Original vs Remake #23

Last week on December 6th the music world lost Dobie Gray after a long battle with cancer.  Well tonight we give him the "O vs R" treatment for his trademark song "Drift Away" from 1973.
Dobie's original peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #5 and became a center piece for classic hits, oldies and classic rock stations ever since.

The most successful cover of "Drift Away" came in 2003 with a version by, of all people, Uncle Kracker. It reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 but set a record on the Adult Contemporary chart by staying at #1 for 28 nonconsecutive weeks, June to December of 2003.   Dobie made a special appearance and sang along with the last verse on the Uncle Kracker version.

The Year in Billboard #1 Hits - 1974

November 2nd 1974


You Havent Done Nothing - Stevie Wonder
(1 week at #1)

The Year in Billboard #1 Hits - 1974

October 26th 1974


Then Came You - Dionne Warwick and the Spinners
(1 week at #1)

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 The 70s - December 10th 2011

AT40 the 70s this week December 14th 1974


The Top 20 Singles

20 - Must of Got Lost - J. Geils Band
19 - My Melody of Love - Bobby Vinton
18 - Only You - Ringo Starr
17 - Ain't Too Proud To Beg - Rolling Stones
16 - Laughter in the Rain - Neil Sedaka
15 - Wishing You Were Here -  Chicago
14 - Promised Land - Elvis Presley
13 - Fairytale - Pointer Sisters
12 - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - BTO
11 - You Got the Love - Rufus feat Chaka Khan
10 - Junior's Farm - Paul McCartney and Wings
9  -  Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - Elton John
8  -  Sha La La (Makes Me Happy) - Al Green
7  -  You're The First, The Last, My Everything - Barry White
6  -  Do It (Til You're Satisfied) B.T. Express
5  -  Angie Baby - Helen Reddy
4  -  Cat's In the Cradle - Harry Chapin
3  -  I Can Help - Billy Swan
2  -  When Will I See You Again - Three Degrees
1  -  Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas
(2nd of 2 consecutive weeks at #1)






The Top Ten Albums

10 - Fire - Ohio Players
9  -  Mother Lode - Loggins and Messina
8  -  Photographs and Memories (Greatest Hits) - Jim Croce
7  -  Verities and Balderdash - Harry Chapin
6  -  Back Home Again - John Denver
5  -  Serenade - Neil Diamond
4  -  War Child - Jethro Tull
3  -  Not Fragile - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
2  -  It's Only Rock N Roll - Rolling Stones
1  -  Greatest Hits - Elton John
(3rd of 10 consecutive weeks at #1)

This album contained 10 singles that spanned the years 1970-1974 and now are considered classics and all are well known hits.  To date this is Elton John's biggest selling of his career and the first of his albums to receive the diamond certification from the RIAA for US sales of 16 million and 32 million worldwide.  The album also topped the UK album charts for 11 weeks at the end of 1974 and beginning of 1975.

Track Listing  (Hot 100 peak)
Your Song (8)
Daniel (2)
Honky Cat  (8)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (2)
Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (12)
Rocket Man (6)
Bennie and the Jets (1) 1 week
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (2)
Border Song (92)
Crocodile Rock (1) 3 weeks

The Year in Billboard #1 Hits - 1974

October 19th 1974


Nothing from Nothing - Billy Preston
(1 week at #1)

Casey Kasem's American Top 40 The 80s - December 10th 2011

AT40 the 80s this week from December 13th 1986


The Top 20 Singles

20 - Land of Confusion - Genesis
19 - You Know I Love You...Don't You - Howard Jones
18 - Is This Love? -  Whitesnake
17 - Control - Janet Jackson
16 - Human - The Human League
15 - War (Live) - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
14 - C'est La Vie - Robbie Nevil
13 - Don't Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders
12 - Word Up - Cameo
11 - Love Will Conquer All - Lionel Richie
10 - Stand By Me - Ben E. King
9  -  Shake You Down - Gregory Abbott
8  -  Notorious - Duran Duran
7  -  To Be A Love - Billy Idol
6  -  You Give Love A Bad Name - Bono Jovi
5  -  Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung
4  -  The Next Time I Fall - Peter Cetera and Amy Grant
3  -  Hip To Be Square - Huey Lewis and The News
2  -  Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles
1  -  The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range
(1 week at #1)



The Top Ten Albums

10 - Every Breath You Take (The Singles) - The Police
9  -  Word Up - Cameo
8  -  Graceland - Paul Simon
7  -  Dancing on the Ceiling - Lionel Richie
6  -  Whiplash Smile - Billy Idol
5  -  The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and The Range
4  -  Fore! - Huey Lewis and the News
3  -  Third Stage - Boston
2  -  Slippery When Wet - Bon Jovi
1  -  Live 1975-1985 - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band
(3rd of 7 consecutive weeks at #1)

(from Wikipedia)
Springsteen's long-awaited and highly-anticipated live album generated advance orders of more than 1.5 million copies, making it the largest dollar-volume pre-order in the history of the record business at the time
Live/1975–85 is the second-best-selling live album in U.S. history based on RIAA certification. It has been certified by the RIAA for 13x platinum, trailing only Garth Brooks' Double Live. This figure reflects the RIAA practice of counting each disc in a multi-disc set as a separate unit sold; the actual number of copies sold is instead slightly over 4 million. Based on albums sold, Live/1975–85 also trails Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! (6 million) and Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's Live Bullet (5 million) among best-selling live albums. The box set's sales performance attracted considerable media attention at the time, first for setting records during the 1986 holiday shopping period, then later for fizzling out in sales in early 1987, leaving many retailers overstocked

America's Top 10 November 30, 1980 Casey Kasem