'Welcome Back' by the 'Wildly Unpopular' John Sebastian
- edgarstreetbooks
- 6 days ago
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‘200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs Vol. 2’ Book Excerpt
Frank Mastropolo
The Lovin’ Spoonful recorded hit after hit in the 1960s, but by 1968, singer-songwriter John Sebastian left to pursue a solo career. Sebastian recorded solo LPs and played harmonica on the Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues,” but he couldn’t replicate the success he had with the Spoonful.
Sebastian had a career resurgence in 1976 when he was asked to record the theme song for the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. Originally written for the show with just one verse, Sebastian returned to the studio to extend the song and add a harmonica solo when fans clamored for a single version, which became a №1 hit.
“I was so wildly unpopular,” Sebastian told City, “Warner Bros. was trying to pretend I wasn’t there.
“I had made the TV theme for Welcome Back, Kotter and people were calling from the Midwest saying, ‘I have to have this theme song!’ And there was no record. So I went back in the studio and elongated it so it could be a record.”\
“It was certainly not the record company trying to make that happen,” Sebastian told Classic Bands.
“It was record buyers going into their record stores saying ‘I want to buy the Welcome Back, Kotter theme song.’ That’s an audience-driven single that record companies pray for.”
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 200 Greatest 70s Rock Songs Vol. 2, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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