Chuck Mangione’s ‘Give it All You Got': Doyle’s ‘Not-So-Top-10′

Quick, who had more Top Twenty hits, Squeeze or Chuck Mangione? That’s right, America’s favorite Flugelhorn player landed two pieces of music in the top twenty while Squeeze had only one (“Hourglass” in 1987).

Chuck Mangione was a stalwart of the jazz scene long before his pop success; he played with Maynard Ferguson and Art Blakely after moving to New York. His pop success was pretty heady stuff, though; “Feels So Good” landed at #4 on the pop charts and was pretty much inescapable in 1978. A lot of people don’t remember that he had another Top Twenty hit, “Give It All You Got” in 1980; ABC wound up using it for their Olympic coverage (that’s the Olympics where the USA beat the Soviets in hockey).

Mangione has also insinuated himself into pop culture with an appearance on “The Simpsons” and a recurring role on “King of the Hill”. I saw him in concert in the 80s, and he and his band were amazingly good, and I’m not even that big of a “smooth jazz” fan. Much to my dismay, Big Joe did not play my request.