Center Of The Universe #3

Giant Sand, “Center Of The Universe”

(This is the first theme episode of my imaginary show, the first hourish containing songs from the Top 40 in 1963, the second covering Top 40 songs from 1973. I didn’t bother to look at release dates, because we’re discussing songs celebrating the sixtieth and fiftieth anniversary of being pop hits in the United States. So no Beatles today! While their first two UK albums came out in 1963, it was in January 1964 that the mania exploded stateside. In fact, I excluded any artists who made albums I know I love from that year. This playlist is about 45s. First up is Jackie Wilson, with the last of his initial 5 year streak of hits on the R&B and pop charts, “Baby Workout,” which hit #1 Pop, #5 R&B).

Jackie Wilson, “Baby Workout”
The Ronettes, “Be My Baby”
Beach Boys, “In My Room”
Dave Dudley, “Six Days On The Road”

(Dave Dudley’s “Six Days On The Road” - not the first country song about trucking, but the one that made sure we’d never go without them again. A #2 country radio hit, crossing over #32 pop. Preceding it was The Beach Boys with “In My Room,” which peaked at #23 as the B-side to “Be True To Your School,” which reached #6. Yeesh. Before that was the song Beach Boy Brian Wilson said changed his life, “Be My Baby” by the Ronettes. This celebration of Top 40 singles of 1963 continues with another blast from Phil Spector’s Wall Of Sound and Darlene Love. Believe it or not, “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Going To Marry” only reached #39. While Love sang on bigger hits credited to The Crystals and Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, she never had a huge single of her own. At least not until Christmas classics began conquering the Top 40 every December in the streaming era, with “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” reaching a new peak of #16 last year.)

Darlene Love, “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Going To Marry”
Barbara Lewis, “Hello Stranger”
The Jaynetts, “Sally Go Round The Roses”
The Shirelles, “Don’t Say Goodnight And Mean Goodbye”

(The Shirelles with “Don’t Say Goodnight And Mean Goodbye,” the girl group’s last Top 40 hit after four years of big hits likes “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and “Soldier Boy,” this one reaching #26. Beforehand was the Jaynetts, a studio girl-group put together by doo-wop producer Zelma “Zell” Sanders and Chess A&R Man Abner Spector. They only had one hit, the #2 “Sally Go Round The Roses,” written by Spector’s wife Lona Stevens. The Jaynetts project was inspired by Sanders & Spector’s success with The Corsairs’ “Smokey Places,” the pair figuring a girl group would be even more commercial. Five women were credited as members, but the 45 cover had three women on it, and reportedly 20 voices were involved. The initial session only managed to provide the one song, so the instrumental track was the b-side. The label gave up trying to score another hit with the name in 1965. Before that was Barbara Lewis, with her biggest hit, the self-penned “Hello Stranger.”  And now here’s Marvin Gaye’s second biggest hit of 1963, “Can I Get A Witness.”)

Marvin Gaye, “Can I Get A Witness”
Trini Lopez, “If I Had A Hammer”
Johnny Cymbal, “Mr. Bass Man”
The Cookies, “Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby)”
Bobby “Blue” Bland, “That’s The Way Love Is”

(Bobby “Blue” Bland. The guy had 57 R&B hits, achieved over two decades. 44 of them made the Billboard Hot 100. But only four made the Top 40, and only “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do” made the Top 20, at #20. We heard “That’s The Way Love Is,” his last R&B #1, reaching #33 Pop. Ironically, the B-side, “Call On Me,” reached #22 Pop, but only #6 R&B. The Cookies’ biggest hit, Goffin/King’s “Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby),” with the unforgettable threat of “girl, you better shut your mouth,” sung with the calm of Georgia Hubley. Johnny Cymbal, technically a one-hit wonder with the #13 meta marvel “Mr Bass Man,” though he’d have an even bigger hit with “Cinnamon” in 1968, credited to…Derek. No last name. Just Derek. And Trini Lopez's worldwide smash, a rocking live take on Pete Seeger’s “If I Had A Hammer.” Up next is Jan Bradley singing “Mama Didn’t Lie” by Curtis Mayfield, a song successful enough that Mayfield and Chess started fighting over publishing rights, inspiring Bradley to write her own songs instead, before leaving the industry in the ‘70s and becoming a social worker.)

Jan Bradley, “Mama Didn’t Lie”
Jimmy Soul, “If You Wanna Be Happy”
Brook Benton, “I Got What I Wanted”
Dion, “Ruby Baby”

(Dion at his most atypically Elvis, covering Lieber & Stoller’s “Ruby Baby” in 1963, making it an even bigger hit than the Drifters did in 1956. Brook Benton with “I Got Want I Wanted,” the rueful dark mirror of his biggest 1963 hit, “Hotel Happiness.” And Jimmy Soul, who made the chart twice with songs Gary U.S. Bonds refused to sing, reaching number one with “If You Want To Be Happy,” suggesting that men only marry ugly women. Who can say why Bonds wouldn’t take that one. Make sure to note the “yeah, alright” after it’s noted the ugly wife sure can cook in the rank-out break. Throw in “Surfin Bird” and “Louie Louie,” included along with all the previous songs on my 40 Favorite Top 40s Singles Of 1963 playlist, and you get a good picture of what was nice on the jukebox right before the Beatles took over. Now we’re going forward a decade to 1973, starting off with Beatle George Harrison’s number one hit “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth),” which I swear I never heard as a kid despite the relative inescapability of his other number one hits, “My Sweet Lord” and “I Got My Mind Set On You”.)

George Harrison, “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)”
Ann Peebles, “I Can’t Stand The Rain”
Stealers Wheel, “Stuck In The Middle With You”
Dr. John, “Right Place Wrong Time”

(“Right Place Wrong Time” - even the name screams ‘70s car chase montage. Peaking at #9, it was Dr. John’s sole single to make the Top 40, though “Such A Night” just missed it the same year. Before that was Stealers Wheel - produced by Lieber & Stoller! - with arguably the best fake Dylan bubblegum since “Let Its All Hang Out.” Finally, Ann Peebles with the most famous Hi Rhythm track not to involve Al Green. Though just about everyone else who played on his early ‘70s albums was in the studio. Oddly enough, despite its endurance and iconic intro, "Rain" only reached #38 at the time. Up next is Jim Croce’s “I Got A Name,” released on 45 a day after his death in 1973, though he’d already played the song a few times on TV before the plane crash that made its message of self-acceptance all the more poignant.)

Jim Croce, “I Got A Name”
First Choice, “Armed And Extremely Dangerous”
Ohio Players, “Ecstasy”
The Jackson 5, “Get It Together”

(“Get It Together,” the dawn of funky, post-pubescent Jackson 5, leading to the massive hit “Dancing Machine” the following year. The Ohio Players, already three albums into their very funky, very post-pubescent ‘70s phase, with “Ecstasy.” And First Choice, singing quite literally about a heartbreaker named “Dangerous Dan” who’s wanted by the FBI, “Armed And Extremely Dangerous.” I’m not sure if it was inspired by Rudy Ray Moore’s character or if Rudy was inspired by the song, but…yeah. All three songs only made it to around 30 on the chart in 1973. It's hard to believe the same Charlie Daniels who refused to forget Benghazi and said the world needed a few more rednecks first blew up with “Uneasy Rider,” a top ten tale of a long-haired hippie barely escaping a group of violent southern squares by his wits. In fact, a 1988 sequel by Daniels, well after he'd shifted from southern rock to country, is as homophobic as the bigots he initially mocked. But the original is an alt-country manifesto before the genre existed, and shouldn’t be forgotten even if Daniels did it the opposite of justice for decades after.)

Charlie Daniels, “Uneasy Rider”
The DeFranco Family, featuring Tony DeFranco “Heartbeat - It’s A Love Beat”
Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, “The Cover Of ‘Rolling Stone’”

(Dr. Hook’s “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone’,” a Shel Silverstein song as satirical about the ‘70s rock dream as Almost Famous was reverent. One of the band’s six Top 10 hits, a feat made ironic by their inability to get an album past #41. And before that was The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco’s “Heartbeat - It’s A Lovebeat,” the hit that made them a morning TV talk show staple for two years before label woes kept them from navigating the changing times, the kids leaving the industry before the end of the decade. Fun fact! That’s Hal Blaine of Wrecking Crew fame providing the lovebeat. Up next is The Pointer Sisters’ breakthrough cover of Lee Dorsey’s “Yes We Can Can,” lead vocal courtesy of Anita Pointer, who passed away last month.)

The Pointer Sisters, “Yes We Can Can”
Manu Dibango, “Soul Makossa”
BW Stevenson, “My Maria”

(Did you think Brooks & Dunn’s version was an original? Wrong, millenial! BW Stevenson took “My Maria” to the Top 10 in 1973. Ironically, Stevenson too progressive for country radio at the time, and never made the chart. Before that was Manu Dibango’s “Soul Makossa.” A B-side by a saxophonist from Cameroon found by Loft DJ David Mancuso, the song was an underground hit in 1972. By the time Atlantic scored the rights and released the track nationwide, multiple covers had already come out, Afrique’s almost making the Top 40. Which might be why Dibango only reached #35. We’re going to leave 1973 and the Center Of The Universe with Anne Murray. Unlike Charlie Daniels and BW Stevenson, Murray was an immediate hit with ‘70s country radio, despite being Canadian. Her cover of Loggins & Messina’s “Danny’ Song” was her second pop crossover after 1970’s “Snowbird,” but hardly her last. And here's the link to my 40 Favorite Top 40 Singles of 1973 if you're curious. Thanks for your time!

Anne Murray, “Danny’s Song”