The Bubbling Under portion of the Billboard pop charts from the first weekend of February 1979 included three songs that would go on to make the Hot 100: “I Got My Mind Made Up (You Can Get It Girl)” by Instant Funk, at #106 but headed for #20, “Dancin'” by Grey and Hanks, at #104 on its way to #83, and “Now That We Found Love” by Third World, a fun reggae cover of an O’Jays tune, coming on at #101 and destined to reach #47. Here’s a quick synopsis at the other seven Bubblers from that week.
#110. Slave, “Just Freak”
With “Le Freak” at #1, we get a bit of titular symmetry at the other end. This funk band out of Dayton had already experienced Top 40 success with 1977’s “Slide.” All six of their pop-charting singles started off Bubbling Under; just two others besides “Slide” would graduate. This is the only week on for “Just Freak.”
#109. The Greg Kihn Band, “Remember”
Kihn was more than two years from breaking through with “The Breakup Song” (a big favorite around here) when he got a little attention with “Remember,” a pensive, acoustic-oriented piece. It had four separate runs on the BU chart for a combined twelve weeks, never climbing higher than #105. This is the first week of the third of those four runs.
#108. Chuck Mangione, “Children of Sanchez”
Mangione also had multiple tours of duty a-Bubbling with “Children of Sanchez,” three of four weeks each (this is part of the final one), topping out overall at #104. I don’t know the movie from which this comes, but parts of the tune do sound familiar.
#107. Robert Johnson, “I’ll Be Waiting”
Sometimes a song comes at you from two directions at almost the same time. Just a month ago, my friend Warren sent me a YouTube link to this power-pop gem featuring some blistering guitar work; now, here it is again. Obviously not the legendary bluesman, this Robert Johnson is a well-regarded session musician out of Memphis. Close Personal Friend, his debut album, is a minor cult classic. “I’ll Be Waiting” came in at #106 last week and is about to disappear.
#105. Gregg Diamond, “Star Cruisin'”
Diamond’s biggest claim to fame came three years prior to this, when he wrote and produced “More, More, More” for Andrea True. “Star Cruisin'” was the one song under his own name to hit the pop charts, spending two weeks at #102 in mid-March. If you came here seeking unadulterated disco bliss, you’re in luck.
#103. Barry White, “Just the Way You Are”
I was this-weekend-years-old when I learned that White had covered Billy Joel. Things kick off with some typical BW pillow-ish talk, but otherwise he stays faithful to the original. Alas, it would climb only one position higher than this.
#102. The ADC Band, “Long Stroke”
More funk, this time out of Detroit. It’s got a distinct Parliament-Funkadelic feel, which of course is not a bad thing. “Long Stroke” had already peaked at #101.
The Music of My Life 
Gregg’s Bionic Boogie albums are solid hardcore disco. One features Luther Vandross singing lead on Hot Butterfly.
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