The AT40 Blog/November 18, 1972: The music gets more mellow

In the late 1960s, music had an angst to it. It had a purpose. It was there in words and notes, vociferously speaking out on many subjects, most importantly the crisis of the Vietnam War and our economy. It could be hard-hitting. It could be loud. A lot of it was loud, both in sound and message.

But as the 1960s faded and the 1970s came about, the music suddenly became less loud. The messages weren't quite as out there as they once were.

And by November of 1972, the music was just downright ... mellow. It was softer than tissue paper. And for a brief time, the most important chart to track your songs on the Hot 100 wasn't the R&B music chart or even the Country & Western music chart.

It was the Easy Listening chart, or what we now call the Adult Contemporary chart. Of course, in 1972, the main musical acts that regularly took swings on the chart were those your mother and father liked: Steve Lawrence & Edye Gorme, Andy Williams and all those instrumentalists and orchestra leaders like Henry Mancini and Mantovani.

Let's just say there's a reason why the softer music is now called contemporary.

But on the week of November 18, 1972, the music had a more than usual "softer" side to it. Matched up against the regular Top 40 chart, 21 of the songs on it were simultaneously Top 40 Easy Listening hits. Six of these songs would be No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart and three of those 21 songs would be No. 1 hits on the Top 40 pop chart.

And none of these songs really represented the better side of "elevator music." These were hit songs that two generations later are still favorites on oldies and 1970s radio stations.

No. 1  I Can See Clearly Now--Johnny Nash (No. 1 pop): Just like its four-week run at the top of the Hot 100, Johnny Nash's sunny view "I Can See Clearly Now" was No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart for the third straight week. It, too, spent four weeks at No. 1 and would be Nash's only No. 1 hit on the EL chart as well.

No. 2 I'd Love You To Want Me--Lobo (No. 2 pop):  And at No. 2 on the EL chart was the song that moved up one notch to land at No. 2 on the Top 40 as well by Florida native Lobo. The man born Roland Kent Lavoie in Tallahassee, Fla., and who grew up in Winter Haven, Fla., would stall out at No. 2 with his beautiful ballad of wanting to be wanted on the pop chart, but would push its way to No. 1 on the EL chart, the second of what would be four No. 1 hits on that chart between 1971-79.

No. 3 I Am Woman--Helen Reddy (No. 4 pop): The women's liberation anthem of all-time was hitting a nerve with the soft pop sound of mom and dad's radio station as well. It would be Reddy's breakthrough hit on the pop chart, hitting No. 1 the week of December 9, 1972, while peaking at No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart.

No. 4 If I Could Reach You--The Fifth Dimension (No. 11 pop): One of the big fan favorites on those Easy Listening radio stations was the Fifth Dimension, starting with 1967's debut hit, "Up, Up And Away." With Marilyn McCoo's beautiful voice painfully speaking the truth that the man she was with for the night was going to be up and out before the sun comes up that morning, the song was on its way to being the group's fifth and last No. 1 EL chart. It peaked at No. 10 on the pop chart, the group's last Top 40 hit

No. 5 Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues--Danny O'Keefe (No. 23 pop): The one and only Top 40 pop hit for Seattle resident Danny O'Keefe was a hit on the Easy Listening chart, peaking at the No. 5 spot. It had also just peaked at No. 9 on the pop chart.

No. 6 It Never Rains In Southern California--Albert Hammond (No. 21 pop): British-born, Spanish-raised Albert Hammond was starting to make a name for himself as a singer-songwriter, penning this tune about the trials and tribulations of trying to make it in the entertainment business. His biggest hit, "Rains" got to No. 5 on the pop chart and would ultimately peak at No. 2 on the Easy Listening chart.

No. 7 Summer Breeze--Seals & Crofts (No. 10 pop): Two friends from Texas, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts, were enjoying their debut success with the wispy and warmly wonderful "Summer Breeze," sailing into the Top 10 on the pop chart on this week, up from No. 16 the week before. It would peak at No. 4 on the EL chart and No. 6 on the pop chart, the first of three Top 10 pop hits the duo had -- and all of which were No. 6 hits, the others being 1973's "Diamond Girl" and 1976's "Get Closer."

No. 8 Clair--Gilbert O'Sullivan (No. 28 pop): While Irishman Gilbert O'Sullivan was off and running with his follow-up to the No. 1 hit "Alone Again (Naturally)" on the pop chart, moving up eight places from No. 36 to No. 28, he was already on his way to his second and last No. 1 EL song with his ode to baby-sitting his niece, "Clair," which jumped up seven places to land at No. 8.

No. 9 Funny Face--Donna Fargo (No. 25 pop): The second hit for teacher-turned-singer Donna Fargo was off and flying up the pop chart from No. 31 to No. 25 on this week, but was already in the Top 10 at No. 9 on the EL chart and would peak at No. 5 ... just like it would on the pop chart, becoming the North Carolina native's biggest hit there.

No. 13 It's A Matter Of Time (the "B" side of "Burning Love")--Elvis Presley (No. 19 pop): Radio stations always could find a good nugget on the other side of a 45 rpm record. And they usually found quite a few nuggets on the back of an Elvis Presley "A" side. "It's A Matter Of Time" was another example of The King's appeal as the sizzling "Burning Love" dropped down to No. 19 on the pop chart after peaking at No. 2, his last Top 10 pop hit while he was alive.

No. 17 Sweet Surrender--Bread (No. 40 pop): The latest release by David Gates and his group Bread was climbing the EL chart and on its way to hitting No. 1 by the end of 1972, the band's fourth No. 1 hit on that chart after "If," "Baby I'm-A Want You" and "The Guitar Man." On this very week, Bread debuted in the Top 40 at No. 40 with "Sweet Surrender."

No. 20 Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)--Jim Croce (No. 22 pop): Another former teacher-turned-singer, Philadelphia native Jim Croce was back with his follow-up to his Top 10 pop hit "You Don't Mess Around With Jim," with a softer side of him in "Operator," a song about trying to find a phone number of someone he once loved and winding up in a great conversation with the phone operator at the other end. On the EL chart, Croce missed the Top 10, peaking at No. 11, while on the pop chart, he would take it to No. 17.

No. 21 Garden Party--Rick Nelson (No. 12 pop): Nelson scored his first Top 10 pop hit in eight years with his tale of a bad night at a rock 'n roll revival show he was a part of at New York's Madison Square Garden, henceforth the title, "Garden Party." It peaked at No. 6, but Nelson took "Garden Party" to No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart and was on his way down that chart as well. It was Nelson's second and last No. 1 EL hit after 1964's "For You" hit the top for the former teen idol.

No. 23 Ben--Michael Jackson (No. 35 pop): The No. 1 pop hit about a rat from the movie of the same name earned songwriters Don Black and Walter Scharf an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. It also earned the 14-year-old Jackson his first No. 1 pop hit as a solo star. "Ben" would peak at No. 3 on the EL chart as the song was dropping on both charts.

No. 25 Ventura Highway--America (No. 18 pop): The hot new sensation of 1972, America, was climbing the pop and EL charts with the acoustic "Ventura Highway," which continued the band's success after previous hits "A Horse With No Name" and "I Need You." "Ventura Highway" peaked at No. 6 on the pop chart and No. 3 on the Easy Listening chart.

No. 26 Something's Wrong With Me--Austin Roberts (No. 29 pop): George Austin Robertson Jr. shortened his last name by two letters and went with his middle name as the first name. He came right out of the box with his self-examination single, "Something's Wrong With Me," and it would peak at No. 12 on the pop chart. Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart of Boyce & Hart fame from the 1960s, co-wrote the song.

No. 29 I'm Stone In Love With You--The Stylistics (No. 20 pop): With Russell Tompkins Jr.'s falsetto voice leading the way, the Stylistics were already up to No. 20 in their second week in the Top 40 with "I'm Stone In Love With You," up from the No. 25 debut the week before. The Philadelphia-based trio would take "Stone" to No. 10, while only getting to No. 27 on the EL chart.

No. 30 American City Suite--Cashman & West (No. 27 pop): The duo of Terry Cashman and Tommy West were busy in 1972, helping introduce Jim Croce to the world as the singer's producers. And on the pop chart, they were an act moving up one notch up the pop chart from No. 28 to No. 27 with the three-part, nearly five-minute long "American City Suite," an ode to various scenarios in everyday life. As Cashman & West, it would be their lone Top 40 pop hit.

No. 33 You Ought To Be With Me--Al Green (No. 15 pop): Not only was this man from Forest City, Ark., becoming a superstar on the pop and soul chart, he knew how to croon a good easy listening hit as well. While it went to No. 3 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the R&B chart, "You Ought To Be With Me" would muster getting to No. 28 on the Easy Listening survey.

No. 35 I'll Be Around--The Spinners (No. 3 pop): After spending five weeks at No. 1 on the R&B chart, the Spinners, newly minted at Atlantic Records after leaving Motown, were flying up to their peak position of No. 3 on the pop chart with "I'll Be Around," while they were also taking off on the Easy Listening chart at No. 35, ultimately peaking at No. 31. It was the group's first Top 40 EL chart hit.

No. 37 Nights In White Satin--The Moody Blues (No. 5 pop): All five songs in the Top 5 of the pop chart held a spot on the Easy Listening Top 40 chart as well with the 1967 recording of "Nights In White Satin" by the Moody Blues at No. 37 on the Easy Listening chart and down two notches from No. 3 to No. 5 on the pop chart after getting to No. 2, the group's biggest hit on that chart.

Interestingly, the only song not from the Top 10 Easy Listening chart to be in the Top 40 pop chart was the No. 10 song of the week, a remake of Paul Stookey's "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)," done by British singer Petula Clark. It was at No. 65 on the Hot 100 that week and would peak at No. 61 the next week.

Not since the days before the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion acts arrived in 1964 had the Easy Listening and Top 40 pop charts been as hand in hand as they were. And maybe it just reflected the mellow mood of the time ... after all, Watergate wasn't going to break out until the next year and the Vietnam War was going to heat up one last time before a peace accord was signed in 1973 and the troops came home in 1975.

November 1972 proved to be a mellow time. The simultaneous Top 40 pop and Easy Listening charts very much reflected that peaceful, easy feeling. And none of it involved songs you hear going up and down in elevators.