Three Dog Night was one of the hottest acts of the early 70s. Combining rock, soul, and pop, this group led by Danny Hutton was the most successful chart artists of 1971 and the 14th most successful of the decade. Hutton got his start as a solo artist in the 60s, landing a single chart hit in 1965 when "Roses And Rainbows" reached #73. It wasn't long before his new band got him back on the charts in a big way. The band's cover of "Try A Little Tenderness" got to #29 in 1969, but their remarkable string of super hits quickly followed, starting with "One" (written by Harry Nilsson) peaking at #5 later that year. The band's chart career was relatively short, ending in 1975 after "Til The World Ends" stalled at #32. But it was filled with timeless classics including three #1's: "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)," (written by Randy Newman), "Joy To The World" (six weeks at #1), and "Black & White." In addition to those already mentioned, the band's hits included songs written by John Hiatt, Dave Loggins, Leo Sayer, and Russ Ballard. "Put Out The Light" is an overlooked highlight from the band's 1974 record, "Hard Labor," which is also one of the creepiest album covers ever.
Rainbow was a hard rock band with the constant of British guitar legend Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple. They've had several lead singers, most notably Ronnie James Dio and Joe Lynn Turner, and keyboard extraordinaire Tony Carey. With Dio at the helm, the band had a darker and less melodic edge. They didn't score a chart hit until a new lead singer came aboard (Graham Bonnet), taking the Russ Ballard song "Since You Been Gone" to #57 in 1979. With the change to Joe Lynn Turner, the band scored their only top 40 hit: "Stone Cold" landed at #40 in 1982. Turner would produce one final charting single for the group when "Street Of Dreams" peaked at #60 in 1983. "Power" comes from the Turner led album from 1982 called "Straight Between The Eyes."
After departing from her groundbreaking band, The Runaways, lead singer Cherie Currie teamed up with her identical twin sister Marie to release their first album called "Messin' With The Boys". The only charting single from the record was a cover of the Russ Ballard (Argent) song, "Since You've Been Gone". The Currie sisters barely broke into the Top 100 with this one, peaking at #95 in 1979. Cherie would find more success in acting, starting with her debut in the 1980 movie Foxes. More recently, she has become a renowned chainsaw artist. Yes, you read that right.
