Space Race - Billy Preston (1973)

By the time he achieved his first hit as a solo artist in 1969, Billy Preston had built up an impressive résumé as a keyboardist for some of music's top artists, most notably The Beatles, with whom he collaborated on a number of the Get Back and Abbey Road sessions. His prowess at the organ and ability to successfully combine elements from a myriad of musical styles resulted in several top 100 singles in the early 1970s, including "Outa-Space" and "Will It Go Round in Circles," which placed at #2 and #1 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Billy's success continued with "Space Race," a catchy and dynamic instrumental somewhat reminiscent in style and theme to its predecessor "Outa-Space." It was the first single from the album Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music. Released in September 1973, it reached a peak position of #4 on the pop chart later that fall, as well as a top placing on the R&B singles chart. After the song had finished its chart run, a portion of it could be heard prior to the mid-show commercial break on American Bandstand each week for much of the remainder of the 1970s.

Although Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music does not appear to be readily available on CD, "Space Race" is contained on several good collections of Billy's hits and best-known album tracks, including Ultimate Collection, released in 2000 on the Hip-O label. Listen to the track on YouTube:

Love Will Show Us How - Christine McVie (1984)

Christine Perfect recorded her first album as a solo artist, Christine Perfect, in 1970. Although it was well-received, it would be nearly another fourteen years before she would release a second one. During the intervening years, Christine, now known as Christine McVie, was busy as a vocalist, keyboard player and songwriter for one of the most successful bands of the rock era, Fleetwood Mac, a role she would continue into the 1990s.

In early 1984, during a band hiatus, Christine released her second album, Christine McVie. A well-crafted and elegant collection of songs, featuring contributions from a number of Christine's contemporaries including fellow Fleetwood Mac members Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood, the album yielded several hits. The second single, "Love Will Show Us How," debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in late April 1984, achieving a peak placing of #30 the following month.

View the promotional video for "Love Will Show Us How" on YouTube:

Christine McVie, which also features the top 10 hit "Got A Hold on Me," is currently in print, as are Christine's 1970 album and her most recent effort, 2004's In the Meantime.

Sunny Days - Lighthouse (1972)

Although the pioneers of rock were influenced by the jazz and swing greats of the day, the genres were still quite distinct in style prior to the mid 1960s. As the decade neared its end, however, more and more artists began combining elements of jazz, swing, classical and other styles with rock and pop to create a new hybrid, horn-dominated sound popularized by such bands as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Among those artists was Lighthouse, a well-regarded Canadian band who released their first album in 1969.

In 1972, after several U.S. and Canadian radio hits, including "One Fine Morning" which reached #24 on the U.S. pop chart in 1971, the group released their eighth album, Sunny Days. The title track, a catchy ode to music and sunshine with an interesting retro quality, debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1972, peaking at #34 in late November. Lighthouse would achieve one more top 40 hit, 1973's "Pretty Lady," before disbanding the following year.

Although the availability of Sunny Days in CD format appears to be limited, the tracks from the album are available for purchase as downloads via Amazon.com and iTunes. "Sunny Days" can also be found on the hits compilation Sunny Days Again: The Best of Lighthouse.

Listen to a YouTube posting of the track:

Never Let Her Go - David Gates (1975)

During his early years in the music business, David Gates was involved in many facets of the industry, including songwriting, production, and session work. In the late 1960s, he formed the popular soft-rock band Bread with three other musicians, an association for which he remains best-known today. David's smooth, clear tenor voice and melodic songwriting style helped Bread to become one of the most successful pop groups of the early 1970s, scoring an impressive string of chart hits before disbanding in 1973.

David's first solo effort, Clouds, produced several singles that did very well on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, but were only moderately successful on the Hot 100. It was his second album, Never Let Her Go, that would give him his first solo top 40 hit on the pop chart. The title track, a beautiful ballad similar in style to some of his best work with Bread, achieved a peak placing of #29 on the Hot 100 chart in March 1975, as well as a #3 peak on the AC chart.

In addition to Never Let Her Go, which appears to be currently in print, the track can be found on Retrospective, an excellent compilation of Bread's hits as well as solo material from David Gates and fellow Bread member James Griffin. Listen to a sample of the song via this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00123HI54/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk40

My Kind of Lady - Supertramp (1982)

As with other areas of pop culture, the pop/rock music scene in the early-to-mid 1980s experienced a resurgence of the styles and trends of the 1950s and early 1960s. Artists such as The Stray Cats, The Honeydrippers and Tracey Ullman recorded singles that were heavily inspired by the sounds of the early rock era, and which were very well-received by the listening public. Joining them was the popular rock band Supertramp, with the melodic "My Kind of Lady."

"My Kind of Lady" was the second single to be released from the group's 1982 album "...Famous Last Words...". Debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late January 1983, it achieved a peak position of #31 approximately one month later. The song also gave the group their second Billboard Adult Contemporary chart hit, peaking at #16.

You can view the promotional video for the song on YouTube:
While "My Kind of Lady" did not appear on Supertramp's first hits compilation, Classics, Vol. 9, it has been featured on several more recent collections, as well as "...Famous Last Words...", which is currently in print.

Oh! Darling - Robin Gibb (1978)

In 1978, the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, loosely inspired by the Beatles' 1967 album of the same title, was released in theaters. Although the movie's concept was intriguing, it worked better in theory than in practice. Despite a cast that included some of the most popular artists of the day, including The Bee Gees, the movie was critically panned, and is mostly remembered today for its campiness. The one true strength of the movie was the soundtrack, which included several strong performances that became chart hits, including Robin Gibb's cover of "Oh! Darling."

"Oh! Darling," a soulful interpretation of the classic Abbey Road track featuring Robin's distinctive vibrato, debuted on the Billboard chart in August 1978, the month after the film's release, reaching a peak position of #15 in September. Although it was Robin's first U.S. chart appearance as a solo artist, he had previously charted in other countries, including Germany and the U.K., in 1969 and 1970.

The film's soundtrack has been reissued on CD by Polydor Records and is currently in print. You can view a complete track listing and listen to song samples via this link: http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Sgt-Peppers-Lonely-Hearts-Club-Band/e/731455707625/?itm=2. A more complete performance by Robin has also been posted on YouTube:

Who Do You Think You Are - Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods (1974)

Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods are best remembered today for their version of "Billy, Don't Be A Hero," which topped the Billboard chart for two weeks in the U.S. in June 1974. Although the group was not able to duplicate the massive success of that hit with their subsequent singles, they did achieve several more chart hits during the 1970s, the most successful of which was "Who Do You Think You Are."

"Who Do You Think You Are" was released as the follow-up single to "Billy, Don't Be A Hero"; it would achieve a peak placing of #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early fall of the same year. The catchy, upbeat song was composed by Clive Scott and Des Dyer, both members of Jigsaw (see the previous posting on "Love Fire"), who also recorded it for one of their own LPs.

A reformed version of Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods still continues to tour today as part of The Original Idols Live. The group's four studio albums do not appear to have been issued on CD, although a compilation of the group's material, The Best of Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, was released by Varese Sarabande in the mid 1990s. "Who Do You Think You Are" is also included on several 1970s compilations, including Vol. 13 of Rhino's Super Hits of the '70s: Have A Nice Day series.

Listen to the track in its entirety on YouTube: .