The Bangles are playing on the mood music as the crowd murmurs and waits for the host. Just as they sing "Time goes by so fast... when you're having fun..." the host makes his appearance. "Merry Christmas to all of you," he begins, "and thank you for coming to our show."
260- The Rockford Files, Mike Post, 1975, #10. A great tune, a great show. I used to sit up late and tune in the fuzzy picture out of channel 50 in Detroit to watch reruns.
259- Brother Louie, the Stories, 1973, #1. A powerful tune, of which I learned 2 things this morning. #1, the keyboardist for the Stories was Michael Brown of Left Banke (Walk Away Renee); #2 was the song was a cover of a Hot Chocolate song that went #1 in the UK.
258- Go All The Way, Raspberries, 1972, #5. Eric Carmen before he went all morose.
257- Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, Crosby Stills and Nash, 1970, #21. A song I got out of the stack of old jukebox records that Bill Riley was selling at the Zulu store. Had Long Time Gone on the flip side. Prompted me to buy So Far, which really got me into them- if not their politics.
256- Sail On, Commodores, 1979, #4. Oddly enough, I like most of America, had the follow up single, Still, at #1 but not this- and yet, this is the song that more endured.
255- Delta Dawn, Helen Reddy, 1973, #1. I mused a while back that, in a world of perfect mental health, Helen would have lost three big hits- this one, Ruby Red Dress, and Angie Baby. All her heroines were nuts- and no jokes about I Am Woman at this point!
254- El Dorado, Electric Light Orchestra, 1974, b-side of Boy Blue (USA) and Wild West Hero (UK), non-charting. The title cut of one of the best integrated pieces of music I own, it is the end of the dream- and trying to get back there. This was the song fundementalist groups claimed Jeff Lynne recorded satanic messages on backwards- which pissed him off enough that he DID put backwards messages on Face The Music. If you're playing records backwards to see if there's something there, you have WAY too much time on your hands.
253- Sad Eyes, Robert John, 1979, #1. Wow, three #1s already today! I remember the first time we heard this (on Kasey Casem's American Top 40), we said this should hit #1 if people had any taste. It had debuted at 36 and the next week it moved only 2 notches. When we didn't hear it in the 30's or 20's, we figured the American public had went and let us down again. Then it played at #19, and the rest was history.
252- We May Never Pass This Way Again, Seals And Crofts, 1973, #21. The perrenial graduation song is one of those that has grown on me over the years- in five years, this might rank even higher on my list.
251- One Of A Kind Love Affair, The Spinners, 1972, #11. For me, about everything by the Spinners should have hit #1.
250- Never Gonna Fall In Love Again, Eric Carmen, 1976, #11. And here's "the morose" Eric Carmen, trying to see how many hits at #11 in a row we can get. Forever linked in my mind with contemporary Fooled Around And Fell In Love, due to seeing them both in Dick Clark's American Bandstand top 10 one sunny day.
249- Love Hangover, Diana Ross, 1976, #1. Bizarre for the times, still a great dance hit.
248- Almost Cut My Hair, Crosby, Stills, Nash, And Young, 1970, Unreleased. A great tune from Deja Vu, David Crosby at his best- "But I'm not giving in an inch to fear/ 'Cause I promised myself this year... And I feel... like I owe it... to someone..."
247- Clap For The Wolfman, the Guess Who, 1974, #6. Wolfman Jack was everywhere in the mid seventies, but this was the best of his cameoes. 7th top ten in the US, 16th in Canada. You guys up north always did have better music, eh?
246- Hypnotized, Fleetwood Mac, 1973, B-side of For Your Love, Non charting. Pre- Nicks and Buckinham, with Bob Welch singing lead. From Mystery To Me, the Mac at their dreamy best.
245- Lukenbach, Texas (Back To The Basics Of Love), Waylon Jennings, #25 (six weeks at #1 on the country charts). The News-Sentinel used to put the top tens down every Saturday, and I remember how long it stayed at the top of the country charts. I actually listened to country (a rarity for me) to hear this song, the first time I'd done that ( and certainly the only time on a non-Rosanne Cash tune). And I loved Willie Nelson at the end.
244- Brandy, Looking Glass, 1972, #1. One of those songs everyone loves- and that's what made it a one-hit wonder, as Looking Glass was generally much less pop.
243- Turn To Stone, Joe Walsh, 1975, #93. Let me just say, I love Joe Walsh, whether solo, James Gang, or Eagles. One of his best solo tunes.
242- The Night Chicago Died, Paper Lace, 1974, #1. Another song that everybody immediately loved. Except the "get the story right" crowd, I suppose. Would have been a two-hit wonder, but Bo Donaldson's cover of their Billy Don't Be A Hero charted first and higher.
241- Here Come Those Tears Again, Jackson Browne, 1977, #23. This one, and not Doctor My Eyes, made me a JB fan.
And with that, the lights come up on another performance. "Go home and treat your families to the best of you this Christmas," the host tells them. "Be the present they want."
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