The Gret Seventies coutdown, week 14

"I have two announcements," the host says.  "One good, one not so much.  The good one is that, as we speak, the Great Eighties countdown is in development."  He pauses for applause...  "The second, some idiot on our staff thought that "70" came after 70... as a result, you'll see some of the numbers looking eerily familiar this week.  The song list hasn't changed though, so just go back and add 10 (update: Make that 11... sigh...) to every number before today and we'll all be all right.  (Pauses for boos...)  And now, on with the show."

81- They Just Can't Stop It (AKA Games People Play), The Spinners, 1975, #5. I meantioned last week about my take on this band- they just do feel-good music.

80- After The Gold Rush, Prelude, 1974, #22.  An A Cappella version of a Neil Young classic.



79- Show Me The Way, Peter Frampton, 1976, #6. You that lived that summer, lived this song.  You that came later, hear a chunk of our lives.

78- Tracks Of My Tears, Linda Ronstadt, 1975, #25.  I've said before on Time Machine, I fail to understand how the buying public dumped on both this and Smokey's original so bad.  "Take a good look at my face..."

77- Breakaway, Art Garfunkel, 1975, #39.  One of my "chillin' with Ron Gregory at night" songs.  "I see the distant lights out on the runway... disappear into the evening sky... Oh. you know I'm with you on your journey... never can say goodbye..."

76-  Jackie Blue, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, 1975, #3.  One of my favorite verses of any song gets edited out of the single:  "Making love is like sifting through sand/ ooh Jackie, it slips through your hands/ Every day in your indigo eyes/ I see the sunset, but I don't see it rise/ Moonlight and stars in your strawberry wine/ you'll take the world but you won't take the time..."

75- The City Of New Orleans, Arlo Guthrie, 1972, #18.  Pretty high placement for someone who hates getting stuck by trains as much as I do.  Fact- Arlo never rode the train in question until 2005!

74- Miss You, Rolling Stones, 1978, #1.  This song re-made the Stones a force for the next decade.  My best karaoke tune.

73- Ariel, Dean Friedman, 1977, #26.  I saw this on King's Dpt. Store's top twenty list, but it never played here (Probably that "I said, "hi", she said, "Yeah, I guess I am" line).  I heard it yeeeeeeaaaars later and fell in love.



72- I Saw The Light, Todd Rundgren, 1972, #16.  Todd may be a bit odd, but he wrote three of the best songs of all time- Love Is The Answer, Hello It's Me (which will come up... eventually...) and this one.

71- The Way That I Want To Touch You, the Captain and Tennille, 1975, #4.  There was just something in the way this song was recorded that touched me.  Never have been able to explain it.

70-  Then Came You, Dionne Warwick and the Spinners, 1974, #1.  Together?  Are you serious?!  Hard to believe this was Dionne's first #1.

69- Who Loves You?, The Four Seasons, 1975, #3.  Another "nights with Ron Gregory on WOWO" song.  You know me and the Seasons.

68- Heat Wave, Linda Ronstadt, 1975, #5.  And by now, you know me and Linda.

67- What's Going On, Marvin Gaye, 1970, #2.  Berry Gordy's take on Marvin doing songs like this leads me to question his sanity.  One of the most powerful songs of all time.

66- Changes In Latitude, Changes In Attitude, Jimmy Buffett, 1977, #37.  I had a friend who was a parrothead, and one of the coolest people I ever met.  He died much too young, and was buried in a Harley -Davidson t that said Never Forget, with a sonogram of his soon-to-be-born first child on his chest.  For years, I never passed a barroom jukebox without playing this song and drinking one for him.



65- The Grooveline, Heatwave, 1978, #7. I pretty much told this song's story last week, in it's rivalry with Player's This Time I'm In It For Love on my charts.

64- I'm Just A Singer In A Rock'nRoll Band, Moody Blues, 1973, #12. "A thousand pictures can be drawn from one word/Only who is the artist,We got to agree/A thousand miles can lead so many ways/
Just to know who is driving,What a help it would be/So if you want this world of yours to turn about you/And you can see exactly what to do, please tell me..."

63- Roundabout, Yes, 1971, #13.  Just a day at the lake...

62- Fly Away, John Denver with Olivia Newton-John, 1975, #13.  You should check out the Fly Away story here if you haven't heard it already.  You'll have to scroll down a ways, but well worth it.

61- Too Late To Turn Back Now, Corneilius Brothers and Sister Rose, 1972, #2.  I'd love this song if there was NO vocal.

"And so- and I hesitate to add, at last,"  The host says, "We are finally on the right number.  As I've said before, NEXT WEEK we'll be into the top fifty.  For now, though, here is a little something to glide home on..."