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The Numbers Behind the Songs on This Single
Sat., Feb. 11. 2023 12:55pm EST
J. Jackson, lead singer for ApologetiX here again:
Our new single spoofs a pair of Top 20 hits by well-known American rock bands from opposite ends of the country and opposite ends of the '70s: "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors from Los Angeles in 1971 and "Let's Go" by The Cars from Boston in 1979.
Just an aside: The "A" Side of this single, "Ask God," is NOT just an "A" side. It's the story of how my lovely wife, Lisa, and I met. That's why we're both on the cover this time around.
When we're getting ready to put out a single, I'm always looking for something the two songs have in common. Sometimes I have things mapped out in advance, but often I don't give it much thought until a few days before the release date. That's what happened with "Ask God" and "Riders From the Lord."
I have a pretty good idea of chart positions of songs from the 1950's-2000's, and I can always double-check them in my reference manuals and online. I knew "Let's Go" by The Cars went to #14, and I had been thinking I should double-check where "Riders on the Storm" went.
I knew it peaked higher than Top 20 but lower than Top 10 and probably Top 15. I figured it was #12 or #14, and I thought, "How cool would it be if it also went to #14?" I checked and, sure enough, it went to #14.
That's not a common chart position. Many songs that reach #14 wind up going higher. To put things in perspective, only 52 songs peaked at #14 in the entire decade of the 70's. ApologetiX had already done four of them:
"Heard It in a Love Song" by The Marshall Tucker Band
"Ebony Eyes" by Bob Welch
"Soul Man" by The Blues Brothers
"Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)" by Robert Palmer
The last two were both from 1979, same as "Let's Go," There were eight #14 songs that year, which was tied for the most #14 songs in any year in the 70's, along with 1970 and 1973.
Ironically, the most-recent parody we did before "Ask God" that alluded to Lisa (in the last verse) was "Sermon in a Love Song," which spoofed one of those #14 songs.
Furthermore, Valentine's Day is coming up in a few days on February 14 (2/14).
All of that helped me feel better about putting a song about my wife on the same single with a song about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
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