Songs of 1976 That Should Have Been Bigger Hits

[Babyhowdy233]

Polnareff is a genius!

[GINGERALER]

I'm surprised that 'Mississippi' by Pussycat was not mentioned. It was released in 1976 and seemed to be a big hit in parts of Europe but not in the U.S.

[dkshotwell]

These were not bigger hits because, well, they werent that good.

[DaBaldbald]

estan horribles todas

[DaBaldbald]

estan horribles todas , por eso no fueron grandes hits

contrario al rock las canciones pop que no son famosas es por que son horribles

[flibben2]

hahahaha- you are slick, nccvball

[tommieparch]

lee oskar / haunted house/ listen to it

[nccvball]

@tommieparch

Just did. It sounds great. He is a master harmonica player.

[lyubichi]

Wow! "Scotch on the Rocks" took me right back to riding the bus to school along Maldon Road, Colchester in 1975. Amazing what memories can be triggered by hearing a long-forgotten song. To hear "Hard Work" is a treat as well, that one did nothing in UK despite loads of airplay.

[nothinghumanlovesfor]

great song choices

[MrWigwag62]

I think the americans think they inventet scotish music lol

[bucky468]

Only songs I dug were Spin & John Handy. Sorry but the rest were crap. Should've included Grand Funk's forgotten gem "Can You Do It" (as a quartet) - a near Top 40 hit.

[elc1960]

Hagood Hardy's song made the top ten in the Springfield MA/Hartford CT area - not sure why it didn't chart higher elsewhere because a lot of middle of the road stuff like that did very well. Walter Murphy makes a nice living scoring "The Family Guy" now. "Street Talk" sounds like the kind of thing that would have been background music on "Charlie's Angels" or something - very generic even for the '70s. Saw John Handy's name here and wondered if it was who I thought it was - it is.

[multigrooves]

the second track is utter gash...What are you on?

[BrickLaneBetty]

What about Automatic man???

[UBZUKI]

christ.

[alexanuchid]

We call the today songas crap....let's look back to the70th...the adult called our song as TRASH!!!

[LolaCrazy222]

Yeah, I agree with you LosAngeleno1959! A lot of kids today do listen to crappy music. I don't know why a lot of teenagers today listen to rap and hip hop shit. That doesn't mean though there wern't crappy songs back in '76. It boggles my mind why crappy songs like "Disco Duck" and "Afternoon Delight" went to #1 that year and the songs in this video didn't crack the Top 40. Thank you for posting it anyway!

[nccvball]

@LolaCrazy222

What I do not understand is the highly derivative nature of today's music. Many of today's popular tunes use samples of songs from decades earlier or complete remakes of perfectly good hits.

There's nothing wrong with a good remake or re-stylized take on a song but many make me yearn for the original.

[HolyRoller478]

@LolaCrazy222 "Disco Duck"???? WTF???? That was a SONG??? I thought it was for a commercial!! :P

[TheStudio475]

the Scotch on the rocks played on this video is not the original recording nor is it the black watch Band, I wish people would get their facts straight

[nccvball]

I do not wish to dispute your claim. It does appear that the Black Watch Band originally released "Scotch" in the UK on the Spark label in 1975. But the version you hear here, is from the US release on the Private Stock label that was released one year later. It is the Black Watch Band but it was produced for the American market.

[Dutlass]

"Street Talk" is a great song to drive fast to.

[escortRS1600i]

Makes U Blind was the "b" side of "People Like You, People Like Me" here in the UK, great track. Thank you for including it on youtube

[krakenwave]

The Glitter Band were - oddly - rather good.

[nccvball]

Strange wasn't it ? They were a functioning band before Gary Glitter used them as a backing band. When they decided to release their own material, it was scoring higher than Gary's output.

[ATS68]

John Handy's "Hard Work" is my jam! That one has been in my collection forever!

[acdeucee]

76" My favorite year of being alive!!!! I was 16 and the world was my Rockin roll oyster!

[999manman]

I wuz 12 and ditto!

[LosAngeleno1959]

I know what you mean. I was 17 that year

[acdeucee]

Then you know all to well what a fun musical time that was

[LosAngeleno1959]

@acdeucee ,Oh I surely do. All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a teenager today. These kids have some crappy music today. It lacks heart and soul. I'd go back to 1976 in a heartbeat.

[mayena]

@LosAngeleno1959 Same as my grandmother used say nevagative comments to my mother's musical taste during the 1970's.

[hhvelasq]

Andre Gagnon's theme "Wow" was used as the opening music of a popular sports TV program in Peru until very recently.

[MrTrashcan1]

The Homecoming was one of my favorite instrumentals.

[dabidosan]

BCG (Bob Crewe) 's music reminds of 70's American Action/Adventure TV Show Theme's, Kinda Charlie's Angels-ish. Would you know if he did theme song projects?

[actionsub]

Bob Crewe had a few instrumental hits in the mid 60s. One of these was a long version of background music for an Alka-Seltzer commercial that became a Top 40 hit. I think he did a theme song for either "The Dating Game" or "The Newlywed Game" during that period.

[PM1970]

Love all the music on here!

1976 was an amazing year for music! Scotch On The Rocks was a top 20 hit in the UK late 1975 :)

[ArnoldGallagher]

I bought Scotch on the Rocks and played it a lot. Drove my mom crazy. Still love it!

[abz48]

The Glitter Band was funky!

[square2525]

OK all you 1976 freaks, try this one ! I've been emailing all over the world for an answer and havent got one for 32 years.

A song came out in Australia, wouldnt have even made the top 40, was around 2 or 3 months. Can only remember the catchy chorus went like this....."help me wizard, help me wizard, in the midnight hour"

Anyone with an answer to artist and song title, go to the top of the class. Will put u on my X'mas list and be eternally thankfull.

[ArnoldGallagher]

Appears you post this request everywhere, even on auto insurance rate quote web sites!

[square2525]

Hey Arnold Gallagher,

Please explain ! I only posted my request here and on 2 sites - Baby Boomer Headquarters and Music Help Me Help Desk.

Someone else has obviously taken up my crusade and is trying to assist by posting elsewhere, good on them, I hope I get an answer !

[dabidosan]

I know your not talking about the 1976 song "1-2-3-4....Fire! (The Wizard Bump)" by Penny McLean (formerly of the 'Silver Convention')? Please make X-mas card to David. Thanks

[mrtrashcan]

I remember "Hard Work" and Hagood Hardy's "Homecoming" continued to see airplay on AC and nostalgia stations into the 80s.

[heine71]

Can you do another montage of songs that should have been big hits from 1976 and include in it "Hey Shirley This is Squirrely" by Shirley and Squirrely?

[nccvball]

I have enough tunes for two additional videos in 1976. I originally passed on Shirley and Squirrely (and Melvin, Too)... but I went back and checked it again. You make a good case and I will add it on Part 2 or 3.

They were originally known as the Nutty Squirrels and were competing against the Chipmunks in the late 50's but quickly faded after a Top 10 hit. The idea was recreated in 1976 on GRT Records to cash in on the Convoy/CB Radio craze.

[heine71]

I noticed Part 2 and 3 - No Hey Shirley by Shirley and Squirrely in either set!

[rayjr62]

HARD WORK !!!!!!!!! ROLMAO

Man, that was a trip. I used to sing that song while riding my bike on my way to jr. high school. Great stuff. LOL