I've been delaying posting my answer to this question because I thought I'd get
around to checking exact years for certain things, but I don't think that's
going to happen. So I'm going to bet the house and guess that it's 1978 for
me. Between the awesome Top 100 lists that Brent has posted (see posts from
the last several weeks), and some of my favorite albums and soundtracks coming
out that year [such as "Grease," "Totally Hot" (Olivia N-J), and "Saturday
Night Fever" (which I know was technically released very late in 1977 but
topped the charts and won the Grammys in 1978)], I'd have to say that it's my
favorite, with 1977 a very close second. Although David, you make a very good
argument for 1976, as well. (So much for betting the house... LOL) Guess
that's why I ended up getting the Time-Life Singers/Songwriters series for
1976-1979! (It's actually 4 CDs, two each for the 1976-1977 collection and the
1978-1979 collection -- they're fabulous!)
Shall I remind you all again about the two great stations on Live365.com? One
is the top 50 songs from 1978 (woohoo!), and the other is WABC's playlist from
1975-1979. A 70s devotee's heaven! :-)
Liz
David Ballarotto wrote:
> If you had to consider the musical merits of each year of the 1970s, in the
> final analysis, which would you say is the best....or....more subjectively
> than that even...which is just your favorite year?
> To be the most accommodating, we'll allow the year 1970 and the year 1980.
> (As "Jeopardy!" has to preach at least once a year, 1970 is actually the
> final year of the 1960s, and 1980 the final year of the 70s, and bluh bluh
> bluh).
> Anyway.....mine, I guess, would fall right splat in the middle...1976.
> For me the music of '76 is full of a different type of Sprit of '76.
> There's disco reaching its puberty, if you will, as songs like "More More
> More" show an evolution of layering over, say, 1974's "Rock The Boat." But
> the disco of '76 isn't quite as sophisticated or at times pretentious as
> 1978 and 79. This is the music of what's to come, both metaphorically and
> literally.
I'll have to second that, David. The music of 1976 is very special
because I honestly think that there were more genres clashing in '76
than any other years in the 70s - pop music was very diverse. And as
far as disco is concerned, it was the year that disco started gaining
ground. It was *still* new and it was VERY exciting. I remember that
very well, because as an early teen, I looked forward to hearing the new
disco record. It was THE new sound and it would always excite me at
that time to hear the new disco hit. If you remember "Young Hearts, Run
Free" by Candi Station, you'd know what I mean. "Turn The Beat Around"
by Vicki Sue Robinson is another. 'Til this day, those records still
sound VERY good, both musically and lyrically as far as disco is
concerned. Also, '76 was the year when Beethoven was well known to just
about every teenager. That's pretty amazing in itself. And who can
forget "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)" by The Four Seasons?!
> TV themes seem to find a welcome place on the radio in 1976, with themes
> from "Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley," "Welcome Back, Kotter," all
> charting and even landing in the Top Ten, or even as far as two of the above
> are concerned, landing right splat at #1. And isn't there just some
> pleasant, comfortable nature about J. B. Sebastian's longer version of
> "Welcome Back"?
> And 1976 saw some catchy mainstream music. Hall and Oates turned out what
> I think is their masterpiece with "She's Gone." "Moonlight Feels Right" by
> Starbuck and "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" by England Dan and John
> Ford Coley are keepers.
Ooooh, David, you're bringing back some GREAT memories!!! Summer of '76
to the max! :-) "Moonlight Feels Right" is, like, beach music to me, or
hanging out by the Chesapeake Bay (mentioned in the song). You do know
where Chesapeake Bay is, dontcha? :-)
And then there are some just plain fun songs like
> "Still the One." I'm not sure, but I'd like to hope that song in particular
> received a lot of play at Class of '76 25th Anniversary Reunions this past
> summer.
"Still The One" will remain the perfect love song to me :-)
> "Harder" rock had album-friendly gems like "Dream Weaver." I remember in
> late '75, my sister buying the Elton John album with "Island Girl" on it
> with her Christmas money. That song alone probably seems to me personally to
> represent the music of '76 more than any as it's forever etched into my
> brain.
> So that's my pick for the year and music...what are yours?
"Dream Weaver" was VERY different at the time when it was released. I
always thought I was some dreamworld floating in space everytime I heard
the song in '76. It still has that mystique even now.
-Naz
On the other hand, numerous rock historians have picked 1966 as a great year,
and I'd put it among the very best for rock, my favorite musical genre, as
well as soul/R&B and pop. It was after all the year of all the following:
Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde," the Beatles' "Revolver," The Who's "The Who Sell
Out" (and single "Substitute"), Stones' "Aftermath," The Byrds' "Turn, Turn,
Turn," Pink Floyd's "Arnold Layne" single, the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds," as
well as such singles by them as "Barbara Ann," "Sloop John B," and "Good
Vibrations," the Four Tops' "Reach Out and I'll Be There," the single "For
Your Love/Heart Full of Soul" by the Yardbirds, "Get Ready" by the Temptations,
"For What It's Worth," by Buffalo Springfield, "California Dreaming," by
the Mamas and Papas, "Good Lovin'" by the Young Rascals, Dylan's "Rainy Day
Women #12 and #35," the Troggs' "Wild Thing," Donovan's "Sunshine Superman,"
Supremes' "You Can't Hurry Love," The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer in the City,"
The Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction," Stevie Wonder's "Uptight," Tommy James
and the Shontells "Hanky Panky," Capitols "Cool Jerk," Percy Sledge's "When
a Man Loves a Woman," The Four Season's "Let's Hang On," The Left Banke's
"Walk Away Renee," ? and the Mysterians' "96 Tears," Stones' and Monkees
"I'm a Believer." Miles Davis released his "Miles Smiles" LP in 1966, and
Ornette Coleman put out his Stockholm LPs; The Fugs released "The Fugs" (which
features such satirical numbers as "Skin Flowers," "Group Grope," and "Kill
For Peace.")
Oh, and on top of all this, it was also the year of Napoleon XIV's "They're
Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" A truly great year for music.
Tom
-------------------
Men of good fortune, very often can't do a thing
While men of poor beginnings, often can do anything.
At heart they try to act like a man.
Handle things the best way they can
They have no rich daddy to fall back on.
--Lou Reed (Berlin, 1973)
I don't know about 1966 being a great year for music, but it is a great
year. The best people were born that year!!!
> Oh, and on top of all this, it was also the year of Napoleon XIV's
"They're
> Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" A truly great year for music.
>
My theme song lately!!
Kelly
--
"Reality can be beaten with enough imagination"
Runner-up? 1965 (especially if you are into Motown)...
Dixon
===========
"I'm not standing in the stag line with Old Man Perkins and a bunch of
slumped-over teenaged boys!"
--Barney Fife
Classic Hollywood Squares: http://www.classicsquares.com
Sandy
2-60
Class of 78
Hey, I've got a pretty cool funk song called 'Spirit of '76' by The Booty
People. Neat little song.
> There's disco reaching its puberty, if you will, as songs like "More More
> More" show an evolution of layering over, say, 1974's "Rock The Boat."
But
> the disco of '76 isn't quite as sophisticated or at times pretentious as
> 1978 and 79. This is the music of what's to come, both metaphorically and
> literally.
For disco music, I would say '74 through '76 - it was before Disco became a
joke, and there was still a lot of soul in it.
But for black music in general, I would have to say '73. Philly was
exploding with disco songs and artists, like The First Choice ('Armed &
Extremely Dangerous'), the O'Jays ('Love Train'), Harold Melvin & The
Bluenotes ('The Love I Lost'), Blue Magic ('Sideshow', 'Look Me Up'), the
Stylistics ('Rock & Roll Baby'), the Trammps ('Love Epidemic'), etc... Manu
Dibango's 'Soul Makossa' was climbing the charts, and was an example of the
African Funk scene that would explode in the next couple of years. I think
'Catch A Fire' by Bob Marley & The Wailers was released, which was his break
through album and brought Reggae further into the consciousness of the
American public. Jazz Funk received its biggest push by such albums as
'Headhunters' by Herbie Hancock, 'Sun Goddess' by Ramsey Lewis, 'Blackbyrd'
by Donald Byrd and 'Blacks & Blues' by Bobbie Humphrey. James Brown was
still kicking it with the 'Payback' album. Soundtrack albums were getting
really funky, like 'Coffy' by Roy Ayers, 'Slaughter's Big Rip-off' by James
Brown, 'Hell Up In Harlem' by Edwin Starr.
I'm not too sure about Rock music, though. I figure it was a transitional
time for that genre. I'm only really familiar with albums by the solo
Beatles from that year ('Band On The Run' by Paul McCartney, especially).
Someone else will have to pick '73 apart for Rock music.
--
/------------
}B-) > --<////////>
^ \-------------
Molly
"We're pushing the peddles on the season's cycle." - "Season's Cycle" - XTC)
Both songs are what I call "rock 'n' soul" music.
-Naz
KavisD wrote:
>
> I'm not too sure about Rock music, though. I figure it was a transitional
> time for that genre. I'm only really familiar with albums by the solo
> Beatles from that year ('Band On The Run' by Paul McCartney, especially).
> Someone else will have to pick '73 apart for Rock music.
Are you saying that you missed all the GREAT album rock explosion of the
late 70s?! Ever heard of "Rumours", "Hotel California", "Night Moves",
"Bat Out of Hell", "Pieces of Eight", "Aja", or "Some Girls"?
-Naz
Lenny
It's also one of those songs that effectively combined rock music and soul.
Pablo Cruise and Hall and Oates were one of the few bands in the 70s that were
able to do this combo any justice.
-Naz
For 1976 (75?), I think it's pretty ahead of its time, don't you think?
-Naz
I'd pick smack dab in the middle: 1975. I remember really enjoying
listening to my 45s that year, over and over and over. :)
One of These Nights by the Eagles, specifically, not counting all the
other memories that the posts in this thread brought out.
(I also remember B Manilow songs from that year, which shall remain
nameless.)
Music diversity was very apparent every year in that decade, and there
are a ton of favorites that come to mind, but 1975 seems to have the
happiest music memories for me.
Cool thread!!!
~~~~Dawna
On the other hand, you could also make a case for these 3 years based on the
quality of "classic rock" stuff that was released. I mean, even though I'm
no fan of most of these groups, The Eagles, Kiss, Boston, Fleetwood Mac,
Aerosmith, Peter Frampton, Styx, (and countless others) put out arguably
their best work during that span.
-- James C. Dobrovicz
"Round robins are so called because no human being has yet lived to see a
square one!"
--Kenneth Williams
And so the word went out from "David Ballarotto" <ba...@stargate.net>:
'77 was kind of inbetween PC's big hits. I checked their official page:
http://www.pablocruiseband.com
They formed in 1973, in 1976 they had the top 5 hit "Whatcha Gonna Do
(When She Says Goodbye)" from the double platinum album "A Place
In The Sun":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002GBR/ref=m_art_bow_3/102-6633020-8279312
In 1978, they had hits with "Love Will Find a Way" and "Don't Wanna Live
Without It" from the double platinum "Worlds Away":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002GAS/ref=pd_sim_music/102-6633020-8279312
There are sound clips at the Amazon links (no personal tags added).
You *must* have heard one of their tunes, they were huge for a short while!
Cheers,
TD
Oh, but it's all right
Once you get past the pain
You'll learn to find your love again
So keep your heart open
'Cause love will find a way
from Pablo Cruise's "Love Will Find A Way"
For a good time call
http://the70s.cjb.net
The Sesame Street Lyrics and Sounds Archive
http://members.tripod.com/Tiny_Dancer/index.html
I find it hard to tell the difference between Pablo Cruise and Orleans,
really.
Jeff Troutman
Do you mean Roxy Music?
If so, I think "Love Is The Drug" probably influenced the New Romantic stuff
to come out of England in the early '80s (think Duran Duran and the like).
Jeff Troutman
James Dobrovicz wrote:
> For me I'd say it's probably 1976, '77, and '78 . . . there was the punk
> rock thing going on, loads and loads of good top 40 music, and of course
> disco.
James, you took the words right outta my mouth :-) The late 70s wasn't
all about disco music - there were LOTS of other stuff happening at that
time. The Cars' first album was one of 'em. I think that album changed
the face of rock music for the better (or worst). Depends on how you
look at it :)
>
> On the other hand, you could also make a case for these 3 years based on the
> quality of "classic rock" stuff that was released. I mean, even though I'm
> no fan of most of these groups, The Eagles, Kiss, Boston, Fleetwood Mac,
> Aerosmith, Peter Frampton, Styx, (and countless others) put out arguably
> their best work during that span.
>
> -- James C. Dobrovicz
>
Looking back now and comparing the big rock albums of the 70s to other
eras, I can honestly say now that there were LOTS of rock albums in the
late 70s (not too familiar with early) that will still be remembered and
cherished by the next generation. "Hotel California" by the Eagles and
"Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac are both timeless albums in my book, and I
believe "Framptom Comes Alive" is still the best-selling LIVE album of
all time, isn't it? Also, Pink Floyd's "The Wall" (yes, it came out
VERY late in 1979) is still as mind-blowing as it was back in '79-'80.
And my personal fave...Rod Stewart. All of his albums in the 70s are
worth picking up.
-Naz
What I find kind of sad is that sometime between the late '70s and late '80s
the times seem to have passed Bryan Ferry by, and his more recent stuff
tends to sound comparatively bland and boring.
-- James C. Dobrovicz
"Round robins are so called because no human being has yet lived to see a
square one!"
--Kenneth Williams
"Jeff Troutman" <yourhe...@starpower.net> wrote in message
news:9sjulu$727$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
And in retrospect, I think The Cars were one of the most consistently good
bands of that era . . . with the exception of the last album, they stayed
distinctive without being redundant.
-- James C. Dobrovicz
"Round robins are so called because no human being has yet lived to see a
square one!"
--Kenneth Williams
"Naz Reyes" <n...@american.edu> wrote in message
news:3BEDA0C2...@american.edu...
-- James C. Dobrovicz
"Round robins are so called because no human being has yet lived to see a
square one!"
--Kenneth Williams
Anyhow, "Love Is The Drug" sounded like an early 80s tune, more than a
late 70s one. And yes, it sounds like Duran Duran was influenced by Roxy.
-Naz
James Dobrovicz wrote:
> Do you find it interesting that back in 1978 the Cars were considered "New
> Wave," but as time has gone on, they're now considered classic rock? You
> could say the same for Tom Petty.
James, yes, that is kinda odd. I remember playing the Cars' first album
to my "rock loving friends" and they were, like, what the f*ck is that
music? I told 'em it was the "new thing" happening in music :)
And Tom Petty...yes, the first album was actually considered "new wave",
especially the song "I Need To Know". At that time, it was too fast to
be labelled "album rock music".
>
> And in retrospect, I think The Cars were one of the most consistently good
> bands of that era . . . with the exception of the last album, they stayed
> distinctive without being redundant.
>
> -- James C. Dobrovicz
Agree. Actually, I considered the first two albums in my top 10 best
albums of the late 70s :-)
-Naz
Molly
Oh come on, you were thinking about Rex Smith. ;-)
Liz
James Dobrovicz wrote:
> Actually I think all of the Roxy stuff was a huge influence on New Romantic
> (and most of New Wave music). Listen to some new wave/new romantic/synthpop
> stuff and see if you can count how many singers try to emulate Ferry's
> voice.
>
> What I find kind of sad is that sometime between the late '70s and late '80s
> the times seem to have passed Bryan Ferry by, and his more recent stuff
> tends to sound comparatively bland and boring.
>
> -- James C. Dobrovicz
Hmm...not sure about his most recent stuff, but I do remember that "Bete
Noire" (the album) was pretty innovative and sounded very exotic.
-Naz
True. Although the New Romantic bands seemed more inspired by the later,
more refined stuff.
>
> What I find kind of sad is that sometime between the late '70s and late
'80s
> the times seem to have passed Bryan Ferry by, and his more recent stuff
> tends to sound comparatively bland and boring.
>
The edge was sanded off Ferry's music a long time ago, starting after Brian
Eno quit Roxy. But his songwriting muse really has seemed to have departed
him in recent years.
Jeff Troutman
LOL--see what happens when you ask Lenny SMITH about Roxy MUSIC??? Anyway,
yes, I think the others may be right about it's influence on the New
Romantics, but more generally, I think that tune also paved the way for a
sort of cross pollination between Art Rock, Punk, and Disco, all of which
elements turn up in some percentage or another in the more general body of
music that people call "New Wave"--which term was originally intended by
coiner Seymour Stein of Sire Records simply to make punk rock sound like
something more "Radio Friendly." It's interesting, too, to look what became
of the song--there was a high profile REMAKE of it by Grace Jones, another
talent who freely combined elements of all those styles. Generally
speaking, she was a disco/dance act, but she covered art rock, power pop and
punk, among other things--look at a list of songs she's done, and who
originally did them:
Love Is the Drug--Roxy Music
Nightclubbing--Iggy Pop
Demolition Man--The Police
She's Lost Control--Joy Division
Walking In the Rain--Flash & the Pan (featuring ex-Easybeats Vanda & Young,
Young of course being related to Angus Young of AC/DC fame!)
That whole period of combining and recombining musical styles really opened
things up and made a lot of sounds/bands possible. Other examples--Blondie
goes Rap with Rapture, while Hip Hop goes punk/techno with Planet Rock
(using Kraftwerk's Trans-Europe Express)... I think it's always very
healthy when bands experiment with sounds from outside their own genre, and
blur the distinctions between different types of music, as opposed to
periods of rigidity, where "What I like RULES. Everything DIFFERENT sucks!"
Seems to me this willingness to experiment is how change and progress
happens.
Lenny
-Naz