Captain & Tennille - Success and Subsequent Period

Success and Subsequent Period

Over the next few years, The Captain and Tennille released a string of hit singles mostly from their first two albums entitled Love Will Keep Us Together (US No. 2, 1975) and Song Of Joy (US# 9, 1976). Hits included "The Way I Want to Touch You" (US No. 4), a million seller; "Lonely Night (Angel Face)" (US No. 3); "Shop Around" (US No. 4); and "Muskrat Love" (US No. 4).

Such was their level of their popularity, that they were given their own television variety show. The Captain and Tennille TV show aired from September 1976 to March 1977 on ABC. The hour-long musical-variety program ran opposite NBC's Little House On The Prairie and the CBS sitcoms Rhoda and Phyllis. The show featured musical numbers and comedy sketches performed with various guest stars. However, despite solid ratings success, the duo wanted to focus on their music and touring career and, after one season, asked to be released from their contract.

In July 1976, Daryl and Toni were invited by First Lady Betty Ford to perform in the East Room of the White House in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II and President Gerald Ford during the country's Bicentennial celebration.

The duo's third album Come in from the Rain (US No. 18, 1977) was released while their television show was still on the air, and the album's first single benefitted from that exposure. The single "Can't Stop Dancing" (US No. 13) became a Hot 100 hit. By the time of the release of the second single, the title track "Come In From The Rain", the duo had left the show, and the song petered out at No. 61. The final single, "Circles," became an Adult Contemporary hit, but didn't manage to crack the disco-infused Hot 100 chart. A&M Records later released a Greatest Hits album (1977) which peaked at No. 55 on the US Top 200 albums chart. The Captain and Tennille remained a popular live act, although their chart success had started to wane.

The duo released their fourth studio album Dream (US No. 131, 1978) and first single "I'm on My Way" (US No. 74) failed to become a major pop hit. The second single, their third Sedaka title, "You Never Done It Like That" (US No. 10), fared much better, returning the duo to the Top 10. The third single, "You Need a Woman Tonight" (US No. 40), just managed to crack the Top 40. The Captain and Tennille were an adult-contemporary act, and during this time disco was ruling the radio, record sales, clubs, and New Wave music was cutting edge. A&M Records was embracing these sounds and some of the label's long-term acts felt it was at their expense. Toni Tennille would later recall that she, Daryl, and Karen Carpenter from The Carpenters once had a conversation in the parking lot of their label, A&M Records, after A&M had signed the Sex Pistols. They were not pleased with the direction the top label brass were going; in their views, ignoring the label's established acts in favor of recent signings. They even commented on how the newly-signed and unproven Sex Pistol members were all given their own parking spaces, and nobody from their respective acts had ever been given parking spaces, even after all their success.

Dream would be the last Captain and Tennille studio album released by A&M. In 1979, record honcho Neil Bogart signed them to a contract with Casablanca Records. The album Make Your Move (US No. 23, 1979) rose much higher on the charts than the act's previous release, and the first single "Do That to Me One More Time" reached the summit in January 1980, becoming their second No. 1 single. However, subsequent singles "Love on a Shoestring" (US No. 55) and "Happy Together (A Fantasy)" (US No. 53) only achieved moderate success. Keeping Our Love Warm (1980) was the duo's second Casablanca release, and sixth studio album overall, but failed to crack the Top 200 albums chart. A few years later, Casablanca was folded by parent company Polygram Records, and some of the label's acts were absorbed by sister label Mercury Records; but the Captain and Tennille were not among them. They continued to record music released by independent labels.

Toni Tennille had recorded two solo albums: one in 1984 on Mirage Records called More Than You Know, and the other in 1987 entitled All Of Me on Gaia Records, both of which were jazz-standard themed albums.

Toni and Daryl appeared on many television talk shows of the era. In an appearance on The Mike Douglas Show in July 1981, Tennille sang "Love Will Keep Us Together" accompanied by music played by a TI 99/4A home computer.

During the duo's period of highest popularity, Tennille also worked as a session singer (most frequently partnered with The Beach Boys' Bruce Johnston), performing as a backing vocalist on three Elton John albums including Caribou, Blue Moves, and 21 at 33 (some vocally arranged by Dragon) and most notably on the hit track "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". She also appeared as a backing vocalist on tracks by Art Garfunkel and The Beach Boys, as well as Pink Floyd for whom she performed backing tracks on The Wall album.

In the liner notes of the Captain & Tennille anthology Ultimate Collection: The Complete Greatest Hits, Tennille explains how her work on Pink Floyd's album gained her at least one new fan:

I went to see the Pink Floyd concert at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles. There was a 15-year-old boy sitting in front of me who recognized me. He turned around and snottily said, 'What are YOU doing here?' So I told him I sang on the album. He ran off to find a friend who had brought the LP to the show, and looked at the back to see if my name was really on there. A few minutes later, he came back and apologetically said, 'Can I have your autograph?' —Tennille, Ultimate Collection: The Complete Greatest Hits