“My Hang-Up is You”
Freddie Hart
Written by Freddie Hart
Billboard
#1 (6 weeks)
March 11 – April 15, 1972
We’ve talked a lot in this decade so far about classic hits that have endured over the decades.
But did you notice that those classic hits often spent less time at the top than other chart toppers that have been lost to the sands of time?
Good luck even finding “My Hang-Up is You” to stream. I was at least able to find a YouTube rip.
But this is no glorious rediscovery of a lost classic. “My Hang-Up is You” lays bare the shortcomings that “Easy Loving” papered over. Hart isn’t in the same league as his younger contemporaries as a vocalist, and the production is stuck hopelessly in the sixties. There were moments that I did a double take because I thought I was listening to “It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin’.”
I love that Hart had a few more big hits after “Easy Loving.” But this record just isn’t up to the standard of its predecessor or most of the other songs reaching the top during this era. I can’t believe it stayed there for so long.
“My Hang-Up is You” gets a C.
Every No. 1 Single of the Seventies
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I actually like this. I would give it a “B-“. It is trying way too hard to sound like “Easy Lovin'” and that is the biggest problem. You can’t duplicate magic. Most singers do this to some extent and it seldom works. Good song but forgettable also.