1976 Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

More 1976 Easy Listening #1 hits

Sister Suzy, brother John. Martin Luther, Phil & Don. Brother Michael, Auntie Jin

Here are more 1976 Easy Listening #1 hits. I split these in half because I don’t want to type 40 titles and find links. Also, I suspect that you won’t listen to 40 tracks.

These are chronological, based on when they reached #1 from May through December, all for a single week.

Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again – Barry Manilow

Don’t Pull Your Love/Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye – Glen Campbell

*Silly Love Songs – Wings; also #1 for five weeks pop

Shop Around – The Captain & Tennille; yes, the old Miracles hit written by Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson

Save Your Kisses for Me – Brotherhood of Man

Never Gonna Fall In Love Again – Eric Carmen; written by Carmen

I Need To Be In Love – Carpenters

Movie song

I’m Easy – Keith Carridine; written by Carridine. Some time this century, I attempted to watch the acclaimed movie Nashville, directed and produced by Robert Altman, on television, from which this song was the hit. I could not. This is why I generally see films at the cinema.

You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine – Lou Rawls; written and produced by Gamble and Huff. I LOVE this golden voice.

Let ‘Em In – Wings; written by Paul and Linda. “

I’d Really Like To See You Tonight– England Dan and John Ford Coley. Dan Seals was the younger brother of Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts.

Shower The People – James Taylor; written by Taylor, harmony vocals include Carly Simon. I specifically love the harmonies at the end of this song, which I am compelled to sing along with.

Summer – War

*Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John & Kiki Dee; also #1 for four weeks pop

Don’t Stop Believin’ – Olivia Newton-John

*If You Leave Me Now – Chicago; also #1 for two weeks pop

I Can’t Hear You No More – Helen Reddy; a Gerry Goffin/Carole King composition

Like A Sad Song – John Denver; written by Denver

This One’s For You – Barry Manilow; co-written by Manilow

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word – Elton John; written by EJ and Bernie Taupin

1976 Hot Country Singles of 1976, part two

Conway Twitty

Here are the 1976 Hot Country Singles, Part Two. They were all #1 for a single week, in part a function of market manipulation.

It’s fascinating to me that I know many of the artists, but not the music, at least in this decade: Bill Anderson, Ronnie Milsap, Conway Twitty, and Tammy Wynette, to name a few.

You’ll Lose A Good Thing – Freddy Fender

Till I Can Make It On My Own – Tammy Wynette; her stated personal favorite among all that she had written and recorded.

Drinking My Baby (Off My Mind) – Eddie Rabbit

Together Again – Emmylou Harris, a 1964 Buck Owens song; I think I own this on vinyl

Don’t The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time – Mickey Gilley

My Eyes Can Only See as Far As You – Charlie Pride

What Goes On When The Sun Goes Down – Ronnie Milsap

After All The Good Is Gone – Conway Twitty. He broke through in 1955. He died during surgery in 1993 at the age of 59. Conway was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

I’ll Get Over You – Crystal Gayle; my greatest hits albums of hers I’ve got from my late FIL’s collection

All These Things – Joe Stampley

The Door Is Always Open – Dave and Sugar

Golden Ring – George Jones and Tammy Wynette

Say It Again – Don Williams

Covers

Bring It On Home To Me – Mickey Gilley. Yes, the Sam Cooke classic from 1962

If You’ve Got The Money, I’ve Got The Time – Willie Nelson, a #1 hit for Left Frizell, who co-wrote it, in 1950

Here’s Some Love – Tanya Tucker

The Games That Daddies Play – Conway Twitty. He didn’t write every one of his hits, but he did pen this one

Among My Souvenirs – Marty Robbins. This was a $1 song by Paul Whiteman in 1928!

Cherokee Maiden – Merle Haggard. Bob Wills had first recorded this song in 1941:

Hot Country Singles of 1976

Tina Turner was an inspiration

These are the hot country singles of 1976, or at least the first half of them or so. There are a total of 40 of them on the Billboard charts, a function in part of the labels’ and maybe even disc jockeys’ desire to create more and more number one hits. No song hit the top of the charts for more than three weeks.

Good Hearted Woman – Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, 3 weeks at #1. “In 1969, while staying at the Fort Worth Motel in Fort Worth, Texas, Jennings was inspired to start writing the song when he saw advertising in a newspaper promoting Tina Turner as a ‘good-hearted woman loving a two-timing man’, a reference to Ike Turner.” Per here.

Teddy Bear – Red Sovine, 3 weeks at #1

One Piece at a Time – Johnny Cash, two weeks at #1. I own this silly song on two different CDs, a greatest hits compilation and a disc considered a comedy collection

El Paso City` – Marty Robbins. I found a Robbins greatest hits CD in my late FIL’s collection and kept it. This song refers to Robbins’ big hit El Paso.

(I’m a) Stand by My Woman Man – Ronnie Milsap, two weeks at #1

I Don’t Want to Have to Marry You – Jim Ed Brown and Helen Cornelius, two weeks at #1

You and Me – Tammy Wynette, two weeks at #1

Someone Somewhere (Don’t Know What He’s Missin’ Tonight) – Loretta Lynn, two weeks at #1. I remember this song well, though I never owned it

Good Woman Blues – Mel Tillis, two weeks at #1

Thinking of a Rendezvous – Johnny Duncan, two weeks at #1

Sweet Dreams – Emmylou Harris, two weeks at #1. I had several Harris albums in the 1970s but not this song.

One week

All of the other songs are one week at number one. In chronological order:

This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me – Conway Twitty

Sometimes – Bill Anderson and Mary Lou Turner

The White Knight – Cletus Maggard. A trucking song I had NOT known.

The Roots of My Raising – Merle Haggard

Faster Horses (The Cowboy and The Poet) – Tom T. Hall

Till The Rivers All Run Dry – Don Williams

That’s enough for now. More in a few days.

More 1976 pop #1s

TV and movie themes, dance, and a rue story

Here are more 1976 pop #1s. The first group includes songs that reached #1 on the Billboard charts but spent 7 weeks or fewer in the top 10.

Boogie Fever – Sylvers (Capitol), gold record

Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To – Diana Ross (Motown)

You Should Be Dancing – Bee Gees (RSO), gold record

Let Your Love Flow – Bellamy Brothers (Warner Curb)

Convoy – C.W. McCall (MGM), gold record, novelty; also #1 CB and RW for three weeks each

Welcome Back – John Sebastian (Reprise), gold record. Theme from Welcome Back, Kotter TV show

Love Machine (Part 1) – The Miracles (Tamla). Post Smokey

Theme from S.W.A.T. – Rhythm Heritage (ABC), gold record, instrumental;

Saturday Night – Bay City Rollers (Arista), gold record

Rock’n Me – Steve Miller (Capitol)

#1, non-BB

The next grouping contains the songs that reached #1 on the pop charts in Record World (RW) and/or Cash Box (CB) but NOT on Billboard.

All By Myself – Eric Carmen (Arista), #1 on CB and RW, #2 for three weeks on BB, gold record

Dream Weaver – Gary Wright (Warner), #1 on CB and RW, #2 for three weeks on BB, gold record

Right Back Where We Started From – Maxine Nightingale (United Artists), #1 on CB and RW, #2 for two weeks on BB, gold record

The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald – Gordon Lightfoot (Reprise), #1 on CB, #2 for two weeks on BB. “The true story of an ore vessel, named after a Milwaukee civic leader, that sank in Lake Superior on 11/10/1975.”

Get Up and Boogie (That’s Right) – Silver Convention, #1 on CB and RW, #2 on BB, gold record

Lonely Night (Angel Face) – Captain and Tennille (A&M), #1 on CB and RW, #3 for three weeks on BB, gold record

Love To Love You Baby – Donna Summer (Oasis), #1 on RW; #2 for two weeks on BB, gold record

Lowdown – Boz Scaggs (Columbia), #1 on CB, #3 for two weeks on BB, gold record

Let ‘Em In – Wings (Capitol), #1 on CB, #3 on BB, gold record. “Phil and Don.”

More, More, More – Andrea True Connection (Buddah) – #1 on RW, #4 on BB, gold record

Top Pop Singles of 1976, part 1

rollercoaster, hangover – ain’t love grand?

These are the top pop singles of 1976. Okay, many of them. The songs that were #1 on the Billboard charts for multiple weeks, plus those that were there for only one week but were in the Top 10 for at least 10 weeks, are represented.

The follow-up will include other #1 songs on the Billboard charts, as well as #1 songs on non-Billboard charts.

Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright) – Rod Stewart (Warner), 8 weeks at #1, gold record

Silly Love Songs – Wings (Capitol), 5 weeks at #1, gold record

Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John and Kiki Dee (Rocket), 4 weeks at #1, gold record

Disco Lady – Johnnie Taylor (Columbia), 4 weeks at #1, platinum record

Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry (Epic), 3 weeks at #1, platinum record

December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) – the Four Seasons (Warner/Curb), 3 weeks at #1, gold record. A story: When I was working at the NY Small Business Development Center in 1998, we were underbid for a national contract to provide reference services to the SBDCs across the country, something we had done since 1992. Figuring we wouldn’t be there by December, we in the Research Network decided to have our Christmas party in September. We played this card game where we had to respond to the specific cues. One was to name a pop song that included a year and provide at least 8 consecutive lyrics. One answer I gave was this song: “Oh, what a night, late December back in ’63.” As it turned out, one librarian took another job, two were laid off, but four of us were hired to provide services exclusively for the NY SBDC.

From one of my favorite albums

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon (Columbia), 3 weeks at #1, gold record. When this came out, my comic book buddies thought that both Stan and Lee referred to the Marvel writer, and that Jack was King Kirby. No one could figure out who Gus was.

Kiss And Say Goodbye – Manhattans (Columbia), 2 weeks at #1, platinum record

If You Leave Me Now – Chicago (Columbia), 2 weeks at #1, gold record

Love Hangover – Diana Ross (Motown), 2 weeks at #1; 12″

Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band (Windsong), 2 weeks at #1, gold record

The rest were number one for one week

(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty – KC & the Sunshine Band (T.K )

A Fifth of Beethoven – Walter Murphy/Big Apple Band (Private Stock), gold record, instrumental. Eventually on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.

Disco Duck (Part 1) – Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots (RSO), platinum record. novelty. This single may or may not be in my attic right now.

I Write the Songs – Barry Manilow (Arista), gold record

Love Rollercoaster – Ohio Players (Mercury), gold record