The Etcetera, Etc. feature on the reverse side of this week's WLS Music Survey features the lyrics from the song at its peak at number 6 on the list of Forty-fives, where it would log a twenty-week stay and finish the year at number 31 on WLS's Big 89 year-end countdown. It is a tender love song that a listener called "Satanic" in an email I received at the station I worked at in 2021. Since then, I've learned that many other people simply hate this song. It goes to show that every song a station plays is a most-hated Satanic song for any number of folks. The cooties shot I got at the playground clinic back in 5th grade must have been the good stuff because I've never been bothered by Dan Hill's "Sometimes When We Touch".
Two singles debut on this week's Forty-fives: "Bootzilla" from Bootsy's Rubber Band jumps in at number 43, while "Dance With Me" by Peter Brown with an assist from Betty Wright breaks in at number 41. The former would peak at number 24 during a twelve-week stint on the singles list. The latter track would climb to number 11 during a twenty-eight-week run up and then down the chart before showing up at number 69 on the Big 89 at the end of the year.
There's an awful lot of groovy funk and soul on this chart. Definitely more than I realized at the time, though I was down for nearly all of it via WLS, the jukebox circuit, and the skating rink. Bought nearly half of these 45s in 1977, 1978, and 1979. Though the Peter Brown single above would have been number 11, here are my Top 10 singles in alphabetical order by artist:
Styx slips three spots to number 33 this week with "Come Sail Away". The single had peaked at number 3 during its half-year voyage on the Forty-fives, ending up at number 52 on the Big 89. This single was another one of those revelatory tracks once I heard the album. A full three minutes was lopped off for the single. I was heavily into the song until the early Nineties, when I pretty much stopped listening to Styx altogether for reasons I do not recall. Sometimes old favorites just fade away. Then, while watching the premiere episode of an unheralded new show I had recorded because I had to work the night it aired, the song was played during a school dance scene near the end of the episode, and just like that, "Come Sail Away" was once again a favorite. The show was Freaks and Geeks, also a favorite.
Natalie Cole's "Our Love" moves up two spots from number 15 this week. The single will peak at number 11 during its eighteen-week run and end up at number 63 on the year-end Big 89. Even after nearly forty years and thousands of other songs, "Our Love" remains one of the most beautiful songs I've ever laid ears on.
Dropping nine places this week to number 22 is Electric Light Orchestra's "Turn To Stone". Its legacy on WLS's Forty-fives mirrors that of "Our Love" above: eighteen weeks, peaking at number 11. On the Big 89, it ended up at number 70. I love everything about the song, from the fade-in intro to the high-voiced background singers and the dense production that rides a rockin' rhythm. Songs like this have me wondering what it would sound like if Jeff Lynne and Alan Parsons ever collaborated.
Jay Ferguson's "Thunder Island" falls four spots to number 27. The single would regain momentum and peak at number 14 over a nineteen-week run on the Forty-fives. Amazingly, "Thunder Island" came in at number 83 on the year's Big 89. My early thoughts on the track were that I liked it a lot and it sounded like an Eagles track with someone else's vocals. Made sense when I read the album's liner notes and saw Joe Walsh contributed slide guitar and Bill Szymczyk produced; both worked with the Eagles. A fun and breezy track that brought summer vibes to a cold Illinois winter.
Moving up from number 39 to number 35 this week is Paul Nicholas's "Heaven On The 7th Floor". The buoyant single had peaked at number 4 in December 1977 during a nineteen-week ride up and down the Forty-fives, ending up at number 55 on the station's Big 89 for 1978. I really liked the song from the first time I heard it and began looking for the 45 as soon as I found out Paul Nicholas was the artist. I recall seeing Nicholas "perform" the song on American Bandstand on the same episode Debby Boone "sang" "You Light Up My Life". This was around the time school started in 1977. The background vocals on "Heaven On The 7th Floor" sometimes remind me of the theme to "Love American Style", which I enjoy as well.
In its second week, Parliament's "Flashlight" (sic) bumps up eight spots to number 26 on the Forty-fives. The single would peak at number 3 during a twenty-three-week flight on the chart, good enough to land at number 22 on the year's Big 89. Bernie Worrell's Minimoog bass synth lines are everything in this song, with Bootsy Collins on drums and his brother, Catfish, on guitar. This track is P-Funk in peak operational mothership mode, fully loaded and ready to get down.
Player's "Baby Come Back" drops three places to number 10 after having peaked at number 4 a month prior. The single would spend twenty-four weeks on WLS's singles list and wind up at number 30 on the Big 89 year-end countdown. It may have been the smoothest song I had ever heard in all of my eleven years. The line "I'm wearing the mask of false bravado" still gets me every time.
The Queen double A-side single "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions" is down one to number 4 after peaking at Number One in January. "Champions" charted alone for two weeks before "Rock" was added to the listing, and together the two songs on one single racked up twenty weeks on the list. At year's end, the single was number 10 on the Big 89. Initially, I enjoyed "We Are The Champions" more than "We Will Rock You", but that preference reversed in high school. Now I can't hear one without the other.
Moving up four spots to number 15, Raydio's "Jack And Jill" is smooth and just a little funky. The song would peak at number 3 during its twenty-five-week trip on the list of small records with big holes. On the Big 89, "Jack And Jill" wound up at number 20. "Jack And Jill" still sounds wonderful to these old ears, though now that I've heard the full-length album version, the single version fades much too early.
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" by Santa Esmeralda, starring the lead vocals of Leroy Gomez, falls two places to number 40 this week. The song had peaked at number 20 during a three-month stay on the chart and would miss the Big 89. The flamenco intro sets this song apart from all the others on the radio. I was immediately hooked, but had issues tracking the single down. Found a short version of the single on the K-Tel album Music Magic before finally tracking down the 45. When I play the album version, or even the ten-minute Kill Bill version, my wife and I break out into dance and are truly exhausted by the song's end.
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