#1 at KRIZ/Phoenix: “Green-Eyed Lady” by Denver’s Sugarloaf for a second week. KRIZ, of course, played the entire seven-minute album version while rival KRUX aired the truncated single edit.
Jumping from #16 to #4 is next week’s #1 song, “I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5, featuring 12-year-old Michael Jackson. It was their fourth straight national chart-topper.
This week’s other big climbers are indicative of the “soft rock” wave in popular music, which was beginning to take hold on Top 40 radio. They include:
- “Look What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma” (#25 to #13) by the New Seekers, a glossy version of the original emotionally raw song written by Melanie;
- “We’ve Only Just Begun” (#33 to #14) by the Carpenters, one of Paul Williams’ first hits as a songwriter; he also co-wrote Three Dog Night’s “Out In The Country,” which leaps from #14 to #8;
- “Fire And Rain” (#35 to #15), James Taylor’s deeply autobiographical tune that was his first hit;
- “Montego Bay” (#34 to #20) by Bobby Bloom, one of the earliest reggae flavored hits on Top 40 radio;
- “El Condor Pasa” (#36 to #21) by Simon & Garfunkel, third single from the Bridge Over Troubled Water album and one of Paul Simon’s early explorations into “world” music;
- “Our House” (#47 to #37), third single from the hugely successful Deja Vu album by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young ;
- “It Don’t Matter To Me” (debut at #40), Bread’s follow-up to their first hit, “Make It With You.”
Another big climber is “It’s Only Make Believe” (#38 to #23) by future Phoenician Glen Campbell, covering Conway Twitty’s #1 pop hit from 1958.
The future classic rock radio staple, “All Right Now” by Free, led by Paul Rodgers, later of Bad Company, holds at #3. Another classic rock favorite, “Closer To Home” (#38) was Grand Funk Railroad’s first hit. The single was an edited version of the 10-minute album track “I’m Your Captain (Closer To Home).”
Neil Diamond jumps six to #6 with “Cracklin’ Rosie,” inspired by rosé wine; earlier he wrote another vino song, “Red Red Wine,” which was a #1 national hit in 1988 by UB40.
And finally, Tucson native Linda Ronstadt holds at #7 with her first solo hit, “Long, Long Time.”