Today in Billboard Chart History - August 11

[Dawn]

SAT-The said:

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.

'Uneasy Rider' is great, but very different from most of his other singles. Here's the link to a clip: www.mymusic.com/product.asp?curr=0&myptr=addany&muzenbr=446462.

You're right about Hot Chocolate recording 'Brother Louie' first. I checked out a clip of their version not long ago, and it's good, but the Stories' version is outstanding!

[Dawn]

beatles4ever said:

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

Thanks, beatles4! I've never seen the movie, but I agree, the title track is great!

[Dawn]

Boogieman said:

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)

'Smoke On the Water' is definitely one of the great classic rock songs of all time. That opening riff is incredible!

LOL about 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown'!

'Brother Louie' is one of my all-time favorites also. I remember I didn't hear it at all from late 1973 until June 1987, when I was on a trip to Massachusetts. I heard it on one of the local stations, and did it ever bring back the memories! I remember I had the 45 special-ordered not long after I got home from the trip.

[Dawn]

Cathy63 said:

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 .

Thanks, Cathy.

I love those lyrics to 'Yesterday Once More', and can really relate to them more and more as I grow older. There is kind of a sad quality to it, I agree.

I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your brother. I've always liked 'Touch Me in the Morning' also - that's one I remember well from my childhood days.

[Dawn]

KenFrank said:

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.

I agree about 'Let's Get It On' - Marvin's voice is in top form on it. Very nicely done.

The first time I remember hearing 'Smoke On the Water' was at a carnival in the summer of '73. I remember it was blasting out of a loudspeaker near one of the rides. I was very young, not quite 5 years old, but I was absolutely taken with that song that day! Great song!

I'd like to get a copy of About Us one of these days! I haven't heard many of their songs, but the ones I have heard have been outstanding!

[Dawn]

H2IZCOOL said:

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??

Hey H2!

I can't understand why radio stations don't play 'Yesterday Once More' more often. It's beautifully written and performed.

That's a good point about the two Jim Croce songs - they are similar in a number of ways. Like you, I think Jim's very best work came afterward, with classics such as 'I Got a Name' and 'Time in a Bottle'.

I checked out a website about The Poseidon Adventure, and you are right, Carol Lynley did sing it in the movie.

[Dawn]

Railyn said:

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.

That's great about your seeing Charlie Daniels in concert soon! He's a really gifted performer.

I agree about 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' - it's good, but as I mentioned to H2, not his very best work.

I remember reading that the lyrics to 'Brother Louie' caused quite a stir back then! I think that must have been one of the first songs to touch on the subject.

[Dawn]

kathyb said:

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.

I agree, it's strange to see 'Monster Mash' on an August chart. This was actually the only week it was in the top 10 - by October, it had long since peaked.

You're right about the lyrics to 'Uneasy Rider' - it starts out as 5 men, and ends up as 3! LOL!

I'm with you about 'Yesterday Once More' being a good theme for Yesterdayland. I know it really sums up my feelings about the music I loved in my childhood days.

[Dawn]

55dodger said:

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.

That's true about the Stories - they had one or two singles after that, but they didn't do particularly well chart-wise for some reason. That's a shame, too, because they had a great sound.

You're right, 'The Morning After' got the award for Best Original song of the 1972 nominees. I've never seen the movie, but it sounds really interesting!

[Dawn]

smittykins said:

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!" ?

Hi Smitty!

I love that line in 'Uneasy Rider' also! He says it in such a funny tone of voice - so defiant, and yet bewildered! LOL! ;D


That's really cool about your hubby playing 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown' on the sax! I imagine it sounds great!