Last week, my selection of AM Gold 1977 (you can read my review here) ignited a “rosy glow of nostalgia” in Deb. I figured I might again light Deb’s fire with this AM Gold 1976 volume.
I’m a big fan of the Bay City Rollers’s “Saturday Night.” “Still the One” by Orleans still gets played at least once a week by Sirius/XM Radio when I’m listening in my car as I’m running errands. “Sara Smile” is one of my favorite Hall & Oates songs.
Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 best-selling singles of 1976, according to the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles chart:
- Silly Love Songs – Wings
- Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John & Kiki Dee
- Disco Lady – Johnnie Taylor
- December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) – The Four Seasons
- Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band
- Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
- Kiss and Say Goodbye – The Manhattans
- Love Machine – The Miracles
- 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon
- A Fifth of Beethoven – Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
“December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, “Afternoon Delight” by Starling Vocal Band, and “Kiss and Say Goodbye” by The Manhattans made it onto this disc. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | Pratt And MacLain* With Brother Love*– | Happy Days Written-By – Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel | 2:38 |
| 2 | Bay City Rollers– | Saturday Night Written-By – Bill Martin And Philip Coulter* | 2:57 |
| 3 | Peter Frampton– | Show Me The Way Written-By – Peter Frampton | 3:36 |
| 4 | Orleans– | Still The One Written-By – Johanna Hall, John J. Hall | 3:55 |
| 5 | Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons*– | December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) Written-By – Bob Gaudio, Judy Parker | 3:35 |
| 6 | Lou Rawls– | You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine Written-By – Kenny Gamble And Leon Huff | 3:33 |
| 7 | Elvin Bishop– | Fooled Around And Fell In Love Written-By – Elvin Bishop | 2:59 |
| 8 | Starbuck (2)– | Moonlight Feels Right Written-By – Michael Bruce Blackman | 3:38 |
| 9 | England Dan And John Ford Coley*– | I’d Really Love To See You Tonight Written-By – Parker McGee | 2:39 |
| 10 | Gary Wright– | Dream Weaver Written-By – Gary Wright | 3:28 |
| 11 | Eric Carmen– | All By Myself Written-By – Eric Carmen | 4:30 |
| 12 | KC And The Sunshine Band*– | (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty Written-By – Harry Casey And Richard Finch | 3:08 |
| 13 | Maxine Nightingale– | Right Back Where We Started From Written-By – Vincent Edwards*, Pierre Tubbs | 3:17 |
| 14 | Fleetwood Mac– | Say You Love Me Written-By – Christine McVie | 3:46 |
| 15 | Henry Gross– | Shannon Written-By – Henry Gross | 3:53 |
| 16 | Firefall– | You Are The Woman Written-By – Rick Roberts | 2:45 |
| 17 | Daryl Hall And John Oates*– | Sara Smile Written-By – Daryl Hall And John Oates | 3:12 |
| 18 | Starland Vocal Band– | Afternoon Delight Written-By – Bill Danoff | 3:15 |
| 19 | John Sebastian– | Welcome Back Written-By – John Sebastian | 2:53 |
| 20 | Captain And Tennille– | Muskrat Love Written-By – Willis Alan Ramsey | 3:49 |
| 21 | Seals And Crofts*– | Get Closer Written-By – Dash Crofts, James Seals | 3:58 |
| 22 | The Manhattans*– | Kiss And Say Goodbye Written-By – Winfred Lovett | 3:32 |
Oh, I am back in my first years of college with this collection. Even the songs I don’t really like, I like—if that makes sense. “Say You Love Me” and “Sara Smile” are probably my favorites here, but I wouldn’t turn off the radio if any of them came on—with the possible exception of the execrable “Muskrat Love” 😩.
Deb, glad AM GOLD 1976 took you back to your first years of college! I’m with you on “Muskrat Love.” How did that ever become a hit?
Execrable is le mot juste, Deb. For whatever reason – can’t explain it – I have always disliked “Show Me The Way” too. Jackie loves the England Dan song.
I’m with Deb on Christine Movies “Say You Love Me,” a classic. I hear a lot of these on the Sirius 70s Channel, though we don’t listen to it as much as the 60s and 50s.
Not a fan of the Frankie Valli song.
We knew someone whose best friend was Henry Gross’s sister (I think; it was a long time ago), and she said Shannon was the name of his dog.
I still don’t understand why so many people seem to hate “Afternoon Delight.” Now “Muskrat Love” I can understand….
Whenever I hear an American trying to sing with a British accent, I think, dude, Maxine Nightingale is English but you’d never know it to hear this song (which I do like).
John Hall, lead singer of Orleans, was a Congressman from upstate New York for several terms. That’s another favorite.
Jeff, “Afternoon Delight” got a big boost in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy back in 2004. I’m with Jackie on “I’d Really Like to See You Tonight” by England Dan And John Ford Coley.
Again, I’m not the target audience. I recognize many of these songs and most are worth listening to, but not seeking out.
Jerry, I’m just a magnet for these song compilations.
Of course, one of Jackie’s favorite stories is going to see a free Kiki Dee concert, and Elton John walking out to do “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” with her.
I remember all but two. These tracks are certainly more cheerful and peppier than much of today’s dreck. 1976, our last year in an apartment with a one-year old before moving up to a townhouse and a second baby the next year.. And the Bicentennial summer. Wonder if we’ll spend the 250th next year, replaying the Revolutionary War with England and Canada? Might be worth it just to see President TACO trying to re-enact the crossing of the Delaware!
Fred, President TACO must be fuming by the decision of the U.S. Court of International Trade that Trump overstepped his authority when he imposed the tariffs on April 2. The Stock Market is up!!
Everything here was burned into the deepest recesses of my brain coutesy our Ford station wagon AM radio. This year seemed especially heavy on the earworms. Both “Afternoon Delight ” and “Muskrat Love” broke the week my parents decided to drive the family from Detroit to Florida and every radio station en route was playing both songs every half hour. Not a pleasant nemory.
The rest of this is bordeline guilty pleasure stuff if a bit cloying for my taste with the exception of “Dream Weaver” which is stupid as hell but introduced the Moog synthesizer to the American mainstream and seemed to captivate the entire country for a moment. I was a bit of a synth head (Wendy Carlos, Tangerine Dream and Tomita) so I have a soft spot for the song.
Byron, Moog synthesizers are made about 30 miles from my house. The sound in “Dream Weaver” was catchy back in the day…
I could live a long, happy life if I never heard Muskrat Love again. Thankfully it doesn’t seem to pop up much on the Sirius stations I listen to.
I would continue looking for a new station if most of these songs came on.
My favorite out of this group is Sara Smiled.
Beth, AM Radio in the Seventies played a lot of “fringe” songs to fill out their TOP 40 playlists. Somehow, “Muskrat Love” made the list…
Muskrat Love features prominently (with Honey and a few others) in DAVE BARRY’S BOOK OF BAD SONGS.
Jeff, I love DAVE BARRY’S BOOK OF BAD SONGS! “Muskrat Love” should figure prominently!
“Muskrat Love” may have coasted somewhat on the success of Captain & Teneille’s previous hit, “Love Will Keep Us Together.” And let us not forget, the 70s were filled with inexplicably popular stuff — “Night Chicago Died,” “1432 Franklin Pike Circle Hero,” “Brand New Key,” the list goes on. Full disclosure, I like most of them, goofy or not.
Fred, I’d have to pick “Brand New Key” from those song selections!
Surprised to see that Paul Simon song.
I knew that album was a smash hit, but never suspected ’50 Ways’ would be a Top Ten hit for the whole year.
And looking at the other songs on that list, it really seems like — which of these things doesn’t belong here? —