Long time music fans may remember Donnie Iris as a member of the group Wild Cherry, who “Played That Funky Music” back in the mid 70s…or maybe as a solo artist with the sonG “Ah, Leah” in the early ’80s. (“

But before all that, he fronted a group called the Jaggerz. In 1970, they released “The Rapper:” a song that Donnie wrote about smooth talking men who preyed on unsuspecting women.

For all you youngsters out there—as Ed Sullivan used to say, The Rapper” had nothing to do with today’s definition of “rapping.” Back then, “rap” was a slang term about having a conversation with someone.

For (Example: “Hey, let’s rap about life for a while.”)

Man, I feel old explaining that!

Anyway, the song reached #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and might have made it to #1 if the timing had been a little bit better. It had the unfortunate problem of reaching #2 when Simon & Garfunkel were holding down #1 with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

The Jaggerz ended up being a one-hit wonder, but that one hit was a “Great Song of 1970!