Another in my series of posts about tracks that charted in Australia but not in their countries of origin.
11. Bulldog - No
(Billy Hocher - John Turi)
USA 1972
Decca single (USA) #32996
MCA album Bulldog
MCA single (Australia)
Australian charts: #2 Melbourne #7 Adelaide #13 Brisbane #5 Perth
New Zealand charts: #17 NZ
No, the opening track from Bulldog's self-titled debut album, did chart in parts of the US, but it appears to have been a minor hit on some regional charts, not enough to push it onto a national Top 40. On the charts posted to ARSA (which aren't comprehensive) it shows up 27 times: the best is a #3 at WIXY Cleveland. In parts of Australia it was a genuine hit: #2 in Melbourne ain't bad.
No is a muscular but melodic piece of early 70s pop-rock, with that gruff style of white soul singing that was common at the time. It can sound mannered or forced coming from some singers, especially at this distance, but Billy Hocher pulls it off. Hocher wrote the song with Bulldog keyboardist John Turi, who would later be associated with Cyndi Lauper in the band Blue Angel and on sessions for her Night To Remember (1989).
Also in Bulldog were Dino Danelli and Gene Cornish, former members of The Rascals (earlier, The Young Rascals), one of the top American bands of the 60s that had a dozen or so Top 40 hits in the US 1966-1969, including three at #1: Good Lovin' (1966), Groovin' (1967) and People Got To Be Free (1968).
Promising credentials, but there was no follow-up with Decca/MCA after the first Bulldog album. Before breaking up, Bulldog did release a second album in 1974, Smasher, this time on Buddah. This July 2007 post at Robots For Ronnie has some hard-to-find background on this rarity, but sadly the downloadable file has expired.
Bulldog - No.mp3
Red herrings: For more than you'll ever need to know about songs called No No No or No No No No or even No No No No No,
see this page at my website.
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Chart positions from Gavin Ryan's Australian chart books and Dean Scapolo's NZ chart data.
Further reading: Joe Viglione's review of the album Bulldog at All Music Guide.
29 June 2008
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3 comments:
hey guys, a friend of mine had the bulldog song on a single way back in the 70's. haven't heard it since then but been looking for it for AGES. typed in bulldog - no.mp3 and your site came up first, with a link, :D many thanks
What a great find! My mother had this on a K-Tel album called "Believe in Music" and the album is so shot it is unplayable. I have been on an active search for a good 30 years trying to find her a copy of this tune. Thanks so much!!!!
AJ Evans
www.ajevans.net
Ditto, as above - Been looking for this song for quite a while & also have it from my own ancient copy of K-Tel's "Believe In Music". Am thrilled to now have it in my digital music collection. Thank you very much!
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