"Sending Out An S.O.S." is a 1975 song for singer

Retta Young Retta Young was a singer who released an album and 3 singles during the 1970s. She is remembered for her 1975 disco hit " Sending Out An S.O.S.". Background In the 1960s she was a member of The Superbs, and The Devotions. In the mid-70s she wa ...

. It charted in the US on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' and ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' charts. It charted also in the UK where it did better. It is considered a classic disco song and appears on a multitude of compilations.

Background

In The US, the record was released on

All Platinum All Platinum Records was a record company started in 1967 by singer/writer/producer Sylvia Robinson and her husband, businessman Joe Robinson, who had previously worked in the recording industry. All Platinum and its subsidiary labels, includin ...

AP 2355. In Australia, The Netherlands and Germany it was released on the

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

label. It was written by Allan Landon and Douglas Lenier who wrote "I Love You More Than Ever" which appears on the '' More than Ever'' album by Blood, Sweat & Tears. The single was reviewed by Sue Byrom in the May 3 issue of ''Record Mirror''. She made a note of the S.O.S beeps and their catchiness. She also mentioned what came to mind with this song which was " Then Came You" by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

and The Spinners. Also in that issue Giovanni Dadomo in his Soul Stirrings, Soul Gossip column was referring to it as blockbusting. Young's picture also appeared in the column. The single was reviewed by ''Cash Box'' in the May 31, 1975 issue. The reviewer mentioned the large amount play it was getting at UK discos as well as the local airplay in the US at WNJR-AM in New York. Calling it a free-flowing rhythm track, her sensual vocal and the "super touch" of the

Morse Code Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...

SOS beeps also were noted. On the week of June 7, 1975, Dede Dabney in her ''Record World'' Soul Truth column had it as one of Dede's Ditties to Watch.

Airplay (selective)

''Radio & Records'' reported in their June 20 issue that Jim Sotet at WABX-FM in Detroit was playing the single. It was also reported by ''Record World'' in the June 21 issue that the single was seeing heavy action at WABX-FM. It was reported by ''RPM Weekly'' in the October 4 issue that the single was at no. 71 on Jim Duncan's playlist at CKBC in Bathurst, Canada.

Chart

The record would eventually peak at No. 88 in the U.S. on the ''Billboard'' R&B charts and No. 28 in the U.K.

US charts

;''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles chart On the week ending, July 19, 1975, the single made its debut at no. 94 in the ''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles Chart. Peaking at no. 88, it hung around for a third week at no. 91. ;''Billboard'' Disco Action charts (selective) For the week ending May 31, 1975, the single was in all four sections of the Disco Action chart. It was at no. 14 in the Top Audience Response Records In N.Y. Discos section, no. 1 in the Downstairs Records (New York) Retail Sales section, no. 12 in the Colony Records (New York) Retail Sales section and no. 15 in the Melody Song Shops (Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island) Retail Sale section. For the week ending June 14, "Sending Out An S.O.S." was rated No.9 for The Top Audience Response In N.Y. Discos. Other songs in the chart at the time were, " The Hustle" by

Van McCoy Van Allen Clinton McCoy (January 6, 1940 – July 6, 1979) was an American musician, record producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and orchestra conductor. He is known for his 1975 internationally successful song " The Hustle". He has approximat ...

at no. 3, " El Bimbo" by

Bimbo Jet Bimbo Jet was a French euro disco group led by Claude Morgan and Laurent Rossi (22 May 1948 – 20 August 2015), that gained international fame during the summers of 1974 and 1975 with the song "El Bimbo". "El Bimbo" is popular with street musician ...

at no. 2, and " Free Man" by

South Shore Commission South Shore Commission were an American Soul/ funk band from Washington D.C. that released a stand-alone single called "Right On Brother" on the Atlantic Records label in 1970. A self-titled album followed in 1975 on Wand records. Members include ...

at no. 1. Colony Records had it at No. 7 and Downstairs Records had it at No 1. For the week of June 28, in the Disco Action charts, it was at no. 12 in Top Audience Response Records In N.Y. Discos chart, no 14 in Colony Records (New York) Retail Sales chart, and no. 10 in Melody Song Shops (Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island) Retail Sales chart. ;''Cash Box'' Top 100 R&B chart On August 2, the record made its debut in the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 R&B chart at no. 85. It peaked at no. 74 on the week of August 23, spending a total of four weeks in the chart. ;''Record World'' Discotheque Hit Parade chart On the week of June 7, 1975 it was on the Discotheque Hit Parade chart, played by DJ Larry Sanders at the Barefoot Boy in New York.

UK charts

;Main chart On the week of May 31, the single made its debut in the UK chart at no. 50. It peaked at no. 28 at the end of June, was still in the top 50 on July 12 at no. 44. It spent a total of seven weeks in the chart. ;UK Disco Top 20 It peaked at no. 9 on the UK Disco Top 20 on June 28, 1975. It also made no. 10 on Hamilton’s Disco Top 10.

Appearances

Along with " Shame, Shame, Shame" by Shirley & Co., "7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (Blow Your Whistle)" by

The Rimshots The Rimshots were an American funk and disco band, popular in the late 1970s History The group started out as the house band for the record labels All Platinum Records and in particular, Stang Records in the early 1970s. The then nameless rhythm ...

, "

Hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

Calender A calender is a series of hard pressure rollers used to finish or smooth a sheet of material such as paper, textiles, rubber, or plastics. Calender rolls are also used to form some types of plastic films and to apply coatings. Some calende ...

and "Dolly My Love" by The Moments, "Hypertension" appears on the ''All Platinum Gold'' compilation album. According to the

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

website, "Sending Out an S.O.S. appears on around fifty various artist compilations.

References

{{reflist

Other versions

The song was also covered by South African artist Jonathan Butler and appeared as the B side of his "I'll Be Home" single which was released on the Bullet label in 1976.Soul Safari, June 2, 2014
Township Soul & Boogie Vol 11-Jonathan Butler
/ref>

External links

* Discogs
Various releases on the single at Discogs
* ejxit channel
Sending out an S.O.S. - Retta Young (Audio)
* DJ' PYL - Funk Disco Soul Groove channel
RETTA YOUNG - (Sending Out An) S.O.S (Extended Version) (1975) (Audio)
* keurspel (Leon Rossouw) channel
Jonathan Butler - Sending out an SOS (Audio)
* Disco chart - It debuted for the week ending May 31, 1975. >> Disco Charts
''DISCO CHART DEBUT'' ''For Week Ending May 31, 1975''
1975 songs 1975 singles American disco songs All Platinum Records singles