“Hi-De-Ho” #14 8/29/1970

This is not the Cab Calloway call-and-response tune. It only seemed like Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote half the hits of the 1960’s. The roster is rather lengthy, with classics like “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “The Loco-Motion” and too many others to list. Even after their 1969 divorce they wrote this one for Blood, Sweat and Tears.

"(If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?" #8 8/29/1970

Certainly one of the longest song titles around. Ronnie Dyson was one of the original leads in the Broadway production of “Hair.” He had the featured vocal on “Aquarius,” maybe the most recognized song from the play. This was his first hit and came from the score of another musical, “Salvation.” He had a few soul hits but just one more Top 40 entry before he died in 1990 at age 40.

“War” #1 8/29/1970

Originally an album track for the Temptations, this became one of the biggest selling anti-Vietnam War records ever. Berry Gordy didn’t want the Temps to release it as a single (fearing backlash from their fans) so he gave the song to Edwin Starr, who gladly took it and ran. This became the shot in the arm Edwin’s career needed. Some pretty potent lyrics and arrangement here.

“Border Song” #92 8/22/1970

“Your Song” wasn’t Elton John’s first single. This track from his second album had that honor. Sometimes called “Holy Moses,” it became a highlight of his early stage shows. It’s rather spiritual in nature, which made anti-Semitic claims pushed by some about the song rather curious. Elton had no explanation other than a few people being somehow offended by him invoking Moses. The ubiquitous Tony Burrows showed up again singing backup vocals.

“Big Yellow Taxi” (Joni Mitchell) #67 8/22/1970

The original of this song from its writer. A group called the Neighborhood released their version so Joni Mitchell’s label rush-released her take, which sorta flopped on the pop charts but became an classic rock standard. The B-side of Joni’s single was her self-penned “Woodstock,” a hit for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Her live version of “...Taxi” issued in 1974 did better.

“Big Yellow Taxi” (Neighborhood) #29 8/22/1970

Today and tomorrow we’ll feature two versions of a song Joni Mitchell wrote after her first trip to Hawaii. She looked out her hotel window admiring the natural beauty, and turned to find a parking lot as far as the eye could see. A little-known one-hit wonder called the Neighborhood had a moderate hit with their version.

“Lay A Little Lovin’ On Me” #11 8/22/1970

Robin McNamara began in his native Massachusetts fronting a band called (I kid you not) Robin and the Hoods. In the late 60’s he moved to NYC and joined the cast of “Hair” for several years. He met rock impresario Jeff Barry and had his one hit before disappearing. A few years later, Robin shared some gigs with a band from Kentucky called the Exiles, who morphed into the successful country group Exile. Check out the fashion sense in the video. Yep, people actually dressed like that back in the day.

“I Just Can’t Help Believing” #9 8/22/1970

A former #1 easy listening hit from B.J. Thomas by the superb songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Bobby Vee actually recorded the song first a year earlier. Elvis made this one a part of his stage shows for many years. B.J. also had great success with Mann and Weil’s “Rock And Roll Lullaby” and also did their “Here You Come Again” before Dolly Parton turned it into a huge hit.

“Spill The Wine” #3 8/22/1970

Another debut single that did quite well, this from ex-Animals front man Eric Burdon and the L.A. group War. It’s a spacey song about a strange dream the protagonist had concerning all manner and shapes of women. The idea came about when keyboardist Lonnie Jordan accidentally spilled some wine on a studio mixing board. Before the year was out, Burdon and the band went their separate ways. War had a very successful chart run throughout the 70’s.

“Make It With You” #1 8/22/1970

It’s quite an accomplishment when your first chart record becomes a #1. That happened to Bread, who reached the top with the lead single from their second album. David Gates was friends with Leon Russell back home in Tulsa; both went to L.A., where Gates wrote the 1964 Murmaids Top 5 hit “Popsicles And Icicles.” According to Wikipedia, David played everything on this track but the drums and strings. He eventually fleshed out a working group that had ten Top 20 entries.

“The Happy Organ” #1 5/11/1959

His hair was perfect. Dave “Baby” Cortez (David Clowney) had a bigger pompadour than Little Richard. This #1 instrumental from May 1959 came literally out of nowhere. Dave lost his voice early on at a recording session so the engineer said “Try the organ in the corner.” They fired it up and Cortez started a rock variation on “Shortnin’ Bread.” Dave could only play the organ in one key but it worked. He would have another Top 10 hit in 1962 with “Rinky Dink.”

“Guitar Boogie Shuffle” #5 4/27/1959

Here’s a Top 5 instrumental by the Virtues from April 1959 based on a late 40’s tune from country picker Arthur Smith. The Philly-based Virtues never had another hit. Smith built a studio in his home town of Charlotte and recorded many acts from the Carolinas, ranging from Ronnie Milsap to gospel star George Beverly Shea to James Brown. “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” was recorded there. Arthur had one of the first syndicated country music TV shows. His “Feuding Banjos” with legendary bluegrass picker Don Reno was ripped off as “Dueling Banjos” (from the movie “Deliverance”) and Smith won a landmark copyright infringement suit.

“Rebel-‘Rouser” #6 7/28/1958

If Link Wray invented distorted rock, Duane Eddy invented twangy rock. This Top 10 instrumental from July 1958 influenced SO many guitarists, much like Wray. Duane started out in Phoenix with local DJ Lee Hazlewood, who later produced Nancy Sinatra. Some of Eddy’s band members went on to be part of the famed Wrecking Crew. The hand claps, yells, etc. were by the Rivingtons (“Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow”).

“Rumble” #16 6/30/1958

From June 1958, perhaps the only instrumental banned for promoting gangs, implied just from the title. Link Wray was full-blooded Native American and got started in the Washington area. His de facto manager was Milt Grant, DC’s local version of Dick Clark. Wray came up with the riff during a gig in Fredericksburg, VA. Label owner Archie Bleyer almost passed on the song until his stepdaughter said she loved it. Labelmate Phil Everly suggested the title because it sounded like an audio street fight. The distortion Link pioneered influenced a whole generation of rockers from Pete Townshend to Jimmy Page to a thousand garage bands. A rock and roll guitar classic.

“Tequila” #1 3/15/1958

Speaking of down and dirty, this #1 lyricless song from March 1958 contains maybe the down and dirtiest sax part on record. The Champs took their name from Gene Autry’s horse, Champion. They’d recorded an A-side and realized there wasn’t anything for the flip. Some of the musicians had already left, so the arrangement is rather sparse. Hey, it was a throwaway. Later band lineups included Glen Campbell and Seals and Crofts.

“Raunchy” #2 12/16/1957

Slow week on the 1970 charts, so we’ll reach back for some classic instrumentals from the earliest days of rock. This #2 December 1957 tune from Bill Justis was the first true rock instrumental hit and certainly lived up to the title. It’s as down and dirty as it gets and landed George Harrison a job with the Beatles. John and Paul were so impressed with George’s audition when he played this note for note that Lennon and McCartney hired him on the spot.

“Summertime Blues” (The Who) #27 8/15/1970

From arguably one of the best live albums ever, even if it was to buy time between studio LP’s. The Who booked a concert at the University of Leeds solely to record themselves in person. The original album only contained six tracks, including this remake of the 1958 Eddie Cochran classic, and surprisingly none from “Tommy.” Reissues contain much more material, including “Tommy” played live start to finish.

“Your Song” (Three Dog Night)

Later in 1970 this became the breakthrough for Elton John. Earlier in the year he was the opening act for Three Dog Night on tour and played this song every night. TDN asked to record the track but they deliberately kept it as an album cut (from “It Ain’t Easy”) giving him the chance to release it as a single. TDN correctly felt that would make things happen for Elton. It certainly did.

“Maybe” (Three Degrees) #29 8/8/1970

The first hit for the Three Degrees, a trio from Philadelphia. It took about five years for them to become an overnight success with this remake of a Chantels song from 1957, arguably the first girl group rock hit. Bit of a long spoken word preamble here. They would eventually hook up with Philly music legends Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. These ladies are heard at the end of 1974’s “TSOP,” better known as the “Soul Train” theme, followed by the Top 5 smash “When Will I See You Again.”

“Westbound #9” #24 8/8/1970

The second Top 40 effort from The Flaming Ember, a blue-eyed (read: Caucasian) soul band from Detroit. They would have one more moderate hit before all that went away. The group changed their name to Mind, Body and Soul (the name of their first hit) and became part of the Motor City club scene. This one’s quite funky, actually.

"Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine" #15 8/8/1970

James Brown was maybe the only act at the time who could use the word “sex” in a song title and get away with it. My, how quaint. He had just fired most of his band (not the first or last time that happened) and hired new guys, including Bootsy Collins on bass. Bootsy, of course, went on to be part of the whole Parliament/Funkadelic thing. JB sort of lifted “shake your moneymaker” at the end of Part II from an Elmore James song and didn’t compensate the dude. Uh-huh. Can I take ‘em to the bridge?

“Ohio” #24 8/8/1970

Record labels usually won’t issue or promote more than one single at a time from an act, not wanting to saturate the market. (As always, the Beatles were an exception.) That made this CSN&Y single unusual, rush-released while “Teach Your Children” was still climbing the charts. The band, writer/singer Neil Young and Atlantic Records felt they couldn’t wait, given a sense of urgency after the Kent State shootings in May 1970. Perhaps one of the most political records ever made.

“Tighter, Tighter” #7 8/8/1970

Co-writer Tommy James tried to record this himself but couldn’t get the sound right. Tommy’s wife had a friend that managed a band with two singers (one male, one female) who sounded great trading off vocals, so he gave them the song. Alive ‘N Kickin’ may have been a one-hit wonder because of their label’s owner, the infamous Morris Levy of Roulette Records. Levy, reputedly connected to some serious wiseguys, wanted the Brooklyn-based group to crank out the singles ($$$) and they wouldn’t or couldn’t do so. Sandy Toder was the female lead. Co-lead vocalist Pepe Cardona (RIP 7/29/2020) was married to Donna Summer for 32 years until she died in 2012.

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” #3 8/8/1970

There were some rumblings in the early 70’s that “The Motown Sound” was beginning to get a little, shall we say, stale. Stevie Wonder certainly broke from that mold with the first effort at producing himself. It sounded more like a Stax record straight outta Memphis instead of from Motown. Whatever angst Berry Gordy may have felt went away when this stayed at #1 on the soul charts for six weeks.

“Mama Liked The Roses” B-Side

The #1 single in the UK this week was “The Wonder Of You.” This was the B-side.  Even though Elvis didn’t write the song it hit really close to home as his mother Gladys had passed away in 1958, just after he joined the Army. Recorded at those marathon January 1969 sessions in Memphis that produced enough for almost three albums.

“Moondance”

Amazing that one of Van Morrison’s most recognizable songs wasn’t released as a single until 1977, seven years after the album of the same name, and then only reached #92. (But, “Into The Mystic” was never issued as a single by him at all.) A fixture of FM rock radio, “Moondance” is just about perfectly arranged. Morrison once said Frank Sinatra wouldn’t have been out of place singing this. One of those tunes that can be appreciated on SO many levels. Who else uses the word “fantabulous?”

“Humphrey The Camel” #78 (#5 Country) 8/1/1970

The follow up to “Tennessee Bird Walk” from Jack Blanchard and Misty Morgan barely made the pop charts but became a country Top 5 hit. Believe me, folks, this one is just as weird. For all their fear of being labeled a novelty act, Jack and Misty were really quite innovative. They used synthesizers and wah-wah pedals long before anyone else in the rigid country music field did so. No fiddles and steel guitars here.

“Pearl” #50 8/1/1970

The current single from Tommy Roe. He and Chris Montez were booked on a concert tour of England at the time “Sheila” and “Let’s Dance” were huge on the US charts. They had the Beatles as an opening act, but after about the third gig Tommy and Chris figured correctly they better let those guys close the shows. The Fab Four repaid Tommy by having him open their first concert on US soil in Washington, DC.

“My Marie” #43 8/1/1970

The latest from Englebert Humperdinck, a Top 5 easy listening smash. Co-written by Tony Macaulay, also co-writer of huge hits by the Foundations, Edison Lighthouse and even David Soul’s “Don’t Give Up On Us.” Macaulay on his own wrote “(Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All,” a Top 10 for the 5th Dimension in 1972.

“Silver Bird” #25 8/1/1970

Some songs are remembered more for use in advertising than anything else. Even though this solo Mark Lindsay effort made the Top 25, the tune (with altered lyrics) became part of an ad campaign for Yamaha motorcycles in the 70’s. Not the first time that happened with Lindsay. Paul Revere and the Raiders once did a promo single for the hot-rod Chevelle, “SS 396,” which got radio airplay despite no public release.

“Are You Ready?” #14 8/1/1970

There are some similarities between the one-hit wonder band Pacific Gas & Electric and other groups of the era. Their drummer, Charlie Allen, was also the lead singer and soon became the front man, much like Dennis Yost did with the Classics IV. The band, also under pressure from a public service entity, had to change their name to PG&E in the same way Chicago Transit Authority became Chicago.