That same year (I believe) Boots Randolph's song would take on an entirely new meaning and quickly become unforgettable as the "chase theme" over the end credits of The Benny Hill Show, when the comedian moved to Thames TV in 1969. Series composer Ronnie Aldrich created numerous variations of this piece over the long run of Hill's series, with shortened versions arguably more familiar than Randolph's released version. ...and in the same year, she would also become Mrs. Darren McGavin. I always enjoyed that cliffhanger. True to many a WW2 POW film, the dogs were the perfect addition and so different than the usual spy-type threats Max faced. Yes, it was more TGE than the sitcom. It was a one-time TV gimmick, not Joe's regular character, which was (as mentioned before) in character format line with "Bub" (William Frawley) and Uncle Charlie (William Demarest) from My Three Sons, Mr. Wilson from Dennis the Menace stiff, right out of the tried and true, grouchy, grumbling box. its also no different than Mrs. Howell on stage as one of the Honeybees (Gilligan's Island--and only as part of a ploy), when she found the music of the Mosquitoes deplorable and was desperate to cut the band members' long hair.
_______ 50 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "But You Know I Love You," The First Edition (11 weeks) "Crimson and Clover," Tommy James & The Shondells (16 weeks) "Games People Play," Joe South (12 weeks) "I've Gotta Be Me," Sammy Davis, Jr. (16 weeks) "Sing a Simple Song," Sly & The Family Stone (4 weeks) "There'll Come a Time," Betty Everett (11 weeks) "This Magic Moment," Jay & The Americans (14 weeks) New on the chart: "Badge," Cream (#60 US; #18 UK; featuring guest rhythm guitarist "L'Angelo Misterioso"...a.k.a. co-writer George Harrison) "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself), Pt. 1," James Brown (#20 US; #3 R&B) "Pinball Wizard," The Who (#19 US; #4 UK) "Morning Girl," The Neon Philharmonic (#17 US; #39 AC) "More Today Than Yesterday," Spiral Starecase (#12 US) "Gitarzan," Ray Stevens (#8 US) "Atlantis," Donovan (#7 US; #23 UK) "These Eyes," The Guess Who (#6 US) "Grazing in the Grass," The Friends of Distinction (#3 US; #5 R&B; The Squiggy-approved version!) And new on the boob tube: The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 21, episode 24, featuring the Muppets & Rex Robbins and Dickie Henderson Mission: Impossible, "Nicole" The Avengers, "Requiem" Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 2, episode 26 (season finale) Ironside, "A Matter of Love and Death" Adam-12, "Log 22: ...So This Little Guy Goes into This Bar, and..." (season finale) _______ And it earns the Christopher Walken Seal of Approval! (Contrary to expectations, Paul was responsible, not Ringo.) And that would be because it's a year older...originally released as the B-side of "From Me to You" in the UK around this time in 1963. Whereas "Can't Buy Me Love" and "You Can't Do That" were spawned by the ongoing sessions for A Hard Day's Night, the UK version of which is easily my favorite of their pre-Rubber Soul albums. I'm of the distinct impression that you don't find the Impressions very impressive.... Yep, always good to get another classic British Invasion entry. It's surprising this far along how much the Invasion is still basically Beatlemania. So many of the major artists we associate with the era are nowhere to be found yet on this side of the pond. Just coulda stopped there...! While the Fabs' occupation of the Top 5 will be broken up next week, their general chart presence is only going to grow a little more before things start gradually petering off to less maniacal levels. And didja notice Terry Stafford sitting there at #6? He's still on the rise, and will be one of the artists breaking up our historic Top 5 next week. I've developed a mild fondness for it. Don't tend to pay that much attention, but make a point of having it on in the background if I'm up at that hour on Saturday. I was never that fond of either of its sister shows, other than one of them having a theme song that's extremely fun to sing along to. Not that we saw them in Part 1. Granted I haven't watched much of the show with attention, but from what I have seen, I was under the impression that the Ladybugs scheme wasn't out of character for him...that he's the more kooky adult of the main cast, known for his schemes and comedic angles on situations.
I just found out like two days ago that the Zombies, who are one of my all time fav bands as I've mentioned, are being inducted to the Rock Hall of Fame in a few days. A richly deserved honor. This band just didn't get enough recognition for their talent.
True. For a group with a hits list that cannot be ignored when discussing 60s music, the band is sort of pushed into a corner.
About the bed-in, Lennon told one reporter, “If you believe violence will solve the problem, that’s up to you. I don’t,” “Nobody’s ever tried the peace thing.” Call it symbolism, call it wishful thinking, but he was being incredibly naïve (and pretentious). Someone should have responded to that reply with a question about World War 2: if pleas for peace made to any of the Axis powers would have altered a single event or prevented the need for war. Vietnam (going on and on at the time of the bed-in) was not WW2, but the point remains. It would have been fascinating to hear his answer. Brilliant single, and perfectly fits into an even more brilliant album. Calling it an instant classic is too mild a description. How this charted, I will never know. Its one of a long line of jaunty, light songs trying to recapture the "Daydream Believer" vibe (like Bobby Sherman's version of "Easy Come, Easy Go" in 1970), with none of the..dare I say it...strong song structure and atypical instrumentation of the Monkees song. "Morning Girl" was just the kind of knock-off that would end up as filler on K-Tel compilation records throughout the 1970s, and that's not a good thing. Now this was a well written song with great arrangement. Ehh...as novelty songs go..I guess it was okay, but I would never look for or buy the song. Listenable, but not one of my favorite Donovan songs. One of the great songs of the so-called rock/pop era. Saying the Guess Who had their own sound would be a great understatement, but it was part of an earthier direction some bands were taking at the end of the decade. The song ws such a staple that it was heavily rotated on radio playlists for years after its release--and I mean contemporary stations as opposed to oldies programs. Just not a fan of any version of the song. Getting close to the end of this series... He might be occasionally kooky, but he's the grumbler archetype, and from memory, he's usually the first to complain about something not in his wheelhouse.
Not top-tier Cream, but very good. Fine. Get it yourself. See if I care. Sheesh. Oh, yeah. Major classic. Cute. Short. Gary Puckett did it better. Nice nostalgia trip for me. Sounds like the 70s, though. Pretty funny. Does anybody even make novelty records anymore? Classic Donovan. Another classic. Happy 60s! Hmm. I did not know there was a non-Squiggy-approved version. They're fine, pleasant to listen to, but there's a sameness about them, and this one isn't their best. Good. Make them mop-tops work for it! The Beverly Hillbillies was a fave back in the 60s. I used to watch the daytime re-runs with my Grandmother sometimes. I got to like Green Acres in re-runs years later. That's good news. They deserve it.
Previously, in The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread... _______ Huh...surprised to hear that it took 'em that long. OTOH, that's a bit of an overstatement...they were classics all, and all in the Top 10, but they only had three Top 40 hits. It's very hippie drippy and pie in the sky, but I think his idea was universal peace...so all sides had to play, which wasn't going to happen. Are you saying that George diluted the Cream...? This will be their last charting single on either side of the pond, though apparently it recharts in the UK in 1972, reaching #42. This one has a nice upbeat sound. Tommy will be getting its spotlight later in the year (#96 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time). I've never listened to the entire album. Not sure where you're getting that specific comparison. "Daydream Believer" didn't exactly invent the jaunty, light, '60s song. 1966 in particular was a big year in that vein, before the Monkees even made the scene. He did? I can't find any evidence of it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Girl A very enjoyable, upbeat, infectious bit of pop. Does the late '60s sound like the '70s...or does the early '70s sound like the '60s...? Now me, I'll be the one to lobby for this to be put on that rocket to the sun. It's a perfect example of why I'm not buying Ray Stevens singles. It's a crime that this charted higher than "More Today Than Yesterday" and "Pinball Wizard". Donovan being Donovan...'nuff said. There was a girl in my high school class named Atlantis. My first thought was that her parents must have been hippies. My second, after becoming familiar with this song, was that she may have been named after it. The Guess Who are a welcome addition to the weekly playlist...they'll be bringing a good string of classic hits this year and next. I put a recap up there for ya, Old Timer! The Masekela version was a classic, but I do think I enjoy this version more. Can't say I disagree with any of that, but they do have a nice, distinctive sound that they're samey-saming. They'll be upping their game by getting more topical with their next single, and early next year will be producing a major Civil Rights anthem. That Top Five lock is an achievement that hasn't been matched in 55 years, so they definitely haven't had to work too hard at it.
Damn. Senility is a rough road. They probably left the Cream out too long, but putting it in some strong tea saved it. Or something. Sorry, I didn't mean specifically that song-- I was thinking of "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon." Both, since decades really blend into each other-- but for me, it's more about the late 60s sounding like the early 70s because of the associational memories. That particular song just sounds like Junior High to me. That last part is true, certainly. As you can imagine, I think that's pretty groovy. Thank you. Indeed, their best is yet to come.
Great songs are more than top 40 hits, hence the popularity of "deep cuts" that fans, DJs and companies releasing music packages have made popular over the decades, with some believing the non-top 40 songs are as good as the bigger hits. ...which made Lennon pretentious; he knew all of that "peace" talk was utterly unrealistic, especially were government conflicts/wars were concerned, but he tried to sell his message anyway, as if he were trying to paint himself as the image which--ironically enough--some of the worst of his fanbase bought and repackaged in the years to come. WHA--?? "Daydream Believer's" particular arrangement/writing was unique, hence its runaway success, and from there, certain songs released in its wake could not be said to be anything other than directly inspired by it, such as "Morning Girl," "Easy Come, Easy Go" and even Davy Jones's own solo effort, "Girl" (1971). Its not like there was an active sub-genre of music with songs of that kind before the Monkees hit, but after....that's another story. For that reason alone, it deserves as reservation on that rocket!
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing _______ The Ed Sullivan Show Season 21, episode 23 Originally aired March 23, 1969 As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show It seems a year late as he doesn't appear to be plugging anything else, but here he is...starting the song in a spotlight, but the lights come up to reveal that he's surrounded by an orchestra. This act uses classical instruments as part of their physical comedy routine. The high point is when one of them appears to have a clarinet sticking out the back of his head, while another reacts by spinning his toupee; a couple other lame bits follow in the obviously shortened performance shown on Best of. At the end of one of his more mumbly intros... According to Encyclopedia.com, she would have still been 15 going on 16 at the time, but she looks younger. I'm not sure offhand what piece she's dancing to, though I might guess that it's Strauss, because it sounds very similar to "Blue Danube". Finally, Sly & the Family Stone are back, and this time they made Best of. They're performing a song called "Love City" from their mid-1968 album Life, which didn't produce any hit singles, on a stage adorned with animal skins. At one point, during an a cappella break that sounds like "Dance to the Music," Sly and Rose go out into the audience briefly. Sly closes the song by saying, "Thank you, for letting us be ourselves," foreshadowing a future hit. Here's a poor-quality clip. Looks like they'll be performing the song again at that Woodstock place. Also in the original episode according to tv.com: ETA: It seems that I'd accidentally misidentified the guests in the March 30 episode of Sullivan...I've edited the 50 Years Ago This Week listing accordingly. _______ Mission: Impossible "Nitro" Originally aired March 23, 1969 A portfolio scene! Jim's got the usual suspects already laid out, and adds a newspaper clipping of General Tamaar (Dick Latessa), a special assistant to the targeted King Said of Kurak (Joe E. Tata) who enables the IMF scheme from the inside in vague ways. Barney's gotten into the camp of the would-be overthrower, General Zek (Titos Vandis), as a systems analyst, giving him access to the General's old-school tape-using computers. Willy and Rollin abduct Skora (Lenard), after which Rollin disguises himself as a legendary demolitions expert who specializes in using nitroglycerin. Nobody knows what the guy looks like, so it's basically Landau in a false nose, bad silver wig, mustache, and sunglasses at night--It's hard not to laugh at him, he looks like a parody of a hipster. Meanwhile, Jim and Cin are in the palace as reporters, with Jim setting up Cin as an associate of Nitro Legend Rollin. NLR gets into the General's nitro vault thanks to Barney's reprogramming of the door, taking care of the human factor by knocking out a guard with a TV Fu Knockout Chop (perhaps I spoke too soon the other week). Rollin proceeds to make a painfully slow getaway in his Nitromobile, which is a forklift that runs out of juice, so he has to change the battery mid-heist. Then he experiences another tense moment when he has to go over a speed bump very slowly. At this point the episode started to feel very lame and never recovered. There's a way to get tension out of the volatility of nitro (Hell on Wheels did a good episode revolving around it, which included Bohannon having sex on a table where he was mixing the stuff). Rollin driving a forklift on a backlot in that silly getup wasn't it. Anyway, the Willy Strength comes into play when he has to manually unload the crate of nitro from the forklift. After the heist, Rollin disguises the drugged-unconscious Skora to look like him, but in his own lame-ass disguise--so he's disguised as somebody who's already wearing a bad disguise--and Rollin disguises himself as Skora. Fake Nitro Rollin is found unconscious with his stolen stash of nitro nearby, and Cin is interrogated about his plan. Fake Skora, having come up with an excuse not to use Real Skora's plan, decides to commandeer Fake Nitro Rollin's plan instead. General Zek is listening to audio reports from one of his men of what's happening at Government House while the King makes a speech, but the reports are commandeered by Rollin and Barney (with the help of more TV Fu), who play a faked sound effects tape of the place being blown up with Rollin delivering Hindenburg-style narration. This causes Zek to broadcast his takeover announcement prematurely. The team then fakes a nitro truck attempt on Government House by remote-driving the truck (with no monitor) with unconscious Fake Nitro Rollin at the wheel. There's a complication because of a brake line that got shot by guards during the heist, but Barney still manages to stop the truck in time. Fake Nitro Rollin is revived and he pulls off his mask, revealing himself as Skora, which further implicates Zek. This one moved along at a decent pace despite some obvious padding, but it generally just wasn't doing it for me. The plan felt more silly and contrived than a-ha clever. _______ The Avengers "Thingumajig" Originally aired March 24, 1969 (US); April 2, 1969 (UK) I could tell this was going to be per formula template from the description. As such, the first half is very slow and repetitive and "So what?," but it picks up some in the second when we have a better idea what's going on. The attacks are taking place at the site of an archaeological dig under a medieval church. There are two devices responsible--plain-looking little metal boxes that move around through no obvious means, leaving tracks with their entire bottom sides. When the protagonists are figuring out how it works, our main female guest of the week, Inge, compares it to one of those new-fangled robot vacuum cleaners. Steed's in good form. There's one cute bit in which he calls Tara on the phone and he correctly guesses very matter-of-factly that she's icing a cake. Also... Steed: I used to have a very favorite aunt, and she used to say, "If Christmas had come in August, chestnut stuffing would never have been invented." Inge: And what does this mean? Steed: I haven't the faintest idea, but she was always saying it. OTOH, the episode features the annoying detail of two characters suffering bad colds for no story-relevant reason--a friendly scientist whom Tara's consulting and the main bad guy's Russian conspirator, who disappears from the story. Steed mails one of the devices to Tara for examination, so she has to deal with its attacks--with the scientist's help via phone, she turns off her apartment's power and throws plugs from various electrical devices at it, which drain its power! Then she has to douse it with the only liquid immediately available, a bottle of champagne. Steed takes on the remaining device at the site in the climax, wearing goggles and rubber gloves and boots, and using a gun-like device which was either a torch or a laser--it had a flame coming out of its nozzle, but overheated the device from a distance while projecting a beam of light. Tara's car is alive and well in this one. _______ Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Season 2, episode 25 Originally aired March 24, 1969 An opening cocktail party with a twist: The episode features a new segment, Letters to Laugh-In, and another subway sketch. There's no news segment, but they briefly touch upon the Big Al sports announcer bit near the end. The Mod, Mod World of Beautiful Downtown Burbank: Dick Martin and the Aristocrats: The closing Joke Wall, with Tony Curtis: _______ The Mod Squad "Keep the Faith, Baby" Originally aired March 25, 1969 In an argument between players during the opening basketball game, Decades saw fit to mute out some language--I'd assume racially charged language from the context. Some presumably more tame language is muted out during a heated discussion between Sammy's character, Father John Banks, and his pastor, played by William Schallert. Mod Squad was too edgy for 2018! But they did leave in Banks reading how the N-word was misspelled (missing a "G") in a threatening letter. This episode I learn that the woody has a police radio in it. (I can't say "we," because it may have been established in an earlier episode that I didn't see.) Linc carelessly makes a call while one of Matt Jenkins's (Duvall) brothers, Emmitt (Dick Dial), lies within easy earshot. Emmitt had been tailing Linc, and Linc was a little too quick to assume that he'd knocked the guy out cold. That Linc has been hanging out with Father Banks is just a coincidence, but Frank Jenkins (Ron Hayes) takes what appears to be police protection as indication that Banks plans to squeal. This impression is reinforced by Banks having recently been suspended from his church position for his controversial activities. So the bad guys try to make a Chicago-style drive-by hit on Banks, but shoot a young member of the Father's flock instead. By this point Banks does need protection, but he doesn't want to be seen with "the fuzz". There's a good "secret identity reveal" moment when Greer indicates that the "cops who don't look like cops" whom he has in mind are already sitting casually nearby, to the Father's astonishment. When Matt Jenkins tries to lure Banks into a trap by requesting a meeting for a confession on the phone, Banks realizes who's after him, but, refusing to compromise his seal of confession regardless of his current position, goes through with the meeting to convince Matt that he won't say anything. Banks refuses to let the Squad tag along, but they tail him anyway. The meeting is a success for Banks, with Matt agreeing to let the Father go, but Frank gets trigger happy, resulting in the requisite climactic action scene, in which Linc takes a bullet and Banks takes Frank down with his fists. With Linc laid up in the hospital, Father John joins Pete and Julie for the end-of-episode walk-off. _______ Ironside "The Tormentor" Originally aired March 27, 1969 Guesting Gary Collins as the ball player in question, Clint Atkins, an old buddy of Ed's who plays for the San Francisco Giants. The threatening letters aren't that specifically threatening...they contain vague warnings that Atkins will be going "down". But they give us a chance to add handwriting analysis to the Chief's repertoire of know-it-all-ness. Things get a little more serious when Atkins gets shot with a pellet gun during a game and his tormenter fires a smoke canister into his young son's bedroom. At one point the tormentor's motive seems to be money, but he proves to be more interested in tarnishing Atkins's public image by making him fly into rages via the pellet attacks during games, which we learn are accomplished via a gun hidden in the telephoto lens of a camera. Team Ironside eventually zeroes in on a likely suspect, Ernie Wilson (Noam Pitlik), a failed fellow ball player who'd been eclipsed by Atkins during his only pro season. An attempt on Atkins at the stadium is stopped by Ed, who takes Wilson down in a locker room brawl. The episode ends on a feelgood note when the benched Atkins returns to the field just in time to turn the turn the tide of the game while his wife and son are watching. A pretty meh episode overall. _______ Adam-12 "Log 92: Tell Him He Pushed Back a Little Too Hard" Originally aired March 29, 1969 For context, Sargent will be assuming his signature role in the coming Fall season. The episode opens with Reed and Malloy already responding to a call at the home of the Wellmans. When they learn that it's over Mr. Roemer (Sargent) locking his garage so that Wellman (James Callahan) can't access the boat, Malloy objects that they can't do anything because it's a civil matter, but he nevertheless tries to settle things. Roemer, a bespectacled nebbish type, accuses Wellman of dominating use of boat and not putting gas in it when he's done, and feels that he's standing up to being pushed around. The officers leave when they think they've convinced Roemer to unlock the garage, but they warn Wellman not to try anything. Only 45 minutes later, they get a call for a neighbor dispute at the Roemer home. They find Wellman in the act of taking the motor from Roemer's garage. Roemer admits to having let the air out of tires of the trailer so that Wellman couldn't move the boat; Wellman was going to move it anyway, so Roemer accidentally smashed his own car windshield, thinking it was Wellman's car with his glasses off. The officers ask for a reason not to arrest the pair for disturbing the peace, but their wives promise to handle things. Pete gives both men a talking to, accusing them of behaving worse than children in a sandbox, and promises that if he and Reed have to come back, somebody's going to jail. It's daytime when the officers get their next call to the Roemer garage, this time for a 415 fight. Wellman broke into the garage, but wants to file a complaint for assault, so the officers take both in, even though the charge against Wellman is a felony. Malloy hopes that it will cool them off. At the station, he asks our resident recurring detective, Sgt. Miller, for advice. Pete wants to find a reason to keep them locked up because he has a bad feeling about the situation. But Roemer and Wellman agree to drop the charges, so they have to let the men go. It's night when the officers get their final call to the Roemer garage: see the woman, unknown trouble. They find Mrs. Wellman crying over her husband, who's lying face-down in the garage; Malloy orders her to call an ambulance, then goes into the house with his gun drawn and arrests Roemer. At the station, Malloy delivers the news to Miller that Wellman is dead; and though Roemer's story is that Wellman came at him with a boat hook, Pete relays that Wellman was hit in the head with a fire extinguisher at least four times. Miller says that Roemer has been expressing concern over Wellman's condition. Pete closes the episode by delivering the titular line. I recall finding this one pretty disturbing the first time that I saw it. It lulls you into thinking it's going to be a lighthearted episode about the officers dealing with a recurring nuisance...then the ending catches you with your guard down. _______ Get Smart "The Not-So-Great Escape: Part 2" Originally aired March 29, 1969 It turns out that there were no dogs...the barking was only a tape recording. Siegfried learns that the dogs had recently run away while pursuing some escapees because Starker had been feeding them the same food as the prisoners. At one point there's a joke that a prisoner played by an African American actor had been white before he tried to vault the electrified fence. Max's ultimate successful escape is, of course, accidental...during a flubbed tunneling attempt, he damages what turns out to have been a power cable, which brings the utility crews and emergency services to the location of the camp. The episode included more directorial touches that I assume were based on TGE. And so closes Get Smart's penultimate season. In the Fall it will be moving from NBC to CBS. _______ Neil Diamond? There are a couple of Gary Puckett "Girl" songs you might be thinking of, but I don't think "Morning Girl" sounds like any of the above. But you had specifically used the term "hits list," which is what I was responding to. I can believe that he actually believed in it at some level, and felt that it was a message worth delivering, even if it wasn't likely to become practical reality. He was expressing himself as an artist in Yoko's field of conceptual art, which was all new and creatively exciting to him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_pop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_pop And there's what "Morning Girl" is described as on its own Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_pop
Did a light bulb appear over his head when he said it? It's not easy being a master of disguise. Now there's some poor decision making. Must be the British spelling of "Thingamajig." He was subpoenaed by Robert Mueller and that was the end of him. That was a bit Twilight Zone-y. I don't doubt it. Perhaps he was threatening the country. Poor Linc. "Don't mind me, guys. I'll catch up later." Yeah, I remember this one. That was a moment of horror worthy of Night Gallery. Indeed, "This Girl Is A Woman Now" is what my brain was shooting for. I just meant the theme, not the particular sound of the song. Yeah, stuff like that is an expression of idealism, not practical planning-- like "All You Need Is Love," which, if taken literally, would result in starvation and death.
Back in the 80's my girl friend and I recreated the bed-in for reasons I don't recall. We were in full John and Yoko drag. Made a video. My best friend may still have a copy. I recall Joe being the type to come up schemes to make him rich but required little effort. A different type than the loveable grouch like Uncle Charlie or the often frustrated Mister Wilson.
"Screw the handshake, Ed, I gotta write this down!" Or watching one, sometimes. It was kind of a metaphor for the relationship he was in, but I wouldn't want to get too spoilery. They do love their U's over there, don't they? He can boast that he took a bullet for Sammy Davis Jr.--that's gotta be worth something. That would be something to see. That was my impression. And different still from the character they were all being compared to in the discussion at the time, Lew Marie, whose purpose was to be the overprotective father with a perpetual stick up his ass who played an antagonistic role to the boyfriend, as well as often motivating his eager-to-please daughter's actions. Uncle Joe seems generally more laid back than that. It's right in the theme song--"And that's Uncle Joe, he's a-moving' kinda slow at the Junction". Mr. Marie would probably give him a stern lecture about how he'd never make it in the restaurant business. One of the episodes they played this past Saturday, his scheme was to sell stock in the hotel, so the storekeeper and the two engineers wound up owning it. They started asking exactly what it was Uncle Joe did around the place, and wound up putting him to work!
How are you defining "hit single"? I ask because I distinctly recall partying quite hard to Fun, Life, and M'Lady from this album. I know Fun got a lot of radio play so I'm thinking that maybe what you mean is that it, and the others, failed to cross over? In Dionne's bio on Spotify it states that it is easier to describe Dionne by who she wasn't than by who she was. When I first read this I thought it was a bit insulting but I think I get. Her contemporaries were Aretha, Patty LaBelle, Gladys Knight, and Dionne matched them hit for hit. But she did it without one of those big old church girl voices that marked the other ladies' abilities. Dionne had the most delicate of sopranos that always landed perfectly on each note. Throw on top of that her perfect diction and bionic ears, and you have, who I believe, was one of the absolute best vocalists of the rock era.
Going purely by chart position. It looks like "Life" and "M'Lady" made #93 on the Hot 100, didn't make the R&B/Soul chart at all, but did do better in the UK: #37. "Fun" didn't get issued as a single at the time, but was later the B-side of "Hot Fun in the Summertime," which may have gotten it some attention.
Now that you mention it, seems like I do recall that Fun was the B side to Hot Fun. Fun was a great party song. It's opening line "When I party, I party hearty", set the tone perfectly. I also remember thinking it was odd that both songs had the word "fun" in them. Surprising that Life and M'Lady didn't make Billboard's R&B charts.