American Top 40 PastBlast, 12/9/72: Spinners, “I’ll Be Around”

My exposure to the Spinners in the 72-76 period was pretty much limited to their five Top 10 hits–one per year–plus the #11 song “One of a Kind (Love Affair).”  Having listened to AT40 rebroadcasts over the last five-plus years, I’ve learned they had a lot more pop chart success than I’d realized.  Those big hits are still my favorites, but it’s been good to hear a wider range of their stuff, especially the earlier hit “It’s a Shame.” The best of all in my book was this one, from their first collaboration with Thom Bell after signing with Atlantic.  Simply amazing.  It’s at #18, down from its #3 peak.

Partially-related side note: Todd Rundgren had connections to a couple of Spinners tunes in 1985.  First, he produced a cover of “I’ll Be Around” for the LA band What Is This, whose membership included RHCP/Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons (other Peppers–Slovak, Flea, and Keidis–had been associated with What Is This to varying degrees previously). It reached #62; I heard it a few times that summer.  Then, Rundgren’s album A Capella, released that fall, had a rousing version of “Mighty Love” as its closing track.