74: Cher, "Dark Lady"

By Wm. on February 7, 2026

A number of the music/comedy/variety series of the 70s received at least some play in my house while I was growing up. Mac Davis, Jim Stafford, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Donny & Marie–even now I feel like I could tell you a little bit about these. "I Believe in Music" has always been a Davis song to me, though it was Gallery who had the Top 40 hit with it. And D&M singing their milkified take on "Joy to the World" has simply never left my head.

But it was The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour that made the largest impression on me, despite the fact that I was only ten when it went off the air. The descriptions of the recurring skits on the show's Wiki page ring bells to varying degrees. I didn't know who Bob Mackie was at the time but one couldn't help but notice Cher's sensational fashion choices from week to week. There was also the main stage, with its lighted circles on both horizontal and vertical surfaces–a quick YouTube tour has gotten the memories flooding back.

I didn't need any prompting about a couple of the occasional animated shorts that appeared on Sonny & Cher, however. Reading through the comments on YT, I'm far from the only one who was taken with the comeuppance of "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Doris's brutish husband. And I have to believe that the first time I ever encountered "Dark Lady" (debuting at #31) was via the cartoon clip on the show, since I tried for days–and failed–to recreate the chorus in my head after watching the title character sashay across the room to light the candles one by one.

"Dark Lady" essentially marked the end of that wave of Cher's popularity–soon the split with Sonny would give rise to issues of various sorts. She's kept coming back, though; almost a quarter-century after "Dark Lady" made #1, she hit the top again with "Believe."