WIXY (Cleveland): Top 40, 1965-1976

One of the nation's liveliest Top 40 stations in the late sixties, Cleveland's legendary WIXY 1260 (say the call letters like a word) made it all the way to 1976 before sputtering into a late seventies AC format shift (and the new call letters WMGC). As reported at the WIXY tribute page, the new station's advertisements invited listeners to "Get Your Rock Soft."

The last of WIXY's promo albums was a 1973 muscular dystrophy benefit vehicle called WIXY's Top Bananas. The track list showcases the seemingly genre-blind Top 40 hodgepodge typical of the era: "Brother Louie" (Stories), "Precious and Few" (Climax), "Hocus Pocus" (Focus), "Pillow Talk" (Sylvia), "Nice to Be with You" (Gallery), "It's Your Thing" (Isley Brothers), "Mississippi Queen" (Mountain), "Super Fly" (Curtis Mayfield), "One Bad Apple" (Osmonds), "Slippin' Into Darkness" (War), "Brand New Key" (Melanie), "Rock and Roll" (Gary Glitter- not the B-side, "Rock and Roll Part 2," that we're more familiar with today), "Day By Day" (Godspell), "Uneasy Rider" (Charlie Daniels Band).

The Sugar Bears' Cereal Box Hit

Released at the very tail end of the classic bubble gum era, the Sugar Bears' "You  Are the One" was one of five songs included on a cardboard EP you could cut out from certain 1972 boxes of Super Sugar Crisp. Amazingly enough, Sugar Bear (voiced by ex-First Edition member Mike Settle) and his band of animated mascot sidekicks (including Kim Carnes as "Honey Bear") sold enough of a corresponding 45 of "You Are the One" for it to climb up all the way to #51 on the Billboard Hot 100. No mean feat for a cereal box promotion in any era. As for the Partridge-esque song itself, producer Jimmy Bowen is the one who put it together, and it’s hardly the best this genre got, although it does benefit from a certain Phil Spector cognizance. (I’ll need to refresh my memory and see if Bowen mentions this particular project in his “unapologetic” Rough Mix.)

The Sugar Bears - "You Are the One" (Billboard #51, entered 3/11/72). Written by Baker Knight. Produced by Jimmy Bowen. 45: "You Are the One"/"Someone Like You" (Big Tree 1972). LP: Presenting the Sugar Bears (Big Tree 1971).

Miss Abrams: The Early '70s Charting Singles

Although the enchanting 1970 single "Mill Valley," credited to Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point School Third Grade Class, only peaked at #90, it seemed to awaken an ear for the voices of children in pop radio. In a 2010 San Francisco Chronicle retrospective, Joel Selvin describes it as a "turntable hit" that got more airplay than record sales, but it nonetheless ushered in an early '70s hit parade of songs featuring kid vocals, childhood images, or topics related to family living. Songs like these were all over Top 40 and MOR formats, functioning like a mass media dialogue between adults and children. A few more singles after "Mill Valley" also found their way to the easy listening singles chart, with a full album finally appearing in late 1972. A CD reissue on the Varese Sarabande label gathered everything up and tossed in an (uncharacteristically) unsettling child-vocal outtake called "Sad Night."

"Mill Valley" (1970)

Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point School Third Grade Class

Written by Rita Abrams * Produced by Erik Jacobsen and Rita Abrams * 45: "Mill Valley" / "The Happiest Day of My Life" * LP: Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class (1972) * Label: Reprise * Billboard charts: Easy listening (#13), Hot 100 (#90) * Entered: 1970-07-25 (easy listening) * 1970-08-01 (Hot 100)

Richie Unterberger's liner notes for the CD reissue of Rita Abrams' only album, billed to "Miss Abrams and Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class," report that Abrams, a Mill Valley transplant from Ohio, had written the song for the kindergarteners she taught. Producer Erik Jacobsen, an acquaintance of hers, then hatched the idea of making a studio recording with a musically tighter 3rd grade class (they were 4th graders by the time the album came out—hence the disparity between the billing on the 45 and LP), resulting in a track that drew out a standing ovation from the suits at a Warner Bros. sales meeting when they heard it.

Radio airplay and appearances by Abrams on the Steve Allen Show and Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour helped turn the single into a national hit. (It was Terry McGovern at KSFO in San Francisco who gave it its first spin.) The song lilted on a cloud of warm electric piano and the sound of a wooden recorder, which had a way of signifying "school" in listeners' minds, possibly because of its standard use in early-grade music classes; it also tootled in the theme music for the popular public school-themed TV show Room 222, which began a five-season run in 1969. Abrams' double tracked lead vocal found a doppelganger the following year on the self-titled debut album by fellow Northern Californian Judee Sill. The track and its promo clip (filmed by Francis Ford Coppola) still have the power to transport listeners to an idyllic Mill Valley of the mind. Side B contains another recorder-flavored charmer (which borrows a minor key musical figure from the Turtles' "You Baby") written by Abrams, but it would not appear on the 1972 album.

Side A: "Mill Valley"


Side B: "The Happiest Day of My Life"

"Buildin' a Heaven on Earth" (1970)

Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point

Fourth Grade

Written by Norman Greenbaum * Produced by Erik Jacobsen and Rita Abrams * 45: "Buildin' a Heaven on Earth" / "This Time of Life" * LP: Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class (1972) * Label: Reprise * Billboard charts: Easy listening (#39) * Entered: 1971-01-09

Miss Abrams' co-producer Erik Jacobsen was a studio veteran who had worked with the Lovin' Spoonful, Tim Hardin, and Sopwith Camel, and he was fresh off of doing "Spirit in the Sky," a massive #3 hit for Norman Greenbaum when he teamed up with the Mill Valley grade school teacher. This explains their access to an exclusive song written by Greenbaum called "Buildin' a Heaven on Earth," featuring slide guitar and a contemporary rock attitude. The flipside's "This Time of Life," with its bouncy feel similar to "Mill Valley," was a sung dialogue between Abrams and her kids about the contradictory human needs for dependence and independence.

Side A: "Buildin' a Heaven on Earth"


Side B: "This Time of Life"

"Wonder" (1970)

Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point

4th Grade Class

Written by Rita Abrams * Produced by Erik Jacobsen and Rita Abrams * 45: "Wonder" / "I Never Asked" * LP: Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class (1972) * Label: Reprise * Billboard charts: Easy listening (#37) * Entered: 1971-07-03

"Wonder," with its strings-and-flute arrangement, made for an easy transition to MOR playlists in the summer of '71. Side B featured no children, only Miss Abrams singing a major-seventh chord composition called "I Never Asked." Despite its title, it uses musical "question" techniques, such as the inclusion of a wavering Vox organ. After all three singles had run their course on radio, the Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class album, collecting all the singles (except for the "Mill Valley" B side "The Happiest Day of My Life") plus five more songs, would finally appear in September 1972. 

Side A: "Wonder"


Side B: "I Never Asked"

*Bonus*

"America (Let's Get Started Again)" (1975)

Miss Abrams and the  Strawberry Point 

Fourth Grade Class

Written by Rita Abrams * Produced by Erik Jacobsen, Rita Abrams, and Ken Melville * 45: "America (Let's Get Started Again) (Mono)" / "America (Let's Get Started Again) (Stereo)" * Label: Reprise * Billboard charts: —

The post-Nixon pre-Bicentennial year of 1975 called for one more offering—"America (Let's Get Started Again)"—by Abrams and her 4th graders. (The original group would have been 7th or 8th graders at this point.) A banjo points to the past while a synthesizer points to the "beautiful dream of all that our country could be" on this promo-only release.

"America (Let's Get Started Again)"

Jerry Wallace Covering All the Bases

Jerry Wallace's two countrypolitan crossover hits of the early 70s are most interesting for the accompanying format-conscious ad campaigns that showed him "covering all the bases." The ad above, especially, is a useful image representing the era's transitional country music industry.

Wallace's hit version of "If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry," by the way, benefited from its being featured in an episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery. The TV version, though, had a harder-edged honky tonk arrangement that's far more appealing. Is a full version of it hiding in a vault somewhere? (You can hear a comparison of the two over at my Boneyard Media blog.)

Also notable about Wallace's early '70s run and its accompaying images is his use of his Behee Lyric Harp Guitar, which he'd been appearing with in promo pics since the early '60s.

Jerry Wallace - "To Get to You" (1972, Billboard #48; country #12). Written by Jean Chapel. Produced by Joe Johnson. 45: "To Get to You"/"Time" (Decca 1972). LP: This Is Jerry Wallace (Decca 1971); To Get to You (Decca 1972).

The song first appeared on a Decca LP called This Is Jerry Wallace in 1971, the cover of which presented him with his hair greased back trucker-style. An image revamp for Wallace accompanied the song's reappearance on a new 1972 album bearing its name name.

Jerry Wallace - "If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry" (Billboard #38, entered 8/19/72; country #1). Written Gerald Sanford and Hal Mooney. Produced by Joe E. Johnson. 45: "If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry"/"What's He Doin' in My World" (Decca 1972). LP: To Get to You (Decca 1972).

1970 Association Ad

A Billboard ad (2/28/70) for the Association's "Just About the Same" featured one of early '70s pop's favorite subjects: children. The single was a cover of a song by the Millennium, a group led by Curt Boettcher, who had produced the Association's debut LP in 1966. "Just About the Same," which bubbled under at #106, also bore the imprint of the era's Caribbean music trend. The single's entire marketing angle saw a fuller realization in Three Dog Night's "Black and White" two years later.

The Association - "Just About the Same" (Billboard #106, entered 2/28/70). Written by Doug Rhoes, Michael Fennelly, and Joey Stec. Produced by Curt Boettcher and Keith Olsen. 45: "Just About the Same"/"Look at Me, Look at You" (Warner Bros. 1970). LP: (No album appearance).

Although the studio version of this song appeared on no album, a live version made the lineup for the 1970 The Association Live LP. 

The Stylistics debut LP's "Sales Power" Ad

African American pop music in the early '70s was like the month of March, coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. The politically-charged, pulse-raising material that was mostly quarantined to soul radio playlists in 1970 gave way to ballads with broader appeal by 1975. This Stylistics ad from a 1971 Billboard really zeroes in on the metamorphosis, with enough marketing crisscross happening that I'm honestly not sure what the prevailing message of the ad is (if there even is one, other than "listen to the Stylistics").

But let's consider some possibilities: The most luscious sounding balladeers of the early '70s are relaxing in a meadow in a bubble - safe from society. They are inviting you into their blissful existence. But this doesn't mean they're out of touch. Black Power (see fist) ultimately drives them, and this association should appeal to their soul music base. Or is the "sales power" heading intended to soften or poke fun at Black Power, acknowledging that a new sound, embodied by the Stylistics, is on the horizon? Any of the above interpretations, actually, would fit the spirit of the times just fine.

All this aside, the Stylistics' eponymous first LP was a beauty, launching five singles into the Hot 100. It showcased the sweet lead vocals of Russell Thompkins Jr. and the formidable songwriting chops of Thom Bell and lyricist Linda Creed (except for "You're a Big Girl Now," which is consequently its weakest track). Bell's opulent song structures and string arrangements glimmer like city lights while Creed's lyrics are little humanistic wonders.

Here are the 5 charting singles released from their debut LP. When gathered together, all 9 tracks on the album are represented:

The Stylistics - "You're a Big Girl Now" (Billboard #73, entered 1/9/71; soul #7). Written by Marty Bryant and Robert Douglas. Produced by Marty Bryant and Bill Perry. 45: "You're a Big Girl Now"/"Let the Junkie Bust the Pusher" (AVCO Embassy 1970). LP: The Stylistics (AVCO Embassy 1971).

This first single, co-written and co-produced by the group's road manager Marty Bryant, got them signed to the AVCO label, after which Thom Bell took over their sound. Side B is a gritty non-album rarity that makes minimal use of Russell Thompkins, Jr.

The Stylistics - "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" (Billboard #39, entered 6/5/71; soul #6). Written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed. Produced by Thom Bell. 45: "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)"/"If I Love You" (AVCO Embassy 1971). LP: The Stylistics (AVCO Embassy 1971).

The Stylistics - "You Are Everything" (Billboard #9, entered 11/6/71; soul #10). Written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed. Produced by Thom Bell. 45: "You Are Everything"/"Country Living" (AVCO Embassy 1971). LP: The Stylistics (AVCO Embassy 1971).

The intro to "You Are Everything" features one of the era's memorable electric sitar riffs.

The Stylistics featuring Russell Thompkins, Jr. - "Betcha By Golly Wow" (Billboard #3, entered 2/26/72; soul #2). Written by Kenny Gamble, Linda Creed, and Thom Bell. Produced by Thom Bell. 45: "Betcha By Golly Wow"/"Ebony Eyes" (AVCO Embassy 1972). LP: The Stylistics (AVCO Embassy 1972).

Prince, who knew songcraft when he heard it, covered "Betcha By Golly Wow" in 1996.

The Stylistics - "People Make the World Go Round" (Billboard #25, entered 6/3/72; soul #6). Written by Linda Creed and Thom Bell Produced by Thom Bell. 45: "People Make the World Go Round"/"Point of No Return" (AVCO Embassy 1972). LP: The Stylistics (AVCO Embassy 1972).

"People Make the World Go Round" is a particular masterpiece, expressing the "ups and downs" and contradictions of urban life against a backdrop of music that's at once sullen and seductive.

The "My Sweet Lord" Chronicles

George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" is perhaps the most notorious plagiarism case in record biz history dues to its decades-long slog through courts concerning its similarities to the Chiffons' "He's So Fine." Most fascinating to me, though, are the possible effects the lawsuit had on the creativity of such an inventive songwriter. The "My Sweet Lord" saga likely informs everything Harrison wrote from 1971 onward.

A timeline:

The Chiffons - "He's So Fine" (Billboard #4, entered 2/23/63). Written by Ronnie Mack. Produced by Bright Tunes Productions. 45: "He's So Fine"/"Oh My Lover" (Laurie 1963). LP: He's So Fine (Laurie 1963).

The song Harrison was sued for plagiarizing when his "My Sweet Lord" became a hit had entered the US charts in 1963 and reached #12 in the UK that same year.

Edwin Hawkins Singers - "Oh Happy Day" (Billboard #4, entered 4/26/69). Written by Edwin R. Hawkins. Produced by La Mont Bench. 45: "Oh Happy Day"/"Jesus, Lover of My Soul" (Pavilion 1968). LP: Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord (Pavilion 1968).

This popular gospel recording by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, featuring the lead vocals of Dorothy Morrison, updated an eighteenth century hymn. It reached #4 in the US and #2 in the UK and most certainly influenced Harrison while creating "My Sweet Lord," but never came up in court. Hawkins claimed writer's credit for arranging the public domain piece (and also its B-side, Charles Wesley's "Jesus, Lover of My Soul").

Billy Preston - "My Sweet Lord" (Billboard #90, entered 2/13/71). Written by George Harrison. Produced by George Harrison and Billy Preston. 45: "My Sweet Lord"/"Little Girl" (Apple 1970). LP: Encouraging Words (Apple 1970).

Billy Preston's chugging interpretation of "My Sweet Lord," co-produced by Harrison, appeared on his Encouraging Words album two months before Harrison released his own version. The single entered Billboard's Hot 100, though, in early 1971.

George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord" (Billboard #1, entered 11/28/70). Written by George Harrison. Produced by George Harrison and Phil Spector. 45: "My Sweet Lord"/"Isn't It a Pity" (Billboard #1 [flip], entered 11/28/70) (Apple 1970). LP: All Things Must Pass (Apple 1970).

Harrison's glorious lead off single from his All Things Must Pass album.  It still stands as a distinct entity, no matter how much it may have borrowed from both "He's So Fine" and "Oh Happy Day." Harrison's - and co-producer Phil Spector's - awareness of its similarities with the recent public domain hit "Oh Happy Day" likely deflected notice that the song also shared marked similarities with "He's So Fine." How else to explain it? Spector had major girl group credentials, and it shouldn't have been lost on him. John Lennon in 1980: "He [Harrison] must have known, you know. He's smarter than that... Maybe he thought God would just sort of let him off."

The single's flipside, "Isn't It a Pity," clocked in at 7:10 and charted in tandem with "My Sweet Lord" as a double A-side, as per Billboard policy at the time. Its lyrics about heartbreak - then and now - sound like symbolic commentary on the dissolution of the Beatles and their era.

George Harrison - "Bangla Desh" (Billboard #23, entered 8/14/71). Written and produced by George Harrison. 45: "Bangla Desh"/"Deep Blue" (Billboard #23 [flip], entered 9/11/71) (Apple 1971). LP: The Best of George Harrison (Capitol 1976).

In February 1971, Bright Tunes Music, the company that owned "He's So Fine" at the time, filed suit against Harrison for plagiarism. It's unclear whether the suit was common knowledge before 1976, when stories about it finally appeared in Billboard, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times.

Harrison's "Bangla Desh" single, which featured complicated, non-intuitive chord changes and low memorability alongside a dour, uninviting demeanor, perhaps responded to the lawsuit as much as it did to the devastating famine in Bangla Desh. Harrison's post-1971 catalog would repeatedly tend toward unconventional, busy chord changes and elusive melodic turns in this way, as if to ensure ownership.

The flipside was called "Deep Blue," which earned charting status a month after "Bangla Desh" did. It made up for the A-side's severity with easy, major-to-minor acoustic guitar contentment. Oddly enough, the song hung in limbo as a non-album offering until just recently.

(The US picture sleeve used a "straight from the headlines" look that could have inspired the newspaper parody art for the sleeve of John Lennon's topical 1972 Some Time in New York City LP.)

Jody Miller - "He's So Fine" (Billboard #53, entered 6/26/71; country #5). Written by Ronnie Mack. Produced by Billy Sherrill. 45: "He's So Fine"/"You Number Two" (Epic 1971). LP: He's So Fine (Epic 1971).

The American country singer Jody Miller's version of "He's So Fine" verged on mockery, with an arrangement that borrowed blatant motifs from "My Sweet Lord."

The Chiffons - "My Sweet Lord" (did not chart). Written by George Harrison. Produced by Bill Frenz, Jr. 45: "My Sweet Lord"/"Main Nerve" (Laurie 1975). LP: (no album appearance).

One wonders whether Harrison viewed the Chiffons' sunny, pot-stirring 1975 cover of "My Sweet Lord" as a cheer or a jeer (or if he even knew of its existence).

George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord 2000" (did not chart): Harrison's 2000 revisitation of the song self-consciously alters the memorable melodic aspects that initially got him in trouble.

In the years following the "Bangla Desh"/"Deep Blue" 45, Harrison would release Living in the Material World (1973), Dark Horse (1974), Extra Texture (1975), and Thirty-Three and 1/3 (1976), albums that each include one or two memorable tracks among a majority of (deliberately?) unmemorable ones. In 1976, Harrison would be found guilty of "subconscious plagiarism" by the U.S. District Court with damages of $1.6 million. Harrison would later admit to having become "paranoid" about writing anything new.

In 1978, Allen Klein, who was Harrison's diabolical former business advisor, bought Bright Tunes and offered it to Harrison for exactly $1.6 million. In 1981, judges would decide that Klein had been duplicitous, ordering him to transfer ownership of Bright Tunes to Harrison for half a million. Although this ensured "He's So Fine" as Harrison's property, legal dickering regarding administrative fees and the like carried over into the 1990s.

In 2001, Harrison released an updated version of "My Sweet Lord" as a bonus track on the All Things Must Pass CD reissue, with his new lead vocal dancing purposefully around the original melody in a way that likely would not have attracted a lawsuit back in 1971.