#1 at KRIZ: “Island Girl” by Elton John, from the #1 album, Rock Of The Westies.
The Eagles have two hits on this week’s chart: “Lyin’ Eyes” climbs to #2 as “One Of These Nights,” a former #1, descends to #21.
The Bee Gees also chart twice: “Jive Talkin’ ” dips to #24 while “Nights On Broadway” debuts at #29. These songs, both from the Main Course album, represented an evolution in the group’s sound that laid the foundation for their biggest success, Saturday Night Fever, in 1977.
The biggest climber, from #25 to #12, is the future #1 hit, “Saturday Night,” by the Bay City Rollers — a long-forgotten slice of bubblegum that didn’t last beyond its own era.
The same cannot be said of David Bowie’s “Fame,” co-written with John Lennon, which falls to #9. Another ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney (with his band Wings) hangs on at #26 with the former #1, “Listen To What The Man Said.”
Jefferson Starship, successor to ’60s psychedelic pioneers Jefferson Airplane, drop from #3 to #7 with their first big (and best) hit, “Miracles.” Sixties harmony kings the Four Seasons made a comeback in the mid-’70s, jumping from #13 to #6 with their next-to-last big hit, “Who Loves You.”
From a local angle:
- Leaping from #20 to #13 is “The Way I Want To Touch You” by the Captain & Tennille, This was actually their first single but was re-released as the follow-up to their ubiquitous chart-topper “Love Will Keep Us Together.” The couple retired to Prescott in 2008, but divorced in 2014. Toni Tennille moved out of state the following year, and the Captain died in Prescott this past January.
- Future Phoenician Glen Campbell falls to #17 with his biggest hit, “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
- Tucson native Linda Ronstadt drops to #23 with her remake of Martha & The Vandellas’ “Heat Wave,” written by the legendary Motown team of Holland-Dozier-Holland.
Another H-D-H classic is at #19: James Taylor’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is.” The highest debut, at #25, is the Ohio Players’ funky “Love Rollercoaster,” famously covered in 1996 by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the Beavis & Butthead TV show. And 10cc anchors the top 30 with the timeless, ethereal — and ultimately sad — “I’m Not In Love.”