The Rapper (1970) 10/28/20

Today we begin our second year of highlighting “Great Songs of the '70s,” by returning to the first few songs we highlighted last year, before moving on to another year of hits!

Oldies fans may remember Donnie Iris as a member of the group Wild Cherry (“Play That Funky Music”) in the mid 70s, and/or as a solo artist in the early '80s (“Ah, Leah”). But before all that, he fronted a group called the Jaggerz.

In 1970, they released “The Rapper:” a song that Donnie wrote about smooth talking men who preyed on unsuspecting women. For you youngsters out there, the song itself had nothing to do with today's definition of “rapping.” Back then, “rap” was a slang term about having a conversation with someone. (Example: “Hey, let's rap about life for a while.”)

Man, I feel old having to explain that! :-)

At WOHO in Toledo, we even had a talk show called “Rap,” with hosts including Harold Salverda and Ken R. Deutsch. (I was Ken's call screener and sometimes foil. We still touch base every now and then.)

Anyway, the song reached #2 on Billboard's Hot 100, and might have made it to #1 if the timing had been a bit better. It had the unfortunate problem of reaching #2 when Simon & Garfunkel were holding down #1 with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

The Jaggerz ended up being a one-hit wonder, but their one hit was a “Great Song of 1970!”