Saturday, October 28, 1972

50 years ago: “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean” hit #1

Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean

Ed Gallagher & Al Shean

Writer(s): Ed Gallagher, Al Shean (see lyrics here)


First Charted: October 28, 1922


Peak: 16 US, 12 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.)


Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.0 (sheet music)


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, -- streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

The Ziegfeld Follies of 1922 focused on Will Rogers and Gilda Gray. While overall “the musical score was not particularly strong” TY2 it produced the memorable “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean,” “comedy patter performed by a pair of dialect comedians who had been recruited from vaudeville.” TY2 Each verse of the song was presented as a mini-skit with with the titular men in the song meeting on the street, introducing themselves, telling a story, and ending with a joke. SM The jokes are “typical of the time but also lampoons current fads and events.” WK

That pair were Edward Francis Gallagher (born in 1873 in San Francisco) and Al Shean (born Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg in 1873 Dornum, Germany). They teamed up in 1912, split in 1914, and reunited in 1920. They became stars in vaudeville and the musical stage. They broke up again for good in 1925.

They were best known for their song “Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean,” with uncredited lyrics by Brian Foy. WK The song is officially called “Oh! Mister Gallagher and Mister Shean.” On record, it was a doubled-sided disc running over six minutes total. One side was titled “Positively Mr. Gallagher” and the other side called “Absolutely Mr. Shean.” It ran ten verses. SM

Their version reached #1 in 1922, as did another version by Billy Jones & Ernest Hare, although the latter only used two verses of the song. SM It was also recorded by Furman & Nash (#10, 1922), Irving & Jack Kaufman (#12, 1922), and Bing Crosby & Johnny Mercer (#7, 1938). PM Paul Whiteman and Benny Krueger’s orchestras also recorded the song. Al Shean performed the song with Charles Winninger in the movie musical The Great Ziegfeld (1941). Shean did the song again in 1944 with Jack Kenny in Atlantic City. Groucho Marx (Shean’s nephew) and Jackie Gleason performed a version for television in the late 1950s. WK


Resources:


First posted 1/29/2023.

Stevie Wonder “I Believe When I Fall in Love” released on Talking Book

I Believe When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever

Stevie Wonder

Writer(s): Stevie Wonder, Yvonne Wright (see lyrics here)


Released: October 28, 1972 (album cut on Talking Book)


First Charted: --


Peak: 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.)


Sales (in millions): --


Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2.9 video, -- streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

Talking Book was the fifteenth studio album for Stevie Wonder – an astonishing feat given that he was only 22 years old at the time of its release! He signed with Motown at the age of 11 and had his first chart-topping song with “Fingertips” in 1963 when he was only thirteen years old. In those early years with Motown, his music was heavily controlled by the label’s assembly-line approach to making music, but when he turned 21 he asserted himself and took great control over his music.

His first effort, Music of My Mind, was a modest success but Talking Book, released that same year, generated two of Wonder’s most beloved songs. “Superstition” and “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” were both released as singles and topped the Billboard Hot 100.

However, the album also featured the non-single cut “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever).” The song starts out slow and features bleak lyrics such as “shattered dreams, worthless years / Here am I encased inside a hollow shell” but by the end Wonder is “exultant, having found the love of his life.” SF There is speculation he might be singing about Yvonne Wright, with whom he wrote the song. However, he was married to Syreeta Wright (no relation) at the time. SF

The song gained attention in 2000 when featured in the movie High Fidelity starring John Cusack, specifically in a scene where he makes a mixtape for his girlfriend. Twenty years later, when High Fidelity was rebooted as a Hulu series starring Zoe Kravitz, the song was featured yet again in the episode “The Other Side of the Rock.”

The song has been covered by multiple artists including Tina Arena, Peter Frampton, Art Garfunkel, Macy Gray, Josh Groban, John Mayer, Sergio Mendes, Michael McDonald, Mike + the Mechanics, George Michael, Father John Misty, and Terry Sylvester. In 1994, the British female vocal duo released the song as “I Believe,” reaching #77 on the UK charts.


Resources:


Related Links:


First posted 6/15/2023.

Friday, October 27, 1972

Stevie Wonder’s Talking Book released

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder


Released: October 27, 1972


Peak: 3 US, 13 RB, 16 UK, 12 CN, 34 AU


Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.1 UK, 5.5 world (includes US and UK)


Genre: R&B


Tracks:

Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

  1. You Are the Sunshine of My Life [2:58] (3/17/73, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 HR, 1 AC, 3 RB, 8 CL, 7 UK, 5 CN)
  2. Maybe Your Baby [6:51]
  3. You and I (We Can Conquer the World) [4:39]
  4. Tuesday Heartbreak [3:02]
  5. You’ve Got It Bad Girl (Wonder, Yvonne Wright) [4:56]
  6. Superstition [4:26] (11/11/72, 1 US, 1 CB, 1 HR, 38 AC, 1 RB, 4 CL, 11 UK, 6 CN)
  7. Big Brother [3:34]
  8. Blame It on the Sun (Wonder, Syreeta Wright) [3:26]
  9. Lookin’ for Another Love(Wonder, Syreeta Wright) [4:44]
  10. I Believe When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever [4:34]

All songs by Wonder unless noted otherwise.


Total Running Time: 43:31

Rating:

4.654 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings)


Quotable: “In a career full of classics, Talking Book is Stevie’s most perfect album.” – Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light, Time magazine


Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

Right from the way the title was written in braille on the cover of the album to the shape, placing and suggestions of individual tracks, Talking Book was Stevie Wonder’s most personal album. Talking Book established Wonder as the self-contained singer/songwriter. “When he reached the age of majority, former child prodigy Stevie Wonder renegotiated a contract with Motown Records that granted him creative independence…His first release under these terms, Music of My Mind, demonstrated that Wonder could work as a truly self-contained unit – writing and producing all the songs, and playing virtually all the instruments, entirely alone.” TL

He supported that album with a supporting slot for the Rolling Stones on the U.S. tour in 1972, which gave him a wider audience than ever before and fueled his two singles from Talking Book to the top of the charts. Wonder essentially “secured his position as the reigning genius of his era” TL and “expanded his compositional palate with 1972’s Talking Book to include societal ills as well as tender love songs, and so recorded the first smash album of his career. What had been hinted at on the intriguing project Music of My Mind was here focused into a laser beam of tight songwriting, warm electronic arrangements, and ebullient performances – altogether the most realistic vision of musical personality ever put to wax.” JB

The album kicks off with “a disarmingly simple love song,” JB the “candy-coated pop” TL of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life (but of course, it’s only the composition that’s simple).” JB It would become “one of the most covered (and ‘lounged’) songs ever,” SL-84 which could make it feel “nauseating or naively charming, or even nausteatingly charming.” SL-85

The song also showcased “a rare generosity in someone of Stevie’s star status” SL-84 in that the song’s first few vocal lines are given to singer Jim Gilstrap and backup singer Gloria Barley. The song was actually recorded during Music of My Mind, but held back because it was “deemed unsuitiable for the mood of that album.” SL-84 There was also speculation that the song was held off for awhile since Wonder had entered into a relationship with Barley although still married to Syreeta Wright. SL-85

The “theme of lost love” SL-85 echoes throughout the album, which isn’t surprising consider Wonder and Wright’s marriage dissolved after Wonder returned from the Stones’ tour. “The glorious closer I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be ForeverJB is actually “an optimistic song” SL-86 and a pure revelatory experience. The song also proved its stamina when Mike + the Mechanics covered it for their 1995 album Beggar on a Beach of Gold and it showed up on the High Fidelity soundtrack in 2000.

That and You and I are marked by “soaring exuberance.” TL They “subtly illustrate that the conception of love can be stronger than the reality, while Tuesday Heartbreak speaks simply but powerfully: ‘I wanna be with you when the nighttime comes / I wanna be with you till the daytime comes.’” JB

“Stevie’s not always singing a tender ballad here – in fact, he flits from contentment to mistrust to promise to heartbreak within the course of the first four songs — but he never fails to render each song in the most vivid colors. In stark contrast to his early songs, which were clever but often relied on the Motown template of romantic metaphor, with Talking Book it became clear Stevie Wonder was beginning to speak his mind and use personal history for material (just as Marvin Gaye had with the social protest of 1971’s What’s Going On). The lyrics became less convoluted, while the emotional power gained in intensity.” JB

“The biggest hit from Talking Book wasn’t a love song at all; the funk landmark Superstition urges empowerment instead of hopelessness, set to a grooving beat that made it one of the biggest hits of his career.” JB In fact, it was his first #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1963’s “Fingertips (Part 2).” It sported “a completely compulsive groove, a killer clav riff, and a hooky chorus line, all assembled in…an irresistible combustion.” SL-84

It’s followed by Big Brother. With its “overtly political stance” SL-85 it is “the first of his directly critical songs, excoriating politicians who posture to the underclass in order to gain the only thing they really need: votes.” JB

“With Talking Book, Stevie also found a proper balance between making an album entirely by himself and benefiting from the talents of others.” JB “Sax star David Sanborn makes an appearance, as does guitar superstar Jeff Beck, alongside Buzzy Feiten (former guitarist with Paul Butterfield’s band.” SL-85 The latter two “appeared on Lookin’ for Another Pure Love, Beck’s solo especially giving voice to the excruciating process of moving on from a broken relationship.” JB

Elsewhere, Wonder’s “wife Syreeta and her sister Yvonne Wright contributed three great lyrics, and Ray Parker, Jr. came by to record a guitar solo that brings together the lengthy jam Maybe Your Baby.” JB That song showcased heavy use of the synth on basslines. Author Steve Lodder speculates that “Prince was well aware of tracks like ‘Maybe Your Baby’ in his formative years.” SL-86

“Like no other Stevie Wonder LP before it, Talking Book is all of a piece, the first unified statement of his career. It’s certainly an exercise in indulgence but, imitating life, it veers breathtakingly from love to heartbreak and back with barely a pause.” JB “In a career full of classics, Talking Book is Stevie’s most perfect album.” TL

Resources and Related Links:

  • DMDB encyclopedia entry for Stevie Wonder
  • JB John Bush, All Music Guide
  • SL Steve Lodder (2005). Stevie Wonder: A Musical Guide to the Classic Albums. Backbeat Books: San Francisco, CA.
  • TL Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light, Time Magazine’s “All-TIME 100 Albums” (11/13/06)


Other Related DMDB Pages:


First posted 6/20/2008; last updated 8/3/2021.

Saturday, October 21, 1972

Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly hit #1

Superfly

Curtis Mayfield


Released: July 11, 1972


Charted: August 26, 1972


Peak: 14 US, 16 RB, 26 UK


Sales (in millions): 2.0 US


Genre: R&B


Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts.

  1. Little Child Runnin’ Wild
  2. Pusherman
  3. Freddie’s Dead (8/12/72, 4 US, 2 RB, sales: ½ million)
  4. Junkie Chase [instrumental]
  5. Give Me Your Love (Love Song)
  6. Eddie You Should Know Better
  7. No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song)
  8. Think [instrumental]
  9. Superfly (11/25/72, 8 US, 5 RB, sales: ½ million)


Total Running Time: 37:05

Rating:

4.690 out of 5.00 (average of 11 ratings)


Awards:

(Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

“The choice of Curtis Mayfield to score the blaxploitation film Superfly was an inspired one. No other artist in popular music knew so well, and expressed through his music so naturally, the shades of gray inherent in contemporary inner-city life. His debut solo album, 1970’s Curtis, had shown in vivid colors that the ‘60s optimist (author of the civil-rights anthems ‘Keep on Pushing’ and ‘People Get Ready’) had added a layer of subtlety to his material; appearing on the same LP as the positive and issue-oriented ‘Move on Up’ was an apocalyptic piece of brimstone funk titled ‘(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go.’” AMG

“For Superfly, Mayfield wisely avoids celebrating the wheeling-and-dealing themes present in the movie, or exploiting them, instead using each song to focus on a different aspect of what he saw as a plague on America’s streets. He also steers away from explicit moralizing; through his songs, Mayfield simply tells it like it is (for the characters in the film as in real life), with any lessons learned the result of his vibrant storytelling and knack of getting inside the heads of the characters. Freddie’s Dead, one of the album’s signature pieces, tells the story of one of the film’s main casualties, a good-hearted yet weak-willed man caught up in the life of a pusher, and devastatingly portrays the indifference of those who witness or hear about it.” AMG

Pusherman masterfully uses the metaphor of drug dealer as businessman, with the drug game, by extension, just another way to make a living in a tough situation, while the title track equates hustling with gambling (‘The game he plays he plays for keeps/ hustlin’ times and ghetto streets/ tryin’ ta get over’).” AMG

“Ironically, the sound of Superfly positively overwhelmed its lyrical finesse. A melange of deep, dark grooves, trademarked wah-wah guitar, and stinging brass, Superfly ignited an entire genre of music, the blaxploitation soundtrack, and influenced everyone from soul singers to television-music composers for decades to come. It stands alongside Saturday Night Fever and Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols as one of the most vivid touchstones of ‘70s pop music.” AMG


Notes:

“The 2001 British reissue includes a 13-track bonus disc filled with several alternate versions and other bonus material.” AMG

Resources and Related Links:


First posted 4/9/2008; last updated 2/28/2024.