#AtoZChallenge 1970's Billboard Hits - U is for...

Today the #AtoZChallenge  brings us to the letter U. These three songs were the top ‘U’ songs according to the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End lists.



1971 - Uncle Albert-Admiral Halsey - Paul and Linda McCartney

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 September 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, McCartney-penned singles to top the US pop chart during the 1970s and 1980s. Billboard ranked it number 22 on its Top Pop Singles of 1971 year-end chart. It became McCartney's first gold record as a solo artist.





1974 -  Until You Come Back To Me - Aretha Franklin

"Until You Come Back to Me" is a song written by Morris Broadnax, Clarence Paul, and Stevie Wonder. The song was originally recorded by Stevie Wonder in 1967, but his version was not released as a single and did not appear on an album until 1977's anthology Looking Back. The most well-known version of this song is the 1973 release by Aretha Franklin, who had a million-selling, top 10 hit, on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard's R&B chart. The song reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100 chart in 1974. With this peak at number three Franklin became the first artist in the history of the Hot 100 chart to have a hit song peak at each position from one to ten on the chart. To date, only three other artists have achieved this feat: Marvin Gaye in 1983, Madonna in 1996, and Taylor Swift in 2015. Aretha's version of the song was ranked by Billboard as the No. 11 song for 1974.





1977 - Undercover Angel - Alan O'Day

"Undercover Angel" was a hit single for singer/songwriter Alan O'Day. Certified gold, it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Australian Singles Chart. In 1977, Warner Bros. Music decided to form a special label, Pacific Records, for their composers who also performed. O'Day was the first artist signed, and his first release was "Undercover Angel." The original vinyl pressing was released with the B-side "Just You".

The song, which O'Day described as a "nocturnal novelette", was released without fanfare in February 1977. Within a few months, it had reached #1 in the U.S., even without an album to support it. O'Day said of the experience, "It's wonderful when you find out what feels right, and then it also feels right to other people. That's a songwriter's dream." O'Day had also composed "Angie Baby", a #1 hit for Helen Reddy; "Undercover Angel" thus landed him in a very exclusive club of singer/songwriters who wrote a chart-topper for themselves and one for another artist.






Be sure to follow the 2017 AtoZ Challenge playlist for all of the songs featured in this years challenge.




Did you listen to any of these tunes in the 70's?  Would you like to know more about these artists in future posts? Let me know in the comments.

What does tomorrow bring?

Tomorrow brings us the letter 'V'. 
Any guesses as to which Billboard Hits from the 70s will be showcased?