Thursday, January 29, 2015

Bring back Lou Rawls

Well, I was sitting here and thinking about a bunch of nothing (this being the 'happy hour' of the day) and what just did happen in my head but this?


Oh, yeah.

LOUUUUUUU!!

Mmm hmmm!!

*Ahem*

Background for you young folks in the audience: This tune was released in 1976, the year of our United States Bicentennial, the year of me being 14, the year of being beguiled by this smoky-voiced crooner named Lou Rawls, who could sing the estrogen out of an audience of retired librarians.  What a voice, what a voice.  Who CARES if it's a breakup song when Lou is sliding his way into your eardrums and heart with All His Emotions???  Nobody, that's who, not even those people who had just experienced a breakup and might never ever be happy again.  Lou was there to sing their pain. to take control of their sadness and turn it into a power ballad of self-love.

Then when I started thinking about it, I was shocked that I remembered every dang word and could probably do the backup vocals too.

Which, naturally, got be to thinking.  What OTHER songs of my 14th year might I possibly remember that made it to the Top Hits of 1976?

Well, after doing 5 minutes of research, it turns out...a lot.

From the "Top 100 hits of 1976" list from Billboard.com, here is the list.  Using only the song title as prompt, the ones I can probably at least hum the chorus of are in bold below:

1. Silly Love Songs, Paul McCartney and Wings
2. Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Elton John and Kiki Dee
3. Disco Lady, Johnnie Taylor
4. December 1963 (Oh What a Night), The Four Seasons
5. Play That Funky Music, Wild Cherry
6. Kiss and Say Goodbye, The Manhattans
7. Love Machine, Pt. 1, The Miracles
8. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon
9. Love Is Alive, Gary Wright
10. A Fifth of Beethoven, Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band
11. Sara Smile, Daryl Hall and John Oates
12. Afternoon Delight, Starland Vocal Band
13. I Write the Songs, Barry Manilow
14. Fly Robin Fly, Silver Convention
15. Love Hangover, Diana Ross
16. Get Closer, Seals and Crofts
17. More, More, More, Andrea True Connection
18. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
19. Misty Blue, Dorothy Moore
20. Boogie Fever, The Sylvers
21. I'd Really Love to See You Tonight, England Dan and John Ford Coley
22. You Sexy Thing, Hot Chocolate
23. Love Hurts, Nazareth
24. Get Up and Boogie (That's Right), Silver Convention
25. Take It to the Limit, The Eagles
26. (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty, K.C. and The Sunshine Band>
27. Sweet Love, The Commodores
28. Right Back Where We Started From, Maxine Nightingale
29. Theme From "S.W.A.T", Rhythm Heritage
30. Love Rollercoaster, Ohio Players
31. You Should Be Dancing, The Bee Gees
32. You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine, Lou Rawls (Ed note: <3 br=""> 33. Golden Years, David Bowie
34. Moonlight Feels Right, Starbuck
35. Only Sixteen, Dr. Hook
36. Let Your Love Flow, Bellamy Brothers
37. Dream Weaver, Gary Wright
38. Turn The Beat Around, Vicki Sue Robinson
39. Lonely Night (Angel Face), The Captain and Tennille
40. All By Myself, Eric Carmen
41. Love to Love You Baby, Donna Summer
42. Deep Purple, Donny and Marie Osmond
43. Theme from "Mahogany" (Do You Know Where You're Going To), Diana Ross
44. Sweet Thing, Rufus
45. That's the Way I Like It, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
46. A Little Bit More, Dr. Hook
47. Shannon, Henry Gross
48. If You Leave Me Now, Chicago
49. Lowdown, Boz Scaggs
50. Show Me the Way, Peter Frampton
51. Dream On, Aerosmith
52. I Love Music, The O'Jays
53. Say You Love Me, Fleetwood Mac
54. Times of Your Life, Paul Anka
55. Devil Woman, Cliff Richard
56. Fooled Around and Fell in Love, Elvin Bishop
57. Convoy, C.W. McCall
58. Welcome Back (Theme from "Welcome Back, Kotter"), John Sebastian
59. Sing a Song, Earth, Wind and Fire
60. Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel, Tavares
61. I'll Be Good to You, The Brothers Johnson
62. Shop Around, The Captain and Tennille
63. Saturday Night, The Bay City Rollers
64. Island Girl, Elton John
65. Let's Do It Again, The Staple Singers
66. Let 'Em In, Paul McCartney and Wings
67. Baby Face, Wing and A Prayer Fife and Drum Corps
68. This Masquerade, George Benson
69. Evil Woman, Electric Light Orchestra
70. Wham Bam, Silver
71. I'm Easy, Keith Carradine
72. Wake Up Everybody, Pt. 1, Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes
73. Summer, War
74. Let Her In, John Travolta
75. Fox On the Run, The Sweet
76. Rhiannon, Fleetwood Mac
77. Got to Get You Into My Life, The Beatles
78. Fanny (Be Tender With My Love), The Bee Gees
79. Getaway, Earth, Wind and Fire
80. She's Gone, Daryl Hall and John Oates
81. Rock and Roll Music, The Beach Boys
82. Still the One, Orleans
83. You're My Best Friend, Queen
84. With Your Love, Jefferson Starship
85. Slow Ride, Foghat
86. Who'd She Coo?, The Ohio Players
87. Walk Away from Love, David Ruffin
88. Baby I Love Your Way, Peter Frampton
89. Young Hearts Run Free, Candi Staton
90. Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Neil Sedaka
91. Money Honey, The Bay City Rollers
92. Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker), Parliament
93. Junk Food Junkie, Larry Groce
94. Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again, Barry Manilow
95. Rock and Roll All Nite, Kiss
96. Disco Duck, Rick Dees
97. The Boys Are Back In Town, Thin Lizzy
98. Take the Money and Run, The Steve Miller Band
99. Squeeze Box, The Who
100. Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.), Glen Campbell

Wow.  My 14-year old's brain is HOLDING ON, y'all.  Maybe it's because in 1976 pop music was EVERYWHERE, maybe because some of these songs are still being played, maybe because this was a period of life that just had great music, maybe because my brain was opening up new nodes to cram in useless information to be retrieved almost 40 years later, who knows?

Just sit back, click a link, and enjoy.

And while you're at it, maybe think about what was popular when you were 14, and share with us how many of THOSE top 100 songs you can jam to, instantaneously, however many years it's been since then.

Thanks for listening - Tiff out.

3 comments:

kenju said...

There are an awfully lot of good songs in that list, many I had forgotten.

We saw Lou Rawls at the auditorium downtown in the early 80's. His voice is syrupy good!!

LL said...

I was much younger than 14 but...

Strangely enough, I could match every song you bolded...

Cake Pop Recipes said...

Grateful foor sharing this