Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: The Doobie Brothers, Minute by Minute

37 years ago today, The Doobie Brothers released the album that's generally considered to be the definitive full-length effort from the Michael McDonald era of the band...unless you're more of a Takin’ It To The Streetss kind of person, in which case it probably comes in at a strong second place, which still ain't too bad.

Released in 1978, Minute by Minute was seen as a commercial comeback by the band after their previous studio endeavor, 1977's Livin' on the Fault Line, failed to secure a top-40 single for the band. The closest that particular album came was with the Doobies' cover of “Little Darling (I Need You),” which only managed to make it to #48 on the Billboard Hot 100, a major disappointment for the Brothers after hitting the top 20 the previous year with “Takin' It To The Streets.”

Whether you love Minute by Minute or not, there's ample evidence to confirm that many other people loved the heck out of it - like, you know, hitting #1 on the Billboard Top 200 - and it was thanks in no small part to the album's biggest hit, “What a Fool Believes,” which took the Doobies to the top of the Hot 100 as well. In addition, the title track provided the band with another top-20 hit (#14), and they also found their way into the top 30 with “Dependin' on You,” which made it to #25.

Unfortunately, Minute by Minute also proved to be very much a line in the sand for McDonald: looking back, that's pretty clearly when it was determined - probably both by him and the public at large - that he had the chops as a singer and as a songwriter to make it on his own. The Doobie Brothers managed to eke out one more album together with McDonald within their ranks, but after 1980's One Step Closer, everyone took one step back, and the band dissolved…and when they got back together a few years later, McDonald was nowhere to be found.

Now, now, let's not get maudlin. Instead, let's listen to Minute by Minute. It may sound very much like a late '70s album - if only because McDonald was on something like 73% of the albums released in the late '70s* - but it's still a classic.

* This is not a legitimate statistic.