WLS Music Survey - January 24, 1976 (Part One: The Thirty-threes)

Today, we're looking at the WLS street sheet for the week ending January 24, 1976. But before we get into that, let's start with this...

The format and layout of WLS's weekly survey had changed just five weeks prior. In addition to being physically larger, the number of listed singles and albums also increased. The final survey in the smaller format (above) had fifteen ranked and fifteen unranked singles in an otherwise unnamed section as well as 10 ranked albums listed under the heading MUSICRADIO LP's and TAPES. The flip side of this survey was filled with a ballot for the annual WLS MUSICRADIO SURVEY AWARDS. Ordinarily, the flipside of the survey would have featured a small feature about one of the jocks and then a larger advertisement.

The newer, larger survey featured a Jock of the Week on the upper left corner of the front of the sheet. Jocks had always been featured before but now it was more formal because it said Jock of the Week above their picture, a tagline, and their shift.

I was a snaggle-toothed fourth-grader with a stammer in January 1976. I doubt I even knew what a concert was back then.

Speaking of concerts, there are two double-live albums on the Thirty-threes this week. The week's biggest mover, jumping up eight spots from number 21, is Gratitude from Earth, Wind & Fire. This absolutely stellar album, an intoxicating blend of live and studio recordings, is certified triple-platinum meaning at least 1,499,999 other folks loved it.

Kiss Alive! moved up a couple spots to number 7 on the list. In our annual year-end radio round-up, the single released from this album ("Rock and Roll All Nite") ended up being the most-played song on our local classic rock station in 2023. Nationally, "Rock and Roll All Nite" was classic rock's 69th most-played song for the year. Surprisingly, Alive! has yet to be certified beyond Gold. 

On the back of this week's survey, there was an offer from Bob Sirott to all his Secret Squadron Members. There was some other "Convoy" related material on the survey's b-side, too:

Yours truly was a huge fan of "Convoy" from the first time I heard it, probably sometime late in 1975 on WLS. Ended up getting both the 45 and its parent album Black Bear Road and played the heck out of them. The title track and "Silverton" kick off the album and while all three of those songs have been released on CD, the rest of the album has not. Black Bear Road moves up one click to number 17 this week on the Thirty-threes.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel went their separate ways after crossing the Bridge Over Troubled Water in 1970. Then Simon wrote "My Little Town" with Garfunkel in mind so they reunited in the studio for the song and each artist included it on their respective 1975 solo albums. Both of those albums made the list of Thirty-threes this week: Garfunkel's Breakaway was dropping down the list at number 29 while Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years was moving down at number 11.

There are two albums on the list of WLS albums that contain tracks from former UK-only albums. At number 30 and heading downward is Neil Sedaka's The Hungry Years. It is the US version of the UK album Overnight Success with two tracks being replaced. Dad was a Sedaka fan and had picked up Sedaka's Back but took a pass on The Hungry Years. I picked up the album's single but soon traded it away. Bay City Rollers was moving up the list at number 22 and featured songs from three UK-only albums: Rollin', Wouldn't You Like It? and Once Upon A Star. This album was either a gift or among my initial order of albums from the RCA Music Service and I played it A LOT.

Red Octopus, the second release by Jefferson Starship, rose up one spot to number 3 this week. The album would go on to become the biggest-selling album by the various incarnations of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship on the strength of the lava lamp and incense anthem "Miracles". Is it possible for a song to keep sounding better and better the more you listen?

Two men named John have a pair of albums on this week's list. John Denver has the number 24 and 5 entries with John Denver's Greatest Hits and Windsong. Originally released in 1973, Denver had re-recorded the majority of the tracks included on his Greatest Hits album to better reflect his growth as an artist. By 1975, with the release of his own double-live An Evening with John Denver and Windsong albums, he was at the peak of his powers and popularity.

The other John was also peaking and would continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Elton John has three albums on the list and, like Denver above, one of them is a collection of his greatest hits. Moving down a click is Bernie and Elton's sprawling, autobiographical concept album Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy at number 25. The album's depth and brilliance were lost on me in 1976. Dropped more than a few quarters in the sweet Captain Fantastic/Pinball Wizard-themed pinball machine, though.

Greatest Hits from 1974 is up at number 15. Grew up listening to Dad's 8-track of Greatest Hits which turned out to have a different running order than the vinyl. Probably the most notable difference is that "Bennie and the Jets" and "Border Song" both play twice(!) on the 8-track. (Original copies of the US cassette featured the album's ten tracks in yet another sequence though this was later changed to match the vinyl.)

Up at number 4 is John's Rock of the Westies album. Released less than six months after Captain Fantastic and featuring nearly an entirely new roster of backing musicians, Westies did not appear to suffer in either popularity or sales.

The two Greatest Hits albums discussed above were joined by six other greatest hits albums on this week's list of Thirty-threes: 

• Making its debut on the list at number 32 is The Best Of Carly Simon which eventually became her best-selling album.
• Endless Summer, another perennial seller from 1974, dropped two from number 19 last week. The album would spend more than 60 weeks on the Thirty-threes during 1974-1977.
• Moving up one, Greatest Hits by Seals & Crofts cracked the Top 10 this week. I wouldn't jump on the bandwagon until later in 1976, after hearing "Get Closer ", but I'm pretty sure Dad had this album so the seeds had been planted.
• Helen Reddy's Greatest Hits falls to number 9 on the list. My knowledge of Reddy's music at the time more than likely consisted of two songs I recall from the Cow Talk jukebox: the groovy "Angie Baby" and her cover of "Delta Dawn". (If you never have done so, take a real close listen to the lyrics of the former.) 
• Up at number 2 for another week, this week is History: America's Greatest Hits. The first seven tracks of the album (all of side one and the first song from side two) were remixed by producer George Martin, creating unique versions of the songs that have since become radio mainstays.
• It makes sense that an album titled Chicago's Greatest Hits would be Number One on WLS's Thirty-threes. Chicago IX - Chicago's Greatest Hits would spend twelve consecutive weeks at Number One before slowly sliding down and then off the list of Thirty-threes in mid-July. This was another one of Dad's classic 8-tracks where the sequence of songs differs from the vinyl. Track by track, this could be the best album highlighted here today.