Taxi/Sequel (1972) 5/24/20

One night in 1972, Johnny Carson introduced an up-and-coming singer/songwriter to his “Tonight Show” audience. This was not unusual. Johnny, of course, had a long history of introducing new talent to America, but this time, something amazing happened.

Harry Chapin sang his latest single release, and the NBC switchboards exploded. America demanded that Johnny invite Harry back as soon as possible.

Johnny listened, and for the first time in “Tonight Show” history, an artist returned the very next night for an encore performance.

The song was “Taxi,” and it propelled Harry right to the middle of the charts. Wait. The MIDDLE? How did a song so many people loved miss the Top 10? Radio formatting.

There was no denying that Harry's semi-autobiographical song about a chance encounter with an old girlfriend was a “Great Song of the '70s,” but at more than 6 ½ minutes, it was too long for most radio station formats. (Sad, but true!) There was no editing the song, either. The story was full, complete and perfect as it was. As a result, many stations didn't play it.

Still, thanks to Harry's appearances on The Tonight Show, some radio stations found a way to play it a few

times a day...and it ended up spending 16 weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at #24. (It went to #5 in Canada.) Interestingly, fans were so into the story, they kept asking if Harry & Sue ever saw each other again. In 1980, they finally found out when Harry released the follow-up song: “Sequel,” which made it to #23 on the Hot 100.

“Taxi:” A Great Song...and a Great Story...from 1972!

And for the rest of the story, here's the “Sequel:”