Today in Billboard Chart History - August 11

[Dawn]

Let's jump back a year from yesterday's post. This is how the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart looked on August 11, 1973.

10. Monster Mash – Bobby “Boris” Pickett
9. Uneasy Rider – Charlie Daniels Band
8. Yesterday Once More – Carpenters
7. Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
6. Smoke On the Water – Deep Purple
5. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown – Jim Croce
4. Touch Me in the Morning – Diana Ross
3. Brother Louie – Stories
2. Live and Let Die – Wings
1. The Morning After – Maureen McGovern

Any thoughts or memories of these songs?

[djdave]

SUPER chart! Was on my very first Europe trip at the time. The 2 surprises are at the top and bottom:
The immortal Halloween song at #10--in AUGUST!
And one of the 70's less likely #1 hits on top; a recent Oscar winner that's so nice! Would never be a #1 hit even after just 1982.

[lora]

10. Monster Mash is a holiday staple in my family. Every year, we play this around Halloween. It's a cute little novelty song.

8. This is one Carpenters' song that I don't know. I'm so ashamed...

7. This is one of those songs that if you don't like it, watch out, cuz you're likely to get beat up for it. People say it's a great song for getting in the mood, but I wouldn't know about that. It's alright, though.

5. Eck. This song is annoying.

4. That just sounds dirty. And Diana Ross' voice uttering those words makes it sound even dirtier.

Don't know the rest.

[SAT-I need more room!!]

10. Fun annual song. Surprised it was on the charts already at this point.

9. Still don't know this tune.

8. Nice song, not my fave from them.

7. Good song, but not his best from the 70's.

6. A hard rock classic, to be sure, but I am SO sick of it.

5. Ok song, not his best.

4. Eh, neither here nor there.

3. Classic tune, originally done by Hot Chocolate, I believe.

2. Classic Wings, but not his best number 1.

1. Not bad, not great.

[beatles4ever]

Awesome list there!I love "Live and Let Die"...both the song and the movie.

[Boogieman]

10. Monster Mash – Bobby “Boris” Pickett
Easily the best Halloween recurrent, with all due respect to "Thriller".

9. Uneasy Rider – Charlie Daniels Band
Can't remember it but I'm certain my Dad has this somewhere in his LP collection.

8. Yesterday Once More – Carpenters
Love the Carpenters but not this song.

7. Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
A true classic. Throw another log on the fire, pour a glass of wine and look longingly into her eyes while you slow dance to this amazing song.

6. Smoke On the Water – Deep Purple
One of the best opening guitar progressions in the rock era. Another legitimate classic.

5. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown – Jim Croce
Got in trouble for singing the "baddest man in the whole damn town" lyric in first grade. Oops!

4. Touch Me in the Morning – Diana Ross
Decent song for it's genre, I suppose.

3. Brother Louie – Stories
Yeah!!!! Another one of my alltime favorites. They could never duplicate their success after this number one.

2. Live and Let Die – Wings
Actually, liked Guns -N- Roses remake better than Sir Pauls original from the Bond film.

1. The Morning After – Maureen McGovern
Excellent voice but (YAWN)

[Cathy]

Great Billboard, Dawn.

10. Monster Mash – All I can see in my head are bright orange pumpkins carved with eyes, noses and smiling mouths. I have great Halloween memories from my childhood.
8. Yesterday Once More – Every Sha-la-la-la
Every Wo-o-wo-o
Still shines
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling
That they're startin' to sing's
So fine.
A big flashback of my childhood. I can see my older sisters listening to the song, singing it and crying at the same time( I always wondered why ). Now, every time I listen to it, I cry .
4. Touch Me in the Morning – I remember my only brother (RIP) was hooked with Diana and that was one song he loved.
1. The Morning After – Another one that makes me cry .

[Ken]

Super list:)

10. Dave mentioned it already but yeah top 10 in August - WOW! - A halloween fave! heard this many many times when I was little - I have the 45

9.I've always liked this - heard this courtesy of the fine people at Ktel - on the 22 Fantastic hits album .I also have this on cassette.


8. A fine ballad - remember hearing this often.

7.A fine tune for those "special moments" nobody sang like Marvin.

6.Probably THE most recognized guitar riff ever. What can you say? a classic and a big favorite in my house growing up.

5.Love it - we had the 45 - I just love Jim's music he was such an amazing talent . A sad loss to the music world.

4.Ok I guess

3.Excellent song - Their album About Us is an excellent pop / rock / power pop album.Woo Hoo I have both the CD and The LP and my brother bought it when it came out. Heard it alot at the time.

2.Oh Yeah! first heard this at my cousins house back in ' 73. My brother had the 45 as well. I love the Dynamics in the song just a killer track period!

1.I loved this when I was a kid - Maureen had a great
voice.

[H2IZCOOL]

Hey Dawn!!

Got some good songs here today.

Monster Mash - A great novelty classic --- from the early '60s! I remember it being revived in the '70s, but I can't for the life of me remember why! Even the title is '60s (from the Mashed Potato)

Uneasy Rider - One of Charlie's two huge story songs. It was funny how different parts of the country would bleep out selected parts of the song, and even delete whole verses.

Yesterday Once More - My fave by Karen and Richard. Makes a tear come to my eye. All time top 250.

Let's Get It On - The first song I think of if I think of Marvin. Great song.

Smoke On the Water - Great song from a great, underappreciated band.

Bad Bad Leroy Brown - A lot of people would consider this Jim's signature song. I don't agree. It was a good song, but there was hardly any difference between this one and his earlier You Don't Mess Around With Jim. IMO, it was AFTER Leroy Brown that Jim really started to show his potential.

Touch Me In the Morning - Eh... OK I guess.

Brother Louie - Good song about a very controversial subject - much more so back then than now. The cover by Hot Chocolate, I believe, proved too sharp for a mixed audience.

Live and Let Die - Paul with another winner. Very good song. - I even like the GNR cover.

The Morning After - Love this one! The Posiedon Adventure was a great suspense/adventure movie that featured this song. In the movie, I don't think it was Maureen who sang it, however. Carol Lynley played the part of the singer, and may have done her own singing. - Anybody know??

[Railyn]

H2IZCOOL said:

The Posiedon Adventure was a great suspense/adventure movie that featured this song. In the movie, I don't think it was Maureen who sang it, however. Carol Lynley played the part of the singer, and may have done her own singing. - Anybody know??

I own The Posiedon Adventure - I'm such a sucker for disaster movies - except for Airport '77 (I think it was that year) - that one creeped me out too bad! I have this immense fear of drowning (watched a kid drown when I was 4 - they eventually managed to revive him), and the plane crash was bad enough without having to go underwater.......

Anyway, the credits are very vague. It credits Maureen McGovern with the theme song, but doesn't say whether it's her or Carol singing at the party. I think it was Maureen (it sounds like her) and they used a different recording of the song to make it sound more casual, I guess.

Anyway, I was technically around on this date, but hadn't been introduced to the world yet....

10) This charted at this late date? I thought this was a 60's song.
9) I'm sure this is on one of my husband's cd's - we're going to see him again in a little over a month.
8) I respect the talent, but the song is too sappy for me.
7) LOVE Marvin. This is a great one!
6) Huh. I thought this one was earlier too.
5) Like this song. Not as well as some of his others, but it's good.
4) No thanks.
3) This one's ok. A bit daring for it's day.
2) Love both the song and the movie.
1) Love the movie, but let's face it - it's a disaster movie theme song - and sounds just like that.

[kathyb]

Monster Mash--Great Halloween song, even today. Still gets a lot of airplay. What's it doing on the chart in August?

Uneasy Rider--Ok, I can't remember word for word, but there's a line or two in the song describing all the people that walk in the bar. It ends up being 5 or 6 altogether. Later on in the song, when they're getting ready to beat up the "storyteller", he says something about "there's 3 of them and only one of me." Huh? What happened to the rest of the people? Did I miss something somewhere? Anyway, that's always bugged me. LOL!

Yesterday Once More--Aww...such a nice, nostalgic song. I always thought this would make a good theme song for Yesterdayland.

Let's Get it On--Never was a big fan of Marvin Gaye. This song was kinda overplayed.

Smoke on the Water--Cool song. I like it a lot.

Bad Bad Leroy Brown--Jim Croce was an amazing talent that the world lost too soon. This was a good song from him.

Touch Me in the Morning--Not bad for being a Diana Ross song. ;D

Brother Louie--Absolutely loved this song back in the day. I actually found an old cassette tape of mine not too long ago that I made years ago. Brother Louie was on it. I HAD to toss it in the ol' cassette deck and listen to it again. Brought back lots of memories.

Live and Let Die--Not bad. Also like Guns N Roses version.

The Morning After--It was ok the first 850 times I heard it.

[55dodger]

Hi Dawn - Summer of '73 was a great summer. I'd just graduated from high school, working at night, waiting to enter the Air Force. Good stuff on this chart.

10. Monster Mash - Unusual to see this song this high in the charts in August, but a rerelease of a great novelty song.

9. Uneasy Rider - Funny song, not indicative at all of what Charlie Daniels would do later on. Good, fun song though.

8. Yesterday Once More - Another anthem to the days gone by. A favorite of mine from Karen & Richard.

7. Let's Get it On - Didn't like this one. Marvin Gaye did a lot better stuff.

6. Smoke of the Water - A rock classic from Deep Purple. One of my all-time favorites.

5. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown - Jim Croce had a good run singing about tough guys. Good song.

4. Touch Me in the Morning - Probably my favorite song from Diana's solo career.

3. Brother Louie - Another group who could never duplicate their debut success. Good song, wish they would have done more.

2. Live & Let Die - Good song, good movie. Academy Award nominee.

1. The Morning After - Another Academy Award nominee, I think this one got the award, can't remember though. Good song, better movie.

[smittykins--70s pop RULES!]

As usual, I'm jumping in a little late here, but what the hey!

Monster Mash--Classic Halloween-time novelty tune

Uneasy Rider--My favorite verse: "I'm a faithful follower of Brother John Birch/and I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church/And I ain't even got a garage! You can call home and ask my wife!"

Yesterday Once More--Nice nostalgic tune, unfortunately overlooked

Let's Get It On--OK, no subtlety here! ;D

Smoke On The Water--Couldn't get away from this one on the radio in '73. Love its use in the Nissan Murano(sp?)commercial.

Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown--one of Jim Croce's classic "character songs." BTW, my other half does a mean version of this one on the sax!

Touch Me in the Morning--Not one of my absolute faves by Diana, but OK nonetheless. The line "We don't have tomorrow/But we had yesterday" used to confuse the daylights out of me before I realized what she meant.

Brother Louie--Good song on a controversal subject. I used to get this one mixed up with "Louie Louie" when I was little.

Live And Let Die--one of my faves by Paul & Co.

The Morning After--I've always liked this one. Anyone remember Maureen's brief role as the guitar-playing nun on "Airplane!" ?

[Dawn]

DJ said:

SUPER chart! Was on my very first Europe trip at the time. The 2 surprises are at the top and bottom:
The immortal Halloween song at #10--in AUGUST!
And one of the 70's less likely #1 hits on top; a recent Oscar winner that's so nice! Would never be a #1 hit even after just 1982.

Europe - that's great! I've never been there myself, but hope to do the Beatles tour in England in a few years.

That was a surprise to see 'Monster Mash' in the top 10 at that time of year! And I agree, 'The Morning After' probably wouldn't do nearly as well nowadays. I like to sing along with that one - I can match Maureen pretty well.

[Dawn]

Lora-Bette's said:

10. Monster Mash is a holiday staple in my family. Every year, we play this around Halloween. It's a cute little novelty song.

8. This is one Carpenters' song that I don't know. I'm so ashamed...

7. This is one of those songs that if you don't like it, watch out, cuz you're likely to get beat up for it. People say it's a great song for getting in the mood, but I wouldn't know about that. It's alright, though.

5. Eck. This song is annoying.

4. That just sounds dirty. And Diana Ross' voice uttering those words makes it sound even dirtier.

Don't know the rest.

'Yesterday Once More' is probably one of their least-played songs on the radio today. It's really nicely done, with wonderful lyrics. Here is the link to a clip of it: www.mymusic.com/product.asp?curr=0&myptr=addany&muzenbr=88462.