Casey Kasem American Top 40

[RGMike]

Yeepers -- WOS2 Donny & Marie, whose remake of "Morning Side of the Mountain" mighta worked in 1962 (it's produced as if it were) but in 1975... notsomuch.  They make Paul & Odia's equally old-school duet on "One Man Woman" sound positively rockin' in comparison.

Speakin' of rockin': I'd forgotten that the Woofa Toofa Goofa Loofa's "Must Of Got Lost" got as high as #12.  BOS3. And the WOS3's in the cradle.

VHM Barry M, turning "Brandy" to "Mandy" and sounding pretty dandy for a pansy. And I was about to WOS the Carpenters' ultra-white version of "Please Mr Postman", but then I remembered that cheezy promo clip of Karen singing the song in a '50s malt-shop setting and it made me smile. Gotta find that on the YouTubes.

[RGMike]

Take me down, Jimmy!  uber-BOS4 "Junior's Farm", still Macca's best single evah.

[Tinka Cat]

DUUUUDE! "Freeeebiiiiiirrrrrd"!  Well, at least it ain't "Sweet Home Alabummer".  We know how I feel about overplayed Skynyrd, and lawd knows ah cain't change.

But lawd, Love Unltd's "I Belong To You" is a great lost gem. BOS1.

I love it when Casey gives one of his "this song is gonna be big" intros to a chart disappointment -- he did it earlier with Billy Preston's "Struttin'", which only got to #22, and now he does it with Billy "Crash" Craddock's "Ruby Baby" remake, which unbeknownst to Casey will stall out at #33.

yeah, I always like the AT40!  Thanks to my East Coast jet lag biorhythms, I was up early enough to check out the Chico play.

I got a kick out of hearing Freebird in this context.  I never realized (or cared) that it charted, so it was a recontextualization I enjoyed. And the edit job wasn't nearly as horrible as I imagined it was going to be. 
 
EJ's LSD is a great cover IMHO.  I recall discussing this with my older cooler brother back in the day.  Jethro Tull's Bunghole in the Junkhole is a fave, too.

Harry Chapin WOS?  No way, dude!  I understand you think it's manipulative and treachly, but .. but .. ok, it's all that, but I don't find it as bad as Donny and Marie, whose chiffon was all too wet with vanilla flavored sweat.

[Gazoo]

I'm now hearing the tail end of Casey's countdown of this week in 1987, with Glass Tiger's forgotten "Someday" at #12 and some fun latter-day funk-rock from Kool & the Gang with the even more forgotten "Victory" at #11.  Anyone else remember Nancy Martinez?

[RGMike]

Yay! This week Casey goes to Jan 8th 1972!

#40 “THEME FROM SUMMER OF 42” – Peter Nero
#39 “SUPERSTAR (REMEMBER HOW YOU GOT WHERE YOU ARE)” – The Temptations
#38 “MAKE ME THE WOMAN THAT YOU GO HOME TO” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
#37 “THAT’S THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT CHA” – Bobby Womack
#36 “STONES” – Neil Diamond
#35 “LEVON” – Elton John
#34 “BABY I’M A-WANT YOU” – Bread
#33 “GEORGE JACKSON” – Bob Dylan
#32 “WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO” – Donnie Elbert
#31 “THEME FROM SHAFT” – Isaac Hayes
#30 “WHITE LIES, BLUE EYES” – Bullet
#29 “THE WITCH QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS” – Redbone
#28 “AMERICAN TRILOGY” – Mickey Newbury
#27 “KISS AN ANGEL GOOD MORNING” – Charley Pride
#26 “ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND” – Think
#25 “IT’S ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS (YES LOVE)” – The Partridge Family
#24 “NEVER BEEN TO SPAIN” – Three Dog Night
#23 “ANTICIPATION” – Carly Simon
#22 “HEY BIG BROTHER” – Rare Earth
#21 “RESPECT YOURSELF” – The Staple Singers
#20 “ALL I EVER NEED IS YOU” – Sonny & Cher
#19 “HAVE YOU SEEN HER” – The Chi-Lites
#18 “AN OLD FASHIONED LOVE SONG” – Three Dog Night
#17 “DROWNING IN THE SEA OF LOVE” – Joe Simon
#16 “DAY AFTER DAY” – Badfinger
#15 “ONE MONKEY DON’T STOP NO SHOW” – Honey Cone
#14 “I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING (IN PERFECT HARMONY)” – The Hillside Singers
#13 “CLEAN UP WOMAN” – Betty Wright
#12 “SUGAR DADDY” – The Jackson Five
#11 “YOU ARE EVERYTHING” – The Stylistics
#10 “HEY GIRL” – Donny Osmond
#9 “CHERISH” – David Cassidy
#8 “I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING (IN PERFECT HARMONY)” – The New Seekers
#7 “SUNSHINE” – Jonathan Edwards
#6 “SCORPIO” – Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band
#5 “GOT TO BE THERE” – Michael Jackson
#4 “LET’S STAY TOGETHER” – Al Green
#3 “FAMILY AFFAIR” – Sly & The Family Stone
#2 “AMERICAN PIE” – Don McLean
#1 “BRAND NEW KEY” – Melanie

advance BOS to Dylan, gettin' political on "George Jackson". Tons o' great stuff there.

[SFGuy]

The 80's version is from January 19, 1980. At the beginning of the show, Casey thanked Mike Cleary of KNBR. I didn't know he ever guest hosted AT40. He seemed like a DJ who would do standards.

[Gazoo]

Yay! This week Casey goes to Jan 8th 1972!

Wow, this set is spectacularly good.  "Make Me the Woman You Go Home To" is a toppermost moment for GK&tP, and I've always had a thing for the Tempts' "Superstar," even as it rips off "Superfly" in its construction.

And things get a little easier once you get past that goofy Think song.

[Tinka Cat]

Yay! This week Casey goes to Jan 8th 1972!

Wow, this set is spectacularly good.  "Make Me the Woman You Go Home To" is a toppermost moment for GK&tP, and I've always had a thing for the Tempts' "Superstar," even as it rips off "Superfly" in its construction.

And things get a little easier once you get past that goofy Think song.

yes, good set.  I get up expecting my Canadian station to start the countdown at 9 AM my time, but it looks like they changed the sked.  (I use the radiotime.com site to find a station:  http://radiotime.com/options/p_117092/American_Top_40_-_The_70s.aspx)


 I jumped in for the third hour, and it;'s too bad I gave up sugar for my New Year's Resolution (not too successful so far), b/c there are some sugar pop nuggets coming atcha in this trio:

#12 “SUGAR DADDY” – The Jackson Five
#10 “HEY GIRL” – Donny Osmond
#9 “CHERISH” – David Cassidy

I'll have to listen to the whole thing on some other station.

[Gazoo]

The 80's version is from January 19, 1980. At the beginning of the show, Casey thanked Mike Cleary of KNBR. I didn't know he ever guest hosted AT40. He seemed like a DJ who would do standards.

I'm catching some of this tonight.  A few songs I haven't heard on the radio in many, many years: Dirt Band (no longer Nitty Gritty) with La Ronstadt on "An American Dream"; Anne Murray's "Daydream Believer" cover.  And a NTM Styx single: "Why Me," a cheezy follow-up to "Babe."

[RGMike]

Yay! This week Casey goes to Jan 8th 1972!

Wow, this set is spectacularly good.  "Make Me the Woman You Go Home To" is a toppermost moment for GK&tP, and I've always had a thing for the Tempts' "Superstar," even as it rips off "Superfly" in its construction.

And things get a little easier once you get past that goofy Think song.

I really needed this wonderful chart today. Agreed on the Gladys; a true lost gem. The Tempts tune actually pre-dates the Curtis M sndtk by 6 months, so who's rippin' who?  And I've dissed the Think song before, but it would actually be a good little record without that cringe-inducing heavy-handed finale.

Other highlights for me:

Bread's ode to discarded footwear, "Baby I'm a Wan Shoe"; Charley Pride; Carly's pre-ketchup "Anticipation"; a double dose of 3DN; Honey Cone's "Monkey" -- the "sookie-suck you" version!; and the J-5. Memo to Pop Staples: actually, I *don't* give a heck about the man with the bible in his hand. Kudos to David Cassidy; he gave WABC's Dan Ingram a chance to dust off one of his awfullest puns, first trotted out when the Association's version of "Cherish" was a hit: "chair-ish the word I use to describe... a chair!"

But the nicest surprise was the Carole King album cut from Music (which was the #1 LP) that Casey played as an extra. One of the most unfairly forgotten albums of that decade.  Oh, and the version of Dylan's "George Jackson" is not the one I remember; it must've been the B-side, because I clearly recall the A-side was a more-polished version of the song with a gospelly backing chorus.  Must find that on the YouTubes.

[Gazoo]

The Tempts tune actually pre-dates the Curtis M sndtk by 6 months, so who's rippin' who? 

Oh, whoops and wow!  Not Curtis's first time ganking a melody (see: "Can't Satisfy," which got him sued by HDH).

And that chair-ish pun cracks me up.

[Tinka Cat]

Yay! This week Casey goes to Jan 8th 1972!

Wow, this set is spectacularly good.  "Make Me the Woman You Go Home To" is a toppermost moment for GK&tP, and I've always had a thing for the Tempts' "Superstar," even as it rips off "Superfly" in its construction.

And things get a little easier once you get past that goofy Think song.

I really needed this wonderful chart today. Agreed on the Gladys; a true lost gem. The Tempts tune actually pre-dates the Curtis M sndtk by 6 months, so who's rippin' who?  And I've dissed the Think song before, but it would actually be a good little record without that cringe-inducing heavy-handed finale.

I suppose "Think" found an fairly receptive audience in the first edge of the Baby Boomer generation, whose kids started to hit adolescence right around this time.   "Oh my God, my 12 year old is experimenting with the pot! if only there was some sort of pop song that could help me think!"

[kahunaburger]

Yay! This week Casey goes to Jan 8th 1972!

Wow, this set is spectacularly good.  "Make Me the Woman You Go Home To" is a toppermost moment for GK&tP, and I've always had a thing for the Tempts' "Superstar," even as it rips off "Superfly" in its construction.

And things get a little easier once you get past that goofy Think song.

I really needed this wonderful chart today. Agreed on the Gladys; a true lost gem. The Tempts tune actually pre-dates the Curtis M sndtk by 6 months, so who's rippin' who?  And I've dissed the Think song before, but it would actually be a good little record without that cringe-inducing heavy-handed finale.

I suppose "Think" found an fairly receptive audience in the first edge of the Baby Boomer generation, whose kids started to hit adolescence right around this time.   "Oh my God, my 12 year old is experimenting with the pot! if only there was some sort of pop song that could help me think!"

  "Once You Understand" came out a few months after the equally bad "Desiderata" by Les Crane.   Conservatives striking back at the counter culture.

[kahunaburger]

Yay! This week Casey goes to Jan 8th 1972!

#40 “THEME FROM SUMMER OF 42” – Peter Nero
#39 “SUPERSTAR (REMEMBER HOW YOU GOT WHERE YOU ARE)” – The Temptations
#38 “MAKE ME THE WOMAN THAT YOU GO HOME TO” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
#37 “THAT’S THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT CHA” – Bobby Womack
#36 “STONES” – Neil Diamond
#35 “LEVON” – Elton John
#34 “BABY I’M A-WANT YOU” – Bread
#33 “GEORGE JACKSON” – Bob Dylan
#32 “WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO” – Donnie Elbert
#31 “THEME FROM SHAFT” – Isaac Hayes
#30 “WHITE LIES, BLUE EYES” – Bullet
#29 “THE WITCH QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS” – Redbone
#28 “AMERICAN TRILOGY” – Mickey Newbury
#27 “KISS AN ANGEL GOOD MORNING” – Charley Pride
#26 “ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND” – Think
#25 “IT’S ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS (YES LOVE)” – The Partridge Family
#24 “NEVER BEEN TO SPAIN” – Three Dog Night
#23 “ANTICIPATION” – Carly Simon
#22 “HEY BIG BROTHER” – Rare Earth
#21 “RESPECT YOURSELF” – The Staple Singers
#20 “ALL I EVER NEED IS YOU” – Sonny & Cher
#19 “HAVE YOU SEEN HER” – The Chi-Lites
#18 “AN OLD FASHIONED LOVE SONG” – Three Dog Night
#17 “DROWNING IN THE SEA OF LOVE” – Joe Simon
#16 “DAY AFTER DAY” – Badfinger
#15 “ONE MONKEY DON’T STOP NO SHOW” – Honey Cone
#14 “I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING (IN PERFECT HARMONY)” – The Hillside Singers
#13 “CLEAN UP WOMAN” – Betty Wright
#12 “SUGAR DADDY” – The Jackson Five
#11 “YOU ARE EVERYTHING” – The Stylistics
#10 “HEY GIRL” – Donny Osmond
#9 “CHERISH” – David Cassidy
#8 “I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING (IN PERFECT HARMONY)” – The New Seekers
#7 “SUNSHINE” – Jonathan Edwards
#6 “SCORPIO” – Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band
#5 “GOT TO BE THERE” – Michael Jackson
#4 “LET’S STAY TOGETHER” – Al Green
#3 “FAMILY AFFAIR” – Sly & The Family Stone
#2 “AMERICAN PIE” – Don McLean
#1 “BRAND NEW KEY” – Melanie

  alot of great soul tunes on this countdown. 

[Gazoo]

Barry Scott just played an early-'70s cover of Cymarron's "Rings" by none other than Lobo.  He didn't improve on the unjustly forgotten hit.