The Ron Kane Files

Writing About Music

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

1971.06.07

Phonolog Reports – New Releases
Week of June 7, 1971

Caught my eye:

CONGRESS OF WONDERS – Revolting (Fantasy 7016) (LP) – not on CD?
PERSUASIONS – We Came To Play (Capitol ST-791)

Congress of Wonders is a fantastic comedy LP that I used to hear in KPFK-FM. “Radio Phil” is one of my all time favorite five minutes of US comedy. The Persuasions are an acapella group.

Also of interest:

TUCKY BUZZARD (Capitol ST-787)
HEAD OVER HEELS (Capitol ST-797)
KEEF HARTLEY – Overdog (Deram DES-18057)

Records I used to see in every 99 cent bin; Keef Hartley was John Mayall’s drummer

Notable singles:

JOHN KONGOS – He’s Gonna Step On You Again Parts 1 & 2 (Elektra 45729)
JEAN KNIGHT – Mr. Big Stuff (Stax 0088)
EMITT RHODES – Lullabye b/w With My Face On The Floor (Dunhill 4280)
JAMES TAYLOR – You’ve Got A Friend b/w You Can Close Your Eyes (Warner 7498)
UNDISPUTED TRUTH
– Smiling Faces Sometimes (Gordy 7108)

Big time R&B hits from Jean Knight and Undisputed Truth; South African John Kongos from his debut Elektra album; EZ hits from Emitt Rhodes and James Taylor.

Labels:

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Re: Tucky Buzzard

We used to have a copy of this LP at the radio station I used to work at in high school. It looked like nothing I would ever want to hear, as I recall.

Re: Emitt Rhodes

After we [finally] discovered the pop genius of Stephen Duffy in '85, Mr. Ware made me a tape with a few Emitt Rhodes cuts on it by way of comparison. "With My Face On The Floor" was one of the cuts and I thought, yes, there is a definite similarity to Mr. Duffy's style.

7:21 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Re: Jean Knight/Undisputed Truth

Jehosephat! I almost didn't notice these two R&B classics from my GROUND ZERO period of top 40 radio listening. It was some time during 2nd grade when I discovered top 40 music on the radio. I listened to KHJ, of course! A pretty good station - better than what I'd hear in Orlando in a couple of years. I enjoyed both of these hits from the exact period where I began listening to the radio for my pleasure. To this day, I really love 'em both, and will sing along with "Smiling Faces Sometimes" when it comes on the PA at the Gym during my workout.

7:26 AM  
Blogger Ron Kane said...

Jim-san,

This is exactly why I am posting some 1971 reality on my blog - so people can tweak and go "Hey, I remember that!" - we hear Jean Knight on KRTH each and every day, but who among us really remembered that it came out in spring/summer 1971? Beware of the handshake...

The sole reason I mentioned Tucky Buzzard was to advise that sometimes it is a healthy practice to judge a book (record) by it's cover.

- Ron

7:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Top 40 Blog

I have been wanting to get one of Joel Whitburn's Billboard books for some time now and start a blog where I relate my feelings on every top 40 song I was subjected to while growing up during my extensive "Top 40 Period" - roughly 71-77. A highlight of my childhood week was the Kasey Kasem AT40 weekly countdown. I can remember playing with my friend Mike Bakke out in my front yard, but we had that transistor radio there with us, blasting out Kasey's long distance dedications and trivia... however incongruous a backdrop it provided to ... whatever the heck it was that GI Joes did!

9:10 AM  
Blogger Ron Kane said...

Find an inexpensive Whitburn book in a used bookstore; these days I use the Guinness book more - the UK equivalent of the Whitburn book.

Your idea for a Top 40 blog sounds great - maybe we should make it a collaborative blog?

6:15 PM  
Blogger Brian Ware said...

Amazing that you guys should mention a Top 40 blog since I picked up a used copy of the 5th edition of Whitburn's book just over a month ago. While I spent a lot of 71-77 deep into progressive rock, I certainly kept the radio on and would enjoy throwing in my occasional two cents worth should you choose to explore the charts.

And yeah, that debut LP from Emitt Rhodes was pure ear candy at the time. I still love it now.

9:37 PM  

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