WLS Music Survey - December 4, 1976 (Part Two: The Forty-fives)

In December 1976, I was a ten-year-old fifth-grader and my finances wholly consisted of a weekly allowance, odd jobs like mowing lawns or cleaning windows for family friends, as well as birthday checks from my generous grandparents. All that wampum was spent on a trinity of preteen vices: Marvel comics, Topps football cards, and 45s of my favorite songs. The Chanute Air Force Base Exchange was my go-to spot for all the above though our regular weekend family excursions to Market Place Mall in Champaign, Illinois, also enabled me to feed my addictions. It was at Musicland (or Bergner's) in that mall sometime in the Spring of 1976 that I picked up my first WLS Survey. Months later, I may have picked up this week's survey, too, but that is neither here nor there as this particular copy of the survey from December 4, 1976, is one of 46 surveys recently acquired in November 2018. On the reverse of this week's street sheet is a pretty solid Top Ten From The Past for the week ending December 7, 1974.

Also on the backside of the survey are the lyrics to not one but two songs (above) from the Forty-fives chart. 

This week's survey is sponsored by Playback - The Electronic Playground.

Heard "Hot Line" on WLS one week, bought the 45 that weekend and then watched this family band perform on television every chance I got. Love their 1975 hit "Boogie Fever" and their 1977 hit "High School Dance" as well.

Sir Elton is the only artist with two singles on this list with the other one ("Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word") adjacent at number 44. I told the story of how I finally acquired a 45 of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" here.

One of the first songs I remember seeing on The Midnight Special though they performed a much longer version of "Blinded By The Light" than I was used to hearing on WLS. Turns out it was the full-length album version.

I questioned why The Beatles were back in the regular rotation on Top 40 radio years after they had disbanded but only until I fell for this feel-good sing-along. Fell off the couch earlier this year when McCartney performed "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" on Carpool Karaoke. 

If I believed in guilty pleasures, "Jeans On" might qualify as such. It's as catchy as the common cold.

Never understood how some folks could not like this song. It combines the cool breeze vibe of "Moonlight Feels Right" with a nonsensical chorus straight out of the Bay City Rollers songbook.

As much as I love love LOVE "This Song", I love "Crackerbox Palace" even more, especially the opening lyric. One of Harrison's former bandmates is down at number 40 with "A Dose Of Rock 'N' Roll".

"Play That Funky Music" sounded crazy good pumping out of my Soundesign stereo system even though WLS was "only" AM at the time. Nothing ruined this funky music quicker than a bunch of us squeaky-voiced ten-year-old boys trying to sing it on the playground during recess.

I've always thought of "Devil Woman" as an atmospheric track, one sets a certain tone or mood. Took me a couple of years to realize it was akin to Cher's "Dark Lady".

I enjoy the way "Livin' Thing" and other ELO songs sounded on WLS so eventually hearing them on a stereo system was like hearing them again for the first time. Still hoping someone somewhere collects those lost mono radio edits from the early Seventies for fans like myself.

As an unabashed fan of the music of the Bay City Rollers, I have thirteen of their albums and compilations in my digital library. Others may have performed "I Only Want To Be With You" but we can all agree that no one else performed it quite like The Rollers.

"The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald" is probably the most depressing single a ten-year-old ever bought but I love the song nonetheless. Well written and well performed, it is also atmospheric to the max.

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was the only rock song heard in the 1978 film Halloween.

My crush on Marilyn McCoo began with "You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)" and subsequently watching her perform it countless times on what seemed like every television show. Then I discovered her previous work in The Fifth Dimension (thanks, Dad) and, finally, watched her host Solid Gold looking and sounding like a goddess here on Earth. I know she is still alive and kicking somewhere but man oh man she was some kind of woman when I was some kind of boy.

My appreciation of this song and its parent album are documented here.

Another song like number 32 above that was exposed to a whole new generation via the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And another song like number 41 above that I was surprised and delighted to find out existed in a longer album version. Too bad the dance craze they tried to start with "The Rubberband Man" never caught on.

Like many of my generation, novelty songs were the gateway to an addiction to Top 40 music. The first 45 I ever bought was 1974's "The Streak" by Ray Stevens. "Disco Duck" was sold out everywhere I looked but I finally added it to my collection with K-Tel's Hit Machine.

The WLS Forty-fives chart for December 4, 1976, has but a few songs that I'd rather not be stranded on a desert island with. Listening to the songs on this countdown was a wonderful trip down the highly trafficked thoroughfare known as Memory Lane.

~955~

45 scans found on 45cat.com