MARKS BEST SONGS OF 1975 COUNTDOWN ... NO. 238 BLACK SUPERMAN (MUHAMMAD ALI)–JOHNNY WAKELIN & THE KINSHASA BAND (#21, September) Inspired by watching Muhammad Ali knock out George Foreman in the famous Rumble In The Jungle on October 30, 1974 in Zaire, British reggae singer Johnny Wakelin (born in 1939 in Brighton, England) wrote Black Superman about the man who would be the first four-time world heavyweight boxing champion. With that win over Foreman, Ali became the champion of the world, taking the belts away from Foreman. In 1975, Ali fought four times in a 28-week period (yes, they fought A LOT back then) and won all four of those battles against Chuck Wepner (the inspiration behind the Rocky movies), Ron Lyle, Joe Bugner and finally Joe Frazier in the famous Thrilla In Manila. Wakelin described in detail everything that was great about Ali in a boxing ring, including the famous floats like a butterly, stings like a bee line that was applied to Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Ky.). The song hit the Hot 100 in March 1975 and got to No. 53 by May before falling off. But four weeks after it fell off, it was BACK on the chart, this time climbing to No. 21 by September and spending 29 weeks total on the Billboard Hot 100. This would be Wakelins one and only chart single and though it became a hit, Ali reportedly never truly liked the song and shunned it completely. I guess you cant please everyone. Thoughts, memories? Enjoy!
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 03:47:36 +0000
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