Now That's What YOU Call 70's!

Kid B

07-12-2016

It's on almost every commercial break right now as you may have noticed.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL 70'S

As we are well used to with compilations, you get most of what would be considered 'obvious choices' but it's the glaring omissions and the way they fill the playlist, which considering ten years of hits is a tough nut to crack anyway, with things that maybe most of us here would agree, ought not to be there.

So I checked the tracklist in full at the Now website. This is the selection spread over three discs.

Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Commodores - Easy
Billy Ocean - Love Really Hurts Without You
Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing
The O'Jays - Love Train
Barry White - You're The First, The Last, My Everything
The Temptations - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone
Wild Cherry - Play That Funky Music
Chic - Le Freak
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
John Lennon - Imagine
Don McLean - American Pie
The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock 'N' Roll (But I Like It)
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Billy Joel - Piano Man
The Who - Baba O'Riley
Free - All Right Now
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes
Rod Stewart - Maggie May
Blue Oyster Cult - (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town
Status Quo - Rockin' All Over The World
Ram Jam - Black Betty
The Knack - My Sharona
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - The Grease Mega-Mix
Jackson 5 - ABC
Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Blondie - Heart Of Glass
Donna Summer - I Feel Love
Santana - Oye Como Va
Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You
Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side
Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin'
Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
10cc - I'm Not In Love
Carole King - It's Too Late
Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
Dolly Parton - Jolene
John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
Paul McCartney & Wings - Live And Let Die
Roxy Music - Love Is The Drug
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)
Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

You can see they've tried to blend in the new wave factor with a bit of Buzzcocks, bit of Undertones but personally I don't think that's essential, I'd say it's about the feel of decade, songs that would just take you right back there, not reliant on genre or style which after all was one of the great things about the seventies, particularly the latter half with a lot of new trends and of course the ubiquitous novelty hits!

I was thinking then, no Sparks, no Cockney Rebel, no Golden Earring

- staples I would expect to see and practically no glam-rock either!

So I'd be interested if others have the time and inclination to decide on their lists, stating what songs you think ought to be shoe-ins that aren't featured on the Now album or indeed mine, which I print below (a bit of cheating here as I've rounded up to a fat sixty)!

Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
Neil Diamond - Cracklin' Rosie
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
Chicory Tip - Son Of My Father
Nilsson - Without You
Neil Young - Heart Of Gold
T Rex - Metal Guru
Elton John - Rocket Man
Don McLean - Vincent
Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Dr Hook & The Medicine Show - Sylvia's Mother
Alice Cooper - School's Out
Mott The Hoople - All The Young Dudes
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
The Sweet - Blockbuster
Carly Simon - You're So Vain
Thin Lizzy - Whisky In The Jar
Stevie Wonder - Superstition
Wizzard - See My Baby Jive
Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us
Wings - Live And Let Die
Ike & Tina Turner - Nutbush City Limits
Mud - Tiger Feet
Golden Earring - Radar Love
Hawkwind - Silver Machine
Suzi Quatro - Devil Gate Drive
Paper Lace - Billy, Don't Be A Hero
Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun
Abba - Waterloo
Slade Mama - Weer All Crazee Now
Showaddywaddy - Hey Rock And Roll
The Rubettes - Sugar Baby Love
George McCrae - Rock Your Baby
Johnny Nash - Tears On My Pillow
Ken Boothe - Everything I Own
David Essex - Gonna Make You A Star
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)
David Bowie - Space Oddity
10cc - I'm Not In Love
Typically Tropical - Barbados
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
The Four Seasons - December '63
Status Quo - Rain
John Miles - Music
The Rolling Stones - Fool To Cry
Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free
Chicago - If You Leave Me Now
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
Althia & Donna - Uptown Top Ranking
Electric Light Orchestra - Mr Blue Sky
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John - You're The One That I Want
The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap
Blondie - Heart Of Glass
M - Pop Muzik
Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric
Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
Squeeze - Cool For Cats
Elvis Costello & The Attractions- Oliver's Army
Ian & The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

Elvisfan4eva

08-12-2016

I like your version Kid B and don't think I can better it. Yours is miles better than the one they've released.

You can't have Procol Harum though as it was 1967!

Kid B

08-12-2016

Originally Posted by Elvisfan4eva:
“You can't have Procol Harum though as it was 1967!”

I was kind of waiting for this, Elvis. I thought it was a sixties number but then we can be fooled by re-releases.

Re Virginia Plain though, 'twas a hit twice in the seventies yet they went for Love Is The Drug or some such.

I noticed too they slid in the Grease megamix (that wouldn't have been released until much later?) to encompass all those songs in one, I just went for "You're The One That I Want" which is as good for you today as it's always been.

Overall we can argue that my list is overcooked on the 70-75 era and theirs is stuffed with anomalies! Well I can anyway, I've mixed my selections on my decks over three discs and am currently enjoying Mr. Blue Sky - long live da Seventies!

Rocketpop

08-12-2016

Think it could use some more hard rock/metal. Zeppelin, Floyd, AC/DC, Sabbath, Yes, Genesis, Springsteen etc.. More Punk as well.

Kid B

08-12-2016

Originally Posted by Rocketpop:
“Think it could use some more hard rock/metal. Zeppelin, Floyd, AC/DC, Sabbath, Yes, Genesis, Springsteen etc.. More Punk as well.”

If I can think of some of the songs you mean, these compo people rely on the big hits mostly and so the likes of AC/DC and Springsteen might well be eschewed.

Pink Floyd would surely only marginally scrape in with "Another Brick In The Wall" - as for Genesis, "Follow You Follow Me"? Maybe "I Know What I Like" would be a better shout.

But I take your point and it's why I plumped for the likes Of Quo, Hawkwind and Golden Earring.

mgvsmith

08-12-2016

Definitely more punk....The Damned, 'New Rose', The Sex Pistols 'Pretty Vacant', The Only Ones 'Another Girl, Another Planet', The Jam 'Down in the Tube Station', The Buzzcocks, Ever Fallin in Love'...

As for glam, T.Rex 'Get It On' is essential.

Queen 'Killer Queen', ABBA 'Knowing Me, Knowing You', Stevie Wonder 'Livin for the City' should be on the list.

Kid B

08-12-2016

As much as I loved it then and now, I totally disagree with the punk/new wave inclusions - in my opinion these are far better served on compilations in their own right.

For T. Rex I reckoned on Metal Guru over Get It On and considered Abba's place as nothing better than Waterloo (I kept it to one song per artist in my list).

And having listened to the mixes I made, I realised tonight just what fantastic pieces of work Bridge Over Troubled Water and Vincent are.

The latter in particular, push to shove, tops American Pie any day.

mgvsmith

08-12-2016

Originally Posted by Kid B:
“As much as I loved it then and now, I totally disagree with the punk/new wave inclusions - in my opinion these are far better served on compilations in their own right.

For T. Rex I reckoned on Metal Guru over Get It On and considered Abba's place as nothing better than Waterloo (I kept it to one song per artist in my list).

And having listened to the mixes I made, I realised tonight just what fantastic pieces of work Bridge Over Troubled Water and Vincent are.

The latter in particular, push to shove, tops American Pie any day.”

Better not to ghettoise punk and pretend that it didn't reach the mainstream in the 7Os. That's how the industry wanted to deal with it.

Many of the songs you mention are of high quality so it does come down to a subjective element if choosing between say Vincent and American Pie. All I would say is that the full version of American Pie is lyrical genius.

Elvisfan4eva

09-12-2016

Originally Posted by Kid B:
“I was kind of waiting for this, Elvis. I thought it was a sixties number but then we can be fooled by re-releases.

:”

Yes it was a hit again in 1972.

Kid B

09-12-2016

Originally Posted by mgvsmith:
“Better not to ghettoise punk and pretend that it didn't reach the mainstream in the 7Os.”

I certainly wouldn't want to do that but I'm not sure the record industry was/is? I'm glad it happened and would happily make a compo of all those 7"s I had as a teen.

Quote:
“A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while

But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

So bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died

I started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me

Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned

And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died

We were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died

And they were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
Singin' this'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die

They were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey 'n rye
And singin' this'll be the day that I die”

American Pie is lyrical genius - well, perhaps, I'm no expert but I just don't care for the song at all.