We continue our look back at the music of 50 years ago……
If you were spinning your transistor radio dial in 1972…you heard these gems emanating from the tiny little speaker….on WIFC, WRIG, WSPT…or wherever you called home.
Where Is The Love-Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway…..there have been many duets sung over the years but few as soulful as the combination of Flack & Hathaway. Although the LP was released in 1971, April of 72 saw this great tune hit #5 on the charts and won a Grammy for the pair as best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
Don’t Say You Don’t Remember & I’ll Make You Music-Beverly Bremers…After releasing a couple of forgettable records as a teenager in the mid 60’s, Bremers headed to Broadway and was appearing in HAIR when she got the chance to record a pop album. These two tunes got airplay in 1972 but were not that successful. I heard them here in Central Wisconsin. Bremers continued to tour and record sporadically but also became a composer and songwriter. She wrote the theme music for the Disney series “Mousercise”.
Hold Your Head Up-Argent…after leaving the Zombies keyboard ace Rod Argent formed this band and after a number of LPs, hit in 72 with this churning tune that cracked the Top 5. Argent recorded the song while battling food poisoning . Rick Wakeman called the organ solo, “the greatest organ solo ever”. This is the long version which rarely got played on the radio…
I Gotcha-Joe Tex…This did not get played at any Women’s Lib rallies back in the day. It was the B-side of another record but DJ’s preferred this slice of funk. It stalled at #2 behind Roberta Flack”s “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” (two sides of the 1972 soul coin).
I Am Woman-Helen Reddy….this DID get played at the Women’s Lib rallies in the early 70s, becoming the anthem of the movement. Reddy had released it as part of her 1971 debut LP, and included over the closing credits of the Jackie Bisset film “Stand And Be Counted”. Reddy then re-recorded it and it went to #1 in 1972. Reddy said she wanted to sing a song about women’s empowerment but she couldnt find any…so she wrote her own. You may find it kitchsy…I think it works .
If Loving You Is Wrong ( I Don’t Want To Be Right)-Luther Ingram….lyrics aside, Ingram hit with this soul classic that went to #3 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. Its stayed in the Hot 100 for 18 weeks and sold four million copies. Obviously alot of folks could relate to a secret romance.
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