What’s the time Sadie?
Strawberries? Who knows the mind of a 6-yr old!
The Chart
It’s a week at the top for “Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry then one for “A Fifth Of Beethoven” by Walter Murphy before Chicago take number one for the last two weeks of October with “If You Leave Me Now”.
- “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” – Blue Oyster Cult
- [new] “A Dose Of Rock N Roll” – Ringo Starr
- “A Fifth Of Beethoven” – Walter Murphy
- “A Little Bit More” – Dr. Hook
- [new] “Beth” – Kiss
- “Devil Woman” – Cliff Richard
- [new] “Did You Boogie” – Flash Cadillac And The Continental Kids
- “Disco Duck” – Rick Dees And His Cast Of Idiots
- [new] “Do You Feel Like We Do” – Peter Frampton
- [new] “Don’t Go Breaking Me Heart” – Elton John And Kiki Dee
- [new] “Fernando” – Abba
- “Getaway” – “Earth Wind And Fire”
- “I Only Want To Be With You” – Bay City Rollers
- “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” – England Dan And John Ford Coley
- “If You Leave Me Now” – Chicago
- [new] “It’s Ok” – Beach Boys
- [new] “Just To Be Close To You” – Commodores
- [new] “Love So Right” – Bee Gees
- “Lowdown” – Boz Scaggs
- “Magic Man” – Heart
- [new] “More Than A Feeling” – Boston
- [new] “Muskrat Love” – Captain And Tennille
- [new] “Nadia’s Theme” – Barry Devorzon And Perry Botkin Jr.
- “One Love In My Lifetime” – Diana Ross
- “Play That Funky Music” – Wild Cherry
- “Rock N Me” – Steve Miller Band
- [new] “Rubberband Man” – Spinners
- “Say You Love Me” – Fleetwood Mac
- “Shake Your Booty” – K.C And The Sunshine Band
- [new] “Shake Your Booty” – Kc And The Sunshine Band
- [new] “She’s Gone” – Hall & Oates
- “She’s Gone” – Hall And Oates
- “Still The One” – Orleans
- “Summer” – War
- “That’ll Be The Day” – Linda Ronstadt
- [new] “The Best Disco In Town” – Ritchie Family
- [new] “The Rubberband Man” – Spinners
- [new] “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” – Gordon Lightfoot
- [new] “This One’s For You” – Barry Manilow
- [new] “Tonight’s The Night” – Rod Stewart
- “Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang” – Silver
- “Who’d She Coo” – Ohio Players
- “With Your Love” – Jefferson Starship
- [new] “Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald” – Gordon Lightfoot
- [new] “You Are The Woman” – Firefall
- “You Should Be Dancing” – Bee Gees
- “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” – Lou Rawls
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
The Times
On October 24, 1976, the Formula 1 World Championship reached one of the most dramatic climaxes in motorsport history yet at the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway. The season had already been defined by intense rivalry and Niki Lauda’s miraculous recovery from a near-fatal, fiery crash at the Nürburgring just six weeks earlier.
With sheets of torrential rain flooding the Fuji track, Lauda made the decision to withdraw after two laps, stating his life was worth more than a title. British driver James Hunt soldiered through the spray and tire issues to finish third, clinching the World Championship by a single point. The cinematic showdown captivated sports fans worldwide and was later immortalized in the film Rush.
On October 6, 1976, President Gerald Ford and challenger Jimmy Carter faced off in San Francisco for their second televised presidential debate, focused on foreign policy. With millions of viewers tuned in, Ford uttered one of the most famous blunders in modern political history.When asked about Soviet influence, Ford insisted: “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration.” Moderator Max Frankel gave him a chance to walk it back, but Ford doubled down, citing independent ties in Poland and Romania. The blunder dominated headlines for days, shattered Ford’s foreign policy credibility, and gave Carter the critical momentum needed to win the presidency the following month.
And then in, definitely Communist, China, on the night of October 6, 1976, just four weeks after the death of Chairman Mao Zedong, a bloodless coup d’état unfolded inside Beijing’s Zhongnanhai leadership compound that reshaped the geopolitical landscape of the modern world.
Under the orders of Mao’s successor, Hua Guofeng, along with veteran military commander Ye Jianying, the elite Unit 8341 arrested the “Gang of Four” – the powerful radical faction led by Mao’s widow, Jiang Qing, alongside Zhang Chunqiao, Yao Wenyuan, and Wang Hongwen. The faction had controlled the state media apparatus and driven the radical ideological purges of the decade-long Cultural Revolution.
Their swift detention marked the official end of the Cultural Revolution, breaking the hardline faction’s grip on power and opening the door for Deng Xiaoping’s rehabilitation and China’s historic economic reforms.
The Take
Sadie has been loving Cliff Richard’s “Devil Woman” for the last couple of weeks so let’s start with a live video of that:
And then a live version of the Peter Frampton’s epic “Do You Feel Like We do”!
“Nadia’s Theme”, originally titled “Cotton’s Dream”, is a piece of music composed by Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin Jr. in 1971. It was originally part of the soundtrack music of the 1971 Stanley Kramer film “Bless the Beasts and Children”, and became better known as the theme music to the television soap opera “The Young and the Restless” (which is where I knew it from).
Later, “Cotton’s Dream” was given the informal name “Nadia’s Theme” after it became associated with Olympic gymnast Nadia Comăneci during and after the 1976 Summer Olympics. After it became associated with Comăneci during the 1976 Olympics, the piece was later released as a single in August of that year and hence it finds itself on our charts!
And let’s round it out with Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s The Night”.
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.