A SECOND LOOK AT THREE DOG NIGHT

Those who watched Lost and American Idol last week heard songs associated with one of the most commercially successful -- and critically dismissed -- acts of the early-to-mid 1970s.

The tunes were "Shambala" and "Joy to the World," and both were huge hits for Three Dog Night. The group certainly was not on the same level as, say, The Rolling Stones or Creedence Clearwater Revival, but TDN definitely rocked a lot more than The Carpenters and Bread. And having three solid, soulful singers –- Chuck Negron, Cory Wells and Danny Hutton -- set the group apart from most everyone else at the time.

Three Dog Night dominated the AM airwaves during an era when such AM giants as New York’s WABC and WNBC played the biggest hits of the day, and when cars came factory equipped with AM radios. From 1970-75, the group scored 17 Top 40 Billboard pop hits, among them "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," "Never Been to Spain" and "The Show Must Go On." While the band wasn't a songwriting force, it did make the most of its outside material, written by such notables as Randy Newman, Hoyt Axton, Laura Nyro and John Hiatt.

America, another Three Dog Night contemporary in the 1970s, also was looked upon as lightweight and uncool during its commercial peak. Recently, the tide turned somewhat when Adam Schlesinger, Ryan Adams and James Iha teamed with the group for its new Here & Now album.

That kind of luck probably will not happen for Three Dog Night, but being connected to two of broadcast television's top shows isn't bad, either, and it just might lead to a different public perception. Meanwhile, even without a stamp of approval from hip musicians, there's no shame in admitting here and now that Negron, Wells, Hutton and company made some pretty good hits during their prime.