The Ferret

Intro: By Gail Nobles
Photo: Hans Peters / Anefo - Nationaal Archief
Usage: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0

Today's topic: the British soul group The Real Thing.


The Real Thing are a British soul group formed in the 1970s. The band charted internationally with their song "You to Me Are Everything", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. They also had successes a string of British hits such as "Can't Get By Without You" and "Can You Feel the Force?". They returned to mainstream success in 1986 with the Decade Remix of "You to Me Are Everything". By number of sales, they were the most successful black rock/soul act in England during the 1970s.

The Real Thing ffound chart success with the pop-soul single "You to Me Are Everything", which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 29 on Billboard's "R&B Singles" and No. 66 on Billboard's "Hot 100". The song was certified silver for 250,000 in sales. Their follow-up, "Can't Get By Without You", did not chart in the US but was still a success in the United Kingdom, where it reached number 2.

In 1976, they released their first album, Real Thing, which included both of their hit singles as well as a third UK hit, "You'll Never Know What You're Missing", which peaked at No. 16.

You’re listening to The Ferret. I’m your host, Gail Nobles.


The Ferret

Song: Cotton Candy
Song by: The Sylvers
Photo: Wikipedia Public Domain

Intro by: Gail Nobles

Before the New Edition’s Candy girl, it was the Sylvers's Cotton Candy. Hello! I'm Gail nobles. Welcome to The Ferret. Everyone wanted that bubblegum pop music sound. That catchy an upbeat style. The Sylvers had that sound during the 1970s. I love the song Cotton Candy from the album Showcase. It was number 19 on the Billboard RnB chart.

The Sylvers had the Jackson 5 magic. They were a very popular group. A family vocal group. A large vocal group. There were nine of them. Five guys and four girls all together.

You can see them performed the song Cotton Candy on YouTube and can see their other videos such as Hotline and Boogie Fever.

Where are they now? You can follow Leon Sylvers III at Leonsylvers.com. He’s a producer, writer, and singer. You can check out his bio.

You’re listening to The Ferret. Im you’re host, Gail Nobles.




The Ferret

Intro song: Soul Groove
Intro song by: Gail Nobles
Podcast Cover Art: Gail Nobles


Soul Groove is online only on Tunein.
If you love the 70s, you can get all the soul sounds from the 70s on Soul Groove. Just look for Soul Groove with the words: Find your groove with the smoothest soul from the 70s.
They play Natalie Cole: I’ve Got Love On My Mind
Teddy Pendergrass: When Somebody Loves You Back
Marvin Gaye: Got To Give It Up And a whole lot more.
Not only do they play songs of the 70s, but the 80s and 90s too. All the soul music you need. Soul Groove. It’s on Tunein.

The Ferret

Song: One Bad Apple
Song by: The Osmonds

Music Intro by: Gail Nobles
All vocals by: Gail Nobles

A quick summary of what we have talked about so far in the podcast.
*Jr. Walker & the All Stars - Do You See My Love (For You Growing). * Joe Tex - Ain’t Gonna Bump No More ( With No Big Fat Woman). * James Brown - Kansas City * Maxine Nightingale’s first hit - Right Back Where We Started From * BJ Thomas - Raindrops
All of the songs were released in the 1970s except for James Brown’s song - Kansas City. It was recorded in 1967.

Now let’s get started on today’s topic. The Osmonds - One Bad Apple. The song was released as a single on Nov. 14, 1970. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 2, 1971. It hit the top of the chart on February 13, 1971 and stayed there for five weeks. It also reached No. 6 on the R&B chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 4 song for 1 “Both "One Bad Apple" is on the 1970 album Osmonds. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on February 4, 1971.

The song was written by George Jackson, who originally had the Jackson 5 in mind when he wrote it. According to Donny Osmond, Michael Jackson later told him that the Jackson 5 almost recorded this song first, but chose to record "ABC" instead.

"One Bad Apple" was also used as the theme to The Osmonds cartoon show on ABC-TV. It is the only song in the Osmonds' repertoire that continues to receive any appreciable airplay on oldies radio.

The Ferret

Song: Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head
Song by: B.J. Thomas

Hi! I’m Gail Nobles! Today’s topic is about a hot number one single of the 1970s. I’m going to talk about B.J. Thomas, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head”. It was a single that reached No.1 on charts in the United States, Canada and Norway, and reached No. 38 in the UK Singles Chart. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in January 1970 and was also the first American No. 1 hit of the 1970s. Billboard ranked it as the No. 4 song of 1970.

The song was still being played after 1970. I remember hearing it all the time, and I remember everybody was singing it in the 70s. My family members & some of my classmates were always singing it. The song was released in 1969. I think of the song sometimes now when it rains. The song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

The Ferret

Story by: Gail Nobles

Music Charts. Do they exist anymore? When was the last time you heard radio mention the music charts? I haven’t heard anymore count down shows. Do the music charts still exists? What is this weeks most popular song? I have no idea. What is the best song for the year today? What are the top ten songs now?

I took a look into iTunes. The first song I see listed under songs is Mariah Carey - All I want for Christmas Is You. Most of the songs that I see listed, I’ve never heard them before.
When music charts were mentioned in the past, I knew every song on the chart. It’s not like that anymore. Everything seems different today. Everybody is making their own playlist when they use Spotify or Pandora. Then there is iHeart, Tunein, & RadioTunes. There is just so much variety.

Plus, music is so much more complexed. We have independent music artists. Are they hitting the charts? Do we need the music charts anymore? It’s not like the days of James Brown, Michael Jackson, and The Bee Gees.

It has been said that music artists are not making money from their music. Technology brought that change. I don’t hear talk of songs becoming big hits anymore like in the old days. There are a lot of us still talking about the old music. Old songs are new songs again.

I’m Gail Nobles. In my opinion, the music charts may not be needed any longer.

The Ferret

Intro by: Gail Nobles
Photo credit: NCRV - Beeld & Geluid Wiki - Gallery: De Eddy-go-round-show]
Usage: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0 n

Maxine Nightingale first charted in 1976. #31 1976 Pop, #19 1976 Rock, #8 1975 R&B

Maxine Nightingale is a British R&B and soul music singer best known for her hits in the 1970s with a million seller “Right Back Where We Started From” ( 1975, UK #8 & 1976 U.S. #2).

The song was played on the radio a lot. It is a very catchy song. The song was. #9 in Dance Music/Club Play.

Right Back Where We Started From is a song written by Pierre Tubbs & Vincent Edwards. It was first recorded in the middle of 1975 by Maxine Nightingale for whom it was an international hit.

Released within two weeks of its recording by United Artists “ Right Back Where We Started From” broke in the London discos and reached #8 on the Uk Singles chart dated Nov. 29, 1975.

United Artists issued "Right Back Where We Started From" in the US in January 1976, and the single entered the charts in February to rise as high as #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 1 May 1976. Although the song was held off from the top of that chart for two weeks, the single did reach #1 on the charts for the two other major US music industry journals, Cash Box and Record World. On 27 April, the single received gold certification for sales of a million units.

I’m Gail Nobles & You’re listening to The Ferret. The count about sounds. About songs from the music charts. Today’s topic: Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From.

The Ferret

Song: Kansas City
Song by: James Brown
Photo Credit: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA - James Brown
Usage: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 2.0

Keyboardist: Gai Nobles
Vocals: Gail Nobles
Voice actor: Gail Nobles

James Brown - Kansas City found #5 in the Soul Brothers Top 20 of an old copy of Jet Magazine. #1 Aretha Franklin- I’ve Never Loved A Man.

“Kansas City is a rhythm and blues song written by Jerry Lieberman and Mike Stoller in 1952. First recorded by Little Willie Littlefield the same year, the song later became a chart-topping hit when it was recorded by Wilbert Harrison in 1959.

James Brown recorded his version of “ Kansas City” in 1967. The single reached number 21 on the R&B chart and number 55 on the Hot 100 singles chart. Brown recorded live performances of the song for his albums Live at the Apollo, Volume II (1968) and Say it Live and Loud (1998; recorded 1968).

I’m Gail Nobles & you’re listening to The Ferrret.

The Ferret

Coca Cola Jingle: It’s The Real Thing
By: The Dells

Podcast vocals: Gail Nobles

In 1970, the Dells performed a jingle with Coca Cola, It’s the real thing.

Roquel "Billy" Davis of Detroit was a writer & producer of commercial jingles mostly for Coca-Cola. He produced the famous jingle "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)", used in a 1971 Coca-Cola television advertisement. He also produced other jingles such as "It's the Real Thing", "Things Go Better With Coke" and "Country Sunshine" for Coca-Cola (with country singer Dottie West, who recorded the song), and "If You've Got the Time" for Miller Beer.

The Coca-Cola advertisement Hey Kid, Catch!, starring Mean Joe Greene, included the song "Have a Coke and Smile" was produced by Davis.

Davis wrote and produced for many artists, like the Dells. Hearing jingles by famous singers and hearing their voices made you want to listen and pay attention to commercials just as you did hearing them sing R&B. Hearing the Dells was that kind of group singing the jingle, It’s the real thing.

I’m Gail Nobles and you’re listening to commercial flash back.

The Ferret

Keyboardist: Gail Nobles
Vocals: Gail Nobles

Commercial Flashback

El Producto cigar was an ad with jingle in 1970. It was one of the last tabaccco ads to air. It’s a commercial I heard from airchecks.

The cigars started out as cheap hand -made. The cigars are now machine made. The Cigar became popular with some celebrities.

For the commercial, there was a man and woman singing. The announcer said: Listen to Travis Gardener. If you think you’re special, smoke El Producto.

I’m Gail Nobles and this a commercial flashback.

The Ferret