Today’s Throwback Weekend song comes from the week of September 15, 1973, when Helen Reddy’s ‘Delta Dawn’ topped the Hot 100 for a single week as part of its eight-week run in the top ten.
The song had previously been recorded by Bette Midler and Tanya Tucker, with the latter scoring a top ten hit on the Country chart. But Reddy, adding choir-like background vocals, was the first to score a major crossover hit with the track.
Throwing back to the week of August 25, 1973, we find the New York rock band Stories topping the Billboard Hot 100 with their cover of the song ‘Brother Louie,’ a slinky jam about an interracial couple.
This song was originally recorded by a British band called Hot Chocolate. Their funkier version, complete with spoken-word interludes by the racist parents of the song’s protagoinsts, reached #7 on the UK charts.
The week of August 4, 1073, saw Maureen McGovern’s recording of ‘The Morning After’ reach the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100, where it would remain for two weeks. This was McGovern’s first single and her only career #1.
‘The Morning After’ was the love theme of the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, and was performed in the movie by the ship’s singer (Carol Lynley played the role but Renée Armand dudded her vocals). McGovern released her own version of the track several months after the film came out. The song won Best Original Song at that year’s Academy Awards.
The week of July 14, 1973, found Billy Preston on top of Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second week with his single ‘Will It Go Round in Circles.’ This was Preston’s second appearance at #1, having made it there as a featured artist on The Beatles’ ‘Get Back‘ in 1969.
Preston would reach #1 one more time a year later, with ‘Nothing From Nothing,’ a song I know quite well. This one is new to me.
Throwing back to the week of June 23, 1973, we find Paul McCartney & Wings holding on to the top spot with ‘My Love,’ featured here earlier this month.
Right behind is a one-hit wonder that spent 23 weeks on this chart but never made it higher than #2. ‘Playground in My Mind’ was recorded by Clint Holmes, an English-born entertainer who was raised in the States and has been a Las Vegas entertainer for most of his five-decade career.
