Up in a Puff of Smoke (1975) 4/27/20

Today, we have an anomaly: A British artist who had several hit singles in the UK, but only one that charted in the US.

That's not terribly unusual, except for this: Her American hit didn't make the Top 40 in the UK!

And one more thing: the song never appeared on an album. It was just a single—and only a single.

But it was a “Great Song of of the '70s,” especially in the discos!

Polly Brown was the lead singer of a British group called “Pickettywitch,” and was recruited to record a one-off “Motown Style” song called “Up in a Puff of Smoke.” (To me, it sounds like she was channeling Diana Ross!)

Many US radio stations played it. In fact, during a recent “American Top 40” rerun on Sirius XM Radio, I was delighted to hear Casey Kasem introduce it as the #16 song for that week in 1975. (Note: Today would have been Casey's 88th Birthday.)

That's as high as it got on the Top 40 (It climbed to #11 in Canada), but on the Billboard Disco Chart, it reached #3—because, well, it was fun to dance to!

In any event, you may not remember it as well as I do, but I truly believe this underrated and underplayed tune was a “Great Song of the '70s!”