Three Dog Night were really big in the late ’60s/early ’70s, bigger than most of us remember. They had 18 top twenty hits between 1969 and 1974, including three number-ones: “Mama Told Me Not to Come,” “Joy to the World,” and “Black and White.” Not only were they huge on the radio, they sold a ton of albums and were a pretty big live act.
Today’s classic song of the day wasn’t a number-one, but it came close. Three Dog Night released “Celebrate” in January of 1970 and it peaked at #15 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Celebrate” was written by the team of Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon, who wrote a number of hit tunes for the Turtles, including “Happy Together” and “She’d Rather Be With Me.” Three Dog Night’s three singers (Danny Hutton, Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells) traded off lead vocals on each verse, and they enlisted the horn section from Chicago to accompany them on the record.
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, Three Dog Night performing an extended show-stopping version of “Celebrate” live on the September 4, 1975, episode of PBS’ Soundstage. This is why they were so big back then.
