This was the week WPIX in NYC added the Top 40 Countdown.
I remember it vividly -- I'd always been a local chart geek, keeping lists of WMCA and WABC's weekly countdowns. I knew Billboard existed but had never actually seen a copy. The idea of a weekly national chart show blew my mind, and I was glued to the radio that Sunday morning. I am *so* looking forward to this.
I've mentioned before that in those days, Casey played a (non-45) cut from the #1 LP every week, and that feature seems to have disappeared from these replays. I recall hearing several deep tracks from
JC Superstar, for example. He'd stopped doing it by the end of '71.
Yeah, the "Lt Calley" thing is godawful -- but it went gold despite only spending a couple weeks in the lower part of the 40. The "silent majority" bought lots of copies, I guess. But thrilled to see Fuzz in there, as well as Brenda & the Tabulations ("didn't you KNOW?? Couldn't you SEE IT??") and that fab Chi-Lites hit -- one of TWO songs with the phrase "Power to the People" in the title that week! Ah, the '70s...
ETA: I note this is one of the rare charts from that period that doesn't feature a James Brown single. But Smokey's "I Don't Blame You at All" is one of my fave lesser-known Miracles hits.
