(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. - "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)"
Hit Number 1: January 8, 1977
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
Back in 1969, the 5th Division got to #1 with two mediocre songs. ("Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" and "Wedding Bell Blues") What wasn't mediocre, though, was Marilyn McCoo's voice. I've said before in the past that I felt she had a very underrated singing voice, really taking the spotlight away from all the other members of the 5th Dimension. This includes Billy Davis Jr., a fellow 5th Dimension member that married McCoo while they were still members of the band. ("Wedding Bell Blues" is McCoo singing about wanting to marry Davis) In 1975, McCoo and Davis both left the 5th Dimension to pursue a career as a duo. To be fair, it had been a while since the 5th Dimension had scored any major hits, and with the overwhelming popularity of new genres like disco and funk, the old glitzy ballads the band had been doing weren't in high demand anymore. I think the couple saw the writing on the wall and left before they were launched into total obscurity.
Impressively, it didn't take long for the two to land a new recording contract with ABC Records. Maybe even more impressively, it didn't take long for the two to put an album together, releasing I Hope We Get to Love In Time in 1976. The title track was released as a single, though it didn't have much of an impressive performance on the charts. Instead, it was the next single, "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)" that proved to be the big hit, albeit a rather surprising one. The song wasn't written by anyone notable, being written by two obscure dudes named James Dean (obviously not that James Dean) and John Glover. But I guess it doesn't matter who's writing the song, it matters what the product ends up being, and if the music-buying public like it or not. And boy did they. "You Don't Have to Be a Star" was huge, and a much bigger hit than anybody could've reasonably expected.
The song is just your ordinary love song, with two lovers going back and forth about how much they love each other, and though neither one is perfect, they love each other just the way they are. It's cliché as all living shit, but it works for two real spouses singing together. Unfortunately for Billy Davis Jr., though, McCoo easily outshines him. McCoo's voice is still that same rich sound that made songs like "One Less Bell to Answer" great. Whereas Davis, who doesn't sound bad mind you, but he just can't keep up with McCoo. He sounds like he's a little out of his comfort zone, like he's reaching for notes he can't quite hit, but tries his best to get away with it. Maybe that's one of the imperfections McCoo doesn't mind regarding Davis? Musically, the song is pure disco, with those signature disco twangy guitar sounds, and backing horns that help carry it. I do really like the opening piano riff, as well as the backing choir. It's very easy for something like this to fall into '70s disco cheese, and part of it still is, but it's one of those sweet easy-listening songs that help fill up space. Sure, McCoo's voice might be the only thing that I'd consider great about the song. But nothing really sucks about it either. It's still generally well-crafted.
McCoo and Davis didn't do anything noteworthy after "You Don't Have to Be a Star," but after all these years, they remain together. They just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2019, and assuming nothing goes horribly wrong for them this year, they'll officially be together for 54 years this summer. That does nothing but help a song like "You Don't Have to Be a Star" to age well. Listening to this song, even though McCoo and Davis were not the ones that wrote it, I have to believe that they truly meant what they were singing to each other.
GRADE: 6/10
IN POP CULTURE:
Geri Reischi and Barry Williams of The Brady Bunch performed "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)" on The Brady Bunch Variety Hour in 1977. There's a lot more to this video than that, but it's the best thing to put here, so here it is:
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