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This top 50 brought back a lot of memories of my teens, I loved that song Muscrat Love and remember it being played on the radio of course I'd never admit to my friends liking that one.
Really!? 'Muskrat Love' is one of those songs that, quite rightly in my opinion, appears prominently on those 'worst songs ever' lists. Clearly it was popular at the time, although I imagine it's one of those songs that was big in the day but gets minimal play years later.
Oddly, the song "Muskrat Love" was originally put forth by the composer Willis Alan Ramsey as "Muskrat Candlelight". The song was later (1973) done by the group AMERICA with the new title of "Muskrat Love" and then the biggest hit version by The Captain & Tennille in '76.
But our friends at A&M did the song a big favor back in 1972. Herb Alpert and Lani Hall rewrote the lyrics to exterminate the rodents and retitled it "Sun Down" for Lani Hall's first solo album, SUN DOWN LADY. It really is a nice tune, but those silly lyrics just turn people off. Do yourself a favor and give a listen to Lani and Herb's really excellent rendition here:
The album was briefly released on CD in Japan and long out of print, but the song is still available on the A&M 50th Anniversary 3-disc set.
Harry
Really!? 'Muskrat Love' is one of those songs that, quite rightly in my opinion, appears prominently on those 'worst songs ever' lists. Clearly it was popular at the time, although I imagine it's one of those songs that was big in the day but gets minimal play years later.
The difference between this and 'Goofus' though is that the Captain and Tennille were red hot at the time, so could get away with turning out a curveball song like this (a bit like how the Carpenters had hit big with the polarizing 'Sing' in 1973). However, Richard and Karen were rapidly cooling in terms of public and radio play appreciation in later 1976, so something as odd and throwaway as 'Goofus' was the worst possible thing they could have put out at that time. Even on the AC charts, while it made #4, 'Goofus' peaked lower than any A-side since 'Ticket to Ride'.
An absolute disaster of a singles choice that I think severely compromised their attempts to get radio play even when they released stronger singles like 'All You Get from Love is a Love Song' and 'Calling Occupants' in 1977.
I think that I would have also appreciated America's version better if it had the lyric changes. But I also think it sounded better with a female singer.Yeah, I think Goofus and Muskrat Love are products of their time, they obviously had to be big to make this top 50 list and chart so high, somebody was liking them and calling in asking to play it again and then going out to buy the 45. I agree your right both these songs probably got minimal play later. Although if your sitting in the dentist office you might just hear Muskrat Love. My point was that they both (or in fact most on this list above) just bring back all kinds of great memories for me to hear them again in 2015.
I just listened to America's version of ML and it's pretty good but I actually prefer the Captain & Tennille's version. I listened to Lani's version but still care for the C & T's. I do think they could have done without that gargle stuff in the middle. It's amazing this was played on the radio but then again look at Goofus so this was 76.
Now with regard to Beechwood 45789, I could actually see this charting high on this Easy Listening top 50 had it been released in 76 (looking at the rest of these songs)....yet in 1981 not so much.
Yes, I do love America's version but also have a soft spot for the version by Captain & Tennille because of the America connection. Also, I am a longtime fan of America.I hate the rodent lyrics but America's version has the nicest vocal harmonies! Beautiful.
Toni Tennille is a gifted vocalist but deserved something better than this song.
Lani's version is pretty good, but her voice doesn't grab me. Wish America had recorded the Herb/Lani lyric version!
I enjoyed Beechwood very much when released and understood (in the context of the times) why it was chosen.
I'm with you about Beechwood. I didn't understand it then and I don't now. It seems out of place for the time, and as Gary pointed out, I think it was too "young" for Karen. They would have done better to record something along the lines of "Sweet Sweet Smile". And while I can see that "Back in my Life Again" was likely an attempt to sound more contemporary, I don't think they really pulled it off.I'm intrigued, what was the context of the times to warrant its release as a single? Doesn't sound very 1982 to me. At that time, country, punk and New Wave were most popular.
This link mentions that in America, "country music became increasingly accepted into mainstream pop, thanks to the slick sophistication born of the '70's Nashville Sound that made Eddie Rabbitt and Kenny Rogers quite compatible with Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond. A Country Music Association's 1982 survey found that nearly half of the radio stations in the U.S. were programming country music...Baby boomers, it seemed, were turning to country thanks to crossover hits like Crystal Gayle's "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue"... and the country-rock discography of the 70s superband, The Eagles. Rock was still dominated by faceless mainstream bands -- Foreigner, Journey, REO Speedwagon, Asia".
It also lists the top 10 singles for the whole of 1982 and I don't see anything on there that resembles the bubblegum throwback of 'Beechwood 4-5789'.