I have place memories for a lot of songs, and I definitely have one for “Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)” by Robert Palmer.
It was the summer after senior year — probably right around this time. My high-school buddy Matt and I were driving back to Washington, D.C., from Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., exciting not just for the amusement park but because I was 16 and they were still lax about policing the free beer at brewery tours.
I’m pretty sure that I’d heard “Bad Case of Loving You” already, but not on the radio. I knew WRVQ (Q94) Richmond, Va., often ahead of WPGC on well-chosen new music, was playing it. It came on just as we were whipping around the curves on the convoluted interchange of I-64 and I-95. Maybe that’s not something that you’d choose to remember fondly, but for a minute, it was like being in a car commercial. “Wow, that’s a really great song,” said Matt.
“Bad Case of Loving You” was one of the best-chosen covers of all time (of a Moon Martin song, by the way) by an artist who could write his own material, but still chose to demonstrate his own good taste with each album. (The Rod Stewart version of “Some Guys Have All the Luck” is Palmer’s arrangement of a minor ‘70s R&B hit.) “Bad Case” has never been overplayed enough for me to burn out on it, but I’ve never come close.
And here’s the thing that occurred to me when I heard it on the radio last night. “Bad Case” was a significant and (mostly) enduring hit. It provided me with a perfect summer-song memory. But in 1979, there was never any question of it being the Song of Summer. If I were writing this article in late July, that battle would probably have been between the Knack, “My Sharona,” and Chic, “Good Times.” Anita Ward, “Ring My Bell,” might have led then for sheer unavoidability, but it had definitely moved from delightful to dismaying at that point.
These days, “My Sharona” vs. “Good Times” is cast as disco vs. the reassertion of rock ‘n’ roll, but at age 16 I didn’t think I had to choose. Steve Dahl’s “Disco Demolition” at WLUP Chicago was something I read about in the trades, but it hadn’t yet been responsible for taking down careers. When “Good Times” gave way to “My Forbidden Lover,” Chic’s first stiff, I just thought they’d quickly reached self-parody, until the pattern became clear over the next year.
There were disco songs I didn’t like in 1979, mostly by bandwagon jumpers like Barbra Streisand and Wings (who switched styles and continued to have careers in ways difficult for, say, Sister Sledge). There was plenty of yacht rock — Atlanta Rhythm Section, “Do It or Die”; Eddie Rabbitt, “Suspicions”; Robert John, “Sad Eyes.” The latter has perhaps one of the most morally reprehensible lyrics ever. (“I’m done cheating with you. For God’s sake, do leave quietly.”) But wimpy pop hadn’t yet taken over the radio, and those songs couldn’t do much harm individually.
If the summer song hadn’t been “Good Times” or “My Sharona,” it might have been Donna Summer, “Bad Girls”; Electric Light Orchestra, “Don’t Bring Me Down”; the Cars, “Let’s Go”; Cheap Trick, “I Want You to Want Me” (which by July just played like a power pop ramp-up to “Sharona”); Earth, Wind & Fire & the Emotions, “Boogie Wonderland,” or, in the last few weeks, Michael Jackson, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”
And if those songs hadn’t materialized, it could have been McFadden & Whitehead, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now”; John Stewart, “Gold”; Charlie Daniels Band, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”; Nick Lowe, “Cruel to Be Kind”; Sniff & the Tears, “Drivers’ Seat”; Raydio, “You Can’t Change That”; Bonnie Pointer, “Heaven Must Have Sent You”; Patrick Hernandez, “Born to Be Alive.”
They weren’t in the running for long, but I would have also included Kiss, “I Was Made for Loving You” (exempted from my contempt for bandwagon jumping by its sheer ferocity) and Abba, “Does Your Mother Know,” which played like the song they would have written for the Grease soundtrack.
I haven’t gotten into favorite summer of ’79 stiffs because there’s no need. But if you listened to R&B that summer, there was also the Jones Girls’ “You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else” and Mass Production, “Firecracker,” which should have done better just by pandering to summer. The songs that populated the disco chart that summer without crossing over would be an article unto themselves, but start with Jackie Moore, “This Time Baby” (later a mid-‘90s staple of the revived WKTU New York), or Rozalin Woods, “Whatcha Gonna Do About It.”
For a long time, I argued for 1980 as a watershed year for pop music — even if much of what was great couldn’t make it past mid-chart in an era of “Little Jeannie” and “All Out of Love.” My former Radio & Records boss and current “ROR” editor Ken Barnes always argued that 1979 was a gold standard. And these were just four months’ worth of hits. And “Rapper’s Delight” was still a few weeks away by Labor Day.
There will definitely be a Song of Summer 2018 that we can feel good about. Ariana Grande, “No Tears Left to Cry,” quickly climbed to No. 1. I like it for tempo and for its subtext about Manchester, but for many people, it seems not to fit the narrative that medium-weight female pop is over. That’s okay, I’m fine with Cardi B, “I Like It,” too, and yes, it is her summer. And Grande’s initial competition, Calvin Harris, “One Kiss,” is still growing steadily. I like Tiesto & Dzeko, “Jackie Chan,” as a left-field entrant, and because uptempo Post Malone is even better than “Better Now.” (Update: It was “I Like It” that I chose as the summer song a month later.)
What there won’t be is depth. Turns out that the best Summer Song field in a few years doesn’t mean as much given the general malaise of Top 40 music. I had a lot of dismayed discussions at Conclave in Minneapolis last week, and nobody said, “But the song of summer field is good.” In 1979, most of these dozens of enduring singles didn’t become Song of the Summer candidates, because when there was no dearth of tempo, merely having tempo alone wasn’t enough to put you in the running.
Sean, you missed a biggie in the summer of ’79. Hot Summer Night by Night. It may not have been the biggest, but it sure was worth mentioning. You know what would be cool? How about trying to determine the best Summer song since 1980. It would make a nice lead up to determining the summer song of 2018.
Bill – I definitely should’ve included Night, “Hot Summer Night,” but I did make sure it was in the Spotify playlist. The problem with any list put together by anybody who remembers 1979 is that it is inherently going to be subject to synapse lapses.
Single best summer song since 1980 might be difficult for the same reason that it’s so hard to narrow down just one from 1979. And remembering “Hot Summer Night” throws everything up in the air again. And whatever the chart books say for, say, 1976, my song of summer is “The Boys Are Back In Town.” No, wait, “You Should Be Dancing.” No, wait….
But do you want to throw out the first all-time Summer Song suggestion?
Oh I agree with you Sean. Lists are always subjective which is part of what makes them so much fun. I’m not sure I made my point about best summer songs since 1980. I meant best summer songs each year since 1980. This could be too massive a project, but I like getting opinions from others. I think if I had to pick one summer song from 1980 to today, I’d take either “Heaven” or “Summer of ’69” by Bryan Adams, both in 1985. “Heaven” was a great romance song while “Summer of ’69” was a great pop song to be listening to while heading to the beach or an evening on a boat.
WPGC wasn’t that far behind, with ‘Bad Case of Lovin’ You’ debuting at #21 on 08/18/79:
http://www.amandfmmorningside.com/wpgc_playlist_1979_08_18th_inside_1950px_300dpi.jpg
The tune then moved #21-15 on 08/25/79, #15-11 on 09/01/79, #11-9 on 09/08/79, #9-8 on 09/15/79 where it peaked for an additional week:
http://www.amandfmmorningside.com/wpgc_playlist_1979_09_22nd_inside_1950px_300dpi.jpg
When I think of the summer of ’79 I think of Camp Minikani, a YMCA summer camp in Milwaukee I attened as a 12 year old. It was the only year I went to a camp. They had the radio on all the time, mostly the old WZUU, and all the songs you mention take me back to that camp. I was at the camp swimming pool the first time I heard “My Sharona” and I could tell after just one listen it was the song of the summer. The first time I heard “Good Times” was at a camp dance called the “Disco-Polka” (only in Wisconsin!) . i remember the kids at the camp loved loved loved “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” and the consensus was the devil played better fiddle than Johnny. There was a song you didn’t mention that I first heard at that camp they I was in awe of Joe Jackson “Is She Really Going Out With Him”.
I liked the whole Joe Jackson album, “Look Sharp.” But I was keeping the list to true uptempo. The most deliberate omission, which nobody has flagged thus far, is Supertramp/The Logical Song, an undeniable hit and maybe the most enduring in terms of what’s on Classic Hits now. But just another midtempo song that happened to be out during summer.
Robert Palmer’s “Bad Case of Loving You” followed by CCR’s “Born on the Bayou” was one of the best, most seamless segues ever. Ahhh, don’t even need to play it to hear it.
“Born On The Bayou” into “Bad Case…” might be pretty great, too. (Starts slow, works up a head of steam, then at the segue breaks into a gallop.) My best production room segue of all time was Guy Mitchell-Singin’ The Blues into Eddie Rabbitt-I Love A Rainy Night, but it’s hard to imagine where on the radio that segue might have ever taken place (WSM-AM about 15 years ago, maybe).