Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - The 70s - October 23rd 2010

AT 40 The 70s this week October 23rd 1976

The Top Ten Singles

10 - Rock N' Me - The Steve Miller Band
9 - Love So Right - The Bee Gees
8 - She's Gone - Hall and Oates
7 - Shake Your Booty - KC & The Sunshine Band
6 - Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
5 - Still The One - Orleans
4 - Lowdown - Boz Scaggs
3 - A Fifth of Beethoven - Walter Murphy
2 - Disco Duck (Part 1) - Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots
1 - If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
(1st of 2 weeks at #1)


The Top 5 Albums

5 - Silk Degrees - Boz Scaggs
4 - Spirit - Earth, Wind and Fire
3 - Fly Like an Eagle - The Steve Miller Band
2 - Frampton Comes Alive - Peter Frampton
1 - Songs in the Key Life - Stevie Wonder
(2nd of 14 weeks at #1)

Released in September of 1976 this was a double LP that turned out some of Stevie Wonder's greatest hits. This was the 3rd album in Billboard chart history to debut in the #1 spot, the first 2 were by Elton John (Captain Fantastic and Brown Dirt Cowboy and Rock of the Westies) and both from 1975.
After 13 weeks (the last of 1976 and January of 1977) it was replaced by The Eagles Hotel California but then returned for one more week and eventually became the 2nd biggest selling album of 1977 behind Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.
Nominated for 7 Grammy awards, Stevie took home four with Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Male R&B Performer and Producer of the Year.
Four singles were released from the album (even though Motown requested another one after all four charted in the top forty, Stevie refused) and the 2 biggest both hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The first release was "I Wish" which topped the chart for one week in January 1977.

The second single was "Sir Duke" which reached #1 in May of 1977 and spent 3 weeks atop the chart.

The next 2 singles were not as successful on the Hot 100, "Another Star" reached #32 and "As" made it to #36. Motown requested Stevie release "Isnt She Lovely" as the 5th single but he refused but the song did get plenty of airplay as stations began playing all of the album.