One On One (1977)

Performer: Seals & Crofts                                        Writers: Paul Williams & Charles Fox
Album US Chart Position: #118                               Label: Warner Brothers
Musicians: Jim Seals and Dash Crofts                    Producers: Charles Fox and Louie Shelton

If we’re talking desert island discs from the seventies, this has to be on the top for me, for a lot of reasons that need some explaining. It all begins with the basketball film One On One, which was released in the summer of 1977. When I was in high school a lot of people said I looked like Robbie Benson at the time, so naturally I had to see this film. I also played sports all the way through high school--though I did bail on basketball during my freshman year because I tore the ligaments in my ankle and decided never to go back. I was also one of the few people who never saw Rocky when it came out the previous year, though this vehicle was substantially different. Anyway, I was blown away by the film, and I soon became obsessed with it. I didn’t have the money to see it a bunch of times in the theater, though I’m sure I went more than once. But for some reason, in those days before VHS, it seemed to follow me and I was able to see it several times in various contexts. Once our school even herded the entire student body into the gym one spring and ran the film for us up on a giant patchwork of white sheets that was the gym’s movie screen. Along with the film, however, was the soundtrack album for One On One, which I purchased immediately and could listen to as often as I want to--which was very often. The other factor that made the LP so magical for me was the presence of one of my favorite groups, Seals and Crofts. This was a unique project for them because they didn’t write any of the music as they usually did on their albums.

All of the music was written by composer Charles Fox, who was primarily a television composer at that point in his career. But he had also composed the music for several hit pop songs, and he certainly brought that sensibility to this project. The lyrics for the vocal numbers were penned by the great Paul Williams, a seventies staple on variety TV, but also an impressive songwriter who wrote hits for The Carpenters and Three Dog Night, among others. Finally, Seals and Crofts themselves, in addition to providing their unique vocals, also played on their vocal numbers. The first song on the album is the hit single off the record, “My Fair Share,” that went to number eighteen on the pop charts that fall. The love theme, it begins as something of a ballad, but soon turns into a medium tempo number about love. “This Day Belongs to Me” actually opens the film and runs under the credits as Benson drives from Colorado to Los Angeles. It’s also the tune that most prominently features Dash Crofts’ mandolin work. “John Wayne” is an interesting interpretation of music that occurs when Benson becomes determined to improve himself so that he’ll be ready when the comes time to prove himself. Williams gives the lyrics an appropriately western theme to go along with the prominent harmonica in the music. “Love Conquers All” is the other theme song of the picture, and is also reprised at the end as the music under the closing credits. “It’ll Be Alright” begins as an instrumental version of “My Fair Share,” and in fact Seals and Crofts come in toward the end with a slower version of the love theme. Lyrically, “The Hustle” celebrates the enthusiasm the main character has, despite not having the mental toughness to make the most of his physical abilities.

The rest of the tunes are instrumental numbers written by Charles Fox, with studio musicians performing. All of the songs are attractive in their own way, and they almost provide a vintage soundtrack of the seventies in instrumentation and mood. The first is “Janet’s Theme” a number featuring the flute along with a fusion-style jazz band as the leitmotif for Annette O’Toole’s character. “The Picnic” is really a two-part theme, the first one excited and jaunty as the couple goes on a picnic, but then it settles down into a slow variation of “My Fair Share” as they get serious with one another. “Flyin’” is up-tempo fusion with the flute on the theme, and an electric piano solo. This is followed by “Reflections,” and incredibly evocative seventies minor theme played on acoustic piano when Benson faces his worst fears. “Time Out” is another medium tempo flute tune that is used to underscore the times when Benson is feeling good and isn’t worried about anything. For “The Party” Fox changes things up and brings electric guitars to the fore, with two of them playing twin leads and solos, and is used in the film for the party scene that shocks the sheltered main character. Finally, the number used for the nationally televised climax of the film, “The Basketball Game.” It’s also used when Benson first arrives on campus and goes to the gym for the first time. Regardless of the success or failure of the film, the soundtrack from One On One remains a masterful summation of the seventies’ musical sensibility and is a wonderful slice of Seals and Crofts’ talents in the bargain. And it will always remain my favorite album of the decade.