Raised by Radio

Summer of 1976! I remember it like it was yesterday! What timeless songs were coming through the radio!

Now, I have to ask…were you naive like I was with songs? There were songs that I had no idea what they meant, and at the time I didn’t care. Two prime examples on this chart from July 10th, 1976:

I just thought “Afternoon Delight” was a nice song about being out on a pleasant afternoon. But “Skyrockets on flight” should have given me a clue that they were not waiting for a good thing to happen in the middle of a cold dark night. I’m not making this up…it was at least till 2005 that someone told me what that song was about. I’m embarrassed to say that!!

Another was “Kiss and Say Goodbye”…I just thought it was a nice song about a couple…well kissing goodbye. I had no idea it was about cheating! And I was so happy the world finally discovered The Manhattans, they were huge on the R&B charts for several years before their big cheating crossover hit.

One of the special things about Radio, and the countdowns for me was how badly I wanted to see songs that I really liked be #1. Following that to me was fascinating, I always thought when I brought a record, that I played a part in their chart success. I rooted for my favorite songs to move up weekly.

More to come on the million reasons why Radio was special to me in coming posts, but this chart in the Bicentennial week was such a sweet spot in the 70’s. Disco was on the rise, rock was strong, and great artists from the 60’s like Aretha, Diana, Paul and The Beach Boys were on this top 40! I’ll list the top 40 from that week in a sec. Here are the standout songs that week for me:

“Mama Mia” by ABBA, “You’ll Never Find” Lou Rawls, “Love Hangover” Diana Ross, “Tear the Roof Off” Parliament, “The Boys Are Back in Town” Thin Lizzy. I loved all of them. The song I rooted for to climb the chart was “Young Hearts Run Free” by Candi Staton. It was so much more than a disco/dance song, it had a great message to it. It peaked at #20 but should have been a top 10. Ok…my favorite song from this week? “I’ll be Good to You” by the Brothers Johnson. In my opinion, it was a song that had everything, great opening, great lyrics, just an overall great song! It peaked that week at #3. I was happy with that!! Hearing it on the radio back then and even now, gave me goosebumps! Ok much more to come, thank you for reading, I would love to hear from you! What was your favorite from July 10th, 1976? As promised, here are the top 40 from that week:

1 2 AFTERNOON DELIGHT –•– The Starland Vocal Band (Windsong)-10 (1 week at #1)
2 9 KISS AND SAY GOODBYE –•– The Manhattans (Columbia)-13
3 8 I’LL BE GOOD TO YOU –•– The Brothers Johnson (A&M)-11
4 5 SHOP AROUND –•– The Captain and Tennille (A&M)-11
5 6 MORE, MORE, MORE (Part 1) –•– The Andrea True Connection (Buddah)-18
6 1 SILLY LOVE SONGS –•– Wings (Capitol)-14
7 3 MISTY BLUE –•– Dorothy Moore (Malaco)-17
8 10 LOVE IS ALIVE –•– Gary Wright (Warner Brothers)-13
9 4 SARA SMILE –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-24
10 12 GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE –•– The Beatles (Capitol)-5

11 11 NEVER GONNA FALL IN LOVE AGAIN –•– Eric Carmen (Arista)-11
12 13 LET HER IN –•– John Travolta (Midland International)-11
13 14 MOONLIGHT FEELS RIGHT –•– Starbuck (Private Stock)-13
14 15 TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN –•– The Steve Miller Band (Capitol)-10
15 16 ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC –•– The Beach Boys (Brother)-6
16 17 THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN –•– Thin Lizzy (Mercury)-9
17 19 IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN –•– Neil Diamond (Columbia)-4
18 20 GET CLOSER –•– Seals and Crofts (Featuring Carolyn Willis) (Warner Brothers)-13
19 7 GET UP AND BOOGIE (That’s Right) –•– Silver Convention (Midland International)-18
20 21 YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND –•– Queen (Elektra)-8

21 18 LOVE HANGOVER –•– Diana Ross (Motown)-15
22 26 TURN THE BEAT AROUND –•– Vicki Sue Robinson (RCA)-14
23 24 TODAY’S THE DAY –•– America (Warner Brothers)-9
24 27 TEAR THE ROOF OFF THE SUCKER (Give Up the Funk) –•– Parliament (Casablanca)-9
25 25 MAKING OUR DREAMS COME TRUE –•– Cyndi Grecco (Private Stock)-10
26 30 I’M EASY –•– Keith Carradine (ABC)-10
27 28 SAVE YOUR KISSES FOR ME –•– The Brotherhood Of Man (Pye)-10
28 31 LAST CHILD –•– Aerosmith (Columbia)-5
29 38 I NEED TO BE IN LOVE –•– The Carpenters (A&M)-5
30 37 YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREE –•– Candi Staton (Warner Brothers)-7

31 36 SOPHISTICATED LADY (She’s a Different Lady) –•– Natalie Cole (Capitol)-7

32 32 MAMMA MIA –•– Abba (Atlantic)-8
33 33 SOMEBODY’S GETTIN’ IT –•– Johnnie Taylor (Columbia)-6
34 35 GOOD VIBRATIONS –•– Todd Rundgren (Bearsville)-6
35 43 SOMETHING HE CAN FEEL –•– Aretha Franklin (Atlantic)-5
36 40 A FIFTH OF BEETHOVEN –•– Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band (Private Stock)-7
37 42 YOU’LL NEVER FIND ANOTHER LOVE LIKE MINE –•– Lou Rawls (Philadelphia International)-6
38 39 SILVER STAR –•– The Four Seasons (Warner Brothers / Curb)-7
39 44 HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN ANGEL (Part 1) –•– Tavares (Capitol)-6
40 50 I’D REALLY LOVE TO SEE YOU TONIGHT –•– England Dan and John Ford Coley (Big Tree)-5