FORGOTTEN 45 for WEDNESDAY
ASK THE LONELY...FOUR TOPS
Released in 1965, this FOUR TOPS song rose to # 24 on the Pop Charts and # 9 on the R&B charts. This is another great example of lead singer Levi Stubb's emotional lead and MOTOWN's backup singers THE ANDANTES helping the other TOPS: Obie Benson, Lawrence Payton and Duke Fakir (Highest Charted Position #24)
TOP 5 FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1971
5. LONELY DAYS...BEE GEES
The BEE GEES had two very distinct periods of their more than 40 years of recording music: the late 60s/early 70s and as prominent performers of the disco era in the late 70s. The brothers had disbanded the trio but, when they got back together, that night they wrote two songs: "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart" and this song which would establish them as serious songwriters. (Highest Charted Position #3)
4. I HEAR YOU KNOCKING...DAVE EDMUNDS
SMILEY LEWIS, a Legendary New Orleans singer/songwriter, did this song originally. It was written by Dave Bartholomew who wrote many great songs for FATS DOMINO. I am not sure FATS ever covered this song but I certainly hear him doing it. However, the most famous version is from British recording star DAVE EDMUNDS. (Highest Charted Position # 4)
3. ROSE GARDEN...LYNN ANDERSON
LYNN ANDERSON said in an interview, "I believe that 'Rose Garden' was released at just the right time. People were trying to recover from the Vietnam years. The message in the song — that if you just take hold of life and go ahead, you can make something out of nothing — people just took to that." The song earned Grammys for both ANDERSON and songwriter JOE SOUTH. (Highest Charted Position #1)
2. KNOCK THREE TIMES...TONY ORLANDO/DAWN
Hoping lightning would strike again after the success of "Candida" TONY ORLANDO recorded "Knock Three Times." The song not only became #1 but also it was the top song of 1971 selling over six million copies worldwide. (Highest Charted Position #1)
1. ONE BAD APPLE...OSMONDS
Released in December 1970, this song hit #1 in February 1971 and stay there for five weeks. Originally, the song had been written with the JACKSON FIVE in mind. (Highest Charted Position #1)
FORGOTTEN 45 for TUESDAY 2/21
SWEET MARY...WADSWORTH MANSION
In 1971, this Providence, RI band gave us a "one hit wonder" and features a guitarist who now lives in Chesterfield. He will be the subject of my next 50 Plus article coming out later this week....FORREST MCDONALD. The band got their name from the former home of Colonel Clarence Wadsworth known as WADSWORTH MANSION in Middletown, Connecticut. (Highest Charted Position #7)
TOP 5 FOR TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1967
5. (WE AIN'T GOT) NOTHING YET...BLUES MAGOOS
This song occupies an interesting little niche in music history: somewhere between Acid and Punk Rock, with a little Mothers Of Invention "Freak Out" mixed in. The band is quite boastful in the song, declaring, "Nothin' can hold us and nothin' can keep us down, and someday our names will be spread all over town." Of course, they ended a one-hit-wonder, but the arrogance was part of a display that included big, stylish hair and electric blue/flashing light suits. (Highest Charted Position #5)
4. I'M A BELIEVER...MONKEES
Mojo magazine July 2008 asked Neil Diamond if he resented at all the Monkees' success with this song at a time when his own recording career was less successful. He replied: "I was thrilled, because at heart I was still a songwriter and I wanted my songs on the charts. Donny Kirshner, the music maven, hears 'Cherry, Cherry' on the radio and said, 'Wow, I want one like that for The Monkees!' He called my producers, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich - 'Hey, does this kid have any more?' And they played him the things I had cut for the next album including 'A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You', 'Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow),' and a former #1 but at #4 today. (Highest Charted Position #1)
3. LOVE IS HERE AND NOW YOU'RE GONE...SUPREMES
One of the best from Flo Ballard, Mary Wilson and Diana Ross and written by the songwriting team of HOLLAND-DOZER-HOLLAND although R. Dean Taylor of "Indiana Wants Me" fame claims he was a ghostwriter on the song. Funk Brother member James Jamersons' bass line in this song is outstanding. (Highest Charted Position #1)
2. RUBY TUESDAY...ROLLING STONES
This was supposed to be the B-side of "Let's Spend the Night Together," but many radio stations initially rejected it because of the sexual implications of the song so DJs flipped it over and played this song instead. Both songs became hits nevertheless. (Highest Charted Position #1)
1. KIND OF A DRAG,..BUCKINGHAMS
Billboard magazine declared - tongue in cheek - that this band was the most listened to band of 1967 because all five of their songs charted that year. By 1968 bands like THE ASSOCIATION, GARY PUCKETT, THE RASCALS and the BUCKINGHAMS were dying up because they were singles bands. In '68 you had album bands like LED ZEPPELIN, NEIL YOUNG, CROSBY, STILLS, NASH, JOE COCKER and there was a mass extinction of all the other bands. (Highest Charted Position #1)
DUE TO PRESIDENT'S DAY 2/20, THERE WAS NO FORGOTTEN 45/TOP 5 @ 5
reat songs, too. For good measure, I'll throw in some of the greatest songs of the 80s. Good Rock is timeless and I play Richmond's Greatest Hits, tell stories of the songs, how they came about and talk about the artists as well. Plus, enjoy my features "The Forgotten 45" at 3:45pm, the "Top 5 @ 5" for the commute home. 
