Bicentennial Party Playlist (July 4, 1976)

Happy 4th of July 250! Celebrating this milestone Independence Day weekend, let's flashback the last time U.S. did from bicentennial's weekend: July 4, 1976. I picked 10 songs from that weekend's top 40 of the Hot 100, curating a perfect party playlist for you to enjoy.

Bicentennial Playlist:
“A Fifth of Beethoven” - Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
“Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)” - Parliament
“Takin’ It To The Streets” - The Doobie Brothers
“You’re My Best Friend” - Queen (1975, 1976)
“Love Hangover” - Diana Ross
"The Boys Are Back In Town” - Thin Lizzy
“Moonlight Feels Right” - Starbuck
“Love Is Alive” - Gary Wright (1975, 1976)
“Afternoon Delight” - Starland Vocal Band
“Silly Love Songs” - Wings

Movie scenes: Saturday Night Fever, Goldmember, Anchorman

American Top 40's Bicentennial's Countdown
iHeartRadio Channels: Casey Kasem, Ryan Seacrest

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Theme Song: "Gym Track (2026 Remix)", composed by Jessica Ann Catena

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Happy Fourth of July, 250th. I'm Jas. Welcome to a special Independence Day episode for the U.S.'s 250 years of freedom, phonetically known as our semi-quincentennial, or two and a half centuries. The last time America celebrated a 4th of July milestone was July 4th, 1976, the Bicentennial. We're gonna travel back to that timeframe in this party playlist I created from the Hop 100's top 40 spots. Radio DJ Casey Kaysum was the first American Top 40 host, airing weekends July 4th, 1970 to August 6, 1988. Ryan Secrets took over 2004 to present on iHeartRadio. An interesting fact I found out was that there wasn't a bicentennial AT40 broadcast. Instead, they played 40 number one songs from 1939 to 1976's current top hit. That means since Live Radio, who worked July 3rd to July 4th, 1976 weekend, this episode will be the first to flash back off that Billboard Top 40 chart week. And during a second Independence Day mid-century anniversary, I couldn't resist bestowing the honor after reading that. For our barbecues and leisure, I picked 10 great party jams reliving the bicentennial's musical weekend. Following along the playlist I attach, let's fire up this explosive revisited countdown era on music media review. Number 40, A Fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band. Reworking any song is a confident move. A Fifth of Beethoven modernized a symphony composed by classical pianist Ludwig von Beethoven, adding disco. Symphony number five and C minor, Opus 67, was written 1804 to 1808 as Beethoven emoted personal tension in the notes. He unfortunately developed deafness by 31, profoundly affected at 46, and died 1827 from liver failure. Symphony number five partially reacted about other current events that were more devastating. The French Revolution invaded Austria, French citizens suffered in poverty, and Queen Marie Antoinette's Treason Execution. The haunting triple intro Beethoven constructed immediately sets trouble. He interpreted it as fate knocking on the door, and fast metal playing symbolizes struggle. In the adaptations I've heard, I like how the violins lead the piano's power stance. Over a century later, Walter Murphy studied jazz and became a jingle musician for commercials. While one of his projects seemed sacrilegious, retouching Symphony No. 5, a record executive admired the potential from 24-year-old Walter. Private Stock signed a Fifth of Beethoven's composition on a self-titled album, got listed on Saturday Night Fever's movie soundtrack the following year, and networked Walter Murphy gaining public gigs in TV and movies. How cool! Never knew that. Two disco movies, a Fifth of Beethoven is heard, are Saturday Night Fever and Austin Powers in Goldmember. It's heard when John Travolta's character Tony first walks in Odyssey 2000's disco tech to show the viewers, and a mime exchange reboots the legacy in Goldmember. Beyonce sits backwards talking to Mike Meyer's Austin Powers role, uses comedian Nathan Lane as a my medium so Goldmember's staff doesn't see them talking espionage in the 1975 Time Machine Rollerink. This song fits perfect in those scenes. I like that the violin stays centralized in a fifth of Beethoven, incorporating drums and organ, elevating the original melody. Fireworks shows tend to go orchestral. I'm sure a fifth of Beethoven will be used one day if it hasn't already, and just the right groove to start our playlist. Bicentennial charting was number 40. By the end of 1976, it ranked number 13 Easy Listening, Number 10 Hot Disco Singles, Hot Soul Singles, and Number 1 on the Hop 100 week of October 9th. Number 27, Give Up the Funk. Tear the Roof Off the Sucker by Parliament. Disco was unstoppable in the mid-70s. Crafting a genre to dance, mix RB, jazz, advocate queer communities, it was a unifying movement post-Vietnam War's end. Funk Roo Parliament led an experience on stage and in ear. George Clinton formed his 10-piece band out of Plainfield, New Jersey, 1970. Fusing duo op vocals, psychedelic soul, and his personality, Parliament Funkadelics spun off eccentric funk music. George wanted to celebrate black culture out of segregation, letting loose like a whole different world. He told Washington Post his vision in 2001. We had put black people in situations nobody ever thought they would be in, like the White House. I figured another place you wouldn't think black people would be was in outer space. I was a big fan of Star Trek, so we did a thing with a pimp sitting in a spaceship shaped like a Cadillac, and we did all these James Brown type grooves, but with street talk and ghetto slang. The mothership spaceship was an essential tour backdrop, smoke machine as if it landed on stage, members adorn Martian design attire, colorful hair, and hats. Give up the funk, tear the roof off the sucker, burst the anthem inviting you on their planet. You've got a real type off thing going down, getting down. There's a whole lot of rhythm going round. Oh we want the funk. Give up the funk. Oh we need the funk. We gotta have that funk. Parliament's Afrofuturism lives on performing at New Orleans Superdome July 5th for 2026's Essence Festival and the band's 50th anniversary. I can just picture the staging and costume updates. I'll share pictures once they're available in Music Media Reviews follow-up post. Off their fourth album, Mothership Collection, Give Up the Funk charted number 15 on the Hop 100, number 5 Hot Soul Singles was number 27 Bicentennial Weekend. My favorite Parliament track is Flashlight from 1978. Atomic Dog brilliantly technologized Give Up the Funk's reputation in 1982 with AutoTune. Number 23. The 1970s fully opened social changes and self-identity. Solo artists and bands expressed that in many trailblazing nuances. A recourse shifted the Doobie Brothers band halfway in the decade. Frontman Tom Johnston had to step down due to stomach ulcers, and a transformative change occurred borrowing a session musician who was helping another jazzy rock band. Michael McDonald sung backup for Steely Dan, but because they didn't want to tour anymore, he was invited to fill in the Doobie Brothers. To suit his tenor uplifting voice, Michael felt more comfortable writing what he could sing and fit with the rest of Doobie Brothers' lineup. John Hartman on drums, bassist organist Tyrand Porter, and guitarist Patrick Simmons. Lightening up a smooth sound in pop rock, Michael's compassion showed to predate the popular sub-genre Yap Rock, matching up easy listening, soul rhythms, and affectionate moods. Taking it to the streets addressed protesting Michael McDonald and his sister Maureen discussed civically. She wrote her thoughts in a college essay and he credited the idea with verse 2's first line. Take this message to my brother. Whether picketing fights or injustice, he echoed the needs to speak up as white Americans in wrongdoings. You telling me the things you're gonna do for me? I ain't blind and I don't like what I think I see, taking it to the streets. Taking it to the streets, no more need for running. Earning awards and acclimating as the Doobie Brothers' second lead singer, Michael eventually went solo, still actively represents both music areas. He wrote 2024 memoir, What a Fool Believes, forward by comedian Paul Reiser. I'd like to read that someday. Twenty years after taking it to the streets release, American Idol winner Taylor Hicks put his cover version out, which helped him win 2006's season. His rendition ranked number 69 on the Hop 100 and number 10 on iTunes. On American Idol's 2026 season, Ryan Seacrest introduced Taylor to possibly be on Dancing with the Stars upcoming fall season when he was visiting as a guest. That'd be awesome with his charisma. I've been around Doobie Brothers music a lot when I worked in classic rock radio and always enjoyed their music. Making Taken to the Streets revive listen to the music's unity was a job well done. For a serious song, you can't help smile and wanting to do good hearing it. Rising up to number 23's bicentennial slot, Takin It to the Streets title track reached number 13 on the Hop 100 earlier, crossed over 94 in Australia, and number seven in Canada. Number 21, You're My Best Friend by Queen. Listeners used to write in letters and call in dedications to Casey Kasem reading on American Top 40s broadcasts. I like to personalize You're My Best Friend to my parents. They didn't know each other in 1976 and yet both learned about Queen through their neighborhood friends. The same friends group who introduced them in the early 80s and reuniting with some of them this 4th of July. I'll be joining them and a couple of relatives at a destination barbecue. You're my best friend is on Queen's fourth album, A Night at the Opera, the first song penned by bassist John Deacon. Other hits he wrote are Spread Your Wings, Another One Bites the Dust, Cool Cat, I Wanna Break Free, and One Year of Love. To this day, You're My Best Friend is one of Queen's biggest hits and rock radio favorites. The single was released June 1976, John played bass and a Willitzer piano dedicated to his wife Veronica, who he's been married since January 18th, 1975. Apparently, Freddie Mercury didn't like the way the Willitzer sounded. I think it mimics the guitar a little going with Queen's experimental rock. Drummer Roger Taylor doubted You're My Best Friend would soften the band. Luckily, it just gave an affectionate factor loving the band's capabilities. Queen lasted as long as it did because each member wrote and understood how their multi-genre ideas would work. Most fans cite a Night at the Opera to be the band's best work. I'm in love with my car, you're my best friend, love of my life, Bohemian Rhapsody, God Save the Queen. I've heard about it often to appreciate, but the works wins me over more. I plan to elaborate on Labor Day Weekend's special episode. After Freddie Mercury died of AIDS in 1991, John Deakin hung around tributing his memory at 1992's Tribute Concert and 1995's posthumous record Made in Heaven. I feel bad John didn't accept 2001's Rock and Roll Holland Fame induction or partake in Queen Plus appearances with Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May. He's remained private 30 years, spoken highly of his contributions. Spanning over 1975 and number 21's bicentennial ranking, you're my best friend charted number 27 in Finland and Belgium, number 16 on the Hop 100, number 9 in the Netherlands, number 7 in the UK, and number 2 in Canada. 18, Love Hangover by Diana Ross. Diana Ross sang in Motown girl group The Supremes 1962 to 1970, then went solo. Musical Dream Girls attributes the backstory of her influence, attracting listeners in the 60s racial civil rights movement. Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar playing FE White for 2006's film and announced she'll co-produce the musical back on Broadway soon. Flaunting sexy like Donna Summers love to love you, baby. Diana's innocence was no more grunting for not wanting to get over falling in love. I hadn't heard the almost eight-minute disco mix until now. Diana slid into the mood very easily. I listed the 3 minute 50 second edit on the playlist, full cut separately in the episode description. The transition when the backup singers say over segues a faster disco beat, magical like a spell. I visualize a mirror disco ball spinning the changeover. Vocalizing some soundtrack themes and ballads, disco redefined Diana Ross's solo career. At 81, she sang a medley in Cold Times Square on New Year's Rock and Eve 2025. There's nobody like Diana Ross. I adore her and hope Love Hangover gets you dancing whatever's in your cup. Spring 1976, it topped Hot Soul singles, hot disco songs, The Hop 100, drop to number 18, Bicentennial Weekend. Number 17, The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzie. A one-hit classic rock wonders constantly utilized across media for its signature repetitive song title, The Boys Are Back in Town Turns 50, done by Irish band Thin Lizzie. I researched Tin Lizzie was a cartoon robot in British comics The Dandy, guitarist Eric Bell suggested the name Thin Lizzie because of European pronunciation saying it aloud. Frontman Phil Linnet met drummer Brian Downey in elementary school, both crossed paths with them's keyboardist Eric Rixon and Eric Bell, who also featured Van Morrison. When both Eric's left, Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson replaced on lead and rhythm guitars. Scott told Classic Rock magazine in 2009 how a revamp and location placed everything together. It was our first tour of America in 1974 and we were supporting Bachman Turner Overdrive. At the time nobody knew who we were. Phil and the rest of the band had never been to the States before and kept on going on about 77 Sunset Strip because they remembered the show as kids. Phil loved the show in the hip language and wanted to take a look for himself where it was made. What he found was a convenience store and right next door was Dino's. He was in love with America and just loved the sound of that name. He was just 25 years old at the time. It conjured up a world of gangsters and mafia types to him. He turned it into Dino's Bar and Grill and wrote one of our biggest ever hits. But I think it's fair to say that while he was inspired by Dino's, the emotion of the song is very much connected with his mother's hotel and the late night bar where George Best and Alex Higgins would get drunk with Phil and the rest of the band. Briefly, The Boys Are Back in Town summed up Then Lizzie's claim to fame with Phil's singing lead and playing bass. Jailbreak and Dancing in the Moonlight, It's Caught Me in It's Spon Light are other singles I've heard on rock radio. Disney used The Boys Are Back in Town for their Toy Story sequel trailers, meaning Woody and Buzz are up to things again. Except for Toy Story 5 through Jesse's storyline, which was great. I love seeing it recently. Sadly, Phil Lynette died 1986 from substance abuse at 36. Revive Thin Lizzie lineups retired in 2019. We should honor their efforts blasting the Boys Are Back in Town and explored the band's archives. Bicentennial Weekend was number 17 in the US, number one in Ireland, three weeks later moved to number 12 on the Hop 100, tied number 8 in the UK and Canada in late spring. True love stories are a common working formula writing hit songs. Bruce Blackman wrote Moonlight Feels Right about him asking out a college date. Third time was the charm when a gust of wind blew near her walking back from a pep rally and the moon shined so bright as if nature reacted the moment. Doesn't get more romantic than that. Naming his band Starbuck like Moby Dick's character, Bruce and Marima player Bo Wagner dropped off Moonlight Feels Right singles to 500 national radio stations. Birmingham's WERC promised to test it on air spring 1976, predicting the glitzy instruments suited the season for listeners to notice. They were right. Moonlight Feels Right worked its way up the charts in the summer, landing top three status and televised performances, The Midnight Special, and American Bandstand, another dream come true. Yacht Rock and 70s playlists occasionally play one hit wonder Moonlight Feels Right. I caught on Wikipedia's page that private stock owned this song around a fifth of Beethoven's popularity. Funny coincidence. The chorus is I'll take you on a trip beside the ocean and drop the top at Chesapeake Bay. Ain't nothing like the sky to dose a potion, the moon to send you on your way. Moonlight feels right. Synthesizers sparked a flashiness in all kinds of 70 music. Illustrating the moonlight in this song was like a fluttering waltz. May sound cheesy now, back then it was new technology before sound effects and audio loops dominated into the 80s. I figured Moonlight feels right's appropriate for seeing fireworks in the sky and evening socializing. Weeks after number 14's bicentennial peak, Starbuck rose number 25 in Australia, number 21 in New Zealand, number 3 in Canada, the Hop 100, and number 2, Easy Listening. Eric Carmen's Never Gonna Fall in Love Again blocked the top spot June 19th chart week. Number 10. Love is Alive by Gary Wright. Gary Wright played for Spooky Tooth Span, George Harrison, then ventured side projects. Love is Alive was a hard sell at first. Dreamweaver's haunting intro had a sci-fi mystical appeal breaking through. Crescendoing slow in the verses, volume up singing the title chorus, stood out more, and off the Dreamweaver album. Easier to remember and plug people to buy. Warner Brothers Records re released Love is Alive same time as Moonlight Feels Right and received a better turnout. The riffs are really similar hearing back to back. Fleming perfected, giving Gary the chance hanging with big rock names. He opened for Yes and Peter Frampton's Bicentennial Concert at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium, where live aid would take place in 1985. Then he moved on to Nature World music and soundtrack scores in the 80s and 90s. Sticking to instincts, Gary Wright's funky belief spoke truths, and Love is Alive's message. My heart is on fire. My soul's like a wheel that's turning. My love is alive. My love is alive. Yeah, girl. He lived 80 years until September 4th, 2023, dying of dementia and Parkinson's disease. I'm a synthesizers fan, had a keen interest learning it someday for the longest time. Love is alive's a fun track emphasizing all the skills you can do, and I think surged a disco rock phase in the late 70s. By the end of July and early August, it flew to number two on the Hop 100 beneath Elton John and Kiki D's Don't Go Breaking My Heart and The Manhattan's Kiss and Say Goodbye for three weeks. Also hit number 98 Hot Soul singles, number 71 in Australia, and number six in Canada. Not a bad second chance at all. Number two, Afternoon Delight by Starland Vocal Band. So much to say here. Starland Vocal Grouper Two Couples Quartet, Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, John Carroll and Margot Chapman. Bill and Taffy wrote Take Me Home Country Roads that John Denver sang in 1971 is West Virginia's state-themed song and been playing at the World Cup Games. Signing on John Denver's label Wind Song Records, Afternoon Delight sweetened guilty pleasure daytime edition with their halves. Thinking of you is working up my appetite. Looking forward to a little afternoon delight. Rubbing sticks and stone together make the sparks ignite, and the thought of rubbing you is getting so exciting. Skyrockets in flight, afternoon delight. Afternoon delight. Too good to be true, Starlin Vocal Band got typecast but unexpectedly awarded in Grammys. They won best new artists, best arrangement for voices, nominated record of the year, and best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals. Their four-part harmonies blended great. You'd think something else could have worked out. Especially the endings vocal run, which I love. The 70s society grew liberal to the point sex songs weren't as frowned upon and joked often on game shows, daytime and primetime. Both marriages and the group broke up in 1982. Will Farrell's comedy film Anchorman does a hilarious scene singing afternoon delight in 2005's film. Gossiping that he slept with new co-anchor Veronica, portrayed by Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Kochner randomly break into song down to the guitar vibrator skyrockets in flight effect in his office. The entire movie's ridiculous, nodding to 1975's pop culture. I guarantee if you play this at the party, it will get a lot of laughs and some singing like that scene. Afternoon Delight charted number 94 Hot Country Singles, Number 18 in the UK, number 5 Easy Listening, Number 1 in Canada, and the Hop 100 July 10th through July 24th, 1976. Number 1. Silly Love Songs by Wings. Ending with a lighter bang, Love's Date in the Year despite mixed reviews for Bicentennial's number one topper. Paul McCartney irresistibly loved his first wife Linda Eastman. Knowing the tour's life's infidelity he dealt with ex-girlfriend Jane Asher, he felled never betraying again. Linda pushed Paul continuing music pulse Beatles and together created Wings. Departing George Martin's production and psychedelia, critics and consumers either liked or heckled Wings' survival. Bringing Linda aboard seemed contrived, I think it was romantic. Working with family, let alone spouses is no easy task. They held on musically a decade, marriedly twenty nine years. Linda succumbed to breast cancer april seventeenth, nineteen ninety eight at fifty six. Paul married two more times, Linda's memory and vocals documented on silly love song sincerity. The amount of times I love you is recited, nothing mattered more to them. You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs, but I look around and see it isn't so. Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. Well what's wrong with that? I like to know, 'cause here I go again. I love you. I love you. I love you. Paul McCartney just turned eighty four on june eighteenth, published his ninth number one UK album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, concluding Saturday Night Live season finale and made Amazon Prime video documentary Man on the Run. The home movie footage and his narration in Man on the Run's great. The Boys of Dungeon Lane's a decent alternative album. I liked Rango Starr's collab on Home to Me. He also has a new country album out. I've questioned what the banging is on Silly Love Song's intro. According to BeatlesBible.com, it's a conga drum, sandpaper, hinting and scraping some sort of metal. Shown in Man on the Run, Paul's created sounds whatever was found on his farm. We may never uncover the mystery of what that metal thing is. On Wings' fifth album, Wings at the Speed of Sound, Silly Love Songs charted number two in the UK, number one, easy listening, the Hop 100 in Canada, and Canadian adult-oriented singles. Specifically, week of May 22nd, June 12th through July 10th, 1976 on the Hop 100. Closing up our time capsule, thank you so much for spending 4th of July. I wish you a safe holiday weekend and hope this was entertainment to your plans. Let me know which song is your favorite. Voting on our Spotify episode poll, email musicmedia review podcast at gmail.com. Also comment on Music Media Reviews, Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube pages. Please rate a review wherever you're streaming. I'm Jess. Next episode will review Madonna's comeback album, Confessions 2. I've been liking the songs they put out so far. It just came out on July 3rd. We'll return next weekend and hear it now if you're able to. I'll talk to you July 11th.