Saturday, July 18, 2015

40 Year Itch : Betcha!

Cousin Cousine, 1975

The Pointer Sisters : How Long ( Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)


    According to a 1975 survey taken by Redbook Magazine, 40% of married women had an extramarital affair by the age of 40. In an analysis of divorces carried out in 1975, infidelity was cited as a factor in 54% of the cases. ( 29% of the time by men, 18% by women, 7% of the time because both had something going on the side). The mid-70's was the height of American promiscuity. Quite a few hit songs of the mid-70's reflected this kind of cheating: BJ Thomas's "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song", Jessi Colter's "I'm Not Lisa", Gary Stewart's "She's Actin' Single ( I'm Drinkin' Doubles)" were all big country hits. 

     Shirley Brown's "Woman to Woman", Millie Jackson's "If Loving You is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right " and her entire Caught Up album visited the same territory on the R and B charts. And then there's the funky "How Long ( Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)" from The Pointer Sisters which would hit #1 on the R and B charts in 1975. It may sounds like a New Orleans groove courtesy of The Meters but those are just top notch studio musicians, including Wah Wah Watson on guitar.


Infidelity still breaks up a fair share of marriages ( 41%)  but the numbers aren't where they were in the 1970's. Most people have realized, in the words of William Bell, "trying to love two/ ain't easy to do".


No comments:

Post a Comment