This Week's Top 10 - March 23, 1971

I thought the Jackson 5 did "One Bad Apple" until today.

 

That one, too? I know "We've Only Just Begun" was originally used in a bank commercial (Crocker Bank?). I thought "For All We Know" was from a film -- "Lovers and Other Strangers"?

I went with "Just My Imagination" -- nice return of the "romantic" Temps after that run of topical songs.

 

Marvin Gaye!! What a voice and song

I had to flip a coin between What's Going On and the Partridge Family

 

I've seen vinyl pressings of Ike & Tina's version, the fonts look like they could've come from Presswell Records in Ancora, NJ. As for that Columbia pressing - to paraphrase the title of an old movie, if it's Pitman, it must be styrene.

Obviously, a Monarch pressing, with fonts from Alco Research. I see a lotta West Coast pressings there.

B.T.W., I've a Pitman (styrene) pressing of the J5 45, as well; alas, the labels aren't as pristine enough to be represented here.

 

Are you sure you've never heard "What's Going On"?

 

For Oxenholme: a sample of the MONO single mix of What's Going On
http://download.yousendit.com/1E7FBD8D56A7963E

 

Oh, it was. Seems that there was some confusion in the details there.

 

What's Going On

 

W.B., is this a Pitman pressing of "Mama's Pearl" and "Darling Dear"? This one has also seen better days also as evidenced by the slight label wear, the cut out drill hole and the groove wear from being played with a heavy stylus, but I figured that it's fairly presentable. Also do you know if those copies came packaged with the picture sleeve? I've only found vinyl pressings with the picture sleeve. Can you tell where the vinyl pressing in my earlier post was pressed?

 

The above two labels were indeed Pitman, NJ. As for your vinyl pressing, it came out of Santa Maria, CA:



Personally, I'd go for the Pitman variation . . . after all, such a copy exists, therefore . . .

 

Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) - The Temptations

...but there are at least two others on this chart that I like just as much.

 

Typefaces, my friend, typefaces . . . I do have some West Coast vinyl pressings made by Columbia's plant there, but they have East Coast (Pitman) label copy type (from Linotype and some Intertype), which is all I ask for. (Such as a copy of the George Baker Selection's "Little Green Bag," and The Tee Set's "Ma Belle Amie," to say nothing of Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" plus the 1971 incarnation of "Questions 67 and 68," as well as Jefferson's "Baby Take Me In Your Arms" - I could go on and on . . . ) That's what it boils down to. It's the fonts as well as the music in my criteria - and if the only copies with my favorite typefaces are East Coast styrene, well, so be it.

As to the styrene "A B C" . . . sounds like it was a Monarch pressing. The earliest known Columbia/Pitman pressing of a Motown 45 that I know of, from the post-1970 era, was The Supremes' "Stoned Love," per below:

 

The bold typeface does look great on a record label I have to admit.

Oh, and I dug up my copy of "A B C" and once again you are right on the money! It was pressed at Monarch as evidenced by the "MR" stamp inside a circle.

 

The top 20 in Canada, from RPM Weekly, which published "Canada's Only National 100 Single Survey." This one from the March 20, 1971, issue.

1 1 2 Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR
2 6 13 She's a Lady - Tom Jones
3 7 10 Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted - Partridge Family
4 12 18 Stay Awhile - Bells
5 2 4 Amos Moses - Jerry Reed
6 10 21 What Is Life - George Harrison
7 11 12 For All We Know - Carpenters
8 3 9 Mama's Pearl - Jackson 5
9 27 33 Oye Como Va - Santana
10 4 1 One Bad Apple - Osmonds

11 73 -- Theme from Love Story - Andy Williams
12 14 17 Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
13 16 19 Cried Like a Baby - Bobby Sherman
14 20 24 Carry Me - Stampeders
15 17 20 Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner
16 24 29 Free - Chicago
17 31 36 Help Me Make It Through the Night - Sammi Smith
18 9 11 Theme from Love Story - Henry Mancini
19 41 72 Another Day - Paul McCartney
20 13 8 If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

 

And for LP fans only...

1 1 5 Pearl - Janis Joplin
2 2 3 Love Story - Original Soundtrack
3 4 1 Jesus Christ Superstar - Original Cast
4 5 4 Tumbleweed Connection - Elton John
5 13 23 Rose Garden - Lynn Anderson
6 3 2 All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
7 69 -- Cry of Love - Jimi Hendrix
8 7 7 Chicago III - Chicago
9 8 12 Sit Down Young Stranger - Gordon Lightfoot
10 9 10 The Partridge Family Album - Partridge Family

11 17 29 Sweetheart - Englebert Humperdinck
12 10 8 Pendulum - CCR
13 6 6 Abraxas - Santana
14 25 24 It's Impossible - Perry Como
15 24 75 Golden Biscuits - Three Dog Night
16 21 33 Stoney End - Barbra Streisand
17 14 20 Nantucket Sleighride - Mountain
18 27 62 Love Story - Andy Williams
19 12 11 The Worst of Jefferson Airplane - Jefferson Airplane
20 11 9 Elton John - Elton John

And at #59, one of my all-time favourite album titles: The Perth County Conspiracy Does Not Exist, by the Perth County Conspiracy.

 

My two favourites from the top 100:
98 LAYLA -- Derek & Dominos
29 BURNING BRIDGES -- Mike Curb Congregation

A couple more that I like a lot:
11 WHAT IS LIFE -- George Harrison
26 WILD WORLD -- Cat Stevens

Some decent stuff:
7 HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE RAIN -- Creedence Clearwater Revival
13 WHAT’S GOING ON -- Marvin Gaye
14 AMOS MOSES -- Jerry Reed
15 OYE COMO VA -- Santana
22 ANOTHER DAY -- Paul McCartney
30 MR. BOJANGLES -- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
35 I HEAR YOU KNOCKING -- Dave Edmunds
44 EIGHTEEN -- Alice Cooper
54 I AM...I SAID -- Neil Diamond
85 I WISH I WERE -- Andy Kim
87 WOODSTOCK -- Matthews’ Southern Comfort

... and the most repulsive top 40 track of all time:
42 JOY TO THE WORLD -- Three Dog Night

 

Not fair!!!!
Except for "Love Story",they're all great!!
I'd pick "One Bad Apple" as my fave.

 

"Proud Mary". My dad had the single and I loved it.

 

This was the week I was born. There were a lot of great songs and albums out at the time. I went with "What's Going On".

 

Mr. Williams was near the tail end of the 1969-71 incarnation of his variety show at the time of the single's release, but yes, that plus the wild popularity of the movie - combined with Mr. Bennett's recording career as of that point having all but crashed and burned by then - could explain why each version turned out (and ended up) as they did.

 

Tough choice between the top three and number 7. All all-time classics.

 

Doesn't Somebody Want to Be Wanted - The Partridge Family

 

I'm glad that someone resurrected this thread since it obviously escaped my attention three months ago.

It was very difficult to choose between the first two, but I had to go with Marvin. The Temp's record, however, is absolutely sublime. I like the rest of the top 10, too. Great chart.