Every so often, I hear a rare classic pop song on my Sirius/XM satellite radio station. Usually it’s during a broadcast of American Top 40, which airs on the “70’s on 7” channel Saturdays at noon (with a rebroadcast Sunday at 9am). And it’s kinda cool to hear those rare tracks that only got as high as maybe #37 for a couple of weeks – in that today, that may be the only time anyone ever hears these songs nowadays.
So on this edition of K-Chuck Radio, I have another mixture of Top 40 “almost hits” or “worldwide except for America” hits. They’re cool songs, and even if you take out the fact that they never dominated the pop charts in America … these songs can still get stuck in your head.
Including…
THE GLASS BOTTLE
I Ain’t Got Time Anymore
I don’t know very much about this one-hit wonder, except that they did get plenty of airplay in this area … and that the song was co-produced by novelty “break-in” artist Dickie Goodman. Oh yeah, and the name of the band was chosen as a promotional nod to a glass manufacturing company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ2wwfoz2Dc
THE LOOKING GLASS
Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne
Just think … this song could have kept the Looking Glass from being known as just a one-hit wonder for “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl).” Unfortunately for them, this sounds so much like “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” that I almost dismissed it as a cover song. That, and I remember the 1980’s Josie Cotton version, which totally surpassed this rendition.
MOUTH AND MACNEAL
Hello-A
This Dutch duo had a monster hit in the early 70’s with the song “How Do You Do?,” and this track, their follow-up, hit #1 in several countries … but didn’t even get a sniff in the United States. Something tells me, though, that if music videos had been more popular in the 1970’s, there’s something about this track that might have raised another U.S. hit for this team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zImez8m2kXw
BO DONALDSON AND THE HEYWOODS
Who Do You Think You Are?
After the monster U.S. success of their cover song “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero,” Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods almost had lightning strike a second time, as their cover of Candlewick Green’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” actually climed up the U.S. pop charts. But you rarely hear this song any more, and if anybody does remember Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, it’s for their “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero” track. Which is a shame, because this track actually is, in my opinion, a better song.
FLASH CADILLAC AND THE CONTINENTAL KIDS
Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)
This party band cracked into the Top 30 with this track, which exists in two versions – one with narration by famed DJ Wolfman Jack, and one without. Honestly, it’s better with Wolfman Jack. And as anybody knows, EVERYTHING’s better with Wolfman Jack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLxE0jQBLic
MARSHALL HAIN
Dancing in the City
This easy-listening groove was a Top 10 worldwide hit by keyboardist Julian Marshall and vocalist Kit Hain. I think this made it to maybe the mid-50’s in the U.S. pop charts, which is a shame – it’s a very catchy pop song.
THE HUDSON BROTHERS
So You Are A Star
I’ve profiled the Hudson Brothers on K-Chuck Radio before, their goofy song “Rendezvous” is a very deadly earworm. This ballad, however, was actually the song that busted through the U.S. Top 40 charts, and got some decent radio play. Oh yeah, and one of the Hudson Brothers is actually Kate Hudson’s father. Just in case you were wondering…
CROSS COUNTRY
In the Midnight Hour
What if I told you that this slow-blues version of the classic Wilson Pickett song was recorded by three members of the 1960’s vocal harmony group The Tokens? No, really, I’m not kidding … And this song even climbed into the Top 40. Take a listen … seriously, there really was more to the Tokens than “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” trust me on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU94ORUyQzI
DON COVAY
I Was Checking Out (She Was Checking In)
In the span of four minutes and twenty-one seconds, there’s lying, deceit, cheating, more lying, more deceit, more cheating … woah… This was actually Don Covay’s biggest pop hit, it was also a Top 10 R&B hit. Covay also wrote the songs “Pony Time” for Chubby Checker and “Chain of Fools” for Aretha Franklin, just in case you were wondering…
LARRY SANTOS
We Can’t Hide It Anymore
I had a different perspective on this song when I first heard it – I thought that the “we” were a dating man and a widowed woman, who were trying to “hide it” from the woman’s young son. Later, I realized that “we” were a man and woman (she’s married to someone else), and they were trying to “hide it” from her husband. Damn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SN05Zfh0Xk
Another collection of near-misses and almost-hits… right here on your station for the best music ever … K-Chuck Radio!!
Chuck The Writer 
Marshall Hain actually got all the way to #43!
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