1961: Ricky Nelson had a hot new song. "Hello Mary Lou" moved from 73 to 27.
1961: Del Shannon's "Runaway" continued to set the pace at #1 for a third week. 1962: Engineer Ted Huntley recommended to Beatles' manager Brian Epstein that he send a demo of the band to EMI producer George Martin. 1965: Bob Dylan shot a promotional film for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" outside of the Savoy Hotel in London, becoming one of the first artists to film a music video.
We're saluting the great songs of 1976 on Inside The Rock Era. We started yesterday and feature 10 more:
#90:
More, More, More Pt. 1
Andrea True Connection
This song has faded a bit in 40 years, but still strong enough to make The Top 100*.
#89:
Fernando
ABBA
While you were growing up, this group was always far more popular in Europe than in America. That began to change with this song, and actually the popularity in America was much greater than program directors could put gauge, as we all saw with the overwhelming success of Mamma Mia! The musical debuted in 1999 and 17 years later, it is still one of the world's top attractions.
#88:
Shower The People
James Taylor
J.T. wrote one of his most enduring songs with this one.
#87:
A Little Bit More
Dr. Hook
Just as there is no person named Led Zeppelin or Jethro Tull, there is no person named Dr. Hook. The guy with the patch on his eye is named Ray Sawyer while Dennis Locorriere sings most of the lead vocals for the group, as he does on Song #87*.
#86:
Dazz
Brick
This combination of Disco, Funk and Jazz hit a chord with audiences and Brick scored a big Top 10 hit.
#85:
Summer
War
Former Animal lead singer Eric Burdon helped formed this innovative band, but they continued to achieve success long after Burdon left in 1970.
#84:
I Love Music
O'Jays
The same group that gave us "Love Train" in 1973 also are responsible for this song, which likely explains why all of us are on this website.
#83:
Shop Around
Captain & Tennille
The members of this duo both were backing musicians for the Beach Boys at one time. At the height of their popularity they hosted their own variety series. The Captain & Tennille turned a former Miracles hit into Gold.
#82:
This Masquerade
George Benson
One of the great exponents of "smooth Jazz" that was beginning to become popular owns this song. Check out the album Breezin' when you get a chance.
#81:
Lonely Night (Angel Face)
Captain & Tennille
We heard "Shop Around" two songs ago by the Captain & Tennille. They were one of the hottest acts of the mid-'70s.
1955: Elvis Presley performed at the Peabody Auditorium in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1955: Although "Rock Around The Clock" was not a hit when released the year before, it had picked up renewed interest by virtue of its inclusion in the movie The Blackboard Jungle, and was consequently re-released by Bill Haley & His Comets. And a new era was born. If you like rock music in any of its forms, you have this song to thank. It convinced DJ's, radio station management, and most importantly executives at record companies that rock & roll was a viable form of music. 1958: The Champs performed their #1 smash "Tequila" on American Bandstand.
If you're a member of a Class Reunion Committee, your job just got a whole lot easier, for soon you'll know exactly what The Top 100 Songs of 1976* are for your upcoming 40th Reunion celebration! These aren't the songs that the record companies pushed on high school students back then, but 40 years later, the songs that your fellow graduates still like. Let's get started!
1957: He had appeared on his parents' radio show and later on television. On this date, Ricky Nelson first appeared on the chart with his first single, "A Teenager's Romance". 1963: Andrew Oldham and agent Eric Easton signed a management contract with the Rolling Stones. (Note: some websites report that this occurred on April 29, 1963. This is incorrect, according to the book 'The Rolling Stones: A Musical Biography' by Murry R. Nelson. According to Nelson, the contract was signed on May 6.) 1965: Keith Richards began writing the Rolling Stones song "Satisfaction" in a hotel room in Clearwater, Florida. 1965: James Brown recorded "I Got You (I Feel Good)" at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida.
Our Prelude* concludes with these songs, which get you ready for the unveiling of the current updated list of The Top Songs of 1976*, as reflected by the Inside The Rock Era Database* on May 5, 2016:
Wake Up Everybody (Part 1)
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Georgia
Boz Scaggs
(Featured on the album Silk Degrees)
Monday Morning
Fleetwood Mac
(Featured on the album Fleetwood Mac)
Never Gonna' Fall In Love Again
Eric Carmen
Fool For The City
Foghat
#100:
Fool To Cry
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones were back in 1976 with their first Top 10 song in three years.
When businessman Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president, the Rolling Stones song "Start Me Up" could be heard in the background. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, writers of the song, heard it too, and now they are demanding that Trump stop using their copyrighted material. "The Rolling Stones have never given permission to the Trump campaign to use their songs and have requested that they cease all use immediately," the British band's publicist, Fran Curtis, said in a statement today.
1900: The Billboard (known today as Billboard), in its sixth year, switched production to weekly rather than monthly. 1956: The Elvis Presley album Elvis becomes the first rock LP to top the Album chart.
1956: Elvis scored the first #1 of his career with "Heartbreak Hotel". 1958: Elvis Presley had the top R&B song with "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck". 1962: Chris Montez recorded "Last Dance".
1962: One of the great folk rock artists enjoyed their first hit on this date as Peter, Paul & Mary debuted on the chart with their first single--"Lemon Tree". 1962: Dee Dee Sharp was #1 on the R&B chart with "Mashed Potato Time". 1962: Mr. Acker Bilk had a huge Easy Listening hit with "Stranger On The Shore". It was atop the Adult chart for the third out of seven weeks in a row.
1962: The Shirelles marched to #1 with "Soldier Boy". Dee Dee Sharp saw an opening and took advantage with "Mashed Potato Time", former #1 "Johnny Angel" from Shelley Fabares was third, followed by Mr. Acker Bilk and "Stranger On The Shore" and Elvis Presley's previous #1, "Good Luck Charm". 1968: Buffalo Springfield split after a concert at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California.
1956: Elvis Presley released the single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You". (Note: several websites report the date of release as May 1 or May 12, and, while there are no "established" reliable sources, the website www.elvis-history-blog.com contains a pretty thorough account of the song's recording and release. They report that Elvis released the song on May 4, and that is the best information on the release date.) 1956: Gene Vincent recorded "Be-Bop-A-Lula" at Owen Bradley's Studio in Nashville, Tennessee.
If you graduated in the bicentennial year, like yours truly, your 40-year class reunion is coming up, and to salute the 1976 grads, we at Inside The Rock Era will feature The Top 100 Songs* of the year. Keep in mind that this is not the way the yearly Top 100 looked back in 1976; rather, it is updated to reflect changing opinions and current sales and airplay. Some songs that radio stations and trade magazines thought were popular really weren't, and that has shown over the years. In the meantime, enjoy some of the other music from that year in our Prelude*:
We're featuring songs to help class reunion committees with their big events this summer. We just finished 1966 for that class's 50-year reunion, and now we move to 1976 for that group's 40-year reunion. Before we play the top 100 for that year, though, we feature our customary Prelude*, which includes some of the top songs outside the list. Several of these, could, with Gold certification or a million airplays certification climb into the top 100. Many will bring back memories:
1964: Gerry & the Pacemakers performed "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" for their television debut in the United States on The Ed Sullivan Show. 1965: The Beatles filmed sequences for their upcoming movie Help! on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England with the British Army’s Third Tank Division.
1967: The Hollies recorded "Carrie Anne" in two takes. 1967: Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys went to court on charges he evaded the draft. 1968: The Beach Boys opened a tour with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Shows opened with an unintelligible lecture by Yogi, and were a disaster for the group. The tour was cancelled after five dates, with 24 concerts cancelled. 1969: Jimi Hendrix was arrested at Toronto International Airport for possession of narcotics. He would die a little more than a year later, having not learned his lesson.
1969: The great Mercy song "Love (Can Make You Happy)" vaulted from #52 to #15 on this date.
1956: For the first time in chart history, five songs were in both the popular and the R&B Top 10. They were Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins, "Long Tall Sally" from Little Richard, "Magic Touch" by the Platters and "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. 1960 - Production began on Elvis Presley's G.I. Blues. It was his first post-Army movie.