I think it’s safe to say that only someone who is not a native Chicagoan would wonder why the first track of volume four of this series comes from a 2017 Marvel movie soundtrack.
Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah’s “Lake Shore Drive” became known globally because of its inclusion in “Guardians of the Galaxy 2.”
But for generations of Windy City natives, the track has been a hometown favorite, right up with the Cubs, the Sox, and Ann Sather’s cinnamon rolls.
(Uh-oh: Better stop this L-train of thought …)
I wrote that the “chart date” (it didn’t actually make Billboard’s Hot 100) would have been 1977, remembering how often the song was played on Chicago’s WMET at that time. But it dates to releases in 1972 and ’73.
The other songs in this set also hail from 1970 to 1976.
Several have been remade in later decades:
- David Essex’s sublime “Rock On” inexplicably became a bigger hit as a remake for singer/soap opera actor Michael Damian in 1989.
- The Five Man Electrical Band’s “Signs” entered the Top 10 again in the ’90s in a remake by Tesla.
- And Motley Crue had a big hit remake of “Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” originally done by Brownsville Station.
- Another – Lynn Anderson’s “Rose Garden” – became the inspiration for the 1989 dance hit “I Beg Your Pardon” by Kon Kan.
(Dance music in that late ‘80s/early ‘90s period sampled everything, from the Doctor Who theme to a snippet from Star Trek, to Gregorian chant. Fun – if odd – times.)
Unlike Volume Two’s Carl Douglas and Carol Douglas, George McCrae and Gwen McCrae were spouses during the time of their respective hits; they divorced in 1976.
I liked how Gwen’s hit referenced George’s … slyly, lyrically, but not obviously in the melody or production.
And just like “Laverne and Shirley” followed its parent sitcom “Happy Days” for its first several seasons…
…its theme song by Cyndi Grecco follows Pratt and McClain’s theme in this collection.
(TV watchers from the 1970s know that “Happy Days” spun off not one but two Top 40 hit themes: The first was the re-release of the classic “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets, the initial theme song for “Happy Days” in its first two seasons.)
No YouTube links this time around… because all the songs are available on Spotify.
Here’s the playlist for volume four:
Your turn!
What ones do you love? What ones do you hate?
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I’m loving what I’m hearing of David Essex (currently checking out the Rock On LP). Like Marc Bolan’s younger brother, but with weirder production, and perhaps more admiration for Ray Davies.
I’ve never heard the original “Rose Garden” outside of the sample. Great song, but when the chorus came up, I couldn’t help but think “this woman is sampling Kon Kan!” I beg my pardon.
The first two David Essex albums in particular are great. The weird production from Jeff Wayne really stands out. Streetlight, Lamplight and America are favourites of mine along with Rock On. After that he became more of a straightforward pop act but from the early 80s Silver Dream Machine and Me And My Girl (Nightclubbing) had a bit of the strangeness back.
I know 19 of the 24 by title alone. Can’t listen right now but I’m willing to bet I will recognize at least some of those others when I hear them. The earlier ones really take me back to my earliest memories of radio consciousness, which is always cool for me.
As a Chicagoan it would have never occurred to me that LSD didn’t even make the Hot 100. I started playing the first couple bars if it during warm ups before mass recently and those of a certain age smiled in recognition. The piano part in that song is stunningly good and so iconic here. So glad you lead with it!
I consider How Long to be one of the earlier examples of Yacht Rock, but maybe that’s just me. Great song either way.
You added a little Happy Days trivia, so I thought I’d share my favorite piece(s) of trivia about the show.
Most people can name the Happy Days spinoffs (Laverne & Shirley, Joanie Loves Chachi, Mork & Mindy), but who remembers that Happy Days was a spinoff of what TV show?
I won’t give it away, but here’s a hint: ABC Friday night schedule in the early 70s:
The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, The Odd Couple, Room 222, and…
Could there be a connection with Greg Brady’s Johnny Bravo and The Fonz? Yeah, no probably not.
Ahhhh, my Friday night ritual at that time. What a line up!
I know, but I’ll let others chime in.
I thought it came from American Graffiti but that was a movie, not a TV show.
(Stridently waving hand!) I know it, I know it! It had style. Awww, H E Double Tooth Picks!
Ah, good ol’ @Low4: Truer than the red, white and blue.
That’s me and you.
.
Wait … I missed a trivia question from those 2 years I was glued to the tv set? I watched it and am pretty sure the episode was called “Love and the Happy Days”. But that’s news to me that Room 222 was on Fridays … it feels more like a Tuesday night show to me.
I had all the tv guides from those years (1969-71) too, but gave them to a friend who threw them out when she saw a spider crawl out of the box.
Your memory is correct! C&P from Wikipedia:
“The series began as an unsold pilot starring Howard, Ross and Anson Williams, which aired in 1972 as a segment titled “Love and the Television Set” (later retitled “Love and the Happy Days” for syndication) on ABC’s anthology show Love, American Style.”
“Based on the pilot, director George Lucas cast Howard as the lead in his 1973 film American Graffiti, causing ABC to take a renewed interest in the pilot. The first two seasons of Happy Days focused on the experiences and dilemmas of “innocent teenager” Richie Cunningham, his family, and his high school friends, attempting to “honestly depict a wistful look back at adolescence”.”
I looked up the schedule and L,AS was on Monday and Friday nights??? But look at those first two shows on Monday night: “The Music Scene” followed by “The New People”, breaking new ground in 45-minute time slots.
And Room 222 was Wednesday night, not Tuesday or Friday, followed by Nanny and the Professor and the Courtship of Eddie’s Father.
Going to do some youtube searching and relive my childhood…
We weren’t allowed to watch it. Mom said it was roo racy.
We weren’t allowed to watch it. Mom said it was too racy.
I’ve never heard “Lake Shore Drive” until today. Not a bad song (rollerboogie’s right about the piano part) and it’s easy to see why it was a local hit. Maybe the rest of you can tell me if “Roadrunner” by Jonathan Richman was a hit anywhere outside Massachusetts.
I rise to praise Brownsville Station. Yes, they’re ridiculous. Yes, they’re derivative. Yes, they’re lowbrow. But as a teenage boy in the 1970s, how was I to know they were ridiculous, derivative and lowbrow? I was their target audience. Any time they were on Don Kirschner’s Rock Concert or Midnight Special, I was there for it.
And they could be really funny. Check out the introduction to “Smokin’ In The Boys Room” after watching The Tonight Show “through your toes.”
https://youtu.be/2rdLOYwGNTc
Am I remembering correctly? I seem to recall that you had a Cub Koda story?
No, he was long since in the grave but I opened for a five man version Brownsville in 2013. That’s right, it took three guys to replace him. Anyway, Mike and Henry were there and I got to talk to Mike for a few minutes. Nice guy though a little hyperactive, just like his stage persona.
Roadrunner was a hit outside Massachussets – well outside as it reached #11 here. Not even his biggest UK hit as Egyptian Reggae made #5. Roadrunner is by far the better remembered though.
I have not heard Road Runner. Smokin in the Boys Room is all the things it’s derided for and it’s great. It could be far, far worse.
Foghat has entered the chatroom.
I know most of these this week. Though I thought I knew Life Is A Rock… but turns out its just the distinctive title I was familiar with.
Pilot had a bigger hit at home with the follow up; January, which was a #1. Magic is by far the better song though. They were saddled with comparisons to The Beatles. That didn’t work out too well. Two big hits and it was pretty much all over. Better than The Knack I suppose, they also got the ‘New Beatles’ label over here – outcome; one big hit and out.
Chuck, without Life is a Rock…, would we have We Didn’t Start the Fire? Asking for a friend.
“Don’t really need it.” — Elvis Costello
Deleted comment. Accidentally duplicated
Nice collection, Chuck! I would listen to this one straight through.
I remember hearing or reading somewhere that Casey Kasem went to the same school at the same time with one member of The Blackbyrds (“Walking in Rhythm”). Unfortunately I can’t recall where that was from. It wasn’t from an American Top 40 show in 1975, since I’ve only heard one of those and Casey just introduced the tune with no comment.
“Sad Sweet Dreamer” is a delightful slice of teen soul that topped the UK chart and become a top 20 hit here in the States. Definitely worth a listen, but don’t read about what happed to Sweet Sensation unless you want to get more sad than sweet.
I thought it was that Kasem went to school with Donald Byrd, the jazz trumpeter who was the inspiration for the Blackbyrds.
Ah, maybe that was it. Thanks for the clarification.