Welcome to the second part of our look at the WLS Survey from the week ending September 4, 1976. If you missed the first part, click HERE.
The flip side of the survey features a Top Ten from the Past from the week ending September 8, 1973. That year is the beginning of my favorite decade in music, so nearly all the songs stick their landing EXCEPT: I prefer Tanya Tucker's "Delta Dawn" to Helen Reddy's version, and "Morning After" has never struck any chords with me.
Also on this side of the survey is an ad for a drag racing spectacular featuring jets and rockets. I attended two or three big-time drag races as a boy and watched a dozen more on TV. Ten-year-old me would be proud of the much older me remembering "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, "TV" Tommy Ivo, and Tom "Mongoose" McEwen, though I have to ask, where is Don "The Snake" Prudhomme?
The lyrics to Elton John and Kiki Dee's duet "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" round out the flipside of the WLS survey. The single was atop the Forty-fives again for the second week, heading toward topping the Big 89 at the end of 1976.
Four artists each have a pair of 45s on WLS's Forty-fives this week, including Wings, The Beach Boys, Heart, and Hall & Oates.
Hall & Oates' very first charted single on the list of Forty-fives is "Sara Smile", down one spot at number 25 this week. The single had peaked at number 9 in July and would end up at number 75 on the station's year-end Big 89. In light of the success of "Sara Smile", the duo's former label dusted off their 1973 single "She's Gone" and re-released it. That single debuts at number 40 this week, though it too would eventually peak at number 9.
Heart also stumbled out of the gate with their first single from their debut album, Dreamboat Annie, but the album's second and third singles broke big time. Those two singles were added by WLS in reverse order of their release, with "Crazy On You" sitting at number 16 this week, down five spots from last week. The single had peaked at number 3 in early August and ended up number 30 on the Big 89. "Magic Man" jumped up thirteen places to number 26 this week on its way to peaking at number 7 in October. "Magic Man" also made the Big 89, locking in number 60.
The Beach Boys had landed exactly one single on WLS's Forty-fives in the Seventies before 1976. "Add Some Music To Your Day" spent two weeks on the chart in 1970, reaching number 39. In 1976, the Boys released the album 15 Big Ones. "It's O.K.", the album's second single, debuts at number 44 on Forty-fives this week. It would top out at number 27. Along with four other singles* on this week's chart, "It's O.K." is a song I need never hear again. On the Forty-fives chart, "Rock and Roll Music" had peaked at number 2 in July. This week, the single falls five spots to number 17 and will wind up at number 20 on the Big 89.
"Let 'Em In", the second single from Wings At The Speed Of Sound, is holding at number 2 – its peak position – again this week. It will find itself up at number 29 on WLS's Big 89 year-end wrap-up. "Silly Love Songs", the album's first single, falls eleven spots this week to number 33. It had peaked at Number One at the end of May, earning it the number 2 place on the Big 89.
This is yet another sweet survey from 1976. I give it a solid 89%. Inspired, I pulled up the American Top 40 program associated with the date and gave it a listen. While not an exact copy of the WLS survey, the Billboard Top 40 had more than a few songs in common with it, and Casey is in top form.
🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
* These are the five singles on the list of Forty-fives that I need never hear again:
27 "Let Her In" – John Travolta
28 "If You Know What I Mean" – Neil Diamond
32 "Teddy Bear" – Red Sovine
41 "Don't Stop Believing" – Olivia Newton-John
44 "It's O.K." – Beach Boys
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