Odds and Ends: 1970 - 1978

     Over the course of recounting the music I remembered from my youth, I knew I couldn’t touch on everything. If I did it would sort of all run together like the old hit Life is a Rock (But the Radio rolled Me) by Reunion. However, before I venture off into the high school years, I wanted to look back over the big acts, one-hit wonders and other favorites from the 1970s that I didn't have time to mention before. Since I’ve been writing these blog entries, I’ve been stirring up my memory, kinda like poking a hornet’s nest with a stick. Some of the memories were better left in the vault, but they’re on the loose now.

 

The Champ

 

Paul McCartney.  HE hit the 1970’s still rolling after his success with that other group he was with and pounded out hit after hit throughout the decade (12 Top 100 hits). Okay, by the time he got to Let ‘em In I think he was just dialing it in. If you ever have the chance, you should ask my wife what she thinks about that song, and be prepared for an earful.

 

Someone’s knocking on the door, someone’s ringing the bell

Do me a favor, open the door and let’em in

 

It’s a wonder Lennon didn’t take him out back and kick the crap out of him. We still got the great Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, Band on the Run, Jet and Junior’s Farm. Sure there were syrupy ballads, but Sir Paul could do no wrong during the decade. His ex band mates added another 8 songs to the top 100, most of them by Ringo Starr.

 

 

The Big Players

 

     I went to the Billboard top 100 hits for each year from 1970 through 1978 and took a look at who had the most hits during that time. Elton John and the Carpenters each racked up 11 top 100 hits during that time period. There was hardly a time when Elton John wasn’t on the radio, with his first hit charting in 1972 and the latest in 1977. If you add in his duet with Kiki Dee, Don’t Go Breaking my Heart, in 1976, that gets hit total up to 12. Somewhere in there he also managed to star in The Who’s rock opera Tommy as the Pinball Wizard in 1975. Between David Bowie and Elton John, they pretty much defined glam rock in the 70’s. John’s career after the seventies is a story of re-invention and well timed nostalgia, and he still is a big draw on the concert circuit, most recently teaming up with Billy Joel.

 

     The Carpenters, on the other hand, were about as far from glam rock as you could get. They were AM radio mainstays from 1970 to 1975, when personal problems and the pressures of fame would start to take their toll. Fortunately, Barry Manilow, whose career was taking off just when the Carpenter’s was declining, would continue to push the envelope on overproduced harmless, vanilla music, reaching the top 100 8 times from 1975 to 1978. The music of both acts still haunts us today, but is especially annoying at Christmas, when selections from the Carpenter’s Christmas album are played every hour from Thanksgiving to Christmas. And just for everyone’s information – “Christmassing” isn’t a real word.

 

     Another chart topper that I remember from back then was the kid prodigy out of Motown, and I don’t mean Michael Jackson. Stevie Wonder first turned Motown on its head, infusing the label with a fresh breath of funk and serious musical chops, then took over the charts on his own. Like Elton John, Stevie was on the charts for just about the entire decade, even stretching out into the eighties, where his career took an unfortunately mellow turn. I can still remember times I heard If You Really Love Me, You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Living For the City and Sir Duke on the radio. I still dig Superstition, but I can’t believe the same person was also responsible for I Just called to Say I Love You

 

 

Chicago’s hits from the early 1970’s were a big part of my memories of the Golden Age of AM Radio, especially Saturday in the Park and Does Anybody Know What Time It Is? They hit the top 100 8 times until 1976 when their music fell a bit out of step with the times. I think KC and the Sunshine Band were what Chicago could have been if Chicago were wholly and entirely evil, instead of just mostly evil. (I’m talking to you Peter Cetera!). Chicago would reinvent itself a few years later and hit it big in the mid 80’s, but Peter Cetera would leave the band and neither would be the same again. Oh yeah, and they had a really cool logo. You know, bands just don’t have cool logos any more. Chicago, Boston, ELO…These guys took the time to craft something that would look good on a 12x12 Album cover. Now all you get is a 1x1 thumbnail on iTunes. It’s a lost art! Bah!

 

     And let’s don’t forget the women! Helen Reddy, Olivia Newton John, and Carly Simon made their presence known with hits like Delta Dawn, Have you Never Been Mellow, and the classic You’re So Vain – which I still love. Between them they hit the top 100 20 times throughout the decade. Only Helen Reddy would fade out as the 80’s came along. And heck, I’ll throw James Taylor in with this bunch for good measure, since he spent half the decade shacked up with Carly Simon anyway.

 

    And how about that country cross-over, John Denver? He parlayed the songwriting success of Leaving on a Jet Plane (a hit for Peter Paul & Mary in 1969) into a string of hits for himself that included Take me Home, Country Roads and Thank God I’m a Country Boy! He peaked out around 1975, made a Christmas special with the Muppets and took a star turn in the movie Oh, God! Which I thought wasn’t too bad.

 

     In the later half of the 70’s Philly boys Hall & Oates started making their presence known and would become consistent hit makers for the better part of the next 10 years. Rich Girl, which charted in 1977 was, until then, the highest charting song with the word bitch in it. I always thought the rhyme of rich & bitch was a little gratuitous, but it was a big deal bag in 1977. Hey, If Starland Vocal band can sing about nookie, a coupla Philly guys can toss around a few choice words with no problem!

 

 

The Biggest One Hit Wonders!

 

The 1970s was chock full of one-hit wonders the likes of which wouldn’t be seen again until the 1980s. For this list, I only picked the hits that cracked the top 20, but it still gives you a pretty good flavor for the decade.

 

 

1973 Billy Paul Me And Mrs Jones 

• We had a thing going on! Decent RnB tune, but I remember finding an old reel to reel tape recorder in my brother’s room one day. I played the tape and found myself listening to my brother Glenn totally spoofing of Billy Paul’s “Mee-e-e-e-e and Mrs MRS Jooooones. I still laugh about that to his day.  

1973 Clint Holmes Playground In My Mind

• And most people think it should have stayed there! In my mind, I always pair this one with Melanie’s Brand New Key 

1973 Dobie Gray Drift Away 

• Great tune! 

1973 Stories Brother Louie

• I picked this one up on a Buddha Records boxed set that had a lot of other great tunes on it. This one had a nasty groove working on it. 

1973 Vicki Lawrence The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia 

• I loved this song about a jilted lover, her revenge and the execution of an innocent man! A great story song that flips around Johnny Cash’ romanticized “Long Black Veil”. It’s dated now, but it was great fun, back then.

1974 Blue Swede Hooked On A Feeling 

• Gaboo Gaboo Gaboo Gotcha Gaboo! 

1974 David Essex Rock On 

• How this still gets played is beyond me, but in my mind, the Phrase “Rock On” became one with the 1970s, right up there with “Keep on Trucking”. The production on this was eerily minimal but still had a kind of raw power. The strength of this song as a 70s icon was reinforced almost 30 years later when Cheryl Crow released her sunny hit “Soak up the Sun” which ends with the great line:
• I, I’m gonna soak up the Sun 
• I’ve got my 45s on, so I can Rock On

 

1974 Love Unlimited Orchestra Love's Theme

•  Written by Barry White!

 1974 Maria Muldaur Midnight At The Oasis

•  Meh

1974 MFSB TSOP  

1974 Terry Jacks Seasons In The Sun 

• We had joy, and we had fun, while we sang about death!

1975 Carl Douglas Kung Fu Fighting 

• A great Golden AM classic!

1975 Janis Ian At Seventeen  

• A Proto-emo ballad

1975 Minnie Riperton Lovin' You 

• Sorry Minnie, but you sounded like a leaky balloon squeaking out the notes on this one. 

1976 Andrea True Connection More, More, More 

• Another Buddha release! 

1976 Four Seasons December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) 

• Obviously the Jersey Boys, with Frankie Valli had a great career, but on this one Frankie took a back seat to the rest of the band and the result was one of their best songs ever. Great bass line on this one, too.  

1976 Manhattans Kiss And Say Goodbye  
1976 Starland Vocal Band Afternoon Delight 

• Dear God  

1976 Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band A Fifth Of Beethoven

1976 Wild Cherry Play That Funky Music

1977 Alan O'Day Undercover Angel  

• She said What? I said woo-wheee! When this song hit the charts, it was the first time that I realized a song I liked was totally derided by the critics. I think this made everyone’s end of the year worst songs list. I liked it, so I took it personally that other people hated it. It took me years to realize it, but it really was a crappy song. 

1977 Emotions Best Of My Love

1977 Hot Angel In Your Arms 

• Saucy tale of lover’s revenge! 

1977 Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville 

• Jimmy Buffett is more than a singer, songwriter and musician. He’s an Industry! But for all the success he’s had, this bar band staple was his only song to hit the charts.  

1977 Mary MacGregor Torn Between Two Lovers

1977 Peter McCann Do You Wanna Make Love  

• In my Chevy Van! 

1977 Thelma Houston Don't Leave Me This Way

• Not bad for a disco song! 

1978 A Taste Of Honey Boogie Oogie Oogie 

• A decent groove, but otherwise a totally unnecessary song 

1978 Chic Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) 

• Nile Rogers was part of this band and he would go on to produce some great pop acts in the 80’s. Chic had serious musical chops, they just wasted them on disco. 

1978 Debby Boone You Light Up My Life 

• I’ve already shared my feelings on this one. 

1978 Exile Kiss You All Over 

• I remember working in the parts department at my dad’s car dealership when Tony, the Parts Manager commented on this one, “Kiss you All Over? Who the hell wants to do that?!?” 

1978 Paul Davis I Go Crazy
1978 Samantha Sang Emotion 

• Penned by the Bee Gees, cause they didn’t want to hog up all the sappy disco ballads to themselves. (Hate to admit it but I did have this album.) 

1978 Yvonne Elliman If I Can't Have You 

• Yvonne came to light in the rock opera Jesus Chris Superstar as Mary Magdalene, but she tore it up with this better than average disco stomper. She had such a great voice, it’s a shame she didn’t have a better career.

Some More of My Favs.

 

    I need to give a last shout out the rest of the great (and maybe not so great) songs that were part of the soundtrack of my childhood. If I forgot any, leave a comment for your favorites from those years! Next stop is high school, a new group of friends and another lifetime of memories!

 

 

1970 Band Of Gold Freda Payne
1970 O-o-h Child Five Stairsteps
1970 Spirit In The Sky Norman Greenbaum
1970 Venus Shocking Blue
1971 Treat Her Like A Lady Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose
1971 Gypsy, Tramps And Thieves Cher
1971 Don't Pull Your Love Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds
1971 It Don't Come Easy Ringo Starr
1972 Lean On Me Bill Withers
1972 Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) Looking Glass
1972 Go All The Way Raspberries
1972 Too Late To Turn Back Now Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose
1972 Day Atter Day Badfinger
1972 Doctor My Eyes Jackson Browne
1973 Half Breed Cher
1973 Loves Me Like A Rock Paul Simon
1973 Stuck In The Middle With You Stealers Wheel
1973 Shambala Three Dog Night
1973 Dancing In The Moonlight King Harvest
1973 Your Mama Don't Dance Loggins & Messina
1973 My Maria BW Stevenson
1973 Kodachrome Paul Simon
1973 Ramblin' Man Allman Brothers
1973 It Never Rains In Southern California Albert Hammond
1974 Come And Get Your Love Redbone
1974 Billy Don't Be A Hero Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
1974 Sundown Gordon Lightfoot
1974 Rock Me Gently Andy Kim
1974 Rock The Boat Hues Corporation
1974 Smokin' In The Boys Room Brownsville Station
1974 The Night Chicago Died Paper Lace
1974 Rikki Don't Lose That Number Steely Dan
1974 Taking Care Of Business Bachman-Turner Overdrive
1974 Radar Love Golden Earring
1974 Beach Baby First Class
1975 Magic Pilot
1975 How Long Ace
1975 Some Kind Of Wonderful Grand Funk
1975 Killer Queen Queen
1975 You Aint Seen Nothin' Yet Bachman-Turner Overdrive
1976 Let Your Love Flow Bellamy Brothers
1976 Dreamweaver Gary Wright
1976 Convoy CW McCall
1976 Saturday Night Bay City Rollers
1976 Fox On The Run Sweet
1977 Swayin' To The Music (Slow Dancin') Johnny Rivers
1977 Lonely Boy Andrew Gold
1977 Smoke From A Distant Fire Sanford Townsend Band
1977 Lido Shuffle Boz Scaggs
1978 Baker Street Gerry Rafferty
1978 Love Will Find A Way Pablo Cruise
1978 Thunder Island Jay Ferguson
1978 Peg Steely Dan
1978 Because The Night Patti Smith

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