold.” “Love You Save” is great, but I would swap it out with “ABC.”
And then I’d put some Delfonics (either “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time” or “Tryin To Make a Fool Out of Me”) and Sly (“Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again”).
But quirky white dudes have their place too. “In the Summertime” is definitely up there, as are “Spirit In the Sky” and War’s “Spill the Wine.” Not to mention “Lola” by The Kinks. Not as summery as some except in its sound…and its mention of a cold refreshing beverage that’s nice in the summer heat.
Upvotes for “Spirit In The Sky” and “Spill The Wine”. Two others that I remember – “Get Ready” by Rare Earth and The Pipkin’s “Gimme Dat Ding”, which are not really summer songs per se but they were ubiquitous that year.
Stevie is my favourite here, but the song that sounds most like the summer of 1970 has to be:
1 Mungo Jerry: In the Summertime2 Stevie Wonder: Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours3 Edwin Starr: War
And Stevie gives me another excuse to mention Summer of Soul, that fantastic documentary about the Harlem music festival in 1969. His performance is wonderful, as is everything else about that brilliant movie. If you haven’t seen it yet, make it so!
3 . The Love You Save
2 . Signed, Sealed, Delivered
1 . Ride Captain Ride
Summer Song Wild Card: Mama Told Me Not To Come
Not A Summer Song, But You Still Heard It All Summer: Spirit In The Sky
I realize that everyone of every age has “that year,” the one where they became aware of the power and glory that is popular music.
Mine was 1969. In the spring of that year, I had finally saved enough from my paper route to buy something totally unnecessary. By pure chance, I saw an AM clock radio in a store window, and impulsively plunked down an outrageous $11.99, and walked home. After supper, I plugged it in, and as they say, the rest is {my personal} history.
The records of ’69, and those of 1970 still wash over me to this day, with a unique flood of memories that is very hard to put into words.
I’m sure that emergent adolescence has lot to do with one’s choice of “your year.” Sure, now and then, we’ve had dead spells on the charts. But I realize that it’s completely illogical to think that any one 12-month period was substantially better than any other.
“My Music Is Better Than Yours. Nyah.”
Well, in reality: I may like mine more than yours, but to be objective, it’s probably different, but not necessarily better.
That said, when I look at my list, (in this case, deferring to Ozmoe’s article topic of 1970) the endorphins are released like a Level-Six breach at Hoover Dam:
Yikes:
https://www.google.com/search?q=top+songs+of+1970
I think my year is 1993.
Love “If I Had No Loot”. Thought it was Stevie Wonder.
I really don’t know if I had “that” year. My sister was five years older than me, and she was interested in music very early on. So, I was just always around it. I do remember the very first record that I bought with my own money. “Riders on the Storm.” Yes, I was a tiny bit morbid from a very young age.
Quite the mix.
1. Stevie – Signed, Sealed, Delivered
2. Freda – Band of Gold
3. Jackson 5 – The Love You Save
Cecilia almost made it and Edwin Starr’s War is probably my favourite but shouting “WAR – Huh” doesn’t shout summer to me.
In the UK it was slim pickings at the top. Mungo Jerry for 7 weeks followed by Elvis; The Wonder of You for 6. I can only be thankful I was yet to exist. Its even more of a travesty in they condemned both All Right Now by Free and Lola by The Kinks to #2 peaks over that summer.
As for as Mungo Jerry goes, it resides in the category; please make it stop. Fair to say the lyrics haven’t aged well. Have a drink, have a drive – speed along the lane. What could possibly go wrong? And while your speeding along high on the intoxicating powers of an ice cold beer or two, make sure to keep your eyes on the ladies and not on the road. If your luck is in you could be getting down and dirty in a lay by before the night is through. Mungo, you old romantic!
Mother of God you’ve captured my feelings about Mungo Jerry, JJ! THANK YOU.
A lazy person would vote “In the Summertime” the summer song because of it’s title, but every time I listen to it I feel it should be categorized with “I’m Having Your Baby” and “The Streak” instead.
I’ve always looked at “In The Summertime” as a tongue in cheek goof of how heat humidity can make you say and do stupid things. 🙃
“Mungo only pawn in game of life.”
(I know, it’s “Mongo”, not “Mungo.” Poetic license?)
1) The Love You Save-Jackson 5: I’m evaluating MJ’s musical output in a vacuum. His personal life doesn’t change the fact that “The Love You Save” is the most infectious, and perhaps, underrated, of all of The Jackson Five number ones.
2) Hitchin’ A Ride-Vanity Fair: Not alive yet in 1970, but still applicable to the part of the seventies when I was, not just alive, but cognizant of being alive. It would probably be unwise to hitch a ride in the 21st century, which is a shame.
3) Band of Gold-Freda Payne: Doesn’t seem right leaving Stevie Wonder off the list, but I’m employing the criteria of a summer song. “Band of Gold” sounds more summer-specific than “Signed, Sealed, and Delivered”, which would beat out “Band of Gold” in the remaining three seasons.
Oh man, “In The Summertime” is total Summer Song Hall of Fame level. All time gold standard.
Then I’d go Signed Sealed Delivered, with Band of Gold at #3.
Although the chorus of Cecilia is a doozy of a singalong!
1970 summer memories include arriving early for a Little League baseball game just to listen to the songs my friend would crank out over the loudspeaker before everyone else showed up.
1) “Hitchin’ A Ride”
2) “Band Of Gold”
3) “In The Summertime”
Wow, what a list. The only dog is “In the Summertime.” (“If her daddy’s rich, take her out for a meal, if her daddy’s poor, just do what you feel” is one of the worst lyrics ever.)
Otherwise, it’s really hard to choose, as I like all of these songs about equally. But choose we must:
3) Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours
2) Band of Gold
1) Ride, Captain, Ride
Tighter, Tighter is soclose to making the list, but Stevie triumphed. And the Jackson 5 and Simon and Garfunkel weren’t far behind. I like “Hitchin’ a Ride” a lot, but it doesn’t connote summer song to me.
Meal? Really? Then I’ve been mishearing it for decades. I always thought it was “mill” as in milling around aimlessly. That doesn’t make much sense either but I kinda like it better.
Still, it’s one of my favorites here, as a relaxed groove seems perfect for hot weather. Plus, points for the massive muttonchops.
It is indeed meal. Cringe and yuck. I can handle the Lay-by lyric but doing what you feel is just icky.
I thought I had an easy top three nailed down, but then as kept reading I went to a top four, then five, then six… too much good stuff to choose from! I wouldn’t be born until the following winter, but most of these songs were on Casey Kasem’s premiere episode of AT40 which I’ve listened to waaaay too many times, so they’re like old friends to me by now.
Anyhoo, here’s my final ranking (for the moment):
1. The Love You Save
2. Cecelia
3. Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Not necessarily my favorites in order, but as summer songs,
But, damn, it was hard. Some great songs there.
1. Stevie (duh!)
2. Simon and Garfunkel
3. Jackson Five
Ozmoe, your the best. The summer of 1970 I had returned from my venture to a college 2,000 Miles away and I couldn’t wait to inform my friends of all my adventures int his new found place.
But, as many of you know, basically, no one wanted to hear of it.
They were all atwitter about who was marrying whom and who had ditched whom and all the trivia about small town America. (It’s hard to think of my town as small, it had a population of thirty thousand at the time) as we had access to Boston (Ninety miles to the East) and New York ( 120 miles to the West). So we we thought we were a part of what would become the I-90 Pipeline.
I had discovered the fellowship of the Black athletes we had on campus and had been accepted into the brotherhood on the basis of having (in their terms) “the best bitchin’ collection of soul music on campus!”. I’ve written on Tom’s cite about how they would borrow my albums to play in their dorm rooms and write to their girlfriend using the lyrics of the Temptations or the Four Tops to ensure their girl back home in Cleveland or Detroit or Texas that they either still loved them or beg their forgiveness for a transgression.
So, for my song of the summer of 1970, I give you Tyrone Davis and “Turn Back the Hands of Time”.
It peaked at #3 on the Billboard chart in the summer of ’70 and it has won me a ton of free beer in “oldies contests” at bars.
And some nights, when it’s “Tossing and Turning” time, I often wonder if I could, indeed, turn back the hands of time.