All right, loyal readers! Settling back into my little weekly groove, got what passes for creative juices flowing again, and scouring the internet for old local chart data. Doesn’t everybody do that?
So…where shall we go this week? I’ll just throw a dart at the map…Louisville, Kentucky. Sounds good. Now we spin the wheel and it lands on…wait for it…1971. All right, let’s do a Top 10 flashback!
WKLO, 1080 on the dial, was the “other” Top 40 station in Louisville, battling with 790 WAKY for a long time. In 1979, they moved over to their FM station at 99.7, changed the call letters to WKJJ-AM & FM, and began what’s known as “shadowcasting” on the AM station. The FCC has prohibited direct simulcasts on co-owned AM & FM stations since 1966, so to get around that, they delayed the FM programming by several minutes before it was heard on the AM station. Today, after a few call letter/format changes, 1080 is news/talk (what else?) WKJK, while 99.7 has been doing CHR for a long time as WDJX. The WKLO call letters are now on a country station in Indiana. But we’re going back to mid-late June 1971, when FM in cars was rare and Top 40 was well-done. No medium here.
So don’t pull your love out on me, baby! (That’s what SHE said!) Survey dated June 23, 1971.
#10:
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends – Never Ending Song Of Love
Proof that hippies weren’t dead yet in 1971. I’ve always imagined this song being performed on a street corner. Gratuities gladly accepted, of course.
#9:
The Beginning Of The End – Funky Nassau
Quite a cool slice of funk about how hip the Bahamas have become. Toward the end, when the singer repeats “funky Nassau,” I’d sing “fucking asshole.” Hey, I was 9.
#8:
Carly Simon – That’s The Way I Always Heard It Should Be
What a sad, powerful song. Carly looks at her parents’ shitty lives and the shitty lives of all her married friends, sees a shitty future for herself as a married woman, then gives in at the end and says yes. Maybe it won’t be so shitty. You won’t find anything like this in today’s top 40, that’s for sure.
#7:
Carpenters – Rainy Days And Mondays
Man, this is turning into one big downer. What we need is something snappy. Something brash and brassy. Something to shake us out of our doldrums. Something like…
#6:
Chase – Get It On
…this. This song is wonderfully over the top – it NEEDS that full horn section. Bill Chase died in a plane crash en route to a show in 1974.
#5:
Tommy James – Draggin’ The Line
Exactly what you need on a lazy summer afternoon. Try it and you’ll agree!
#4:
James Taylor – You’ve Got A Friend
A true classic, and for good reason. A timeless song of comfort that young people today reach for, too.
#3:
Carole King – It’s Too Late
Lots of truly great ballads this week. Here’s a mature breakup song; no “fuck you,” no “I hate you,” no “I’m taking the kids, the house, and half your shit,” just a sad acknowledgement that it’s over. She’s bummed about it, too. A big reason why “Tapestry” is one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
#2:
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds – Don’t Pull Your Love
Oh, come on. EVERYBODY liked this song.
All righty, let’s slide on down to the bottom for the “oh, wow” song of the week. Ashton, Gardner & Dyke came together in Liverpool in the late 60’s after bouncing around for several years, probably trying to duplicate the success of that other Liverpool group. This is the only song of theirs that made it to the States, making them one-hit wonders here. New on the WKLO Top 30 this week at #30, here’s Ashton, Gardner & Dyke with “Resurrection Shuffle.”
I like it. A lot. It just shuffles right along.
So, what did they like best in Kentuckiana this week in 1971? It’s not just another song:
Wow. This one’s straight outta Detroit. 8th Day was a pseudonym for 100 Proof (Aged In Soul), and it came about because the record company didn’t want to release this single so soon after their previous hit, “Somebody’s Been Sleeping In My Bed.” So they just changed the group’s name. Problem solved.
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Top 10 Flashback! 