People throw around the words ‘legend’ and ‘icon’ a lot these days, but there’s no denying that a couple of weeks ago we lost a truly legendary and iconic artist when Tina Turner passed away after a long illness.
I’ve always wanted to do a Tina Turner deep dive, but the lack of availability of many of her early albums has made it difficult. However, in lieu of a proper immersion in her catalog, I do want to spend this week honoring her memory by highlighting five of her best-loved recordings.
Throwing back to the week of June 2, 1973, we find Paul McCartney and Wings at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their song ‘My Love.’ The track would spend four weeks at #1 and 18 weeks in total on the chart. This was the first of six #1 tracks McCartney recorded with Wings.
This song sounds like it took McCartney about ten minutes to write, and not in the “genius strikes” sort of way. It’s a simple love ballad with an uninspired melody and pedestrian lyrics.
Today we throw back to the week of June 1, 1963, when Lesley Gore topped Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘It’s My Party,’ the lead single from her debut album I’ll Cry if I Want To. The song spent two weeks at #1 and 13 total weeks on chart. Gore’s next three singles reached the top five, but this track was her last to reach #1.
‘It’s My Party’ was first recorded by British singer Helen Shapiro, but it wasn’t released until her album came out in October, months after Gore’s success with the song. Her version is a little slower and her voice is a little deeper, giving the illusion that you’re listening to the more popular version at a reduced speed.
Concluding my look at the albums of 1975…
Wrapping up the latest Decades installment, here’s a track from the Parliament album Mothership Connection, the funk band’s fourth. This was their highest-charting album and featured their top-charting single in ‘Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker).’
As somebody who decidedly doesn’t have the funk, I appreciate this album more than I like it. It certainly has infectious grooves but it just isn’t my thing. That said, I enjoyed spending some time with the record and it made me wish it was more up my alley.
Continuing my look at the albums of 1975…
The genre-hopping band Earth, Wind & Fire released its sixth studio album, the funk soul classic That’s the Way of the World, in early ’75. The album served as the soundtrack to a film of the same name in which the band portrayed a fictional act championed by a record producer played by Harvey Keitel.
The album made a much bigger impression than the movie, going triple platinum and reaching #1 on Billboard’s albums chart. It also gave the band its only #1 song on the Hot 100 in ‘Shining Star,’ today’s SOTD. I would have guessed that distinction belonged to ‘September’ or ‘Let’s Groove,’ but those songs reached only #8 and #3, respectively.
Meet Me In Montauk 