Rubberband Man (1976) 3/16/20

Our new “Great Songs of the '70s” Web Site showcases EVERY SONG we've highlighted since last October! The link is listed below! Click and enjoy!

Producer Thom Bell was one of the creators of "The Philadelphia Sound," the smooth soul style that brought us Barry White, The The Stylistics, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, and many others.

When he discovered his son Mark was being fat shamed by the other kids at school, he felt compelled to retaliate the best way he knew how: through music.

So he sat down with Linda Creed, writer of nearly 2 dozen hit songs (including "The Greatest Love of All") and they came up with "The Fat Man" (Mark's unfortunate nickname).

Thom and Linda soon realized the title and some of the lyrics were counterproductive, so they reworked it into one of the "Great Songs of the '70s," as recorded by The Spinners.

"The Rubberband Man" ended up being about a big man who can really move: the guy everyone waits for at the party, because when arrives, things start to happen.

As Bell said, "It was written for big people who were hip--to change the whole idea of a person being large, sloppy or slow."

In 1976, the song went to #1 on Billboard's Soul Chart...and reached #2 on the Hot 100 (shut out of the top spot by Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night.") In Canada, it went to #7 and it was a Top 20 hit in the UK and Australia.

It was also a big hit in the discos!

In 2018, the song was featured in the film: "Avengers: Infinity War."

Check out ":The Rubberband Man (especially the funky bass line!)