Billboard's Hot 100/ Top 40 Motown Chronicles - 1973 - [Pt. 2]

[Boogiedown]

Because of the amount of content, the year 1973 is being divided into three threads.

This is Part II:
May - August

previously on Motown and Billboard's Hot 100/ Top 40:

link for: 1973 Part I -Jan - April

past years:

link for: 1972 Part III - Sept - December
link for: 1972 Part II - May -August
link for: 1972 Part 1 - Jan -April


link for: 1971 Pt. 1 - Jan - July
link for: 1971 Pt. 2 - July - December

link for: 1970

______________________


Billboard’s Hot 100/ Top 40
Chart #18
May 5, 1973

Number of singles reviewed this week: 172!!
last week: 119

including:
Soul:
SMOKEY ROBINSON - SWEET HARMONY [4:10] -producers:Smokey Robinson & Willie Hutch; writer: W. Robinson Tamla 54233. Smokey's soft voice is showcased on his first solo effort which is dedicated to his former Miracles associates. There is a soft, silken quality to the total production.Destined for pop crossover play

EDDIE KENDRICKS - DARLING COME BACK HOME [3:10] producer: Frank Wilson, Leonard Caston; writers: K. Wakefield, F. Wilson, K. Errisson. Tamla 54236F. The former front man for The Temptations is heard pleading for the return of his woman, with the massage [sic] underscored by a sweet arrangement. The single should gain pop recognition as well.

Tamla is double-barreling this week releasing two singles, both by long time artists trying to get a foothold as solo performers. Maybe this time out.

Meanwhile, it's a Stevie Wonder week, as he enters the nation's Top 5 with Motown's hottest single, also on Tamla. The Temptations peak and suddenly drop from the Top 10. Gladys Knight and the Pips have two records charting while the J5 appear to struggle. Brother Michael hops onto the Hot 100 [as this week's highest debut 45] to help out. Adding it, and with no drop offs, Motown has six charting 45s.
_____________

The Top 10:

Week three for Dawn's TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLD OAK TREE at #1. War's CISCO KID pressing hard again at #2. Stevie Wonder closing in at #4 with a bullet from #6 with YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE. The typical two new entries , this time by Dobie Gray with DRIFT AWAY at #6 from #11 . It is Dobie Gray's only time in the Top Ten, he came close in 1965 with THE IN CROWD, which was the last time he charted Top 40, peaking at #13. Also his first week in, at #10 from #15, Edgar Winter [and group] with the instrumental FRANKENSTEIN, titled such for the way their much longer performance song's parts had to be chopped and sewn together into something short and cohesive enough to be a single.

The Top 40:

Motown:
Four records from Motown are on the Top 40:

^YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE - Stevie Wonder now Top 5 with a bullet at #4 spot from #6.
MASTERPIECE - Temptations sudden reversal downward to #11 from #7, the song's peak.
NEITHER ONE OF US [WANTS TO BE THE FIRST TO SAY GOODBYE] - Gladys Knight & The Pips drops from #12 to #22.
^ HALLELUJAH DAY - Jackson Five up one to #27 from #28.

off: none
__________

Biggest mover in the Top 40: 11 places:
DANIEL - Elton John at #14 from #25

Six entries, 5 US, 1 UK, 2+Top 10 bound+, 0 PI related, 0 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest Debut:
STEAMROLLER BLUES/FOOL Elvis Presley #30 up 14 from #44 [98th Top 40 Hit]

+PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND+ - Clint Holmes #32 up 11 from #43 [One Hit Wonder]
IT SURE TOOK A LONG LONG TIME - Lobo #36 up 9 from #45 [4th Top 40 hit]
+I'M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY+ - Barry White #37 up 20 from #57 [*First Time Artist]
I CAN UNDERSTAND IT -New Birth #38 up 4 from #42 [*First Time Artist]
BLUE SUEDE SHOES - Johnny Rivers #40 up 2 from #42 [Fifteenth Top 40 hit]


The Hot 100:

Eight newbies: 2 Top 40 bound, 1 first time to chart on the Hot 100, 0 Philly International related, 1 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest debut:
third tier:
#84 - WITH A CHILD'S HEART - Michael Jackson

#88 - HEY YOU! GET OFF MY MOUNTAIN - Dramatics
#94 - MONSTER MASH - Bobby 'Boris' Picket
#95 - YOUR SIDE OF THE BED - Mac Davis
#97 - SO VERY HARD TO GO - Tower Of Power
#98 - A LITTLE BIT LIKE MAGIC - King Harvest
#99 - DUELING TUBAS - Martin Mull
#100 - WORKING CLASS HERO - Tommy Roe

_____________

Motown:
debuts:
one
1st week: WITH A CHILD'S HEART - Michael Jackson #84 DEBUT
2nd week: DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips #71 up 7 from #78 -

offs:
none
_____________

NEW! --- The Motown singles found on Billboard's BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100. Many will go on to break into The Hot 100 while others won't.

BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100:

#105 - BAD WEATHER - Supremes - last week: #105
#106 - TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC - Spinners - DEBUT
#OFF - MA- Rare Earth - last week: #110

****

Third very good week in a row for:
Bell Records
with three titles still in the Top 5.
At #1 is Dawn's TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLD OAK TREE.
LITTLE WILLIE by The Sweet is #3 from #5 with a bullet, and Vickie Lawrence's former #1, THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA, still strong at #5.
Add to that, Bell also has the #1 and #2 singles in the UK. For the first time in ages that chart and the Hot 100 have the same song in the #1 position, Dawn's TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLD OAK TREE. At #2 on Bell is Gary Glitter's HELLO HELLO I"M BACK AGAIN.

****
Also a very good week for:
Split titled charters
A few years ago, 45s with split credits were common. The split was either due to a medley of songs as the title, or a 45 getting play with both its A and B sides.This week, side-by -ide on the Top 40 are examples of both. At #29 is a medley of two songs from The Who's rock opera TOMMY by The New Seekers, PINBALL WIZARD/SEE ME FEEL ME, and at #30 is the double sided hit, STEAMROLLER BLUES/FOOL, by Elvis Presley. Double-siders have been regular for Elvis since the early years, even until now, but the trend in general has all but faded. Barbra Streisand is another artist who often splits her 45s.
There are no other splits on the entire Hot 100 and like the way of the doo doo bird , these may be final examples. Something to keep an eye out for.



Texas born Lawrence Darrow Brown or "Dobie Gray" [a take-off of the popular TV character, Dobie Gillis] had limited success through the sixties, most notably being first to record a Motown tinted arrangement [by a young Gene Page] of THE IN CROWD in 1965 that went to #13 , with a Ramsey Lewis remake going to #5 later that same year.
A failed release of DRIFT AWAY by artist John Henry Kurtz fell into the hands of Dobie Gray when its' author, Mentor Williams, brother of Paul Williams, produced Gray's first Decca album in Nashville, where Dobie Gray will move to permanently.

[WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance]

Boogiedown, just how long does it take you to compile, format and type out these? I'm floored. I KNOW you're putting a ton of work into these posts and it's honestly some of the most compelling information ever. There's an old Doris Day song, "Sentimental Journey" and the full meaning of that song suddenly hits me as I read through all of your posts. These records, from that period, just reading the titles, bring back all the good memories of the happiest period of my childhood.

The bonus is reading just how all these records made their climb up the chart from start to finish, and which records were competing with each other for the upper slots of the hit charts. Really gives added meaning to my favorite hits.

Thanks Boogiedown for taking time to do all of this.

[Boogiedown]

Boogiedown, just how long does it take you to compile, format and type out these? I haven't timed it, if I did I might not do it I just whittle at it , here and there as time allows. Often with the 90 Day Fiance franchise playing out in the background. The push comes when I'm about half way into it, then I worry about a computer malfunction where I'll lose everything, as has happened. That's when I decide to post with the expiration time for editing the post looming. That gets it done! By then my mind is already halfway diving into the contents of the next issue of Billboard. I'm floored. I KNOW you're putting a ton of work into these posts and it's honestly some of the most compelling information ever. Thank you! There's an old Doris Day song, "Sentimental Journey" and the full meaning of that song suddenly hits me as I read through all of your posts. These records, from that period, just reading the titles, bring back all the good memories of the happiest period of my childhood. I hear ya, that's what compels me.

The bonus is reading just how all these records made their climb up the chart from start to finish, and which records were competing with each other for the upper slots of the hit charts. Really gives added meaning to my favorite hits. Good!

Thanks Boogiedown for taking time to do all of this. Thank you Waiting and Watching. The pleasure is mine. Stay tuned!

World War II was ending when SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY songwriter Les Brown [and his Band of Renown] backed a rendition by Doris Day who had been singing big band since 1939. Recorded in November of 1944, SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY reached the top spot in Billboard on March 29, 1945, and became a homecoming theme for many of the returning soldiers. This will be the first of 54 Top 40 singles [650 recordings total] for Doris Day who goes straight to #1 first time out with this one.

Gonna take a sentimental journey
Gonna set my heart at ease
Gonna make a sentimental journey
To renew old memories


[couldn't resist a chance to include Doris Day and this well-suited title ]

[Boogiedown]

Billboard’s Hot 100/ Top 40
Chart #19
May 12, 1973

POP:
DIANA ROSS - TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING [3:51] producers: Mike Masser, Ton Baird, Berry Gordy Jr. [executive producer]; writers: Ron Miller, Tom Baird; Motown 1239. Diana is back in a delightfully contemporary vein alter saluting Billie Holiday. She overdubs the background voices and has a warm, lyrical, lead sound. This song was done seven months ago and has been held until now. Its very much welcome.

SOUL:
Also recommended:

JR WALKER AND THE ALL-STARS - I Don't Need No Reason [3:44]; producer; Jr. Walker, Hal David. Writers: Pam Sawyer, Leon Ware. Soul 35106

REUBEN HOWELL-I'll See You Through [2:35]; producer:Clayton Ivey, Terry Woodford; writer: E. Shelby; Motown 1228

G.C. CAMERON - No Matter Where [3:17]; producers: G.C. Cameron , Mark Davis: writers: C. Drayton, T. Smith Motown 1234
____________.

Stevie Wonder now at #2! Temptations still in the Top 40. All else from Motown resides below the Top 40 line [five titles]. With nothing dropping off and one "new" one from The Spinners, Motown is seven records strong.

The Top Ten:

Four weeks now for Dawn's TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLD OAK TREE at #1 becoming one of the years biggest records so far, and still #1 in the UK as well. Stevie Wonder vying for the top spot at #2 although YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE has fallen from the Adult Contemporary chart's #1 position after being there two weeks and is also stalled at #3 Soul.
Mostly a mild shuffle within the Top Ten with one new song by Elton John and his brother DANIEL at #9 from #15. The Carpenters have sung SING [a Muppets tune] in the Top Ten for the last time, now #13 from #9 after peaking at #3.


The Top 40:

Motown:
Two records from Motown are on the Top 40:

^YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE - Stevie Wonder now close to the peak with a bullet to #2 from #4.
MASTERPIECE - Temptations continue to free fall to #25 from #11.
_____________

Biggest mover in the Top 40: 13 places {tie}:
MY LOVE - Paul McCartney #13 from #26.
I'M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY - Barry White #24 from #37.

Five debuts, all US, 1+Top 10 bound+, 1 PI related, 0 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest Debut:
+RIGHT PLACE WRONG TIME+ -Dr. John #34 up 13 from #47 [One Hit Wonder]
SUPERFLY MEETS SHAFT - John & Ernest #35 up 8 from #43 [One Hit Wonder]
TEDDY BEAR SONG - Barbara Fairchild #37 up 8 from #45 [One Hit Wonder]
NO MORE MR NICE GUY - Alice Cooper #39 up 2 from #41 [fifth Top 40 hit]
LETS PRETEND - Raspberries#40 up 2 from #42 [third Top forty hit]

The Hot 100:

Ten arrivals: 3 Top 40 bound, 4 first time to chart on the Hot 100, 0 Philly International related, 1 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest debut:
third tier:
#81 DIAMOND GIRL - Seals and Crofts

#85 - BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY -Bette Midler
#88 - SWAMP WITCH - Jim Stafford
#91 - CALIFORNIA SAGA - The Beach Boys
#93 - A LETTER TO LUCILLE - Tom Jones
#95 - SATIN SHEETS - Jeanne Pruitt
#96 - SHAMBALA - B.W. Stevens
#97 - TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC - Spinners
#99 - OUTLAW MAN - David Blue
#100 - DON'T LET IT GET YOU DOWN - Crusaders

_______________

NEW! Italic ranking indicates movement with a bullet [star]
Motown:
debuts:
one
1st week: TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC - Spinners #97 DEBUT.

2nd week: WITH A CHILD'S HEART - Michael Jackson #71 up 13 from #84
3rd week: DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips #59 up 12 from #71.
9th week: HALLELUJAH DAY - Jackson Five drops to #53 from #27.
16th week: NEITHER ONE OF US [WANTS TO BE THE FIRST TO SAY GOODBYE] - Gladys Knight & The Pips drops from #22 to #43.
offs:
none

BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100:

#103 - BAD WEATHER - Supremes - last week: #105
#113 - BROTHER'S GONNA WORK IT OUT - Willie Hutch - DEBUT
___________________

A very good week for:
being right on the chart

At #21 Carly Simon has decided that lovin' you's THE RIGHT THING TO DO , while debuting on the Top 40 is Dr. John who's at the RIGHT PLACE, but at the WRONG TIME .

****
Levity on the charts: less this music industry take itself too seriously, currently a bit of poking fun taking place:
Comedian Martin Mull [born Martin Mull] makes his one appearance on the Hot 100 just briefly with a send up of DUELING BANJOS, the recent multi-chart hit from the movie DELIVERANCE:



At 1:26 , the single is just long enough. DUELING TUBAS will peak at #92 and at #87 Canada.

Unlikely that something this amateur could break into the Top 40 these days when complex multi tracking and studio wizardry are the norm, but this week, the choppily edited break-in record, SUPERFLY MEETS SHAFT by John and Ernest, does just that.



At 1:36, the B side is just long enough.
The song excerpts used an the A-side include The Temptation's PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE and Jermaine Jackson's DADDY'S HOME.


****
oh oh:
Last week Julian Coleman's Soul Sauce chose Smokey Robinson's SWEET HARMONY as the 'Best New Single Of The Week'.
This week again a Motown single is singled out: NO MATTER WHAT [sic] by G. C. Cameron

[Boogiedown]

Billboard’s Hot 100/ Top 40
Chart #20
May 19, 1973

Number of singles reviewed this week: 119
last week: 171


Motown is #1
for the second time this year as is Stevie Wonder with cuts from the album TALKING BOOK. Top 40 bookends for Motown with Wonder's YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE at the very top and The Temptations at the very bottom at #40 with MASTERPIECE. There are no Motown singles charting in between. Below that, five singles from the label are at various stages of their chart run with the latest by Gladys Knight & The Pips and by Michael Jackson looking to be the most promising. One 45 drops out completely from The Hot 100 while another enters to replace it by a Motown newcomer.

The Top 10:

After a four week run at #1 TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OLD OAK TREE slips to #2 and Dawn gives way to the full SUNSHINE OF Stevie Wonder's LIFE.
Charting 18 weeks, LITTLE WILLIE by The Sweet is the Hot 100's oldest single, yet it is now at its highest chart position, at #3 for the second week. That's a notch above the song's peak of #4 in the UK last year. This is a rarity: The Sweet are in the Top 3 of both the British and the American charts this week, but with different titles. In the UK it's HELL RAISER at #2 which entered at #4.
Three 45s become Top Tenners while the three they replace drop out. In at #6, MY LOVE by Paul McCartney and Wings from #13, Sylvia's PILLOW TALK [#2 Soul this week] enters at #9 from #14, and Skylark's WILDFLOWER takes the #10 spot up from #12. The lights are out for Vicki Lawrence's former #1 and only Top 40 hit , THE NIGHT THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN GEORGIA to #12 from #8, while THE CISCO KID by War makes a drastic departure from #4 to #15, and Donnie Osmond's remake of the 1957 Johnny Mathis hit, THE TWELFTH OF NEVER on MGM Records, also plunges, now #21 from #10 after peaking at #8 and at #1 on the British chart.
.

The Top 40:

Motown:
Two records from Motown are on the Top 40:

^YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE - Stevie Wonder is #1 up from #2.
MASTERPIECE - Temptations barely squeak by for another week falling to #40 from #25 .
offs: none
_____________

Biggest mover in the Top 40: 10 ranks :
NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY - Alice Cooper #29 from #39.

Four debuts, all US, 1+Top 10 bound+, 1 PI related, 0 Motown, 1 by proxy
Highest Debut:
+WILL IT GO ROUND IN CIRCLES+ - Billy Preston #30 up 11 from #41 [2nd Top 40 hit]

ONE OF A KIND [LOVE AFFAIR] - Spinners #35 up 15 from #50 [ 6th Top 40 hit]
AND I LOVE YOU SO - Perry Como #37 up 9 from #46 [29th and final Top 40 hit]
HEARTS OF STONE - Blue Ridge Rangers #38 up 4 from #42 [2nd and final Top 40 hit]


The Hot 100:

Nine make it: 6 Top 40 bound, 2 #first time to chart on the Hot 100, 2 Philly International related, 1 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest debut:
second tier:
#59- GIVE ME LOVE [GIVE ME PEACE ON EARTH] - George Harrison

third tier:
#71 - SHAMBALA - Three Dog Night
#77 - YOU'LL NEVER GET TO HEAVEN [IF YOU BREAK MY HEART] - Stylistics
#82 - KODACHROME - Paul Simon
#84 - MONEY - Pink Floyd
#90 - TIME TO GET DOWN - O'Jays
#94 - THINK - James Brown
#97 - BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT - Willie Hutch
#100 - PASSION PLAY - Jethro Tull

_______________

NEW! Italic ranking indicates movement with a bullet [star]
Motown:
debuts:
one
1st week: BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT - Willie Hutch #97 DEBUT

2nd week: TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC - Spinners #93 up 4 from #97 .
3rd week: WITH A CHILD'S HEART - Michael Jackson #71 up 13 from #84
4th week: DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips #50 up 9 from #59.
10th week: HALLELUJAH DAY - Jackson Five drops to #58 from #53.

17th week: NEITHER ONE OF US [WANTS TO BE THE FIRST TO SAY GOODBYE] - Gladys Knight and the Pips drops off from #43.
offs:
one
But say goodbye they do, Gladys Knight as well as the Pips taking 17 weeks to do so with NEITHER ONE OF US which matches the peak of their previously biggest record under Motown, 1967's I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE both at #2. Recorded in Detroit, it's one more case of goodbye to the old Motown, after six years of membership, NEITHER ONE OF US marks the last of the group's singles while still under contract.



Regardless of being so hot, Gladys Knight and The Pips with bags packed are already off to Neil Bogart's stewarded Buddah records. Former label mates, The Isley Brother's T-Neck label is already being distributed through Buddah.

BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100:

#103 - BAD WEATHER - Supremes - last week: #103
_______________________

a very good week for:
Stevie Wonder

two releases in a row hit #1.
not so good:
Stevie's finding more success writing about SUNSHINE than BAD WEATHER, his one time gig [one single, no album] as a producer /songwriter for The Supremes has resulted in a dud that has spent five weeks stuck below the Hot 100 as a 'Bubbling Under' title. Not helping: not enough airplay from black radio for it to chart there.
BAD WEATHER has gotten a tad warmer reception in the UK where it peaked last week at #37.

*****
also a very good week for:
May flowers

Another foreign act with a single that's been slow to bloom [the UK's The Sweet being the other] and now entering the Top 10 is Canadian act Skylark with WILDFLOWER a distinctive narrative derived from a poem that broke in Canada when played as an LP cut. Capital Records tested it regionally in nearby Detroit where it received successful Soul play although it is not charting on the Billboard national Soul chart and is finally reaching the Hot 100's top tier in its fourteenth week.



And not too far below that at #14, also taking 14 weeks to get there, Mike Curb's MGM Records scores again with a Maine based country tune called DAISY A DAY from Jud Strunk.



Both acts will become one hit wonders. Skylark's lead singer , Donny Gerrard, goes solo after the group's disbanding even as this single runs its course and will find success as a back up vocalist for many artists.
Jud Strunk tours on the East coast and becomes an amateur pilot and buys a 1940s classic plane but has a heart attack during a take off and dies at age 45 in 1981.

****
A half-page ad for 'ABBA' pointing out that the group has Sweden's Top 3 charters :

#1 - RING RING [Swedish version]
Bjorn & Benny, Anna & Frida
#2 - RING RING [English version]
Bjorn & Benny, Anna & Frida
#3 - RING RING [LP]
Bjorn & Benny, Anna & Frida

****
Full-page ad for Diana Ross' new single which reads in large lettering:
Diana Ross
Touch Me In The Morning

no other words, with a backdrop photo of sunlight breaking through tall trees and no image of Diana Ross.

[Boogiedown]

Billboard’s Hot 100/ Top 40
Chart #21
May 26, 1973
Special week: SOUL MAKOSSA

Number of singles reviewed this week: 151
last week: 119
including:
POP
THE TEMPTATIONS - PLASTIC MAN [4:45]; producer: Norman Whitfield; writer: Norman Whitfield, Gordy 7129. This tune comes out of the group's fine LP "Masterpiece" and is another look at a ghetto character, although this shallow type of man, a phony all around, is not exclusively the domain of the ghetto. Nonetheless, the Temptations' version is a marvelous blending of the vocal story with some brilliant instrumental work, notably echoey, wavy trumpets working in concert with congas and high hat. The trumpets sweep in and out on the bridges and they are absolutely first rate.

also recommended:
AFRIQUE - Soul Makossa [2:50] producer: none listed; writer: Manu Dibango, Rayven : Mainstream 5542

ALL DIRECTIONS - Soul Makossa [3:29] producer: Thunder Productions; writer: Manu Dibango, Rayven, Kooper: Buddah 362

Stevie Wonder's placement at the top is short lived as YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE drops after one week. It is still Motown's highest charter, while also the label's only record in the Top 40. Advancing toward that is Gladys Knight and the Pips' latest [which bolts into the Soul Top 10 to #8 from #20], while all other 45s from Motown have all but stalled. No new debuts and The J5 exit leaving a grand total of six charters.

The Top Ten:

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE by Stevie Wonder takes a decisive plunge to #5, weakened by faltering Soul chart support where it has fallen to #9 after a #3 peak, and falls below the #1 pop record that proceeded it, TIE A YELLOW RIBBON, by Tony Orlando and Dawn which is now at #4. The Edgar Winter Group snatched the vacancy at the top with their first serious charter: FRANKENSTEIN [see below]. Just one new record works its magic into the Top 10, HOCUS POCUS by Dutch group Focus [see below] at #10 from #13, unsticking Scottish rock band Steeler's Wheel from their middle Top Ten peak of #6 then #8, now #13 with STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU.

The Top 40:

Motown:
One record from Motown is on the Top 40:

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE - Stevie Wonder is #5 dropping from #1.
MASTERPIECE - Temptations OFF the Top 40 from #40 .
offs: one
______

Biggest mover in the Top 40: 8 places {tie}:
I'M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY - Barry White
PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND - Clint Holmes

Four debuts, 2 US, 1 Canadian, 1 UK, 2+Top 10 bound+, 1 PI related, 0 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest Debut:
+GIVE ME LOVE GIVE ME PEACE ON EARTH+ - George Harrison #34 up 25 from #59 [5th Top 40 hit]

GIVE IT TO ME - J Geils Band #39 up 5 from #44 [2nd Top 40 hit]
+LONG TRAIN RUNNING+ - Doobie Brothers #30 up 13 from #43 [3rd Top 40 hit]
CLOSE YOUR EYES - Edward Bear - #40 up 2 from #42 [2nd and final Top 40 hit]

The Hot 100:

Just six make it, mostly Country: 1 Top 40 bound, 0 #first time to chart on the Hot 100, 0 Philly International related, 0 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest debut:
second tier:
#83 - WHAT ABOUT ME - Anne Murray

#85 - SMOKE ON THE WATER - Deep Purple
#90 - I'D RATHER BE A COWBOY - John Denver
#98 - COME LIVE WITH ME - Roy Clark
#99 - WHAT'S YOUR MAMA'S NAME - Tanya Tucker
#100 - CU'M ON FEEL THE NOIZE - Slade

___________

Italic ranking indicates movement with a bullet
Motown:
debuts:
none
2nd week: ^BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT - Willie Hutch #94 up 3 from#97

3rd week: TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC - Spinners #93 again
4th week: ^WITH A CHILD'S HEART - Michael Jackson #51 up 4 from #55
5th week: ^DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips #42 up 8 from#50.
11th week: HALLELUJAH DAY - Jackson Five OFF from #58
14th week: MASTERPIECE - Temptations #56 down 16 from #40
offs: one

Jackson Five's HALLELUJAH DAY - Freddie Perren has been actively shepherding the Jackson Five since their first hit I WANT YOU BACK in 1969 as part of The Corporation team. He produced this and Michael's currently charting single, WITH A CHILD'S HEART. Disco and Perren are on a collision course. It'll start with The Miracles' LOVE MACHINE and continue with BOOGIE FEVER for The Sylvers, HEAVEN MUST BE MISSING AN AN ANGEL by Tavares , IF I CANT HAVE YOU with Yvonne Fair and I WILL SURVIVE by Gloria Gaynor to name a choice few.

BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100:

#101 - BAD WEATHER - Supremes - last week: #103
___________


A very good week for:
Instrumentals.

Two in the top 10, one at the top and one entering at #10.

Unlikely this Dutch group's instrumental [save for shrieks, chants and yodels] from their first album would do better in the US than it did in Europe when it was released there in 1971, where it charted at #9 on the Dutch chart , and elsewhere only in the UK to #20, but after more than 3 months of charting , HOCUS POCUS is Top 10.



Mostly a vehicle for the band to improvise off of for the past three years, FRANKENSTEIN was sewn together from various bits and pieces of longer jams. The instrumental piece almost wasn't included in the album and was the "b" side to the single HANGIN' AROUND that got discovered by Canadian and US DJs.



Edgar Winter helped popularize the incorporation of synthesizers in rock music, strapping one around his neck when performing. Besides the keyboard wizardry the arrangement also features amazing guitar work and two competing drum solos and for awhile the tune was titled THE DOUBLE DRUM SONG.



***

Detroit Emeralds now have two singles on the UK chart: FEEL THE NEED is at #43 from #39 after peaking at #4 and YOU WANT IT YOU GOT IT moves up to #25 from #33 and will peak at #12.

***
Full-page ad: Edwin Starr's new single, THERE YOU GO.

***
Something is in the air: Exploding this week is what was an otherwise ignored record out of Cameroon that is suddenly in such high demand, every available NYC studio is churning out a quicky version.

From Billboard's Top Singles Picks:

We may be seeing the birth of a legit interest in African music melded into an American form which hits both the top 40 and soul markets. Previously, African music has been closely associated with jazz. Now, reports coming out of the East indicate there's a rush on to cover the tune "Soul Makossa" with early indications that both rock and R&B stations are taking a chance on the tune with its African chant and insistent rhythms.
Bobby Shad of Mainstream, who tried unsuccessfully to buy the original master which was released by Societe Francais du Son in France says the reasons people enjoy the tune are because of African, jazz, and rhythmic ingredients. Mainstream, normally a jazz and soul label, is running very hard with its own studio band called Afrique. So frantic has the pace been to expand the interest initially generated around the New York market, that Shad, for example, after trying for one week to locate the original master's owner , got his studio band together and recorded them on Monday May 7 and mailed 180 dubs to disk jockeys two days later. Shad already has his LP ready.
In listening last week to both Shad's copy and one by another studio band, All Directions on Buddah, we were caught by the similarity of sound on both disks. We've been told there are other singles out or planned but none has arrived at our office. Still, the music is catchy and that's what counts.

Full page ad : SOUL MAKOSSA by Afrique; Reads:
Sold: 532,000 Singles
Shipping Monday: 125,000 albums

Full-page ad by AVCO Records ; Reads:
Question: Why is the Simon Kenyatta record of SOUL MAKOSSA different from all the other versions?
Answer: Because its SELLING!
-- more next week.

SatansBlues
Man Bad Weather by the Supremes was really a chart stinker.

The Soul Sauce column pipes in next week

[SatansBlues]

Man Bad Weather by the Supremes was really a chart stinker.

[Boogiedown]

Billboard’s Hot 100/ Top 40
Chart #22
June 2, 1973

Number of singles reviewed this week: 141
last week: 151
including:

recommended :
MICHAEL OLATUNJI - Soul Makossa PT. 1 [3:00] producer: Chuck Gregory for M. Prod. writer: M. Dibango; Rayven, Cooper Paramount 0222 [ The most original version out thus far which does not copy the original French version completely, Conga drum, more African chants help.]

MANU DIBANGO - Soul Makossa [4:30]; producer: none listed; writer: M. Dibango, Rayven Atlantic 2971 [This is the original master which started the race going].
_________

Stevie Wonder is still in the Top Ten and Gladys Knight joins him on the Top 40. Temptations are off the charts this week with their second release from their current album about to strike. Supremes are lodged just outside the Hot 100 while ex-Supreme Diana Ross breaks through with her second MORNING title in a row. Six Motown records on the Hot 100 this round.
_________

The Top 10:

After one week at #1 , FRANKENSTEIN by Edgar Winter's Group dips to #3 allowing two British blokes to have the top two records of the week, Elton John with DANIEL at #2 and Paul McCartney at #1 with MY LOVE. Unusual for the #1 single and the #1 album to be from the same artist as it is this week. Even more unusual for the artist to replace himself at the top of the album list as Paul has done with RED ROSE SPEEDWAY which takes out The Beatles' GREATEST HITS 1967-1970 package. Two new tenners: at #7 from #12, I'M GONNA LOVE YOU JUST A LITTLE MORE BABY puts Barry White in the Top Ten for his first time as is also the case for Clint Holmes and PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND at #10 from #14. Now out: To #13 from #9 is Skylark's WILDFLOWER and Dobie Gray is about to DRIFT AWAY with the biggest song of his career peaking at #5, now to #11 from #8. Disco will return Gray to the Top 40 one more time in 1979.

The Top 40:

Motown:
Two records from Motown are on the Top 40:

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE - Stevie Wonder is #6 dropping from #5.
^DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips DEBUTS at #38

Biggest mover in the Top 40: 20 pegs :
GIVE ME LOVE GIVE ME PEACE ON EARTH - George Harrison

Five arrivals, all US, 3 +Top 10 bound+, 0 PI related, 1 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest debut:
+KODACHROME+ - Paul Simon#28 up 29 from #57 [3rd Top 40 hit]

+BAD BAD LEROY BROWN+ - Jim Croce #31 #44 [4th Top 40 hit]
+SHAMBALA+ - Three Dog Night #36 up 19 from #55 [16th Top 40 hit]
DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips #38 up 4 from #42 [16th Top 40 hit, 13th and final under Motown]
BACK WHEN MY HAIR WAS SHORT - Gunhill Road #40 up 3 from #43 [One Hit Wonder]

The Hot 100:

nine enter: 5 Top 40 bound, 3 # first time to chart on the Hot 100, 1 Philly International related, 1 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest debut:
third tier:
#79 - YESTERDAY ONCE MORE - Carpenters

#83 - DOIN' IT TO DEATH - Fred Wesley/JBs
#85 - I'LL ALWAYS LOVE MY MAMA - Intruders
#87 - GIVING IT ALL AWAY - Roger Daltrey
#89 - TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING - Diana Ross
#90 - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER - Shirley Bassey
#96 - MISDEMEANOR - Foster Sylvers
#99 - I'M LEAVING YOU - Engelbert Humperdinck
#100 - LOVE AND HAPPINESS - Ernest Jackson
___________
Motown:
debuts:
one
1st week: ^TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING - Diana Ross #89 DEBUT

3rd week: ^BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT - Willie Hutch #93 up 1 from #94
4th week: ^TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC - Spinners #91 up 2 from #93
5th week: ^WITH A CHILD'S HEART - Michael Jackson #50 up 1 from #51
6th week: ^ DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips Top 40 from #42.
15th week: MASTERPIECE - Temptations OFF from #56
offs: one

The title track of the Temptations last LP out of the Detroit studios. The long single [4:22] is still only one third of the LP track's 13 minute total. MASTERPIECE spent two weeks at #1 on the Soul chart and peaked at #7 on the Top 40. It's the Temptations last Top 10 hit not counting a shared title in '91 with Rod Stewart.

BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100:

#101 - BAD WEATHER - Supremes - last week: #101
#124 - BONGO ROCK - Incredible Bongo Band*
*disco significant record

MGM is proving to be one of the more diverse labels and is striking gold with some surprises such as Sammy Davis Jr. and CANDY MAN [3 weeks #1] and little Jimmy Osmond's LONG HAIRED LOVER FROM LIVERPOOL [#1 UK]. So why not release an album that's the result of music created for the B-movie thriller, THE THING WITH TWO HEADS that focuses on bongo drums.Also on the album, the timely DUELING BONGOS. The Incredible Bongo Band is a creation of MGM executive Michael Viner. He already has a reputation from putting out an album of 20 minutes of silence on each side , concluded with applause at the end called THE BEST OF MARCEL MARCEAO.


BONGO ROCK first came out in 1959 by Korean war veteran Preston Epps and it went to #14. Epps made a career of bongo themed tunes. The Safari's WIPE OUT [#2 1963] leaned heavily on this tune.

More bongos:
The Bubbling Under chart is a bit more fluid than others and singles can bounce on and off. On this week, but off next [for good?] , at #111, is HELLO STRANGER by Fire And Rain, a married couple out of Tucson that weren't wanting the cut released as a single, but Mercury Records has anyway. Easy Listening has taken to it where it is #24.



HELLO STRANGER was conceived in Detroit by teen Barbara Lewis in 1963, inspired when performing with her father who made the local club rounds, and hearing calls from the audience like "Hello stranger, seems like it's been awhile". Her song went to #3 Pop and #1 Soul. In 1971 The Supremes and The Four Tops comboed on a version.
Bongos put the 'beat' in beatnik and the party in beach music and will do the same for disco. The O'Jays opening for I LOVE MUSIC [6 weeks #1 disco] a prime example.

****

A very good week for:
Buddhist enlightenment
It's been awhile since there's been competing singles of the same song by two different acts. Through miscommunication, Texan BW Stevenson got a hold of SHAMBALA [a mythical Central Asia destination for well-being] , liked what he heard, and recorded his country tinged version of it. Three Dog Night, already with intentions of using it, rushed a recording session of SHAMBALA to thwart off the "steal". Their version in four weeks now breaks the Top 40 while BW Stevenson's record, in its fifth week, is behind at #71, but with a bullet. Let the fight over the song about the road to harmony begin!

***
Julian Coleman's column:

Soul Sauce and Carlton Harris in Philadelphia are among the strong believers that "Bad Weather," by the Supremes is a hit. Can we hear it from their record label ????????

Full-page ad for Eddie Kendricks latest single, DARLING COME BACK HOME.

****


SOUL MAKOSSA:
Two singles get reviewed [see above]
full-page ads reads: The original Fiesta Recording Is Now On Atlantic : Manu Dibango's SOUL MAKOSSA:
half-page ad reads: New York City's #1 Smash BLOCKBUSTER: "SOUL MAKOSSA" by Original Nairobi Afro Band ....also the only recording that features the "MYSTERY VOCAL" at the end.


***
Billboard's Hot 100 chart gets a modernizing next week with the introduction of computers to facilitate the charting process and some other tweaking .

[Boogiedown]

Billboard’s Hot 100/ Top 40
Chart #23
June 9, 1973

Number of singles reviewed this week: 85
last week: 141
including:
POP
also recommended:
MARTIN AND FINLEY - It's Another Sunday [3:16]; producers; Bob Gaudio , James Carmichael; writers:T. Martin Jr., G. Finley; Motown 1242

This issue's big headline:

CBS Files Suit Against Davis; Claims "Improper" Use Of Funds
New York - Columbia Broadcasting System Inc - has discharged Clive Davis, president of the CBS/ Records Group , and has commenced action in the Supreme Court, New York County, charging Davis with improper use of funds
________

At last the persistent BAD WEATHER by The Supremes heats up enough to enter the Hot 100. Now whether WEATHER finally takes off from there, remains to be seen. Diana Ross' latest bullets to #63 [see below] and is the Soul Singles chart 's highest debut at #36. Stevie Wonder's big hit is still that, only dropping a couple places and remaining in the country's Top 10. Two new Motown singles arrive by stalwarts: The Supremes and The Temptations, and with no drop offs there's a total of 8 Motown releases charting.

The Top 10:

Paul McCartney's MY LOVE repeats at #1. Sylvia's PILLOW TALK is up one to #3 and the biggest mover from #10 to #5 is Clint Holmes PLAYGROUND IN MY MIND. Just one new entry: The Doobie Bros.' LONG TRAIN RUNNING is up twelve points from #22 to #10. The Sweet's LITTLE WILLIE's long run in the Top 10 ends with a big fall to #22 from #8.

The Top 40:

Motown:
Two records from Motown are on the Top 40:

YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE OF MY LIFE - Stevie Wonder is still Top 10 strong, to #8 dropping from #6.
^DADDY COULD SWEAR, I DECLARE - Gladys Knight & The Pips, small jump to #35 from #38

Biggest mover in the Top 40: 17 joints:
SHAMBALA - 3 Dog Night to #19 from #36

only three newbies, all US, 1 +Top 10 bound+, 1 PI related, 0 Motown, 0 by proxy
Highest debut:
YOU'LL NEVER GET TO HEAVEN [IF YOU BREAK MY HEART ] - Stylistics #36 up 17 from #53 [7th Top 40 hit]

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS - Charlie Rich - #43 up 5 from #38 [3rd Top 40 hit]
+BOOGIE WOOGIE BUGLE BOY+ - Bette Midler - #39 up 10 from #49 [2nd Top 40 hit]

The Hot 100:

Ten enter: only 1 Top 40 bound, 1 # first time to chart on the Hot 100, 0 Philly International related, 2 Motown, 1 by proxy
Highest debut:
third tier:
#73 - THERE'S NO ME WITHOUT YOU - Manhattans
#74- FINDERS KEEPERS - Chairman Of the Board HDH label release
#80 - PLASTIC MAN - Temptations
#87 - BAD WEATHER - Supremes
#90 - I CAN MAKE IT THROUGH THE DAY [BUT OH THOSE NIGHTS] - Ray Charles
#92 - BLACKBYRD - Donald Byrd
#94 - MY HEART JUST KEEPS ON BREAKING - The Chi-Lites
#96 - SOUL MAKOSSA - Afrique *
#97- MOTHER-IN-LAW - Clarence Carter
#99 - I DON'T WANT TO MAKE YOU WAIT - Delfonics

*disco significant record
______________

Motown:
debuts:
two:
PLASTIC MAN - Temptations #80 DEBUT
BAD WEATHER - Supremes #87 DEBUT

2nd week: ^TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING - Diana Ross #65 up 24 from #89

4th week: ^BROTHERS GONNA WORK IT OUT - Willie Hutch #71 up 22 from #93
5th week: TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE SUCH SWEET MUSIC - Spinners #91 again
6th week: WITH A CHILD'S HEART - Michael Jackson #55 down 5 from #50

BUBBLING UNDER THE HOT 100:

Hot 100 - BAD WEATHER - Supremes - last week: #101
#110 - DARLING COME BACK HOME - Eddie Kendricks
#116 - SWEET HARMONY - Smokey Robinson
_____________

A very good week for:
Perry Como
It's impossible to know when you're experiencing your last significant hit as is happening for Perry Como with his version of Don McLeans 1970 song AND I LOVE YOU SO .

Through the late forties and all of the fifties Como's name was expected as a regular on the higher rungs of the charts, selling millions of records. CATCH A FALLING STAR was the industry's first certified million seller. Hit wise the sixties were leaner but Como was still busy recording and doing his TV shows, especially the Christmas specials.
When ITS IMPOSSIBLE became a hit in 1970 [#10] and the neighbor kids told him he was on the Top 40 he didn't know what they were talking about.
That he's back again is also a nice surprise .



AND I LOVE YOU SO has peaked at #29 [now #33] and has reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In the UK the record is huge repeating its #3 best position again this week and will chart Top 20 for over half a year and Como's album created around it will reach UK #1.
Not a bad time, close to thirty years since his first charter, for the mild-mannered man who invented casual, and an Italian immigrant who couldn't speak the English language when he arrived here.

With Perry Como being held at #3 on the British charts, what tunes are outdoing him? At #2, another American of Italian heritage, born in Detroit , Suzi Quatro with her first UK hit, CAN THE CAN. Outdoing her: at #1, Roy Wood's group Wizzard and their first of a string of Top 10 charters:



[kept waiting to hear that French horn get played]
How could SEE MY BABY JIVE not be #1.

****
This issue of Billboard sees some big changes to The Hot 100 and there's a lengthy first page article to break it down .
Short version: Computers will now be used for a quicker tabulation resulting is less potential for human error. 45 outlets are "dwindling" so to adjust, more input from one-stops and radio and more credence will be given to jukebox reports [purchases by jukebox suppliers account for 50 % of singles sales] Because of this new yardstick this week's Billboard has omitted showing last weeks rankings to avoid confusion*

[*by looking in the last printed issue, we can render the results. The recalculated positions are not that glaring. Most notably FRANKENSTEIN dropped from #1 to #3 last week, and now its back up at #2.]

The biggest surprise is the huge reduction of bulleted [starred] singles. Last week 20 of the Top 40 singles were bulleted. From now on no singles in the Top 30 will have a bullet because by the very fact of by that ranking, they are strong singles. On the entire Hot 100 last week, 44 titles were bulleted. From now on there will be a total of 7 singles on the Hot 100 that will have a bullet and all will be below the Top 30. That means 93% of the records each week will not get bullets. Seems radical and makes the chart look far less dynamic and competitive. Among the seven this week: TOUCH ME IN THE MORNING by Diana Ross.

****
Full-page ad: Rare Earth's latest album MA