Bradley's Buzz

Top 100 Singles of the 70s - 95-91

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back - oops there's a song I forgot about, oh well it's okay because even without John Sebastian and his hit TV theme, we have plenty of great singles from the 70's to talk about, so let's continue and look through numbers 95-91 of the Top 100 Singles of the 70's according to Bradley - I know you can dig it...


#95 – You Needed Me – Anne Murray
(Randy Goodrum)
Capitol single #4574
Chart Debut: US Pop 07/15/1978 #1 / Country 05/13/1978 #4/ UK 12/09/1978 #22

You may think I have lost my mind but I have a special fondness for Anne Murray and in particular this little ditty from 1978. When I was a kid my parents had a few 8-tracks, not that I expect all of you to even know what that is but just let me tell you there used to be these big tapes that you put into a huge player and it would play an album continuously on 4 different tracks and well forget it, anyhoos my parents had a Dolly Parton, a Melanie, a Crystal Gayle and an Anne Murray 8-track, the Anne Murray album was 1978’s Let’s Keep It That Way which had the title track, a cover of “Walk Right Back” and of course probably the biggest hit of her career “You Needed Me.” But before you roll your eyes and think this is done just as a sort of nostalgic thing the single is actually really good. I’ve always liked Anne’s voice, sweet and syrupy yet with just a hint of aggravation and scratchiness, almost like she’s trying to tell you there’s more to her than just a Canadian sweetheart trying to make it on the AC circuit. Instead of the typical lyrics of someone done somebody wrong and crying about words, we instead get a celebration of love, a mutual need and admiration for each other, "you put me on a pedestal/ so high that I could almost see eternity/ you needed me/ you needed me..” being up on many pedestals myself I can relate to this and yes, it is a wonderful feeling so thank you Anne Murray for putting those thoughts out there for all of us to hear.

#94 – YMCA – Village People
(Morali/Belolo/Willis)
Casablanca single #945 (US)/ #6007192 (UK)
Chart Debut: US Pop 10/21/1978 #2 / UK 11/25/1978 #1
It’s typical isn’t it? Just as a song comes out celebrating gay locker room sex the boys of the locker rooms have already moved on and are giving blow in between taking blow in the bathroom stalls of the discothèques, oh well that’s progress for you. The disco era has been looked upon as a kind of ridiculous era but if the songs were so horrible and the disco backlash so apparent why have all these songs stood the test of time. I mean someone is buying the endless disco compilations that come out and everyone I’ve ever met with enough booze in them will get up on the dance floor and do the insane YMCA dance without any prodding at all. The Village People are one of the quissessential disco mavens, along with the likes of Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer, though in Miss Summer’s defense her career continued well past the disco expiration date of 1979, but the boys of the Village People, not so much. This is probably their most recognizable song and though other hits like “In The Navy”, “Macho Man” and “Go West” are still easily good songs, they all seem to go in the same grain as this one, put a bunch of double entendres into a seemingly innocent space and time and you get the Village People beat and boot. “YMCA” takes that men’s dorm and reminds us that while the buildings were there to accommodate all the young men who came to the city and needed cheap digs, they also needed some cheap sex and that’s really what both disco and the Village People were about, and for that I love them.

#93 – Rock & Roll – Led Zeppelin
(Page/Plant/Jones/Bonham)
Atlantic single #2865
Chart Debut: US Pop 03/18/1972 #47
After all these years I still have no idea what Robert Plant really looks like because every time I see an old pic of him in his Led Zep days my eyes immediately rush to that filled pouch of his, what was it about the pants of the 70’s? They flared like bells on the bottom and tightened up at the crotch so that you could tell what each boy’s religion really was. I loved it and really think that look should come back.

But enough about that, what of the music that these boys made? Anyone who knows anything about music knows the absolute adoration that follows the Led Zeppelin legacy but is it really worth all that? To me I think they certainly deserve their kudos, the untitled fourth album with the mega known “Stairway To Heaven” and this particularly single shows the boys as the rock and roll gods they were. The look, the riffs, the attitude, the partying – if ever there was a true rock and roll band it was Led Zeppelin. But along with that also comes the fact that there was an abundance of talent and experimentation in the band. “Rock & Roll” is one of those songs that everyone knows, from the opening riffs with the chug a chug drum beat and Robert’s high voice, “been a long time since I rock and rolled/been a long time, been a long, lonely lonely lonely lonely time…” the song is structured in the basic 12 bar rock song code, something I just recently read and never really knew, plus with the blues and folk rock influence, Led Zeppelin weren’t above doing anything to create music and that’s always good – okay maybe not always Madonna I’m talking to you, but for most musicians it’s a good thing. As for this particular single there isn’t anyone who doesn’t sing along or at least know the words once the ditty hits the oldies station.




#92 – Walk On The Wild Side – Lou Reed
(Lou Reed)
RCA single #887 US / #2303 UK
Chart Debut: US Pop 02/17/1973 #16 / UK 05/12/1973
What a frickin’ riot this song is. How did it ever get played in 1973? I wonder this aloud almost every time I hear it. With the little bass line and Lou’s almost rap like style of singing we get to learn the occupants of the underground first hand as we travel with hitchhiking Molly from FLA who went from a he to she, men in drag, colored girls singing and everyone giving a little bit of head, but never really losing their head. If you listen close enough you realize you’re a part of the Warhol gang or at least you get to learn more about them. “Walk On The Wild Side” is one of those songs that make you want to take off and travel the world, showing you that you can do whatever you want and the world outside of your house is just as decadent and crazy as your Mama warned you about. This is one of those classic songs that people seem to forget about, or at least I do until I hear it and then realize what a genius Lou Reed really can be. It just makes me want to sing do, do, do, do and give a little head.

#91 – I Think I Love You – The Partridge Family
(Tony Romeo)
Bell single #910
Chart Debut: US Pop 10/10/1970 #1 / UK 02/13/1971 #18
Let me first say that the Brady Bunch kids could kick the crap out of the The Partridge Family any day of the week, however they didn’t have strong enough chops to pull out a really great hit single in the 70’s but that’s okay cause the crazy Jan Brady will always be my idol. However, when it comes to singing families I like this song a lot more than I originally thought. Of course it’s passed off as cheese and everyone’s just a tad fairly embarrassed about liking it, but I have realized that feeling only comes from the fact of who’s singing it. A bunch of knock off polyestered up Cassidy’s and studio musicians but the song itself isn’t cheesy at all. In fact I think it’s fairly creepy. Perhaps that’s why so many bands of the more alternative scene apt to record this one, because it’s not the typical 70’s love song, it opens with psychedelic keyboards and drums blaring before David Cassidy starts singing in a round type style with the creepy back up girl singers and to me he makes a pretty good case for stalking laws. Listen to it again and you’ll realize how great this little ditty is, though I warn you don’t do in the dark and don’t listen alone, I warned you.

Wow, wasn't that great? With all this hot men, stuffed pouches and decadence, I'm certainly glad the 70's are over, well at least the decade is over, but these posts are far from over. So come back tomorrow when we take a look at numbers 90-86 in the top 100 singles of the 70's according to me, yours truly, bradley...

posted by swivek @ 8:45 AM