Rant #2,502: "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" Because "I Am Woman"

Amid a very busy Tuesday—the presidential debates and the beginning of the baseball playoffs—I would like to focus on the passing of two people who made their marks in the music of the 1970s who passed on yesterday.

 
The first is Mac Davis, the singer/songwriter who galvanized us with his music as he parlayed his good looks into “good ole boy” status during the decade of the pet rock.
 
Davis, who died after complications from heart surgery, was 78 years old.
 
He burst on the scene in the late 1960s after years of knocking at the door of stardom, first as a songwriter, penning such Elvis Presley comeback hits as “In the Ghetto” and “A Little Less Conversation,” but once the 1970s called, all of that was almost forgotten, as Davis became his own brand name.
 
“Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me” was his biggest solo hit, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1972.
 
He had other major hits on the chart, including “Stop and Smell the Roses” (No. 9, 1974) and “Rock N’ Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life) (No. 15, 1974), and in total, placed 15 songs under his own name on the Hot 100 through 1981. He had even more hits on the country chart during this period.
 
He continued to write for others, and his best known composition during this period was “I Believe In Music,” which was recorded by many artists, including Gallery, which took the song to No. 22 in 1972.
 
Davis was almost ubiquitous on TV, and his good looks and funny banter found him as a guest star on everything from “The Tonight Show” to his own variety show from 1974 to 1976.
 
He was also in a number of movies, where he parlayed his country boy personality into starring roles in movies such as “North Dallas 40” and “The Sting II.”
 
Helen Reddy, the Australian-born singer/songwriter who became a cultural icon with her recording of “I Am Woman,” also passed away yesterday, She was 78 years old and had not been well for some time with a variety of ailments.
 
Reddy had a 10-years span, 1971 to 1981, where she placed 21 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, but although she was best known for the women’s empowerment song “I Am Woman,” it was not her first hit single.
 
That accolade went to “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” the signature song from the play “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which she took to No. 13 early in 1971.
 
But from there, she was nearly unstoppable on the charts.
 
Following a couple of mid-chart songs, “I Am Woman”--which she co-wrote--came out as the women’s rights movement was picking up steam, and the song hit No. 1 in early summer of 1972, but this was essentially a re-release of the song. It was first released earlier that year, and stumbled to No. 97. But Capitol Records had great faith in the song, and with its placement in the film “Stand Up and Be Counted,” the song took off once again, and became one of the iconic songs of the women’s movement.
 
That tune catapulted Reddy’s career, and she had numerous Top 20 hits after that, including “Delta Dawn” (No. 1, 1973), “Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress)” (No. 3, 1973), and “Angie Baby” (No. 1, 1974).
 
And like Davis, she parlayed her music into many TV appearances, on such shows as “The Tonight Show” and her own show in 1973, as well as becoming the co-host of “The Midnight Special.”
 
She also appeared in numerous films, including “Airport” and “Pete’s Dragon.”
 
Ironically, Reddy also recorded Davis’ “I Believe In Music,” which was the original A side to her breakthrough single “I Don’t Know How To Love Him.”
 
Reddy pretty much left show business in the early 2000s, and became a hypnotherapist., but returned briefly in the 2010s.
 
She had suffered from Addison’s disease and dementia.
 
We lost two 1970s icons yesterday in Davis and Reddy, but their legacy lives on in their vast recording histories.
 
And isn’t it funny how their careers intersected with “I Believe In Music”?
 
Funny thing is that I think they lived that title, and we were all the better for it.
 
R.I.P.