(Little did I know that 101 miles up the road from where I lived in 1978, Len O'Kelly, 2 grades behind me, was also enjoying listening to WLS. He beat me to publication with his commentary on the station's Forty-fives chart from the week ending January 28, 1978, which I recommend you go read immediately.)
The primary artists on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack were the Bee Gees, performing six of the seventeen tracks while composing two others performed by artists not named Gibb. The brothers had two singles from the album on the Forty-fives chart: "Stayin' Alive" at number 10, up seven places from the previous week and on it's way to Number One in two weeks, and "How Deep Is Your Love", a former Number One making a slow trip down the chart at number 8, down one place from last week. Both singles would spend a phenomenal 31 weeks on WLS's Forty-five chart.
But wait, there's more! The Bee Gees also were responsible for two other singles on the Forty-fives chart this particular week with Brother Barry having written "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" for his baby brother, Andy, who was riding the song up the charts, jumping up nine spots to number 21. Busy Barry also wrote Samantha Sang's "Emotion" with Brother Robin as well as providing those lush background vocals. That single was also moving rapidly up the charts, climbing seven spots to number 24. Over the next four months, the Brothers Gibb would practically own the chart.
Three debut singles, pictured above, appeared at numbers 44, 43 and 41, respectively. They would eventually peak at numbers 29, 19 and 24. Heatwave, or Heat Wave (sic) as they were named on the list of Forty-fives, was also one of four acts in addition to the Bee Gees with a pair of songs on the chart.
They had "Always And Forever" rising at number 43 and "Boogie Nights" falling at number 29 but I've since come to prefer the longer versions of both songs from their album Too Hot To Handle.
Linda Ronstadt also had two Forty-fives on the list: "Blue Bayou" was down four to number 26 and "It's So Easy" had stumbled eight spots to number 23. Both singles are from Ronstadt's Simple Dreams album.
As mentioned earlier in our Thirty-threes discussion, Shaun Cassidy had two singles on the chart, one from each of the two albums he had in the Top 10: "That's Rock 'N' Roll", from his self-titled debut, inched down one spot to number 37 and "Hey Deanie", from his sophomore effort Born Late, also dropped one spot to number 7.
The final artist with a pair of songs on the countdown was Queen, who sat atop the chart with the double A-side single "We Will Rock You"/"We Are The Champions", which was more often than not played in a 5:00 non-stop segue edit that flipped the sides and copied the album sequence so it began with "We Will..." first and finished with "We Are..." just like it is listed on the WLS Forty-fives chart. As fortune would have it, the lyrics printed on the back of the WLS Survey Sheet for the week ending January 28, 1978, were the lyrics for the Number One Song(s) by Queen.
Be sure to check out Part One.
Bobby's B100.fm plays 29 songs from this Forty-fives chart
Such a great set of songs. Brings back so many memories of being glued to Casey Kasem every week.
ReplyDeleteJust a quick heads up, the original single version of Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood Is on Spotify, rather than the remake you’ve used.
Thanks. I always appreciate a heads up.
DeleteIn reality, the track I included on the playlist featured on this post is a Local File taken from the original soundtrack album 54, Vol. 2 ripped from CD because I did not find the 3:48 45 edit I was seeking in Spotify's library.
In an effort to get a sense of what you experienced, I brought up the WLS playlist on my own iPhone and iPad and played "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". Listening to the song on each device, the Granite & Sugarman version played. But when I switched playback from my devices to my PC using Spotify Connect, each device played the correct version, the Local File I ripped from the 54, Vol. 2 disc, while still showing the artwork from the Granite & Sugarman single on their respective screens.
And what I just noticed after playing the song directly from my PC, Spotify links my Local File to another album in their library, a disc I also own titled D.J. Disco Mix, Vol. 2, which is a fairly decent disco compilation in and of itself.
I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. The integrity and accuracy of the playlists I create and share is important to me. Until recently I never knew how my use of Local Files affected other listeners but now I know.
When you get a chance, please send a link to the original single version you found on Spotify so I can verify it and update this playlist accordingly.
This should be the correct song:
Deletehttps://open.spotify.com/track/18aIHMqVc8hGQmqhOUaPpv?si=j5scFx9RSkC7N63mXVQYEQ
While I very much appreciate your assistance, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.
DeleteI did audition the track you linked when I was creating the WLS playlist but came to the conclusion it wasn't the same recording found on three vinyl albums and at least six compact discs here on the shelves and in the drawers surrounding me. It is a close-sounding recreation, I'll give it that. To my ears though, it's different from the very start, those rhythmic hand claps on the original are replaced by synthclaps(?).
The needle drop linked below from my man Phil aka HitsTownUSA can be used for comparison in case you don't have a copy of the original lying around:
Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood [45RPM]
Give it a listen and let me me know if you hear what I hear.
This re-recording crap drives me nuts. I wish they were marked clearer. At least it’s closer to the original than the one that played outside your library.
ReplyDeleteI may have to start linking my library too.