SATURDAY'S SINGLES : LOOKING GLASS and THE KNACK

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Good morning gang and welcome back to the return of Saturday's Singles, a Number Ones edition. First up our time machine takes uys back to this dayu in 1972, when the #1 song in the land was  "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" by New Jersey based pop rock band, Looking Glass. The song was released May 18, 1972, on the Epic label from their self titled debut album and peaked at #51 in the UK, #14 in South Africa, #10 in Australia, #7 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart, #5 in New Zealand, and #1 in Canada, on the Cash Box, and on the Hot 100. It has been certified Gold in the US. It was written guitarist/vocalist Elliot Lurie and produced by Mike Gershman, Bob Liftin, and the Looking Glass. It's B-side is "One by One" from the same LP. The track, about a barmaid named Brandy who serves a hundred sailors a day, but pines for the one sailor who loved the sea more than she,  has been covered by many, including Ray Conniff, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kenny Chesney, and Local H. It saw a resurgence in popularity in 2017, after being used in the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. 

Elliot Lurie—Guitars, vocals
Larry Gonsky—Keyboards, vocals
Peter Sweval—Bass, vocals, cowbell
Jeff Grob—Drum kit
Larry Fallon—Horns arrangements

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Our second Number One rocked the top of the charts on this day in 1979. "My Sharona" by the Los Angeles band, The Knack, was released June 1979 on Capitol Records. The tune, from their debut album, Get The Knack, was written by vocalist  Doug Fieger, and guitarist Berton Averre. It reached #30 on the Dutch Top 40, #14 in Ireland, #13 in Austria and on the Netherlands Top 100, #12 in Belgium and West Germany, #7 in Switzerland, #6 in the UK, #3 in France, and #1 in Australia, Canada, the Cash Box, and Billboard's Hot 100 charts. The flip side is "Let Me Out" from the same LP. The song and album were produced by Mike Chapman and the lyrics were inspired by  Doug Fieger's girlfriend Sharona Alperin who remained great friends with the singer until his death in 2010. It has been covered by others, used in samples, parodied by Weird Al ("My Bologna") and even featured in The Simpsons episode, "Marge's Son Poisoning" where it is sung by the trio of bullies, Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney.  

Doug Fieger – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Berton Averre – lead guitar
Prescott Niles – bass
Bruce Gary – drums

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