Casey notes that this is the third different song titled “Superstar” to hit the Top 40 in 1971, preceded by the Murray Head “Superstar” from Jesus Christ Superstar and the Carpenters’ cover of Leon Russell’s “Superstar.”Īt #31, the spell is broken with pianist Peter Nero’s instrumental “Theme From ‘Summer of ’42’.” But not for long.ģ0. Hot damn, this show has been smokin’ for like 20 minutes now.ģ2. “Scorpio”/Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band. Heard in its 45 configuration, which is in mono.ģ3. On the recent repeat, all five were in the same segment. On the original show, there were two commercial breaks within these five songs. Right at the nexus of country and blues, and a song that would have sounded weird and dated had it come along a year later. “Only You Know and I Know”/Delaney and Bonnie. “The inside jukebox blows out just like thunder.”ģ5. Another deep soul trip from the group who sang “She’s Not Just Another Woman” earlier in 1971.ģ6. “You’ve Got to Crawl (Before You Walk)”/8th Day. “Trapped By a Thing Called Love”/Denise LaSalle. Listen for the differences in the guitar, the backing vocals, and the fade.ģ8. In its first week on the chart, and heard in its great 45RPM configuration, which is different from the one heard widely on oldies radio, at least until Three Dog Night got too old for oldies radio. “An Old Fashioned Love Song”/Three Dog Night. Spending just two weeks at #40, “I’d Love to Change the World” would nevertheless become one of the core songs of the album-rock format, played over and over and over again for the next 25 years or so.ģ9. “I’d Love to Change the World”/Ten Years After. In fact, you’d have a hard time finding an AT40 show from any year that started stronger than this one. Fortunately for the stations who rarely carry an early 70s show, the 11/20/71 show is remarkably solid. AT40 has offered Christmas alternates in years past, but this is the first year they’ve started doing so in November, likely responding to the number of affiliates who go all-Christmas well before Thanksgiving Day. This past weekend, Premiere offered the show from November 20, 1971-and the alternate was a Christmas show. (In 2015, they’ve started doing this with 80s shows, too.) In weeks when Premiere Radio Networks offers a show from one of those years, it also offers an alternate show from later in the decade, and stations are free to choose the one they want. For that reason, a lot of AT40 affiliates rarely carry shows from 1970 through 1972. The early 70s shows often have a lot of these, and often beyond the first hour. I have written before about how weird the first hour of the typical American Top 40 show can be, thick with hits that never were, novelty records, oddball format crossovers from country or R&B-fun listening for geeks, even as they make radio station program directors cringe. (Pictured: Van Morrison at work in the studio in 1971.)
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