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| Posted: 24 February 2022 at 11:09am | IP Logged
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After five consecutive Top 5 singles, the lead single,
"Can't Stop Dancin'," from the Captain & Tennille's third
album, "Come in From The Rain," faltered peaking at only
No. 13 on the Hot 100. Many A/C leaning acts from this era
such as John Denver and Olivia Newton-John also had a run
of hits for 2-3 years before cooling off. Why did this
particular song fall short? Was it simply C&T
burnout/overkill or did radio reject them doing something
more uptempo?
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ChicagoBill
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| Posted: 24 February 2022 at 11:55am | IP Logged
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I gave it a listen and thought, "I don't remember it". I looked in our archives, and found that
we only sold 4 copies of it in 1977. Their next single, 'Come In From The Rain' hit only #61 on
Billboard, yet we sold 34 copies of it which would qualify for a Top 30 if not Top 20! I looked
in my WLS Chicago Top 40 book and 'Can't Stop Dancin' peaked at #7, and 'Come In From The Rain'
peaked at #24. My thought is that 'Come In From The Rain' was more of a Captain & Tennille
sounding record, but suffered from the lack of sales of 'Can't Stop Dancin'' Of course I'm
looking at this from a retail point of view and not a radio point of view. -Bill.
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ChicagoBill
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| Posted: 24 February 2022 at 12:07pm | IP Logged
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That posed the next question to me, how about the next single? It was called 'Circles' A&M 1970.
Written by Toni Tennille and released on 8/23/77. We sold 25 copies of it and it didn't chart at all!
So I don't think the public was tiring of C & T, but it might have had a different perception at radio.
-Bill.
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 24 February 2022 at 1:52pm | IP Logged
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Nowadays, those sales would be attributed to streams and not
radio play.
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Brian W.
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| Posted: 24 February 2022 at 2:31pm | IP Logged
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Yeah, I thought it was odd that Toni Tennille said in her
autobiography that the "Come in From the Rain" album
"produced no hit singles." Maybe she meant no "big" hits.
She also said that they knew A&M was planning on dropping
them when they released a "Greatest Hits" compilation after
they'd only done three albums -- Daryl was convinced A&M
was trying to fulfill their contract faster. She also said
that A&M was NOT happy when they signed to do their
television show, considering it a conflict of interest.
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MMathews
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| Posted: 24 February 2022 at 9:32pm | IP Logged
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And you know what always blew my mind, was that they signed
with Casablanca right after, and delivered them a #1 hit
in 1980 with "Do That To Me One More Time" (written by
Toni!) ... and the following year got dropped from that
label without so much as a "how do you do."
My assumption is that the new "powers that be" with
Polygram taking over the label thought they would not fit
the new "80s style" of music.
MM
Edited by MMathews on 24 February 2022 at 9:32pm
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Paul Haney
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| Posted: 25 February 2022 at 4:39am | IP Logged
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I think there were a few factors going against that particular record.
1) It deviated too far from C&T's usual sound.
2) The act's over exposure. People were just getting a bit tired of them.
3) Perhaps a little "Muskrat Love" backlash?
4) The record's just not that good. I was a HUGE fan of their previous hits and this one just didn't do much for me.
Even the most popular artists don't maintain chart dominance with every record.
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Brian W.
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| Posted: 25 February 2022 at 5:23am | IP Logged
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MMathews wrote:
My assumption is that the new "powers that be" with
Polygram taking over the label thought they would not fit
the new "80s style" of music.
MM |
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Exactly. When Neil Bogart, who signed them to Casablanca,
was forced out by Polygram in 1980, it was pretty much
over for them, as the new management wasn't interested in
them at all, according to Daryl and Toni. They signed
with Columbia immediately after that but were only there
briefly and didn't release anything.
An album they'd recorded in 1982 at their own Rumbo
Recorders studio was released only by Wizard Records in
Australia (but has since been released on CD). It's
incredible to think that just three years after having a
number one hit single, they couldn't get a recording
contract in America.
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Scanner
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| Posted: 25 February 2022 at 4:09pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for your insights! It always stunned me how
swiftly their career declined with this single and album.
When Olivia Newton-John's career cooled off in late 1975,
she may have slowed down at Pop, but could at least
continue to reach the Top 10 at Country and AC. In fact,
she still racked up five more AC #1's between "Please Mr.
Please" and her "Grease" resurgence. With C&T, though,
even the AC #1's stopped...and so quickly. I still
marvel how both "Come In From The Rain" and "Circles"
never even charted anywhere in either Cashbox or Record
World after their successful chart runs in both less than
one year prior.
The "Dancin'" 45 times this song as 3:43 versus 3:50 on
the albums this has appeared on. Was that just an early
fade or a misprint?
P.S. Interesting comment about a possible "Muskrat Love"
backlash. I wonder when people began to perceive
"Muskrat" not as a #4 Pop/#1 AC hit, but as a song that
often appears on lists as one of the worst songs of the
'70's.
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eriejwg
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| Posted: 25 February 2022 at 5:32pm | IP Logged
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I remember working at a small radio station in Corry, PA when
this song came out in 1977. I know we played Come In From The
Rain and we played Can't Stop Dancin'. I don't think we
played Can't Stop Dancin' very long and it's not a song I
think of right away when I think of the Captain & Tennille.
It's just an OK song I guess.
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VWestlife
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| Posted: 25 February 2022 at 11:37pm | IP Logged
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Never having heard any of these before, to me "Can't Stop Dancin'" sounds like a too-obvious attempt to hop on the Disco bandwagon, but doesn't have enough of a groove to pull it off; "Come in From the Rain" sounds like a Barry Manilow song; and "Circles" sounds like a Carpenters song.
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Paul Haney
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| Posted: 26 February 2022 at 2:32am | IP Logged
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Scanner wrote:
Interesting comment about a possible
"Muskrat Love" backlash. I wonder when people began to
perceive "Muskrat" not as a #4 Pop/#1 AC hit, but as a
song that often appears on lists as one of the worst songs
of the '70's. |
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As popular as "Muskrat Love" was at the time, plenty of
people also found it too "cutesy" and "un-cool". I was 10
years-old in 1976 and remember my older brothers giving me
a hard time for actually buying (and liking) the 45. It
certainly hasn't aged well at all.
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Hykker
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| Posted: 26 February 2022 at 7:00am | IP Logged
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MMathews wrote:
And you know what always blew my mind, was that they signed
with Casablanca right after, and delivered them a #1 hit
in 1980 with "Do That To Me One More Time" (written by
Toni!) ... and the following year got dropped from that
label without so much as a "how do you do." |
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Keep in mind that none of their follow-up singles on Casablanca made it into the top 40. Can't really blame the label for dropping
them.
Paul Haney wrote:
As popular as "Muskrat Love" was at the time, plenty of
people also found it too "cutesy" and "un-cool". I was 10
years-old in 1976 and remember my older brothers giving me
a hard time for actually buying (and liking) the 45. It
certainly hasn't aged well at all. |
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Ain't that the truth! Hated that one from the first time I heard it.
When that one was out I was on hiatus from my radio gig (conflicts with my "day job"), so I was spared having to play it every 90
minutes.
Paul Haney wrote:
I think there were a few factors going against that particular record.
1) It deviated too far from C&T's usual sound.
2) The act's over exposure. People were just getting a bit tired of them.
3) Perhaps a little "Muskrat Love" backlash?
4) The record's just not that good. I was a HUGE fan of their previous hits and this one just didn't do much for me.
Even the most popular artists don't maintain chart dominance with every record. |
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Agree on all points, especially #4. Personally, I lost interest in them with their cover of "Shop Around".
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jono
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| Posted: 26 February 2022 at 10:00am | IP Logged
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I remember hearing “Can’t Stop Dancin’” on the radio at the time
and not liking the song at all. Of course, to a teenage boy the
Captain & Tennille were uncool (having liked them at age 10 when
I first heard them, by age 15 they were now “kids’ stuff”, or at
least something my little sister would like). So the young kids that
they partially appealed to had grown up and moved on. Plus their
show probably did overexpose them.
Even as a youngster, I remember thinking “Muskrat Love” was one
of the dumbest songs ever, so yeah, there was that. (Until I heard
America’s version, which I liked better but still thought was
dumb.)
Even now I’m not a big fan of the C&T later years. I agree with
Steve - once “Shop Around” came out, I checked out as well
(although now I do like “Do That To Me One More Time”…except
for the instrumental solo part).
Jon O.
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Brian W.
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| Posted: 04 March 2022 at 3:40am | IP Logged
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Hykker wrote:
Personally, I lost interest in them with
their cover of "Shop Around". |
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I'm just the opposite... that's the song that made me like
them, back in 1976.
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sriv94
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| Posted: 04 March 2022 at 3:00pm | IP Logged
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VWestlife wrote:
| "Come in From the Rain" sounds like a Barry Manilow song |
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Considering it was written by Melissa Manchester (Barry's "angel of [his] lifetime") and Carole Bayer Sager,
that's a pretty good comp.
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All of the good signatures have been taken.
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Steve Carras
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| Posted: 06 March 2022 at 10:04pm | IP Logged
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jono wrote:
I remember hearing “Can’t Stop Dancin’” on
the radio at the time
and not liking the song at all. Of course, to a teenage
boy the
Captain & Tennille were uncool (having liked them at age
10 when
I first heard them, by age 15 they were now “kids’
stuff”, or at
least something my little sister would like). So the
young kids that
they partially appealed to had grown up and moved on.
Plus their
show probably did overexpose them.
Even as a youngster, I remember thinking “Muskrat Love”
was one
of the dumbest songs ever, so yeah, there was that.
(Until I heard
America’s version, which I liked better but still thought
was
dumb.)
Even now I’m not a big fan of the C&T later years. I
agree with
Steve - once “Shop Around” came out, I checked out as
well
(although now I do like “Do That To Me One More Time”…
except
for the instrumental solo part).
Jon O. |
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I have always thought Toni was cute..,as for their output
more fokr ykour younger sister..yeah..The muskrat song
would apply,though I've harbored a special amusement..but
they have had a lot of lunbge fans..certainly "The way
that I want to touch to "Do that to me.." would suit
that..don't really see them as wit some others being
"juvemile" entirely..
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Topic: Captain & Tennille - "Can’t Stop Dancin’"
