1975 Archives – Page 2 of 2

Episode 11: Failing Upward

Hey, everybody makes a mistake now and then. That’s why they put erasers on pencils, am I right?

But once in awhile, someone will make a mistake that manages to enhance rather than detract (“Eminence Front,” I’m looking at you.). And that’s where we’re going this week: we’ll look at four songs that had mistakes in them where the artists made a conscious decision to keep the error in place because it actually makes the song a little bit better.

Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here-10 Album Cover Sticker Album Cover Sticker

And, as usual, you can listen to the show via your favorite podcatcher, or you can just play/download it from right here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:15 — 8.5MB)

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And any feedback is good feedback…especially if it’s good feedback. so please take the time to leave a rating on iTunes or whatever app you’re using to listen to the show. Much appreciated! And for your efforts, here’s a video clip of the the engineer’s point of view behind one of the stories in the show:

Click here to become a Patron of the show.

Update to Episode 1

Hey, gang!

It’s been great to get the positive feedback and such from you folks in the few short weeks since How Good It Is first launched. I made those first few before the official launch date, so I was working in a bit of a vacuum. And when it comes to stuff like this, I’m my own harshest critic. Back in my Radio Days I was known for doing dozens of takes before finally going back and deciding that Take 17 was “eh, good enough”.

One of my brothers has been listening regularly and is probably my second-toughest critic. But he invariably raises good points so I can’t fault him for it. He told me that he’s actively looking for a song (by a specific artist) for me to do a show about. My other brother, I don’t know if he’s been listening, but that’s OK. I’m pretty sure my wife doesn’t listen, either. Or my father, or my sisters, or my daughters, or…you get the picture.

Anyway, this post is actually in response to some feedback I’d received.

During Episode 1 I noted that the song “I’m Not In Love” by 10cc peaked at Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, and that in each of the three weeks it spent in that position, there was a different #1 song. Someone in the Land of Social Media asked me, “So what are those three songs?” You took the time to listen, so I took the time to look it up.

Image result for van mccoy the hustle When it first reached #2 the week of July 26, 1975, the #1 song was “The Hustle” by Van McCoy.

Image result for eagles one of these nights

For the week of August 2, 1975, The Eagles’ “One of These Nights” was at #1.

Image result for jive talkin Finally, on my oldest daughter’s (negative seventeenth) birthday, it was “Jive Talkin'” by the Bee Gees.

As a 12-year-old, I was pretty immersed in pop music and I’d look at the Top 20 chart that was published in Long Island’s Newsday every week. I kind of remember that summer being one in which the charts churned a lot of change from week to week. So remaining in one position, even if it was #2, for several weeks, was still a bit of an event.

Next week we dive into a solo single by one of the Beatles.

Episode 1: I’m Not In Love by 10cc

Click here for a transcript of this episode.

In our premiere episode, we take a look at 10cc’s biggest hit, “I’m Not In Love”. We’ll talk about:

What does that title mean, anyway?
Where did that ethereal sound come from?
What’s the story behind the band’s name?

Your RSS feed should have the post by now, but you can always listen to it right here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:30 — 9.8MB)

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I think we can all tell that it’s been several years since I’ve been behind a microphone. It gets better, I swear.

Some of the sources behind this week’s show:

An interview with Graham Gouldman, songwriter and 10cc band member.

George Tremlett (1976). The 10cc Story. Futura. ISBN 978-0-86007-378-9.

Band name origin:

Snopes.com, “10cc””. Snopes.com. Retrieved 10 August 2010.

“Interview with Kevin Godley, Rock N Roll Universe online interview, April 2007”. Rocknrolluniverse.com. Retrieved 10 August 2010.

“Godley & Creme interviewed in Pulse magazine, April 1988”. Minestrone.org. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2010.

Bossa Nova version, Kathy Redfern’s contribution:

Buskin, Richard (June 2005). “Classic Tracks: 10cc – ‘I’m Not in Love'”. Sound on Sound. Cambridge, England: SOS Publications: 62–69. Retrieved 21 September 2015.

Chromatic Scale recordings:

Presenters: Richard Allinson and Steve Levine (9 May 2009). “The Record Producers – 10cc”. The Record Producers. Season 3. Episode 4. BBC. BBC Radio 2.

Jump to Mercury Records:
“I Write The Songs”. The10ccfanclub.com. Retrieved 27 March 2014.