"Lady Marmalade" was written by the same team, Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, who wrote last week's #1 tune, Frankie Valli's "My Eyes Adored You". When you hear the original version, by Nolan's Eleventh Hour, you'll understand why Allen Toussaint is such a great producer. He brought the New Orleans funk, courtesy of members of The Meters. "Lady Marmalade" was a hit first in the discos, then R and B before finally peaking at #1 on the pop charts.
1 Lady Marmalade by LaBelle
2 My Eyes Adored You by Frankie Valli
3 Lady by Styx
4 Lovin' You by Minnie Riperton
5 Black Water by The Doobie Brothers
6 Have You Never Been Mellow by Olivia Newton-John
7 You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker
8 Poetry Man by Phoebe Snow
9 I've Been This Way Before by Neil Diamond
10 Can't Get It Out Of My Head by Electric Light Orchestra
11 Roll On Down The Highway by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
12 Don't Call Us, We'll Call You by Sugarloaf
13 Shame, Shame, Shame by Shirley And Company
14 Sad Sweet Dreamer by Sweet Sensation
16 I Am Love by The Jackson 5
17 Emotion by Helen Reddy
18 No No Song by Ringo Starr
19 Best Of My Love by The Eagles
20. Once You Get Started by Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan
With the Ew Factor on maximum, punk was zygoting. Frankie Valli prostituting himself for a hit, Olivia Newton John purring her way through the sludge, Neil Diamond throwing it all away, Helen Reddy…was that just speaks for itself. The schmaltz factor so high here it would make Lawrence Welk beg to make it stop. I'm surprised the final stake wasn't plunged into the heart of rock and roll on this week in 1975. Yet in some basement in some building in Brooklyn Cathy changed her name to Sheena, put on her ripped jeans and some heavy eye-liner and inspired four guys to immortalize her with three chords. Sheena is a punk rocker now. Thank God!!!
ReplyDeleteYes! And cheers to the kid who tore up his Pink Floyd t-shirt, fastened in back together with safety pins, and scrawled "I Hate" at the top.
ReplyDeleteOh heck yeah…..Punk Floyd???
Delete