Think was an American studio

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

put together by

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

s Lou Stallman and Bobby Susser in 1971.

"Once You Understand"

The group released a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Once You Understand", on

Laurie Records Laurie Records was a record label established in New York City in 1958 by brothers Robert and Gene Schwartz, and Allan I. Sussel. Among the recording artists on Laurie's roster were Dion and the Belmonts (both together and as separate acts), ...

which consists mostly of a dialogue between teenagers and their parents over the growing

culture change Culture change is a term used in public policy making that emphasizes the influence of cultural capital on individual and community behavior. It has been sometimes called repositioning of culture, which means the reconstruction of the cultural conce ...

; the teenagers have liberal viewpoints, while their parents are more conservative. Throughout the record, the words "things get a little easier/ once you understand" are repeated. The song ends abruptly as a policeman calls the father with the news that his 17-year-old son is dead from an

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

. "Once You Understand" started getting airplay in late 1971, hitting number one at stations

KQV KQV (1410 AM) is a non-commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and covering the Greater Pittsburgh Region. Owned by Broadcast Educational Communications, the station simulcasts FM 88.1 WKGO in Murrysville and airs an easy liste ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

and

WIXY WIXY (100.3 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station broadcasting a country music radio format. Licensed to Champaign, Illinois, United States, the station serves the Champaign-Urbana area. The station is currently owned by the Illini Radio G ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

; nationally, it made it to No. 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in early 1972, even though some stations banned the song for its reference to drugs. Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 The flip side of the single, "Gather" is a poem sung about life being short. (In later decades, "Once You Understand" was often

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

by hip hop

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

.) The song also peaked at number 76 in Australia. The record was re-released in early 1974, when the partial broadcast ban was lifted and peaked at No. 53 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Later releases

Laurie released another single from Think, "It's Not The World, It's The People" b/w "Who Are You To Tell Me What To Do", as well as an album, ''Encounter "Once You Understand"'', but neither was a hit. Stallman later produced a series of educational albums (such as ''Pre-Drivers' Education Through Music'') in the 1970s, while Susser, who had previously helmed recordings by such artists as

Trini Lopez Trinidad López III (May 15, 1937 – August 11, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and actor. His first album included a cover version of Pete Seeger's " If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits include ...

and

Robert John The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, has had a fruitful career recording children's songs. This group is not to be confused with a West Coast-based band of the same name, that recorded two singles for Columbia Records in 1968 and 1969.

References

American pop music groups Laurie Records artists {{US-band-stub