I just went back into my online buffer and listened to a few tunes I wasn't familiar with:
#39 “I AM SOMEBODY, PART II” – Johnnie Taylor - Great socially conscious soul
#36 “GOD, LOVE & ROCK & ROLL” – Teegarden & Van Winkle
#32 “AS THE YEARS GO BY” – Mashmakhan - this one is interesting, it's infused w a definite and insistent polka feel for most of it (the chirpy organ, the sing-songy sound) and I hear Eastern European influences, too. Then it gets pretty rocking with a riff to give the kids something heavier to ponder musically. And speaking of something heavy, the lyrics are really good & insightful. An excerpt:
Now you're asking me if I love you
And it really means will I marry you
And I answer yes I love you
But it really means that I won't be untrue
how true! oh, the game we play.
#30 “5-10-15-20 (25-30 YEARS OF LOVE)” – Presidents - liked this one, too.
#29 “LOOK WHAT THEY’VE DONE TO MY SONG MA” – New Seekers - I do know this one, of course. The honky tonk piano, the French Edith Piaf-y section, and that annoying hook, make me realize why this was on the way out this week -- although I don't know how high it charted.
------------------
there are a few others, but I have to write this while I can recall it:
Casey intros Bread's "It Don't Matter To Me" by saying some interesting things:
"This is probably the most non-uptight love song in the countdown... the singer's attitude toward the girl is totally non-possessive, really loose... " (he must be referring to "As The Years Go By" by Mashmakhan.
Free love, baby!