Okay folks...how bout them 70's tunes?
And to heck with the top five, just go nuts! What's your favorite tunes, groups/artists, genres, etc?
BTW-I personally think the 70's were a golden age that kicked the 60's artists in their Aquarian asses!
But that's just me...
Rock on, people!
25 comments:
By the seventies, I was pretty much out of listening to rock 'n' roll altogether and grooving to the Great American Song Book. Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Noel Coward and the likes were my meat and potatoes then. The only new music I listened to then was show music and the seventies was The Age of Sondheim.
Pogue, you old fart.
You sound just like my parents...its as if after 1964 they took an extended vacation from popular music.
Unless of course you acknowledge my mothers brief foray back into things when she latched onto the Footloose soundtrack circa 1980 something. I still hear her singing "lets hear it for the boy..." Yikes.
The 70s i was all over the map because ...well....i was anywhere from 1 to 11. Here are a few nods though-
*ABBA- Does your mamma know, Take a chance, Dancing Queen, Chiquiquita (or however you spell that)
*QUEEN- i thank Scotty Cathie in my 4th grade class for introducing them to my young ears.
*THE COMMODORES- i thank Morris Fairs older brother for letting him bring those records to school in 3rd grade.
*Disco Duck and Splish Splash were two of my favorite songs in 1st grade
*BEE GEES- anything by them
*KENNY ROGERS- first album i ever bought was his greatest hits.
And salute to Tina Turner, Kiss, Bay City Rollers, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Billy Joe Shaver, that Chevy Van guy...all those early easy rock songs, and just about every bad top 40 song to come out on American Top 40.
I was too young to appreciate much of the "cool" rock music that i would later go on to love, so most of my 70s music experience you can chalk up to naivete and innocence.
Old Fart, yes...I've been honing Old Fartdom to a Fine Art. Ah, but I disagree I took an extended vacation from popular music...I feel as though I discovered the "real" popular music.
Springsteen, Kiss, arena rock, Speedwagon, Aerosmith (pt.1), Cheap Trick, Seger, Who's Next, Styx, Floyd, the best years of the Stones, etc..., ad nauseum, ad infinitum...heck, even some disco was alright. I absolutly agree with my partner in crime, Tim J. (whoops, I mean X):)Davis, the seventies were truly a high point for Rock N' Roll. From the experimentation of prog rockers like Crimson and Yes, to the folk, singer/songwriters like Carly Simon, to the California country rock of the Eagles. Rock became more dicersified in that era. Or, at least, diversity began to sell. The closest we have come to the sheer excitement of music since then is the grunge revolution of the Nineties.
Excellent points all, Mr Wrtech...I mean FLETCH...
BTW- Saw Warner play at the DAME with Stacy Collins last night...one word...SMOKIN!!!!
Hard to call the grunge movement "exciting" when it occured in a cloud of smoke. I dont know about you, but i recall alot of lounging around to that music.
the music, so much, my list will be group/indiv.s..here goes it, the albums I had/have..
Yes, Warren Zevon, Moody Blues, Emerson Lake & Palmer, The Kinks, The Clash, The Who, Edgar Winter Group, ZZ Top, Roxy Music, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Santana, Robert Palmer, Bee Gees, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Steely Dan, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Carole King, Carly Simon, Tom Petty, Styx, 3 Dog Night, Supertramp, Santana, Steve Miller Band, Rare Earth, Elton John(Levon), David Bowie, Jethro Tull, Janis Joplin, Boston, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffet, Chicago, Rita Coolidge, Jim Croce, John Denver, The Kiki Dee Band, The Band, Bill Withers, Barry White, Jackson Five, Alive & Kicking, Roberta Flack, Jackson Brown, Dan Fogelberg, Todd Rundgren, Leo Sayer, John Cougar, Cat Stevens, Maria Muldaur, Loggins & Messina, Rickie Lee Jones, Rod Stewart, 5th Deminsion, Blondie, Peter Frampton, Bob Dylan, Genesis, Jefferson Starship, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels Band, Chi-lites, Commodors, Hall & Oats, Bette Midler, Linda Ronstadt, Seals & Croft(Summer Breeze), Paul Simon, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Blondie, Earth Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, Ike&Tina Turner, Allman Brothers, Joan Baez, America, Blue Oyster Cult, The Cars, Joe Cocker, Alice Cooper, Eagles, Chic, Eric Clapton, The Police(Roxanne), Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Dooby Brothers, Al Green, Barbra Streisand, Spinners, Stylistics, Marvin Gaye, Gloria Gaynor, Dionne Warwick, Peaches & Herb...this is so much fun and time well spent!!
Kiki Dee had a band????
I know, funny huh..they were a British soul-pop group.."I've Got The Music In Me" (1974)..I had the album for that song, I think it was the only song I liked on it and then there was "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (1976, duet with Elton John).
look what I found..
I've Got the Music in Me
The Kiki Dee Band
Rocket/MCA 458
Released: November 1974
Chart Peak: #28
Weeks Charted: 18
I never knew that was her!
Heart did a realy cool version as well.
Because my sister was a teen during the 70s and I was in my single digits, I listened to her music. I was raised on and still hold dear the following artists. (The song titles beside them are just particular songs that stand out in my mind at the moment.)
*The Commodores- I Feel Sanctified
*Wet Willie- Grits Ain't Groceries
*Three Dog Night- The Show Must Go On
*Elton John- Bennie and the Jets
*The Eagles- Lyin' Eyes
*The Spinners- I'll Be Around
It wasn't until later in my teens and early 20s that I got in tune with......
*Led Zep
*The J. Geils Band (Pre-Love Stinks!)
*Frank Zappa
*The Who
*AC/DC (The Bon Scott years)
*Stevie Wonder
*ETC...........
J Geils, "musta got lost," and "house party" rock harder than anything in the "centerfold" era. As for grunge and smoke, lounging, etc...yes, some of that may have occured at the Fletcher/Davis ranch. Our main problem, though, was drunk groupies waking me up in the middle of the night to look for Tim.
P.S. Sorry, just woke up. to clarify... the groupies were looking for tim. they did not wake me so I could look for tim as the last post may seem to imply...oh hell, I'm going back to bed.
DM, I haven't thought about GRITS AIN'T GROCERIES for years! Jimmy Hall, the singer for WW, used to play in the boro all the time when I was in college. I think we played the same bill with him at least once, didn't we Fletch?
Many of my faves have been covered, but I'll expand on just a few:
KISS- Love them or hate them (there's very little in between) KISS's influence on modern rock and roll staging and spectacle cannot be denied. I was flipping past an old AMERICAN IDOL rerun the other day, and at the end of the big number, the performers were bathed in a confetti shower...a gimmick KISS popularized some 30 years ago. Not only the spectacle, but I think they had some fine tunes, particularly on their 1st 6 albums (which, btw, were all released in a THREE YEAR period! Find me an artist today who can pull that one off!)
SPRINGSTEEN- My love of the the Boss is well documented, but I'm particularly fond of his 70's output, which include four of the best albums ever made imho.THis isn't the working man boss of the 80's..oh no. This is much more! From the opening chords of BLINDED BY THE LIGHT (if you haven't heard the Boss's version, btw, you haven't really heard the song) to the jazz undertones of the hootenanny known as THE WILD, THE INNOCENT AND THE E STREET SHUFFLE, to the operatic finale of Born to Run's JUNGLELAND (Which includes maybe the finest sax solo ever put to vinyl, by someone whose name isn't Coltraine,to the dark, grim (yet somehow hopeful at the same time) DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (my fave of the four) this is a canon of work worthy of the bard himself. Don't believe me? Check em out sometime...you'll be glad you did.
THE WHO- While they did gain their fame in the 60's, it's hard to deny that the WHO. like many of their British bretheren did some of their finest work in the 70's. QUADROPHENIA (which blows TOMMY all to hell) and WHO'S NEXT (maybe the single greatest rock album ever) are just two of the fine pieces of work that Pete and co. crafted in the ME decade.
AEROSMITH- Ragged as Hell and ass kicking from the first note of AEROSMITH to the final note of NIGHT IN THE RUTS.A great american band, in all their ragged glory.
OUTLAW COUNTRY- Waylon, Willie, Cash, Shaver, Kristopherson, etc turning Nashville on it's ass!
SKYNYRD/ Southern Rock- the bastard step child of 70's rock that NEVER got it's due! Bands like Skynyrd, the Allmans, CDB, Sea Level (and later Blackfoot and Hatchett) could (and DID) routinely blow some of the biggest names of the day off the stage (Skynyrd opening for the STONES? MAN I'd like to have seen that!)with the finest musicians of the era.
Wow- I could go on all day...the 70's kicked butt, ya'll!
You list a virtual whos who of "white boy favorites" from the 70s. Where are all the ladies???!!!!!Comeon.....not ONE shout out.
Heart
Pat Benetar
Fleetwood Mac (Nicks/McVie)
Donna Summer!!!!
Diana Ross ("Up-side down...")
Like I said, I could go on all day...
Okay, lazymom,
Janis Ian- From Me to You
Carly Simon- Mockingbird
Jean Knight- Mr. Big Stuff
Anita Ward- Ring My Bell
Meri Wilson- Telephone Man
what? no runaways? give it up for ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!
that reminds me of Bowie's 1971 hit off his Hunky Dory album..CH CH Ch Changes...one of my all time favorite songs
Yep, Bowie would definitely go on my list for his 70;s output. Hell, almost his entire 70's catalogue is awesome, but I'd put him up as one of the greats off ZIGGY and STATION TO STATION alone...he was also my very first concert in 1978!Adrian Belew on guitar...it was smokin!
Okay, so I've been out of pocket for quite sometime. Been to NYC working my ass off with The Actor's Center. In the middle of buying a house and trying to start a new job and all that.
Glad to be back.
I loved the hell out of Cheap Trick in the 70's
Their self titled first album, Live at Budokan, Dream Police are all really excellent albums. Gonna Raise Hell was my anthem through high school. I also loved Aerosmith of the 70's Toys in the Attic is a great album. Rush Farewell to Kings and 2112. I also loved some of the Stones work of the 70's Emotional Rescue.
Peace,
D$
All excellent choices $...I knew I could could count on you for a CHEAP TRICK shout out(and I couldn't agree more)
Congrats on all the new goings on ! Glad to have you back in blogland.
Back in the day, when I was a wee thing in bell-bottoms and broadly-striped tees, I loved ABBA. But then again, I also saw "The Last Waltz" on HBO in 1978, and that experience sparked an obsession with The Band. And my parents were huge Dylan fans, so some of my earliest LP memories center on Blood on the Tracks. Layer that on top of 70s AM radio -- Dionne Warwick, etc. -- and the 70s were wack. (Last night in a conversation with Ben Parks I suddenly remembered how traumatic it was to hear "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton when I was 5 or 6. I mean, when she hits those high notes, I was scared of that song!)
In the 80s I discovered the wealth of 70s classic rock -- especially Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Queen, Jethro Tull, Rush, The Who. And much later I latched onto Cheap Trick and some of that related power pop.
Ya know, I don't think anyone's mentioned punk ... that's interesting.
Post a Comment