Alice Cooper “School’s Out” released

School’s Out Alice Cooper

Writer(s): Alice Cooper, Michael Bruce, Glen Buxton, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith (see lyrics here) Released: April 26, 1972 First Charted: May 27, 1972 Peak: 7 US, 6 CB, 7 HR, 1 CL, 13 UK, 3 CN, 39 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 17.2 video, 117.46 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Four years after Frank Zappa realized there was something special about Alice Cooper, signing them to his record label, the title track from the band’s 1972 album School’s Out sent the group to the head of the class. Decades later, it still easily aces our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs entrance exam.” UCR “’School’s Out’ itself is a masterpiece of full on rock and roll. Three and a half minutes of pure loud guitar bliss, with Alice (the man) in full power of his gritty, made-for-rock and roll voice. From the opening call to arms guitar riff through to the cheering school kids at the end, it’s a celebration put to wax.” UCR “Wisely released just as school was letting out across America, the single hit the Top 10 in June of 1972 and would carry the album all the way to No. 2. The song proved to be an even bigger hit in England, where it shot to No. 1 and made Alice Cooper an sensation. The ever-present controversy surrounding Alice Cooper didn’t hurt. The group’s on-stage use of snakes, hangings, guillotines and a pervading dark, perverse sense of humor made their show a must-see attraction early on.” UCR “The release of the School’s Out album itself was not without its share of headlines as the initial run was packaged with paper panties in lieu of a sleeve. Turns out, the panties were flammable and had to be recalled. Naysayers howled: Who was this sick Alice Cooper and why were young kids buying a record with panties in it? Of course, this was back when parents would genuinely get upset by such things. Ahh, those were the days!” UCR Resources: UCR UltimateClassicRock.com (6/20/2013). “Top 100 Classic Rock Songs” Related Links: First posted 7/23/2022.

Big Star #1 Record released

#1 Record Big Star

Released: April 24, 1972 Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU, 11 DF Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Feel The Ballad of el Goodo In the Street (4/72, 26 CO, 3 DF) Thirteen (3/72, 29 CL, 19 CO, 3 DF) Don’t Lie to Me (7/72, 35 DF) The India Song When My Baby’s Beside Me (4/72, 35 DF) My Life Is Right Give Me Another Chance Try Again Watch the Sunrise ST 100/6 Total Running Time: 37:03 The Players: Alex Chilton (vocals, guitar) Chris Bell (guitar, vocals) Andy Hummel (bass, vocals) Jody Stephens (drums)

Rating: 3.785 out of 5.00 (average of 19 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: When #1 Record, “the debut album by the American power pop group Big Star” WK was released, “an inability by Stax Records to make the album available in stores virtually eliminated sales.” WK However, it “immediately received widespread acclaim.” WK “Many critics praised the album’s elegant vocal harmonies and refined songcraft (frequently drawing comparisons to the British Invasion groups of the 1960s, including The Beatles, The Kinks and The Who).” WK “Record World called it ‘one of the best albums of the year’, and Billboard commented, ‘Every cut could be a single.’ In a lengthy and enthusiastic review, Rolling Stone pronounced the album ‘exceptionally good,’ while Cashbox described it as one where ‘everything falls together as a total sound’ and one which ‘should go to the top.’ The River City Review’s reaction to the album was to state that ‘Big Star will be around for many moons.’” WK “While Big Star was all but unknown during the band’s sadly brief existence, these days they’re probably second only to the Velvet Underground in the pantheon of legendary underground bands. Their Beatlesque power-pop and balladry may have been out of place amidst the Zeppelin-esque hard rockers and bloated prog spectacles populating the early ‘70s music scene, but they set the stage for everyone from Matthew Sweet to Teenage Fanclub; the Replacements went so far as to immortalize Big Star's iconoclastic frontman Alex Chilton in a song named after him.” PK “Unlike the Velvet Underground, who really did produce a lot of stuff lovable only to other rock bands and music critics, Big Star recorded perfect pop songs that, in a better world, would be surefire hits instantly known to anyone in possession of a radio.” PK Modeled after the Beatles’ songwriting partnership between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most of the song’s were credited to the band’s co-founders Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, who “took turns belting out upbeat, raging power-pop…and crooning acoustic ballads.” PK In some cases, they had written songs before Big Star formed. Bell had already composed Feel, Try Again and My Life Is Right while Chilton had written Thirteen, The Ballad of El Goodo, In the Street and Watch the Sunrise. WK “In practice, they developed material incrementally in the studio, each making changes to the other's recordings. Drummer Jody Stephens recalled, ‘Alex would come in and put down something rough and edgy and Chris would come in and add some sweet-sounding background vocals to it.’” WK Sadly, this was the only Big Star to official feature Bell as a member, although he made some contributions to Big City, the 1974 follow-up album. WK One of the disadvantages the album has because of such poor sales but high praise is that most people “probably encountered the work it influenced first, so its truly innovative qualities are lost.” WR That means the average listener “may be reminded of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers or R.E.M., who came after – that is, if you don’t think of the Byrds and the Beatles, circa 1965. What was remarkable about #1 Record in 1972 was that nobody except Big Star (and maybe Badfinger and the Raspberries) wanted to sound like this – simple, light pop with sweet harmonies and jangly guitars. Since then, dozens of bands have rediscovered those pleasures. But in a way, that’s an advantage because, whatever freshness is lost across the years, Big Star’s craft is only confirmed. These are sturdy songs, feelingly performed, and once you get beyond the style to the content, you’ll still be impressed.” WR Years later, “a version of ‘In the Street’ by Ben Vaughn was used as the theme song of That ‘70s Show, which was changed to a version by Cheap Trick after the first season. ‘Thirteen’ has also been used in several episodes of That 70’s Show.” WR

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Big Star WR William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide PK Pop Kulcher/Marc Fagel Greatest Rock & Roll Albums of All Time WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/21/2010; last updated 6/7/2024.

Neil Young “Old Man” released

Old Man Neil Young

Writer(s): Neil Young (see lyrics here) Released: April 17, 1972 First Charted: April 28, 1972 Peak: 31 BB, 26 CB, 27 GR, 33 HR, 4 CL, 4 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 101.08 video, 137.68 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Rock singer/songwriter Neil Young was born in 1945 in Toronto. He rose to fame as a member of Buffalo Springfield and also worked with Crosby, Stills & Nash on their 1970 classic Déjà Vu before releasing his own critical and commercial peak with Harvest, his fourth solo album. Most of the attention was focused on “Heart of Gold,” Young’s only #1 song. It was considered a significant song in the singer/songwriter movement of the 1970s and a prime example of folk rock at its best. However, the album also featured gems such as “The Needle and the Damage Done” and “Old Man.” The latter was written about an old caretaker Louis Avila on Young’s Broken Arrow Ranch in California. Young said, “Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there’s this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, ‘Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?’ And I said, ‘Well, just lucky, Louis, just really lucky.’ And he said, ‘Well, that’s the darndedest thing I ever heard.’ And I wrote this song for him.” WK The song compared an old man and young man’s life, showing how the older man used to be like the younger one and that they largely have the same needs. Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor both sang on the song; Taylor also played a six-string banjo tuned like a guitar. WK They also sang on “Heart of Gold.” Ronstadt said, “I thought they were such beautiful songs. I loved them…I don’t think we started until midnight and it was dawn when we came out out…It was really exciting. I just thought I’ve been part of something really wonderful.” SF The song has been used and performed in many settings. One of the most notable was a cover of the song by Beck in 2022 to promote a football game between the Tampa Bay Buccanneers and Kansas City Chiefs. It was a nod to 45-year-old quarterback Tom Brady, the oldest player in the league, vs. the young QB phenom Patrick Mahomes. Both won Super Bowls at 24 years old, making for a perfect reference to the line in the song “24 and there’s so much more.” WK It was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Performance. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Neil Young SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/14/2024; last updated 4/26/2024.

Roberta Flack hit #1 with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face Roberta Flack

Writer(s): Ewan MacColl (see lyrics here) Released: June 20, 1969 as album cut on First Take First Charted: March 4, 1972 Peak: 16 US, 14 CB, 15 GR< 15 HR, 16 AC, 4 RB, 14 UK, 13 CN, 12 AU, 5 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 1.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 4.0 radio, 32.66 video, 88.81 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In 1957, Ewan MacColl, a Scottish political singer/songwriter wrote this folk song for his future wife, Peggy Seeger. According to him, she called him needing a song for a romantic scene in a play. He wrote it in less than an hour. Then he called her and taught it to her over the phone. RC She, however, said he sent her tapes to listen to and this song was one one. WK The Kingston Trio covered the song for their 1962 album New Frontier. Other versions were recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary; the Brothers Four; Joe & Eddie; the Chad Mitchell Trio; and Gordon Lightfoot. WK Johnny Cash, Isaac Hayes, Leona Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Mel Torme have also covered the song. According to MacColl’s daughter, Ewan hated all of them, saying they “were travesties, bludgeoning, histrionic, and lacking in grace.” WK Roberta Flack heard the 1963 Joe & Eddie version when she was teaching at Washington DC’s Banneker Junior High School and taught it the girls in the Glee Club. SF She performed the song, a much slower version than the original, regularly at the Pennsylvania Avenue club Mr. Henry’s. SF When she signed with Atlantic Records, this was one of the songs she chose to record for her 1969 debut album First Take. She recorded two more albums before the song became a hit. Clint Eastwood called her about using the song in a love scene for Clint Eastwood’s movie Play Misty for Me. After people saw the movie and hit the record stores to buy the song, Atlantic Records released the two-year-old song as a single. FB It took only six weeks to reach #1, where it then spent six weeks. It was the longest chart-topper for a solo female artist since 1956’s “The Wayward Wind” by Gogi Grant. The song won Grammys for Record and Song of the Year. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Roberta Flack FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 310. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 428-9. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 3/11/2021; last updated 1/31/2024.