NOW: NOVEMBER 18, 2017
THEN: NOVEMBER 21, 1970

Ladies and gentlemen, Jesse Coffey Productions presents in association with Billboard Media . . .

ON THE CHARTS

THEN AND NOW

Hello, and welcome to the first edition for Songs from the Heart of ON THE CHARTS, THEN AND NOW, a comparison of the charts today and the charts of yesterday. In this, I count from bottom to top of both of the mentioned charts.

Where as ol' buddy ol' pal Sam Smith was at #9 with "Too Good at Goodbyes" last week, his song's down to #10 this week:

Sean Ross opens the liner notes of Cruisin' 1970 with this annotation:

They were talking about weightier things, the Temptations were, riots and the environment and Vietnam and so forth, but their "Ball of Confusion" didn't just describe the world in 1970. It was also a pretty good metaphor for the state of the music industry and top 40 radio at the time.

It would have been simple if every 14-year-old had heard "Whole Lotta Love" in 1969, decided that top 40 radio as they'd known it was basically irrelevant, and made a beeline for the FM rock side. But that didn't happen - for one thing, most kids had to hear "Whole Lotta Love" on AM because there wasn't an FM rocker in their market yet. Besides, transitions take time. Remember that Doris Day was still having top 10 hits even after Elvis went into the Army.

That's why top 40 spent the next five years looking over its shoulder at rock radio but not, until the end, looking up at its rival. And that's why, during that time, almost anything went.

In the early 70's, you could say that top 40 tried to become FM rock radio and you'd be right. Listen to a tape of nights on KHJ, L.A.'s original "Boss Radio," in the early 70's and you'll hear a ton of album cuts - things that wouldn't even make the cut at classic rock radio today. You could say that top 40 radio went more bubblegum than ever in 1970 and, given the Osmonds, The Partridge Family, the Poppy Family, Bobby Sherman, Tony Orlando & Dawn, The Archies, and the Brotherhood of Man/White Plains/Edison Lighthouse/Pipkins (who were actually one British studio group), you'd be right, too.

There were a lot of chart acts in the early '70s that could work both sides of the dial. Chicago, The Guess Who, and especially Three Dog Night all did a pretty good job of living a double life for a while. And just like a lot of the commercial attempts to cash in on "Generation X" already look bogus, there was also much in the early 70s that was "hippie" without ever being "heavy."

After all, nothing could be more archetypically early 70s hippie than a song about a guy, his gal, and their dog truckin' aimlessly around the country, until you consider that the song in question was "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo." We all know how to categorize Lobo now, but it wasn't so simple then.

The same goes for Olivia Newton-John covering Bob Dylan, the Osmonds copping the guitar riff from "Immigrant Song" for "Hold Her Tight," or, for that matter, the entire singer-songwriter movement. James Taylor and Carole King seemed pretty heavy at the time; now you're most likely to hear them on your market's "Lite FM" station.

#10 in the fourth week of November 1970 was Bobby Bloom going down to "Montego Bay" on L&R for what proved to be the only major hit in the recording career of the "Mony Mony" songwriter; he died before he even hit the age of 28:

Last week, "Mi Gente" sung by J Balvin & Willy William was at #8. Now it is at #9:

In November 1970, the #9 slot was occupied by a Uni revival by Brian Hyland of the Impressions' 1961 ABC-Paramount hit "Gypsy Woman":

"Sorry, Not Sorry" by Demi Lovato is played now. It's at #8 from its previous placement at #6.

Next we have a #8 hit from November 1970, which is "Somebody's Been Sleeping (In My Bed)" from 100 Proof Aged In Soul . . . I had always thought that name sounded like that of a drink. It's on Hot Wax:

After 8 weeks on the charts, Lil Pump finally entered the Top 10 with their #7 Warner Bros. song "Gucci Gang". The video for this song is in 4K Ultra HD:

At only two minutes and 10 seconds, the song is probably the shortest song ever to hit the Top 10 in recent years and probably also the most recent short song on the Top 10 to lack a longer version, as the self-titled debut album of the rapper also has the single at this length.

There however is a longer version of the #7 song of November 1970, "Green Eyed Lady" played by Liberty stars Sugarloaf:

"Feel It Still?" Now at #6 from its #4 peak position is a March 2017 number of that name, an Atlantic issue by Portugal. The Man:

In November 1970, Indiana apparently wanted R. Dean Taylor for the hit song "Indiana Wants Me", which he wrote. The song was on the Rare Earth label, an arm of Motown which was basically Motown for hippies:

Here next are the Imagine Dragons on the KIDinaKORNER and Interscope labels, contributing this week's #5 song, and last week's, "Thunder", which has had the biggest gain in airplay all week:

James Taylor has seen fire and he's seen rain, and he's seen #5 for "Fire and Rain" on Warner Bros. by November 21, 1970:

Next, rapper Logic and co-horts Alessia Cara and Khalid have downed "1-800-273-8255" to #4 from #3 last week. Again, try to picture a 1-800 number being on the charts years ago. It hasn't.

(MATURE SUBJECT MATTER. WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK.)

Now here's the #4 song of November 1970, Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown", which was originally recorded in 1967:

In three out of its 18 weeks on the chart, the #3 song on this week's chart was the #1 song. Cardi B is the fifth female rapper to ever lead the Hot 100, and the second-ever to do so with a solo output after Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" in 1998. Let's dress this Atlantic star in "Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)":

#3 in November 1970 was occupied by a Jackson 5 classic for Motown - "I'll Be There":

it was an 12-week chart staple and #7 was its peak position last time 'round. The tune we're about to hear, Camila Cabello's "Havana" with Young Thug in Cinemascope on the Epic and Syco labels is now the #2 song in the country:

In November 1970, the Carpenters had only just begun to have top-10 hits, and that plays into the #2 song of November 21, 1970.

If you want to know the #1 song for November 21, 1970, well, here it comes.

THE
#1
SONG OF THE WEEK ENDING
NOVEMBER 21, 1970

One of the defining TV programs of the early 1970s was a sitcom about a widowed mother whose kids aspire to be music superstars. Running four seasons on the ABC-TV network, and produced by Columbia Pictures' TV unit Screen Gems, THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY declared, on their first #1 hit song for Columbia Pictures' record unit Bell Records, "I Think I Love You".

(Music video courtesy of Sony Pictures Television)

The show itself was a staple of ABC-TV's Friday night schedule from 1970 to 1974 and has had more than one run in syndication.

With that being said, how about we hear the #1 song for this week?

THE
#1
SONG OF THE WEEK ENDING
NOVEMBER 18, 2017

It is still Rockstar, sung by the rapping sensation Post Malone featuring Epic recording artist 21 Savage. The single is on Republic.

Ladies and gentlemen, we're through for this week. We recommend you visit the Billboard website at www.billboard.com. And follow Billboard on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and Spotify. And remember, keep the music strong, and let it play on. See you next week!