The 80's thread seemed popular, so in that VH-1 tradition, we'll go through the 70's in the same fashion. One thing I noticed while compiling this list is that 70's music kicked the 80's music's ass in almost every way possible. For every 80's act, there is a 70's act that is in every way superior. For every act that spanned both decades, the work they did in the 70's is far superior. For example, which would you rather have? 70's Stones or 80's Stones? 70's Pink Floyd or 80's Pink Floyd? 70's Heart or 80's Heart? 70's KISS or 80's KISS 70's Sabbath with Ozzy or 80's OZZY solo? 70's Styx or 80's Styx? 70's Commodores or 80's Lionel Ritchie? 70's Wings or 80's Paul McCartney solo? 70's Stevie Wonder or 80's Stevie Wonder? 70's ZZ Top or 80's ZZ Top? 70's Hard rock (Zep, Sabbath) or 80's Hard Rock (Motley Crue, Bon Jovi)? 70's Soul (Marvin Gaye, Al Green) or 80's R&B (Whitney Houston, New Edition)? 70's Country (Johnny, Loretta, Waylon & Willie) or 80's Country (Eddie Rabbit, Alabama, and Juice Newton)? Well, here's the list: [?=#100]"Sad Eyes" - Robert John 1979 The second of 2 Top 10 hits in the 70's for Robert John (born Robert Pedrick, Jr.) - the first being his 1971 cover of the Tokens hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Personal trivia: I was in 6th grade in 1979 when this song hit #1. My sister had the 45 single & played it constantly. In 1993 I was dating the future Mrs. Plow & had the chance to go to her prom (I missed my own). The only song they played that I knew was this one. [yt=I realy did feel out of place]oszGBSVNlgs[/yt][/?] [?=#99]"Baby Come Back" - Player 1978 Most of the kids here will only know this song from the recent Swiffer commercials. Those of us 'of a certain age' will remember this as the first big hit of 1978 (a good year for music in general). After 3 albums & 2 other Top 40 hits, Player ended in 1980. Lead singer Peter Beckett joined the Little River Band (in case you're wondering why this song is included on their Live Classics album, as well as writing hits for Olivia Newton John ("Twist Of Fate") and Kenny Rogers("After All This Time"). Keyboardist JC Crowley went solo (one of his songs was included in the soundtrack to Clint Eastwood's film Pink Cadillac), as well as writing for Johnny Cash & Smokey Robinson. Bassists Ronn Moss went on to play Ridge Forrester on The Bold & The Beautiful. [yt=You can blame it all on me]WYpAa5MOzMU[/yt][/?] [?=#98]"We Are Family" - Sister Sledge 1979 1979 was the first time I remember really watching baseball (I was more of a football fan), especially the World Series. Those of us who remember watching that series remember this song, the theme song of the Willie Stargell-led Pittsburg Pirates. This song was written & produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, the creative team behind Chic (who you'll hear later). The music behind Sister Sledge (4 real sisters) is also Chic. Song trivia: Background vocals on this song were done by a then-unknown Luther Vandross. [yt=Can anyone forget Gene Hackman in The Birdcage?]eBpYgpF1bqQ[/yt][/?] [?=#97]"Reminiscing" - Little River Band 1978 We teased some LRB a couple of spots up, so here's their biggest hit (#3 in 1978). I always though of LRB (I'm not typing that out every time) as being very versatile. This song has a big band swing (fitting the lyrics), "Happy Anniversary has a nice - I won't say 'funky' - groove to it, "Lonesome Loser" is almost country, "Cool Change" & "Take It Easy On Me" are pure pop, and "Night Owls" is more Corporate Rock (80's rock). Another band that New Wave killed in the early 80's. [yt=From their platinum album, Sleeper Catcher]Lk9whS0hrE4[/yt][/?] [?=#96]"Don't Stop" - Fleetwood Mac 1977 I'm not going to go into much about this song, as most people know the stories behind it & the band during the Rumours era. Useless trivia: Rumours was originally to be titled "Yesterday's Gone" after the line in this song. John was the one to suggest the actual title be "Rumours." [yt=See things in a different way]szrzUDODznE[/yt][/?] [?=#95]"Get Closer" - Seals & Crofts 1976 Seals & Crofts are Jim Seals and Darrell "Dash" Crofts from Texas. Jim is the older brother of Dan Seals (England Dan). Both Jim and Dash are both members of the Bahá'í Faith, which sometimes shows up in their lyrics (like this song). This song also features the vocals of Carolyn Willis of the 70's R&B group The Honey Comb. Listen to the song, then check out its album cover, which seems really out of place. [yt=Love one another]sX5aL4q-YXk[/yt] [?=Cheech & Chong called, they want their look back][/?][/?]
There are 2 each from EW&F, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, the Commodores, and the Temptations. As well as 3 from the O'Jays. R&B & Funk were at their peak in the 70's.
I expanded my criteria from the 80's list to this one. This list will contain only singles that hit the Billboard Top 100 (I had to narrow it down a bit or it would have taken me a year to do this). Also, the years are not divided up evenly anymore. There are only 6 songs from 1974 and 9 from 1977 and 1979.
Can I piggyback again when you get done? I've been hoping you'd do this decade as well. I LOVE the 80's but I will agree with the premise that when an act was popular in both decades, they were better in the 70's (aren't almost all acts better in the first dozen or so albums than later?) but if I was going to concede the 70's were better overall it would be almost entirely based in the fact that Motown/Funk/R&B was prominent and excellent in the 70's and neither (to any extent) in the 80's
I look forward to the rest of this thread. I dislike most popular music from the 80s. It's what was on the radio (and television) when I was in my teens and early 20s and, much like most "classic" rock, I'm sick to death of it. Even at the time, there wasn't much of it that I liked all that much. I've always liked pop music from the 70s more, I think, because when I was a little kid that's the music that older kids and "grown ups" listened to.
Choosing 100 you would have your work cut out for you! As mentioned, the 70's were on fire with many kinds of music. Maybe the ideas were fresher? I'm sure that has something to do with it.
It's okay. Very "big band" as you said. It's got a strong beat going for it, I'll say that much. Didn't recognize this one from the title. It's nice enough, but it suffers from guilt by association with all the rubbish the local soft rock station played with it (see also #99). That's going to hold for a lot of otherwise decent songs on this list (as with the '80s list). It also suffers from a few unintelligible syllables in unfortunate places . . . I agree 136% (aside from the ages).
[?=#94]"Sister Golden Hair" - America 1975 With lyrics inspired by Jackson Browne (and his 'California' style of storytelling), America scored their 2nd #1 hit with our #94 song. Contrary to popular belief, this song is not about anyone specifically, and not about incest. It's jut about a guy who can't commit. Useless trivia: [?= The single artwork] [/?]as well as the artwork for their next album History: America's Greatest Hits was done by the late Phil Hartman. [yt=I get so damn depressed]XIycEe59Auc[/yt][/?]
70s Heart was awe and brilliance and fire and beauty. 80s Heart was industrial embarassment. And hair.
[?=#93]"Reelin' In The Years" - Steely Dan 1973 A simple song about reminiscing about an old girlfriend & breakup, this second single from Dan's first album Can't Buy A Thrill includes an iconic opening guitar riff & some great solo work from Elliot Randall (Jimmy Page has called it his favorite guitar solo of all time). For all that praise, Becker & Fagan don't really care for this song ("It's dumb" - Fagan; "It's no fun" - Becker). [yt=You wouldn't even know a diamond if you held it in your hand]rBllejn5fVA[/yt][/?]
A 70's 2-fer [?=#92]"Rocket Man" - Elton John 1972 From Reggie's first US #1 album, Honky Chateau comes a song that has been covered by diverse artists such as Kate Bush, The Nixons, Jason Mraz, Mike Posner, U2, John Tesh, Puddle of Mud, My Morning Jacket, William Hung, and, of course, William Shatner. While some people see similarities between this and Bowie's "Space Oddity," most see the lyrics here as a metaphor for the traveling life of a professional musician. [yt=Burning out his fuse up here alone]-LX7WrHCaUA[/yt][/?] [?=#91]"Your Song" - Elton John 1971 Written in 10 minutes over breakfast on October 27, 1969, this was the song that introduced John to American audiences (it was originally the b-side to "Take Me To The Pilot" but DJs liked this one better). In 1970, Elton was working as a warm-up act for Three Dog Night. The recorded this song for their 1970 album It Ain't Easy, but choose not to release it as a single so that Elton could release his version instead. [yt=It's A Little Bit Funny]mTa8U0Wa0q8[/yt][/?]
if you send me a copy of your file like last time, I'll keep this one alive until your return...just sayin'
Alright, time to Lazurus this motherfucker. Let's see if we can knock out a quick 5. [?=#90]"Fire & Rain" - James Taylor 1970 Pretty much the apex of the Singer/Songwriter 'movement' in the early 70's. A song in 3 parts, each detailing a part of Taylor's life. Verse one is bout his childhood friend Suzanne, who committed suicide while he was away in England getting a record deal with Apple Records. Verse 2 is about his own addictions and depression. Verse 3 is about his early band, The Flying Machine. [yt=Always thought that I'd see you again]JOIo4lEpsPY[/yt][/?] [?=#89]"American Pie" - Don McLean 1972 If you don't know what this song is about, you just don't know anything about music. A few random trivia notes:At 8:33, it is the longest single ever to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 The song starts out detailing the singer's own recollection of the 'Day The Music Died,' but moves into an examination of how America had changed since then - including some pop culture references As the lyrics show the change in culture, the music also shows how radio was also changing - the song goes from mono recording at the beginning to stereo by the end. When asked in the 80's what the song meant to him now, McLean replied "It means never having to work again for the rest of my life." [yt=Catching the train for the coast]Y0Y_XRiJsCI[/yt][/?] [?=#88]"Angie" - Rolling Stones 1973 The only Stones ballad to hit #1 in the US, this song is not about Angie Bowie (who allegedly walked in on Jagger & Bowie naked in bed together) or Angie Dickinson or Keith's daughter Dandelion Angela (Richards wrote both the music & lyrics). According to Keith's biography, 'Angie' is actually heroin. [yt=Ain't it time we said goodbye?]usEcJwrNHAg[/yt][/?] [?=#87]"How Long" - Ace 1975 Those of you who followed my 80's music thread know of my affinity for Paul Carrack. This is most people's first connection to his voice (he was in a jazz band called Warm Dust). The band Ace started out as Ace Flash and the Dynamos, but was fortunately shortened. The song is not a love song, but is about the band's bass player, who was 'cheating' with 2 other groups before the other members found out. [yt=Ain't no use in pretending]wAVl_IJV5eI[/yt] In the mid 90's Carrack joined with Timothy B. Schmidt and Don Felder of the Eagles on a project. That project ended when the Eagles got back together for the Hell Freezes Over record & tour (Schmidt took with him the Carrack-penned tune "Love Will Keep Us Alive." This is a sort of segue to...[/?] [?=#86]"Hotel California" - The Eagles 1977 Classic story of 70's excess. The music was written by Don Felder and the lyrics by Don Henley, following a theme of Paradise Lost that is prevalent throughout the album of the same name. The song started out as a guitar demo by Felder simply titles "Mexican Reggae." The lyrics also include a shout-out to Steely Dan ("They stab it with their Steely knives") - they both share the same management & the Dan had name-dropped the Eagles in a previous recording ("Everything You Did"). [yt=You can never leave]NUbTW928sMU[/yt][/?] More to come...
Listening to that stuff makes me realise what a dearth of good music we have these days. Very little of it is in the same league.
No self-respectng '70s list can possibly be complete without... [YT="Show Me the Way, Peter Frampton, '76"]9LAJZUSu1hk[/YT] As Wayne Campbell would say, they practically issued this album to everyone, it was everywhere. Edit: Speaking of Wayne's World, I'm reminded of someone who should be on my under-appreciated artists list...
Sorry for the Loooong delay. Work has kept me pretty busy lately. (Un)Fortunately, I don't have that problem right now, so I can get back into this for a little while. [?=#85]"Who'll Stop The Rain" - Creedence Clearwater Revival 1970 Most people think of this song as a Vietnam protest song (it was even the title of a 1978 Nick Nolte film about Vietnam vets), but recently, John Fogerty has said that he wrote it after witnessing the rain at Woodstock. I'm not sure that I buy that as only the last verse seems to be about Woodstock. As the b-side to "Travelling Band", this is one of 5 CCR songs to stall out at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (they never had a #1 single in the US). IMHO, CCR is the best American rock & roll band (third all-time to the Beatles & Stones). [yt=Seeking Shelter From The storm]lIPan-rEQJA[/yt][/?] [?=#84]"Brown Sugar" - Rolling Stones 1971 As with most great songs (like the one above), this one has more than one meaning. On top, it's about how great it is to fuck black women. Underneath, its actually about drugs (or specifically, heroin). A few random facts: Song was recorded during a 3 day trip to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969. They also recorded "Wild Horses" and "You Gotta Move" there, then left to perform their infamous gig at Altamont. The phrase "Scarred old slaver" is actually not what's said on the original - it should be "Skydog slaver" ('Skydog' being a shout-out to Stones friend Duane Allman). According to Keith, the person transcribing the lyrics for the album didn't understand the line & put what they thought it said and they stuck. Several women have claimed that they were the inspiration for this song, including Marsha Hunt (who had a child with Mick) and Claudia Linnear (of the Ikettes), who was also the inspiration for Bowie's "Lady Grinning Soul." [yt=Hear him whip the women]3B0Y3LUqr1Q[/yt][/?] [?=#83]"Without You" - Nillson 1972 One of the few Nillson songs not written by Harry Nillson (the other notable being "Everybody's Talkin'" by Fred Neil), this was his first & only #1 US hit. The song was written & first recorded by Pete Ham & Tom Evans of the British band Badfinger ("Day After Day", "No Matter What"), and included on their 1970 album No Dice[i/i]. The song started out as 2 songs: Ham's "If It's Love" which had good verses, but no real chorus and Evans' "I Can't Live" which had the opposite problem. The song was released in the US as the B-side to "No Matter What." As for the Nillson version, producer Richard Perry had to convince Harry to add additional instruments (Strings & rhythm section) as Harry only wanted the piano & his voice. Random trivia fact: The piano on Nillson's version was performed by Gary Wright ("Dream Weaver") [yt=I can't give any more]_bQGRRolrg0[/yt][/?] [?=#82]"Nothing From Nothing" - Billy Preston 1974 Second #1 US hit from the '5th Beatle', this song began when Preston wanted to write a song based on the saying "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing." Preston played with more great artists than I can list, but here are a few: Beatles, Stones, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, Little Richard, George Harrison, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and the Red Hot Chile Peppers. Random Trivia Facts: Preston, along with his song writing partner Bruce Fisher, also wrote Joe Cocker's hit "You Are So Beautiful" "Nothing from Nothing" was the first song performed on SNL Not only did Preston play keyboards for the Stones' 1973-76 tours, he also opened for them on their 1973 European tour Stephen Stills borrowed the phrase "if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with" from Preston Preston played organ onstage for Mahalia Jackson & Andre Crouch at the age of 10 [yt=Rockin' an EPIC 'fro]G_DV54ddNHE[/yt][/?]
HA! Just thought of an act that spans the 70's and 80's but got better. John Cougar! Granted, he just got started in the late 70's so once he hit his stride/peak it was in the 80's. Other than him, I'm at a loss. Give me a few minutes.
HA! Bruce Springsteen. He got really rolling in the mid-70's and peaked in the mid-80's. Just about 50/50 both decades with Bruce!
Billy Preston also had a two-song spot in the middle of the Stones shows in '75 and '76. It gave Mick a rest. Now Keith does the two-song spot to give Mick his rest.
Call me crazy, but I prefer Keith's voice to Mick's. It's almost like a hillbilly bluegrass style voice. Case in point: [YT="Happy - Rolling Stones"]fBcFjNUzFJ0[/YT]
