became the band's first number one single in October of that same year. Originally written at the same time as Chicago VII'''s "Wishing You Were Here", "If You Leave Me Now" was one of the last to be completed and, according to reports, was very nearly left off the final product. "We're a band where anyone can contribute anything, so when Peter wrote this song, we gave it our all, even though we thought it wasn't anything special. Shows how little we knew," said Robert Lamm. Guitarist Terry Kath didn't like the increased emphasis in ballads, singling out this song as an example. Band member Walter Parazaider has been quoted as saying he heard the song on the radio while cleaning his pool and initially thought "it sounded like McCartney," not realizing it was his own band's work. The song became the band's first number one hit in the US and UK, and some band members felt the song's success changed the public's perception of the band, leading to more demand from Columbia Records for ballads, although Robert Lamm has since acknowledged that the band had started moving away from their politically-oriented music into the mainstream years earlier, beginning with 1972's Chicago V. Lamm and Kath, in particular, were uncomfortable with this turn of events. Band members who normally were not vocalists received vocal credits on this album. The album is notable for the lead vocal debut of trombonist James Pankow. Different band singers tried "You Are On My Mind," but Pankow felt they were not nailing it the way he heard it in his head as the song's composer, so producer Guercio said, "You sing it," and that effort landed on the final album. "You Are On My Mind" was the third single for the album, reaching number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1977. Cash Box said of it that "the same mellow vocal blend is here, along with a velvety texture on the horns, but the rhythm section has speeded into a quick samba, decorated with colorful percussion.." Lee Loughnane contributed the lead vocal for his song "Together Again". (Both Pankow and Loughnane would contribute lead vocals again on the next album, Chicago XI.) The brief vocal section of "You Get It Up" was sung by the entire band in unison — thus the album's atypical crediting of Danny Seraphine, Walter Parazaider, and Laudir de