We've Got to Get It On Again - Addrisi Brothers (1972) 6/17/22

You can't make this stuff up!

Today's "Great Song of the '70s" is by two brothers who started their show business careers as part of a 1950s family acrobatic act: The Flying Addrisis!

By the time Don and Dick Addrisi reached their teens, they wanted to stop "flying" and start singing. They contacted a show-biz acquaintance, Lenny Bruce, and Lenny recommended they audition for Walt Disney who was starting a TV show called "The Mickey Mouse Club."

To recap: A circus act who wanted to become a music act contacted a controversial comic who set them up with Walt Disney. Not exactly a logical path to success.

They auditioned, but Uncle Walt turned them down. Not to be deterred (or be Mousketeers), Don and Dick went into music anyway...and after a series of failed recordings, they decided to become songwriters.

And then, surprisingly, they hit paydirt by writing a "Great Song:" "Never My Love," made famous by The Association in 1967 (#2 on the Hot 100)...and again by The Fifth Dimension in 1971 (#1 on the AC Chart). (Check links to both below.)

The popularity of "Never My Love" brought them back to recording, and in 1972, they finally scored hit of their own with one of their own compositions: "We've Got to Get It On Again."

The song reached #10 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart and #15 on the matching chart in Canada.

After that, Don and Dick released a number of minor hits, until Don died of pancreatic cancer way too soon at age 45 in 1984.

With everything they went through to be successful in the music business, the Addrisi Brothers certainly deserve credit for two "Great Songs:" "Never My Love," and "We've Got to Get It On Again!"

"Never My Love" (The Association/1967):

"Never My Love" (The Fifth Dimension/1971):

"We've Got to Get It On Again (1972):