Captain & Tennille

Pianist Daryl "Captain" Dragon and singer Toni Tennille dominated pop radio from 1975 to 1980 with a string of exuberant, jazzily funky hits. Best known today for the taut white-funk gem "Love Will Keep Us Together," Captain & Tennille were among the most widely known artists of their time, thanks to "Muskrat Love," "Do That to Me One More Time," '70s lite-rock masterpiece "The Way I Want to Touch You," and a revelatory cover of Smokey Robinson's "Shop Around" -- as well as a weekly variety show. The pair met in 1971, when Tennille was performing in a stage show and Dragon was working as a backing musician for the Beach Boys. Their partnership reached a fever pitch in the late '70s, but almost immediate obsolescence followed thanks to the emergence of punk rock; the duo's swinging blue-eyed soul became something of a punch line, unfairly representing the schmaltzy heights of '70s radio. Listening to Captain & Tennille's music today, however, they come across every bit as cool as -- but harder-rocking than -- the Carpenters, with Dragon's airtight arrangements, Tennille's consummate professionalism and discreetly utilized soul power.