The Top Hits of 1976 (Sort Of) Quiz

Answer: Tonight's The Night

Rod Stewart's lyrics were filled with sexual innuendo throughout this piece. One particularly steamy line effectively caused it to be banned in Britain -"Spread your wings and let me come inside". Is it me or is it getting hot in here? It had been four years since Rod last had a Top 40 hit so this was a nice bounce-back. He would continue to be a significant chart influence right into the 21st Century.

Normally, in my quizzes, I'd be counting down the Top Ten ranked songs for the year. In order to quote meaningful lyrics, the next song in this quiz is ranked 27th! I'll spend a little time to note the balance of the Top Ten here with brief observations.

Ranked second - "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy - A Disco instrumental number - Number One for a week.

Ranked third - "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry - Number One for three weeks - another funky dance number with largely unintelligible, meaningless lyrics.

Ranked fourth - "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney and Wings - Number One for five weeks - unfortunately, popular as it was, the lyrics were too simple and generic to quote a lyric sample for a clue.

Ranked fifth - "You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)" by McCoo & Davis - Number One for a week. I liked the song and tried to include it but the title just appeared too often within any snippet of lyric that I could provide.

Ranked sixth - "Love Machine" by The Miracles - Number One for a week. I read the entire lyric and I would never have gotten the song's title from any part of them. I didn't perceive it as a fair question.

Ranked seventh - "Love Is Alive" by Gary Wright - peak position, Number Two - a nice song but now eminently forgettable. I have!

Ranked eighth - "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees - Number One for a week - I don't think so. Not in this quiz.

Ranked ninth - "Kiss And Say Goodbye" by The Manhattans - Number One for two weeks - This song had prospects and I quite liked it. In the end, however, I thought that the lyric lacked a definitive hook that would enable you to decipher the title. Tough questions are okay but I felt that this would lead to more "guessing" than "knowing". Not my style!

Ranked tenth - "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)" by The Four Seasons - Number One for three weeks - I desperately wanted to include this song as it was the last big hit for a very good group but not enough words of the lyric could be given without the title line impinging. Too bad.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

Answer: Muskrat Love

No question about it, the song was totally silly and likely makes many lists of "the worst songs of all-time"... but it was so darned cute, I couldn't help myself. It was written and recorded by Texan Willis Alan Ramsey in 1972 as "Muskrat Candlelight".

The group America later included it on an album where Captain & Tennille first heard it and decided to do the cover. It really shouldn't have been a hit, one surmises, but Tennille's tender, playful vocals and the Captain's wizardry on keyboards and synthesizer emulating muskrats in the throes of passion made it irresistible, at least to the million people who purchased a copy!

Answer: Afternoon Delight

The song was recorded by The Starland Vocal Band and they garnered the "Best New Artist" Grammy for their efforts. For the uninitiated, the song deals with the pleasures of afternoon lovemaking. It was written by Bill Danoff, a member of the group that also consisted of his wife Taffy and another couple who were soon to get married, Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman.

Originally, the Danoffs were a duet called Fat City and their chief claim to fame was as co-writers and back-up group to John Denver's recording of "Take Me Home, Country Roads".

Although their popularity at the time was such that they briefly had their own CBS variety series, their day in the sun was short lived. Three further single releases could chart no higher than Number 66 and three albums resulted in diminishing financial returns.

They would disband in 1980, both marriages faltered and they all went their separate ways to pursue solo careers.

Answer: Love To Love You Baby

Performed by Donna Summer and her first big hit, she spent much of the song vocalizing orgasmic moans, of that there was no doubt - 22 of them to be exact! Naturally, as a Christian and former singer in the church choir, she had misgivings about co-writing and performing the song.

When it was recorded, she spent the session alone, lying on the studio floor in darkness. She did not want to have anyone witness the "performance". She was criticized by many for the song, most notably by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

In an interview with "The Telegraph Magazine" she was quoted as saying "They were afraid of what it would perpetrate among the youth. And I don't disagree with them on this end of it as a mother. I would not have chosen that specific song to open my career with.

But I accept that's what happened. And I tried my best to parlay the success of that record into something else and get away from that imagery as soon as I could." Indeed she did, becoming "The Queen of Disco Music" although her performances always purveyed something of a sultry image. For the record, she no longer performs this song live.

Answer: You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine

Like many black singers of the era, Lou Rawls got his start in Gospel music and in the late 1940s, sang in a Gospel group with none other than Sam Cooke, The Teenage Kings of Harmony. He bounced from one Gospel group to another until enlisting for a two year stint in the army as a paratrooper in 1956. Upon his discharge in 1958, he joined the Pilgrim Travelers and was on a Southern tour with Cooke as the headliner when both were involved in a car crash. Cooke evaded serious injury but Rawls was technically dead briefly and a third person was killed.

It took over a year for Rawls to recover but when he did, he moved to L.A. and made the shift to more secular music, jazz and soul primarily. Singing in small clubs and coffeehouses, he was eventually "discovered" and throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, released a number of albums in those genres and had four charting singles.

It wasn't until signing with the Philadelphia International label in 1975 that he truly made his mark with this hit off the platinum album "All Things In Time".

Although he would only have one other single release crack the Top 40 charts in 1978, he continued to produce a long list of charting albums in the realms of pop, jazz or soul right up to 2006. He also dabbled in acting and served as a spokesman and fund raiser for the United Negro College Fund. After a two year battle with cancer, he succumbed early in 2006. A beautiful voice was silenced.

Answer: Bohemian Rhapsody

The song, by the group Queen, was so popular in Britain that when it was re-released in December 1991, it topped the charts for five weeks more and in a 2002 poll conducted by Guinness, it was a landslide winner as the most popular British song of all-time! Following the death of Freddie Mercury in November 1991, and after it was featured in the hit movie "Wayne's World", the record was also re-released in North America and peaked at Number Two, denied the top by Kriss Kross' "Jump". VH1 has deemed it the 27th greatest rock song on their website and Rolling Stone placed it at 163rd in their 2004 list of the top 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time. Clearly, it's made its mark.

The song was featured on the album "A Night At The Opera" which took weeks to assemble. I say assemble rather than record because that was the case - it was largely a studio concoction. For this particular song, over 120 vocal tracks were layered over each other to create the effect, particularly during the "operatic" sequence. Because of this complexity, whenever the group "sang" the song live, most of it was on tape since they couldn't possibly replicate it live. Further, the process was quite expensive and time consuming. When all was said and done, the album was the most expensive production to that date.

Answer: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

Unfortunately for those dastardly heels looking for tips on how to break off a relationship, Paul Simon only provides five of those 50 ways.

"You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free"

The curiosities of when (or how) a record becomes Number One have always amused me. For example, in this instance, was this Paul Simon's best ever single record? He came close to having Number Ones in 1973 with "Kodachrome" and "Loves Me Like A Rock". Both stalled at Number Two behind, respectively, "Will It Go Round In Circles" by Billy Preston and "Half Breed" by Cher. Depending on your perspective and taste, that all seems fair. This particular hit denied the Number One spot to Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby". Having discussed that particular "gem" previously, I think justice was served. Personally, I think his best single effort was "Late In The Evening" in 1980 that could do no better than Number Seven on the charts. Probably half the songs on his 1987 album "Graceland" and virtually every song on his 1990 album "Rhythm of the Saints" was superior to this effort in every respect. But, the timing was all off. So, this was it! Paul Simon's top charting single ever. It seems a shame.

Answer: Let Your Love Flow

At the time, only the most cynical, hard hearted critic or a total devotee to the burgeoning disco or metal music scene could find fault with the lilting music or sentiments expressed in this song by the Bellamy Brothers. Well, maybe a perennial sourpuss could!

David and Howard Bellamy were born and raised in rural Florida and their roots were essentially country, but hicks they weren't. Both attended and graduated from the University of Florida, David earning a degree in psychology, Howard in veterinary medicine. During their university days, they earned their way playing frat parties and local clubs and in so doing, learned to appeal to varying musical tastes. Their break came when Jim Stafford recorded and made a hit out of one of David's compositions "Spiders And Snakes" in 1973. With the royalty proceeds, the brothers moved to L.A. intent to make their mark.

Nothing much happened until fate intervened. They knew the drummer from Neil Diamond's band and he steered them to this song written by one of Diamond's roadies, Larry E. Williams. For some reason, Diamond eschewed the song himself but it became the career defining moment for a couple of neophytes.

Following this hit, the brothers devoted themselves to country music and were critically acclaimed in that genre throughout the 1970s and 1980s. They did manage to enter the pop charts in 1979 once again with the Number One country hit "If I Said You Have A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me". It charted at Number 39 on the Hot 100.

As of 2009, they still tour regularly on the Country & Western circuit.

Answer: Let 'Em In

This was Paul McCartney's second song to place among the top 100 ranked hits of 1976. His other biggie was one of your other choices, "Silly Love Songs". It was a five week Number One song that placed fourth in the rankings. Unfortunately, the lyrics were unsuitable for its inclusion in a quiz of this nature. Both hits earned McCartney gold records.

Okay, who were these people... really? Sister Suzie is apparently Linda McCartney who had earlier recorded a song under the moniker Suzie and the Red Stripes. Brother John is Lennon, perhaps as appeasement after the nasty break-up of the Beatles. Despite the vitriol, he did love him as a brother. Phil and Don were the Everly Brothers whom Paul much admired. Martin Luther... bit of conjecture here but it probably was Martin Luther King rather than Martin Luther, the Catholic heretic who founded the Lutheran church - the jury is out on that one! Brother Michael and Auntie Gin were his actual sibling and aunt. In subsequent verses of the song, you might notice that Martin Luther is replaced by the character "Uncle Ernie". Apparently, that might have been Keith Moon from The Who, an "in" joke.

Although a harmless little song, it is a testament, one supposes, that McCartney could write such a ditty as this and turn it into a Number Three song, Number Two in the U.K. and get away with it! Certainly he was the "bees knees" to his many fans but maybe it had more to do about the production values his songs exemplified. Who else would include a little marching drum component as a major feature... or a trombone solo? His music was just plain fun to enjoy and he seemingly wasn't concerned about what the critics thought so long as he, his fans and his banker were happy.

Answer: Say You Love Me

"Say You Love Me" came from the eponymous album by the "new" Fleetwood Mac. The other charting singles to come off the disc were the Number 20 "Over My Head" and the Number 11 "Rhiannon". The other two answers, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and "Help Me" were performed by The Buckinghams and Joni Mitchell, respectively. The former was a Number Five hit in 1967; the latter peaked at Number Seven in 1974. This particular song barely eked into the Top 40 in the U.K., right on the number, and never charted at all in Canada. Canadian artist Shirley Eikhard released a cover version that made it to Number 19 on the Canadian charts.

The success of the album (it ultimately sold over 6,000,000 copies) was but a portent of things to come. Their next album release was the multi-platinum best seller "Rumours" that stood atop the charts for 31 weeks and ultimately sold 18,000,000 records in the U.S. alone and over 30,000,000 worldwide.

The journey of Fleetwood Mac from an obscure British blues band to American pop-rock superstardom is rich in vicissitudes. Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood were members of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers until forming their own unit in 1967, joined by Jeremy Spencer. Their first albums were blues oriented and quite successful in the U.K., marginally so in the U.S. The introduction of Danny Kirwan in 1968 started the band's transformation toward pop-rock and the conversion was completed in 1971 when both Green and Spencer left the group under unusual circumstances, replaced by Christine McVie and Bob Welch. Both Green and Spencer were heavy drug users (probably every member of the band was to some degree) but the abuses of those two eventually caught up with them. Green ultimately was institutionalized with LSD induced schizophrenia and Spencer suddenly quit the band and joined a religious cult apparently after an incident with mescaline led to bizarre, paranoid behavior. The band decided to move to California in 1975 and the final pieces of the Fleetwood Mac puzzle were completed. By then Kirwan and Welch left the band, replaced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. It was the lineup of the McVies, Fleetwood, Buckingham and Nicks that took Fleetwood Mac to its heights during the late 1970s and 1980s. We shall discuss the subsequent travails of the group in another edition.