July 17, 2021: JH - Early '70s Soul Hits

 Host: Jan Hunsinger (JH)

Spotlight: Early '70s Soul Hits (from the Rhino Records Series "Didn't It Blow Your Mind: Soul Hits of the '70s")

Rockin' Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage, like us on Facebook, and tune in to 93.5 or stream the show every Saturday night from 6-9pm! (Or download the WVBR+ app now available for iOS and Android!)

Thanks to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!

Playlist

·     songs with * were requests

·     all chart information comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise noted

·     a glossary of terms is below the playlist

OPENING THEME:  Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969 - #29: produced by Jimi Hendrix)

Before the Soul, a set of summer themed songs:

On a Summer Night - The Sugar Canyon (1968 - DNC: band was on Buddah Records, for which many bubblegum acts recorded)

The Sweet Sounds of Summer - The Shangri-Las (1967 - #123: a later single that 'bubbled under' for the Queens quartet)

It's Summer - The Temptations (1971 - #51: the group's follow-up to "Just My Imagination")

It's Summertime USA - The Pixies Three (1964 - #116: song was meant to be the B-side of the single, but DJs turned the 45 over because the A-side song title, "The Hootch" [which was supposed to be a dance craze], was slang for alcohol)

Summer Means Fun - Bruce and Terry (1964 - #72: Bruce Johnston would later be a member of the Beach Boys; Terry Melcher was the son of Doris Day and would later produce LPs for the Byrds, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and others)

Spotlight: Soul Hits of the '70s

Groove Me - King Floyd (1971 - #6: a female fellow employee at an L.A. box factory inspired Floyd to write the song)

Groovy Situation - Gene Chandler (1970 - #12: one of 27 BB Hot 100 singles for the "Duke of Earl")

O-o-h Child - The Five Stairsteps (1970 - #8: song ranks #392/RS500 for the Chicago group once known as "The First Family of Soul")

*Keeper of the Castle - The Four Tops (1973 - #10: Top 10 hit for the group after they left Motown Records and signed with ABC/Dunhill)

One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, Pt. 1 - Honey Cone (1972 - #15: Edna Wright, lead singer for the trio, was Darlene Love's sister)

Turn Back the Hands of Time - Tyrone Davis (1970 - #3: song was #1 for two weeks on the R&B charts)

I'll Take You There - The Staple Singers (1972 - #1: song ranks #276/RS500)

45 Corner:

Across 110th Street - Bobby Womack (1973 - #56: Womack co-wrote the song, which was used in the movie of the same title starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto)

Back Stabbers - The O'Jays (1972 - #3: group was originally from Canton, Ohio, but became a big part of the Philadelphia soul sound)

Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get - The Dramatics (1971 - #9: first charting single for the soul group out of Detroit)

Westbound #9: The Flaming Ember (1970 - #24: another Detroit group, this was their signature song)

The Birthday Calendar

July 11:

Tab Hunter - born 1931

Thurston Harris - born 1931

Jeff Hanna (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) - 74

July 12:

Barbara Cowsill - born 1928

Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac) - 78

July 13:

(James) Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) - 79

Tom King (The Outsiders) - born 1942

July 14:

Bob Scholl (The Mello-Kings) - born 1938

Jim Gordon - 76

July 15:

Linda Ronstadt - 75

Roky Erickson (Roger Kynard) - born 1947

July 16:

Tony Jackson (The Searchers) - born 1940

Desmond Dekker - born 1942

Thomas Boggs (The Boxtops) - born 1944

July 17:

Spencer Davis - born 1939

Gale Garnett - 79

Young Love - Tab Hunter (1957 - #1: first and biggest BB Hot 100 hit for the actor/singer; ironically, the song took the #1 spot from Sonny James' nearly identical version of the same song)

Little Bitty Pretty One - Thurston Harris (1957 - #6: a million-seller for Harris, the song was written by Bobby Day and later covered by Frankie Lymon)

Some of Shelly's Blues - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1971 - #64: Jeff Hanna was a founder and lead singer for the band; the song was written by Monkee Mike Nesmith and covered by Linda Ronstadt)

Indian Lake - The Cowsills (1968 - #10: the song was written by Tony Romeo, whose other big hit was "I Think I Love You" for the Partridge Family, the TV family modeled after the real-life Cowsills)

Heroes Are Hard to Find - Fleetwood Mac (1974 - DNC: Christine McVie wrote this title track to the group's ninth LP, after which Bob Welch left the band and was replaced by Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks)

Goin' Back - The Byrds (1967 - #89: Roger McGuinn's 12 string Rickenbacker guitar gave the group its jangly sound; Carole King and Gerry Goffin wrote the song)

Time Won't Let Me - The Outsiders (1965 - #5: founder/lead singer/guitarist Tom King co-wrote this highest-charting single for the band from Cleveland, Ohio)

Tonite, Tonite! - The Mello-Kings (1957 - #77: Bob Scholl was lead singer for the group that was formed in high school in Mount Vernon, NY)

Jump Into the Fire - Harry Nilsson (1972 - #27: Jim Gordon was a renowned session drummer who played with the Beach Boys, Derek and the Dominoes, Georg Harrison, and others)

The Long Way Around - Linda Ronstadt (1971 - #70: from her first solo LP Hand Sown ... Home Grown)

Someone to Lay Down Beside Me - Linda Ronstadt (1976 - #42:

from her Hasten Down the Wind LP; Karla Bonoff wrote the song and provides backing vocals)

You're Gonna Miss Me - 13th Floor Elevators (1966 - #55: the band out of Austin, Texas was the first to refer to their music as psychedelic rock)

Don't Throw Your Love Away - The Searchers (1964 - #16: the Liverpool band that took their name from the 1956 John Wayne movie, began as skiffle group "Tony and the Searchers", after bassist and lead singer Tony Jackson; Jackson was lead singer for all of the group's big hits and then left over musical differences)

Israelites - Desmond Dekker and the Aces (1969 - #9: one of the earliest reggae hits for Jamaican-born Dekker, who is the Desmond referenced in the Beatles song "Obla-di, Obla-da")

Soul Deep - The Boxtops (1969 - #18: Thomas Boggs was drummer for the band from 1968-70)

Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis Group (1966 - #7: Davis played rhythm guitar and provided backing vocals for the group which bore his name)

We'll Sing in the Sunshine - Gale Garnett (1964 - #4: Garnett wrote the song, which won her a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording)

Back to This Week's Spotlight

Everybody Plays the Fool - The Main Ingredient (1972 - #3: after the sudden death of lead singer Don McPherson, the group recruited Cuba Gooding, Sr. and recorded this song, their biggest hit)

If You Don't Know Me by Now - Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes (1972 - #3: although named for Melvin, Teddy Pendergrass was the group's lead singer)

Freddie's Dead - Curtis Mayfield (1972 - #4: first single released from the soundtrack for the film Super Fly)

Too Late to Turn Back Now - Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose (1972 - #2: Eddie Cornelius wrote the song for the trio, which included brother Carter and sister Rose)

Mr. Big Stuff - Jean Knight (1971 - #2: Knight recorded the song at the Malaco Studio in Jackson, Mississippi at the same session where King Floyd recorded "Groove Me")

Smiling Faces Sometimes - The Undisputed Truth (1971 - #3: the group's biggest hit, the song lyrics are quoted in the O'Jays' "Back Stabbers")

You Brought the Joy - Freda Payne (1971 - #52: her follow-up to "Bring the Boys Home", but her singles were not achieving the success of her earlier hits)

Suavecito - Malo (1972 - #18: one-hit wonder for the San Francisco band, which included Jorge Santana, brother of Carlos; the title means 'soft' or 'smooth' in Spanish)

Give Me Just a Little More Time - Chairmen of the Board (1970 - #3: first and biggest charting single for the group; the song was written and produced by Holland-Dozier-Holland, who had left Motown Records, and members of the Funk Brothers backed the singers)

Love Land - Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band (1970 - #16: the group had seven singles chart on the BB Hot 100; drummer James Gadsen provided lead vocals)

Have You Seen Her - The Chi-Lites (1972 - #1: song was a million-seller for the Chicago group)

I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash (1972 - #1: reggae influenced song written by Nash that spent 4 weeks at #1)

Me and Mrs. Jones - Billy Paul (1972-3 - #1: song was #1 for the last two weeks of 1972 and the first week of 1973)

Didn't I (Blow Your Mind) - The Delfonics (1970 - #10: a classic example of the Philly soul sound, the song won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance and was used in the Quentin Tarantino movie Jackie Brown; it also was used for the Rhino Records series)

CLOSING THEME:  Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959 - #1 for two weeks)

Glossary of Terms:

dnc = did not chart

nr = not released as a single at the time

AC = Billboard’s chart for “Adult Contemporary” records

BB = Billboard Magazine, which publishes the Hot 100 chart (previously known as the Top 100), along with several other charts

Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top 100

C&W = Billboard’s chart for “Country & Western” records

R&B = Billboard’s chart for “Rhythm & Blues” records

RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

RS500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranked list of the top 500 singles of all-time

Host July 24, 2021: John Simon (JS) with a Spotlight on the "Summer of Soul" (1969).  It is also the title of a movie whose run has been extended at Cinemapolis until August 5.

Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to Rockin' Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9pm on WVBR (93.5 FM in Ithaca, NY) or streaming here. 

Thanks again to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!