SATURDAY'S SINGLES : DONNA SUMMER and ROD STEWART

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Good morning gang and welcome back to the return of Saturday's Singles, a Number Ones edition. First up under our needle is the tune that topped the charts on this day in 1976. "Tonight's The Night (Gonna Be Alright)" by Rod Stewart was released September 1976 on the Warner Brothers label and produced by Tom Dowd. The song was written by Stewart and appeared on his 7th studio album, A Night on the Town. It peaked at #44 on Canada's Adult Contemporary charts, #42 on Billboard's Easy Listening survey, #7 on the Dutch Top 40 and in Sweden, #5 in the Netherlands an in the UK, #3 in Australia, #2 in Ireland and New Zealand, and #1 on Canada's Top Singles chart and Billboard's Hot 100. It has been certified Gold in the US. It remained on the top of the charts for 8 weeks, making it the longest reigning single of 1976, the longest running single in 8 years, besting the Beatles’ "Hey Jude" from November 1968, and the longest running #1 of Rod Stewart's career. It's flip side is "Fool for You", also from the A Night on the Town LP.

Rod Stewart – vocals

Donald Dunn, Bob Glaub, David Hood, Willie Weeks, Lee Sklar – bass guitar

Steve Cropper, Billy Peek, Joe Walsh, Jesse Ed Davis, David Lindley, Fred Tackett, Pete Carr – guitar

John Barlow Jarvis, David Foster, Barry Beckett, J. Smith – keyboards

Roger Hawkins, Andy Newmark, Al Jackson Jr., Rick Shlosser – drums

Tommy Vig, Joe Lala – percussion

Jimmy Horowitz, Mel Lewis, Arif Mardin – string arrangements

Tower of Power horn section – French horn

Jerry Jumonville, Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone

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Our second #1 rocked the top of the charts on this day in 1978. "MacArthur Park" by donna Summer was released September 24, 1978 on the Casablanca label and produced by Giorgio Moroder  and Pete Bellotte. The track was written by Jimmy Webb and originally recorded by Irish actor and singer, Richard Harris, who took it to #2 in 1968. Summer's version, which appeared on her live album, Live And More, reached #24 on the Adult Contemporary charts, #19 in Italy, #13 on the Spain Singles survey, #9 on the Dutch Top 40, #8 in the Netherlands, #7 in Ireland, #6 in Finland and on the Spain Radio charts, #5 in the UK, and #1 on both Canada's Adult Contemporary and Top Singles chart, and on Billboard's Hot Disco Singles, the Cash Box, and the Hot 100. It was b/w "Once Upon a Time" (Live), from the same live LP. The tune stayed on top for three weeks, earning Donna a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and also made her the first female artist of the modern era to have the number one single and album simultaneously on the Billboard pop charts. 

Donna Summer – vocals

Keith Forsey – drums

Richard Adelman – drums

Sal Guglielmi – bass

Ken Park – percussion

Bob Conti – percussion

Peter Woodford – rhythm guitar

Mike Warren – lead guitar

Doug Livingston – keyboards

Virgil Weber – synthesizer

Greg Mathieson – Moog synthesizer, clavinet

Bobby Shew – trumpet

Rich Cooper – trumpet

Dalton Smith – trumpet

Bruce Paulson – trombone

Bob Payne – trombone

Dick "Slide" Hyde – bass trombone

Dick Spencer – alto saxophone

Don Menza – tenor saxophone

Joe Romano – baritone saxophone

John Santulis – concertmaster, violins

Pauel Farkas – violins

Mari Tsumura – violins

Teri Schoebrua – violins

Jay Rosen – violins

Lya Stern – violins

Leonard Selic – viola

Alfred Barr – viola

Victor Sazer – cello

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