Forty Years Ago This Week: WLS Music Survey - March 19, 1977

I turned four in April 1970 and my family was living in Dover, Delaware, where Dad was stationed at Dover Air Force Base in between tours over in Vietnam. I was in all-day pre-school at The Little Red Schoolhouse and other than not liking the orange slices we were served daily as after nap snacks, my report card indicates I was a + (as opposed to a ✔ or a -) in all educational and social metrics. While I never did take a liking to oranges, I think if I were to be graded today on those same metrics, I would garner fewer +'s and lean more towards the ✔ or - side of the scale. If I was grading the Top 10 at the top of this post, I'd give it a +++, which is a pretty high rating for a Top 10 pop chart in case you were wondering. Have a listen below:

We are gathered here today not to discuss the merits of the Hit Parade of 1970 but the Forty-five biggest hits of the week ending March 19, 1977, according to the mighty WLS Musicradio 89. But first, let's look at a couple of other areas of that week's survey.

Yvonne Daniels, who I recall being the only female jock on the station, reigned as the Jock Of The Week but I do not recall ever hearing her on air. According to the survey, her shift was 2AM-5:30AM, which accounts for me never having heard her... unless she was covering an earlier shift. A quick Google search shows Daniels is known as "The First Lady Of Chicago Radio" and is a member of the National Radio Hall Of Fame. She passed in 1991 at the way-too-young age of 54.

The Concerts in the Weeks Ahead section is kind of lame from forty years later though I've been told by my Aunt Linda that seeing Jethro Tull live in the Seventies, especially touring behind her favorite album of theirs (Songs From The Wood) was worth any price so they must have been a bargain at the average ticket price of between a Lincoln and a Hamilton back in March 1977. Though none of these shows were reported to Billboard's Box Office chart - in the four weeks worth of charts I scanned, there were no Chicago area venues listed - it is easy to see what the going rate was and who was opening for whom. My favorite tour double-bill, based solely on the names of the acts, is Bread and their opening act, Jelly, a one-and-done-album act which featured actress, Amy Madigan.

Checking in with setlist.fm for other gigs in the area at the time not listed by WLS, I found The Marshall Tucker Band at the Aragon Ballroom on March 11th, with Peter Gabriel appearing the same night at the Uptown Theater touring behind his first solo album since walking away from Genesis. Utopia played the Uptown on March 18th while The Winter Brothers and The Charlie Daniels Band hit the Aragon on the 19th.

Three acts each have a pair of albums on the Thirty-threes chart: Barry Manilow, Eagles, and Kiss. Other than Jethro Tull jumping up a dozen spots from 30 to 18 in anticipation of his two concerts, the albums chart is fairly stagnant with only two other albums moving more than four positions. The charted album I'm featuring this week is the oldest album on the survey, coming in at number 32, the 1974 Beach Boys compilation Endless Summer, one of my all-time favorite albums.

This week's WLS Survey features lyrics to two songs on the reverse: "Year Of The Cat" (number 3 on the Forty-fives chart) and "Go Your Own Way" (number 10) and is sponsored this week by Tru:Test Paints from True Value Hardware Stores.

The highest moving single is Thelma Houston's disco anthem "Don't Leave Me This Way", moving up fifteen spots from number 39 to number 24. (Raise your hand if you think it is going to be a Number One song real soon.) Elton John's "Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance)" tumbles down fourteen spots from 28 to 42 and should be off the chart next week but I ain't peeking.

The three singles pictured above debuted on the survey and will all eventually end up in the Top 10, with Leo Sayer's "When I Need You" going all the way to Number One. A total of fourteen of the 45s on this week's Forty-fives chart, most of which I still own to this day, would end up among the 100 songs that make up My Favorite Songs from 1977 and one of those songs even makes the Top 10 on my countdown. That exclusive list will soon be released, ten songs at a time over the course of ten consecutive weeks. Until then, let's see how the WLS Forty-fives chart compares with other singles charts from March 19, 1977.

WLS	title	artist	Billboard	Cashbox	Canada	UK	AUS
45	Right Time Of The Night	Jennifer Warnes	25	24	47
44	Dreamboat Annie	Heart
43	Dedication	Bay City Rollers	62		70
42	Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance)	Elton John	52	48	51
41	When I Need You	Leo Sayer	46	43	60	11	22
40	Sam	Olivia Newton-John	24	36	44
39	Dazz	Brick		53	55
38	Hotel California	Eagles	19	28	86
37	I've Got Love On My Mind	Natalie Cole	14	20	29
36	Walk This Way	Aerosmith		41	43		90
35	Nadia's Theme	DeVorzon & Botkin
34	You Make Me Feel Like Dancing	Leo Sayer		63	50		46
33	Here Come Those Tears Again	Jackson Browne	23	22	26		93
32	I Wish	Stevie Wonder	41	40	30
31	Do Ya	Electric Light Orchestra	28	18	25
30	Lost Without Your Love	Bread		38	34		30
29	Boogie Child	Bee Gees	12	29	9
28	The First Cut Is The Deepest	Rod Stewart	29	19	28
27	Free	Deniece Williams	30	21	40
26	So Into You	Atlanta Rhythm Section	16	14	24
25	Don't Give Up On Us	David Soul	8	5	14	33	18
24	Don't Leave Me This Way	Thelma Houston	9	6	11	36
23	Say You'll Stay Until Tomorrow	Tom Jones	17	16	18
22	Enjoy Yourself	The Jacksons	36	37	20
21	Blinded By The Light	Manfred Mann's Earth Band	18	35	23		73
20	I Like Dreamin'	Kenny Nolan	6	9	5		44
19	Car Wash	Rose Royce	53	58	32		19
18	Maybe I'm Amazed	Wings	13	13	17
17	Weekend In New England	Barry Manilow	31	34	33
16	New Kid In Town	Eagles	27	31	15		24
15	Crackerbox Palace	George Harrison	20	17	19
14	Rich Girl	Daryl Hall & John Oates	3	3	10
13	After The Loving	Engelbert Humperdinck					13
12	Long Time	Boston	22	12	12
11	Hard Luck Woman	Kiss		50	39		83
10	Go Your Own Way	Fleetwood Mac	10	23	16		27
9	Dancing Queen	ABBA	5	4	4
8	Fly Like An Eagle	Steve Miller	2	15	2
7	Hot Line	The Sylvers	57	64	35		29
6	Night Moves	Bob Seger	4	11	7		78
5	The Things We Do For Love	10cc	11	8	6		6
4	Torn Between Two Lovers	Mary MacGregor	7	2	13	6	1
3	Year Of The Cat	Al Stewart	26	10	3		36
2	Carry On Wayward Son	Kansas	15	7	8
1	Star Is Born (Evergreen)	Barbra Streisand	1	1	1		60

First off, we have complete and total accord across four charts and two countries that Barbra Streisand unilaterally had the Number One song in all of North America for the week. Secondly, welcome Australia charts courtesy of Grant Dawe's site Top 100 Singles, where he has been painstakingly entering ARIA and AMR chart info as well as his own lists of his favorite songs. Highly recommended! Third, what the heck UK charts? Granted, the info was gleaned from a Top 50 chart rather than a 100 position chart but still. Harsh!

And jb's theory that WLS listed their recurrent singles on their Forty-fives chart gathers further credence this week with "Dreamboat Annie", "Nadia's Theme" and "After The Lovin'" all failing to appear on the other charts. Well, the latter song did make the Australian chart, coincidentally at the same exact position, but it is absent from the Billboard, Cashbox, Canadian and even the UK charts but then again most of the Forty-fives chart is missing from the UK chart. Let's meet up again in April to discuss another WLS Survey from 1977. I wonder what color paper and ink that chart is going to be?