Photo: Photo by Antoine Beauvillain
Our Top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods songs list looks back at one of those 1970s bands who were known mostly for one big hit single. In 1974, Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods became a household name when they released the single “Billy Don’t Be A Hero.” The song went straight to number one in the United States. It would become one of those songs that those who loved radio at the time would never forget because it was played constantly on the airwaves all day and night long. The group never had any other big hits to match the success of their number one single. Whether you loved or hated the song, there’s no doubt that you remember it. Our Top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods songs list attempts to dig a little deeper into the history of the band and present 10 of the bands best songs.
# 10 – Special Someone
We open up our top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods songs list with the groups first single entitled “Special Someone.” The group utilizes a big sound filled with brass horns, strings and heavy handed backing vocals. Its sweet like bubble gum. The song was released in 1972. It broke the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number 65 on the charts.
# 9 – A Fool Like You
Continue with our top 10 Bo Donaldson and the Heywood’s songs list we turn to the track “A Fool Like You.” The song appeared on the band’s last album entitled Further On. The album and single were both released in 1976.
# 8 – Girl Don’t Make Me Wait
The song “Girl Don’t Make Me Wait,” was the opening track on the band’s 1974 album entitled Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. If you owned a Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods album in the 1970s, this was probably the one you owned.
# 7 – Our Last Song Together
Continuing with our Top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods songs list we turn to their single release entitled “Our Last Song Together.” The song was released in 1975 by the band. It barely broke the Billboard Hot 10. The song peaked at number 95. “Our Last Song Together,” was originally written by Neil Sedaka.
# 6 – Deeper And Deeper
As we move along on this top 10 Top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods songs list at the number six position we present another song from the 1974 album Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. The song “Deeper and Deeper,” was actually the first single released from the album. The song failed to chart and pretty much went unnoticed unless you had purchased the album.
# 5 – The House On Telegraph Hill
As we enter the second half of our Top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods list we take a listen to of of our favorite Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods songs. The House On Telegraph Hill. The song appeared on the 1976 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods album. This was an album that has never appeared on CD and is pretty hard to find on Lp. If you have it , hold on to it as it is pretty doubtful that this will ever appear on CD.
# 4 – Fool’s Way Of Lovin’
This one is fun. Fool’s Way Of Lovin’ was also released on the 1974 LP. It appeared as the third songs on the record.
# 3 – The Heartbreak Kid
As we get closer to the end of our top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods Songs list, we turn to the band’s single “The Heartbreak Kid.” The song was the band’s third single to break the Billboard Hot 100’s top 40.
# 2 – Who Do You Think You Are
One could argue that Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods were not a not a one hit wonder band because of the song “Who Do You Think You Are.” The song became the band’s second top 20 hit of their career thereby kicking them out of the one hit wonder category. The song “Who Do You Think You Are.” reached all the way up to number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. It’s chart success was fueled by their previous hit “Billy Don’t Be A Hero.” The song was written by Des Dyer and Clive Scott. It was originally recorded by the group Candlewick Green in 1973.
# 1 – Billy Don’t Be A Hero
We close out our top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods Songs list with the song that everyone knows. How could we not pick this one for the number one spot? Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods Song “Billy Don’t Be A Hero,” was released in 1974 by the band. The song was originally recorded and released by the band Paper Lace (The Night Chicago Died) before Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods recorded the song. Paper Lace actually had a number one hit with the song “Billy Don’t Be A Hero,” in the United Kingdom. Only a few months after Paper Lace had enjoyed incredible success with the song, Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods wound up having tremendous success with the song in the United States. “Billy Don’t Be A Hero,” hit the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two week in the U.S. for Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods.
The song “Billy Don’t Be A Hero,” was written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander. These two songwriters also penned Paper Lace’s big hit “The Night Chicago Died.” Mitch Murray was a professional songwriter who had his songs covered by bands such as The Beatles (How Do You Do It,) The Dave Clark Five and many others. These were pro songwriters who in the moments under stood the popularly of bubble gum sappy sad songs in the early 1970s. Songs like Terry Jack’s ” Seasons in The Son”, or Gilbert O Sullivan’s “Alone Again Naturally,” and many others were huge hits in the early 70s all. People ate up these song with catchy melodies and incredibly depressing stores. It was an odd time for music, or alt least pop radio. Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods took great advantage of those times.
Top 10 Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
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