Songs Casey Never Played, 8/21/76

By Wm. on August 23, 2026

Five charts prior, the last time we checked in for this series, I noted that “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” “You Should Be Dancing”, and “Let ’em In” had all debuted on AT40 inside the top 25. Now they’re in the second of three consecutive weeks as the top 3 songs in the country. There was plenty of action (as Casey was fond of saying in his intros) churning well below such lofty heights; here are six of the numerous tunes on the 8/21/76 chart that would fail to make it big enough.

98. Ozo, “Listen to the Buddah”
Starting off by putting the ob in obscure…I’m seeing almost nothing about Ozo, outside of them being based in Britain–feel free to fill in the gaps should you know something. I have found “Listen to the Buddah” to be mesmerizing enough to get lodged in my head in recent days. It had one more week to go on the chart, which it would spend at #96.

93. Gallagher & Lyle, “Heart on My Sleeve”
The first of two duos with one of its members named Graham (Lyle, in this case–it’s Benny Gallagher). These guys had been working together for a good while, including a stint in the UK band McGuiness Flint. “Heart on My Sleeve” had reached #6 in Britain in early July and is enjoying the first of two rides on the charts stateside; this go-round it would top out at #83, but it reached #67 in a brief comeback in December. It’s both understated and charming.

91. Barry Mann, “The Princess and the Punk”
Mann penned a number of classics for other folks, mostly with his late wife Cynthia Weil. This is just his fourth (and final) Hot 100 appearance as a vocalist. Its upcoming peak at #78 is higher than all but his 1961 Top 10 hit “Who Put the Bomp.”

“The Princess and the Punk” is not Mann & Weil’s best effort by any means, yet I am compelled to confess being moved by its third verse.

89. David Crosby & Graham Nash, “Out of the Darkness”
100% the highlight of this set. Seeing that it’s the closer on Whistling Down the Wire, and without even hearing any of the other songs on the album, that feels like the right choice. This is as high as “Out of the Darkness” got, which just isn’t right at all.

72. Grand Funk Railroad, “Can You Do It”
It’s only fourteen months since “Bad Time” departed the Top 40, and already GFR is gracing the Hot 100 for what turned out to be the final time–the end can sure come on quickly. “Can You Do It” is very repetitive, so I can see why it didn’t make it past #45; on the other hand, it’s also catchy, so I understand how it might have gotten that high.

47. John Handy, “Hard Work”
Jazz saxophonist still with us at age 93. “Hard Work,” Handy’s only Hot 100 credit, is one spot away from its peak. We’re spinning the groovy, almost seven-minute long LP version today.