Last week (click here if you missed it), I presented the runner-ups in my countdown of the Billboard charting singles of 1976. This is part of a month long celebration of the songs from this year that I am doing with online blogging buddies Herc (of Herc's Hideaway) and Mark (of 1976-1985: My Favorite Decade).
Today, we will start going through my favorites of the year with a countdown of numbers 100 to 76.
100. This Old Heart of Mine - Rod Stewart (1/10/76, 4, 83)
99. Dream Weaver - Gary Wright (1/3/76, 20, 2)
98. Still Crazy After All These Years - Paul Simon (5/1/76, 7, 40)
97. Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again - Barry Manilow (3/20/76, 15, 10)
96. Love Hangover - Diana Ross (4/3/76, 18, 1)
These first five are an interesting mix. You have some rockers in Rod and Gary, a crossover from Paul, pure pop from Barry and a tempo-shifting dance number from Diana.
95. Did You Boogie (With Your Baby) - Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids (8/28/76, 14, 29)
94. Get Up and Boogie (That's Right) - Silver Convention (3/13/76, 21, 2)
93. Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers (1/31/76, 19, 1)
92. Money Honey - Bay City Rollers (2/7/76, 15, 9)
91. Dazz - Brick (10/23/76, 21, 3)
Flash Cadillac brings back the nostalgia of classic rock 'n' roll from the 50's, with a little help from Wolfman Jack. Both Silver Convention and Brick give us a taste of disco that would become a big musical force in the next few years. I always like to sing along to the chorus of this one from the Bellamy Brothers. And the Bay City Rollers continued their brief pop chart invasion with the one I put at number 92.
90. Evergreen (Love Theme from "A Star Is Born") - Barbra Streisand (12/11/76, 25, 1)
89. Lowdown - Boz Scaggs (7/4/76, 22, 3)
88. Stand Tall - Burton Cummings (10/9/76, 21, 10)
87. Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang - Silver (6/19/76, 21, 16)
86. Makin' Our Dreams Come True - Cyndi Grecco (5/8/76, 12, 252)
We have the movies and TV represented with Barbra and Cyndi, the latter being the theme song for Laverne and Shirley for a number of years (back when TV shows actually had theme songs). Boz laid down a really funky groove on my number 89 hit, while Burton and Silver served up some pop music goodness that stayed on the charts for exactly the same number of weeks.
85. Come On Over - Olivia Newton-John (3/13/76, 12, 23)
84. I Do I Do I Do I Do - ABBA (2/14/76, 15, 15)
83. Living Next Door to Alice - Smokie (12/4/76, 20, 25)
82. Blinded By the Light - Manfred Mann's Earth Band (11/20/76, 20, 1)
81. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - Bruce Springsteen (1/24/76, 3, 83)
Last month I touched upon the album from which number 85 came. ABBA gives us a perky pop number with a swaying melody. The entry from Smokie kind of sums up that story of falling for the girl next door so well. Interesting enough, number 82 and number 81 share in common the same song writer - the Boss himself.
80. Rock and Roll Music - Beach Boys (6/5/76, 17, 5)
79. Night Moves - Bob Seger (12/11/76, 21, 4)
78. Shannon - Henry Gross (2/28/76, 20, 6)
77. Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Genry (7/31/76, 6, 54)
76. I Like Dreamin' - Kenny Nolan (11/6/76, 27, 3)
The Beach Boys showed they still could be hit makers with the song at number 80. Bob Seger's tune at number 79 was an album-rock station staple for many years after its debut. I covered number 78 on my review of Henry Gross' album last month. Bobbie's story song about young love and secrets first appeared in 1967 where it went to number 1 but it had a resurgence again nine years later. Kenny's song at number 76 was a nice piece of escape pop.
The countdown continues next week with numbers 75 to 51. Stay tuned.
All good stuff, my friend. Good stuff, indeed.
ReplyDeleteHere's some more running commentary and statistics...
We have 9 songs in common so far out of your first 25 - songs that made both of our Top 100s.
And to take it a step further, we ranked two of those songs fairly close together - within ten spots of one another. On the other hand, one of your Bottom 10 songs is in my Top 10 exactly 86 positions apart and another three songs are more than 50 spots apart on our respective rankings. Fun!
Plus you've ranked 10 songs in your first 25 that didn't even survive the first cuts I made when ranking my Top 100.
This is turning out better than I hoped it would. My own list starts Monday, March 14. Can't wait to see how this all plays out. Or if anyone else joins our little reindeer game.
Herc, looking forward to comparing notes.
ReplyDelete