WLS Top 27 Songs for Week of November 13, 1972-- Part 1: 'I'm Stone in Love with You'

That's right, a half century ago these were the big songs on Chicago's Powerhouse WLS, 890 AM.

*  Means the song was climbing the charts.  The number after the artist is how high the song got on the Billboard Hot 100 National Chart.

27.  *I'M STONE IN LOVE WITH YOU--  Stylistics    #10  With that unique voice of Russell Thompkins, Jr.  From Philadelphia.

26.  *CLAIR--  Gilbert O'Sullivan     #2       Dig the whistling.  Follow up to "Alone Again (Naturally)"  Real name Raymond O'Sullivan.   A song about the 3-year-old daughter of his manager.

25.  *CRAZY HORSES--  Osmonds     #14      This is a great Halloween song.  Weird.  Who says the Osmonds can't rock.  This could be Heavy Metal.  Seriously.  Give it a listen if you don't remember it.  Especially watch the video.

24.  *OPERATOR--  Jim Croce      #17      My favorite Jim Croce songs.  Too bad we didn't have him longer.  Just imagine all those great songs he might have had.

23.  *IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME BY NOW--  Harold Melvin       #3      Hard to imagine a song that is more of a belly rubber.    His group?  The Blue Notes.

22.  *BEN--  Michael Jackson     #1      A song about a rat?  Title song from the movie.

21.  EVERYBODY PLAYS THE FOOL--  Main Ingredient     #3     Again, this songs always reminds me of driving the Ramblin' Wreck ('63 Rambler station wagon)  on Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, Illinois, my senior year at NIU.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "See, The Number In The Matchbook Is Old And Faded."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Operator"

Summer of 1972 Again-- Part 3: 'Willin' '

Remember, tomorrow from 9 am to noon and againat 9 pm to midnight, Bob Stroud will host his annual Salute to Summer show on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  This is CDST and it streams.

These are the songs he played on June 12 going back to the songs on the radio and in our record collections fifty years ago.

SPACE TRUCKIN'--  Deep Purple

THICK AS A BRICK--  Jethro Tull    I still chuckle when I think of them winning the first Heavy Metal Grammy back in the 80s.  They thought it was funny as well.

WILLIN'--  Little Feat   Definitely not appreciated by most, but I sure do.

ROCKS OFF--  Rolling Stones

SOMEDAY NEVER COMES--  CCR   My all-time favorite group.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORIES--  Jim Croce    We sure lost him way too soon.

IMMIGRATION MAN--  Crosby & Nash

IT DOESN'T MATTER--  Manassas   (Steve Stills' group)

HEART OF GOLD--  Neil Young    The last three songs was CSN&Y apart.

JUNPIN' JACK FLASH-- Peter Frampton

WITCHY WOMAN--  Eagles

I'LL TAKE YOU THERE--  Staple Singers    The #1 song in Chicago.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "But We Sure Had A Good Time When We Started Way Back When."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Photographs and Memories"

Songs From the Summer of '71-- Part 9, August 1, 1971: 'Sweet Hitchhiker'

Nothin' finer than going back fifty years ago and doing some 'membering as happens with this show by Bob Stroud on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive.  And, we still have one more coming on Sunday, September 5.  That will be his final of four installments until next June when on the first Sunday he'll do the Summer of 1972, another college year for me.  And, those college years were a WHOLE lot of fun for me.

GET IT ON--  Chase    Horns, we need more horns.

RESURRECTION SHUFFLE--  Ashton, Gardner & Dyke   Too bad stations don't play this song more.

STATESBORO BLUES--  Allman Brothers

INDIAN RESERVATION--  Raiders   What?  No Paul?

SWEET HITCHHIKER--  CCR   As I've said before, my favorite 60s-70s band.

RAIN DANCE--  Guess Who

IT'S TOO LATE--  Carole King

REASON TO BELIEVE--  Rod Stewart

AQUALUNG--  Jethro Tull    Really?  Heavy Metal Grammy?

RIDERS  ON THE STORM--  Doors   Poor Jim was dead when this song came out on the radio.

DRAGGIN' THE LINE--  Tommy James    The number one song in Chicago this date.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Eying Little Girls With Bad Intent.  Snot Running Down His Nose."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Aqualung"

1969 Anyone?-- Part 1: 'That's the Way Love Is'

This past Sunday, March 20, 2021, (Hey, Twenty Twenty Twenty-one!!), WXRT's Richard Milne went to the year 1969 on his Saturday Morning Flashback show from 9 am to noon.  That was a great year for me as I graduated from Palatine High School and that fall I started at Northern Illinois University.  These songs sure bring back the memories.

THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN--  Band

NOTHING IS EASY--  Jethro Tull   (Hey, received the first Grammy for Heavy Metal)

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL--  Creedence Clearwater Revival

HOT SMOKE & SASSAFRASS--  Bubble Puppy   (Did Granny really say that while she was yelling at Jethro?)

PINBALL WIZARD--  Who

DREAMS--  Allman Brothers

ONE--  Three Dog Night    From the rock musical "Hair"

LIVE WITH ME--  Rolling Stones

THAT'S THE WAY LOVE IS--  Marvin Gaye

BADGE--  Cream

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "No Is The Saddest Experience You'll Ever Know."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"One"

Music Deaths: Leslie West of Mountain

LESLIE WEST, 75

Died 22 December 2020

Guitar player / vocalist with rock band Mountain.

One of the bands considered as the forerunners of Heavy metal.

The group performed on the second day of Woodstock with an 11-song set.

I'm listening to that great album "Mountain Climbing" as I type this.  More cowbell, please.  Give a listen to their "Sittin' on a Rainbow."  Too bad it is just 2:20 long.  More cowbell!!!

"Mississippi Queen"  (#21-1970)

Music of 1968-- Part 1: A Year To Remember

From the Time Life Magazine/book "Music of 1968: Rock and Roll's Greatest Year.

I really enjoy these little magazine/books and spend more than I should on them.  Lots of great pictures, concise text an plenty of information and a surprising number of them of particular interest to me.  Most are just 100 pages long so they don't take too long to read.

Of course, I am really interested in music and especially music from 1968, which was a good high school year for at good old Palatine High School in Illinois (my junior/senior year).

Now that I am a year late, I will go through the magazine and write a little of what they said about each artist.

"1968:  A Year To Remember.

"Mick Jagger summed it up best:  "But what can a poor boy do, except to sing for a rock 'n' roll band?"

"For rock 'n' roll lovers, 1968 hit the mother lode.  Psychedelia ruled, and so did protest,  Motown and Johnny Cash's twang. The Rolling Stones blasted back onto the airwaves with "Beggars Banquet."  Heavy metal was ascendant."

Buy Me An Album.  --RoadDog

TRIVIA:  In which scandalous novel is literature professor Humbert Humbert obsessed with pre-teen Dolores Hazel?


"Lolita"

Music Deaths: Paul Whaley, Drummer of Blue Cheer and Mark Hollis of Talk Talk

PAUL WHALEY, 72

Died January 28, 2019

Drummer who helped pioneer Heavy Metal with the band Blue Cheer out of San Francisco  Their biggest hit was a remake of  Eddie Cochran's 1958 Rockabilly song "Summertime Blues."  It went to #14 in 1968.

MARK HOLLIS, 64

Died  February 25, 2019

Leader of group Talk Talk.    Their biggest hit was "It's My Life"  (#31-1984).

25 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs-- Part 2

Ever since Steppenwold used that tern in "Born to Be Wild."  * I've heard it before.

14.  METAL THRASHING MAD--  Anthrax
13.  AM I EVIL--  Diamond Head
12.  SCREAMING FOR VENGEANCE--  Judas Priest
11.  WELCOME TO THE JINGLE--  Guns N' Rose*

10.  DETROIT ROCK CITY--  KISS*
9.  RUNNIN' WITH THE DEVIL--  Van Halen*
8.  AT WAR WITH SATAN--  Venom

7.  THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST--  Iron Maiden
6.  N.I.B.--  Black Sabbath*
5.  SOUTH OF HEAVEN--  Slayer
4.  SATAN'S FALL--  Mercyful Fate

3.  FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE--  Metallica
2.  BLACK SABBATH--  Black Sabbath*
1.  ACE OF SPADES--  Motorhead

These songs tend to be in the same category of evil.

--RoadDog


YOU THINK ENGLISH IS EASY?  The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

25 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs-- Part 1

From November 24, 2014, Yahoo! Music by Rob O'Connor.

Not that I am a big-time heavy metal guy, but I have heard of some of them and you know how I feel about lists.  * I've heard of before.

25.  MASTERS OF PUPPETS--Metallica*
24.  COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN--Led Zeppelin*
23.  BLACKOUT--Scorpions
22.  PEACE SELLS--  Megadeath

21.  MIND OVER MATTER-- Raven
20.  TOXIC WALTZ--  Exodus
19.  UNDER THE BLADE--  Twisted Sister
18.  WAR PIGS--  Black Sabbath*

17.  COWBOYS FROM HELL--  Pantera
16.  OVER THE MOUNTAIN--  Ozzy Osbourne
15.  HELL'S BELLS--  AC/DC*

And, there are videos and information at the site.

I'm Just Listing Them.  --RoadDog