In response to yesterday's "Soft Rock Explosion" post, many good suggestions came in, through email, comments, text message, and the like. As you might have noticed, this song collection is eleven cds, and some of you expressed curiosity as to what we’d keep, what we’d toss, and what needed to be replaced so you could make a rockin' 70's playlist of your very own, so I gave Stephan some booze and a playlist, and we riffed on this music all night.
Also, we wanted to point out that there was a ton of good R & B and funk in the 1970’s, but this is about soft rock. We had alot of comments, so we're doing the lists one CD at a time. Here goes!
Disc One: Summer Breeze
1. Summer Breeze (Seals and Croft): This is actually a good song, and is a good starter for the collection, although the lyric “Blowing through the jasmine in my mind” makes my skin crawl a little bit.
2. Key Largo (Bertie Higgins): Worst. Song. Ever. Stephan's all "That whole thing about “Bogie and Bacall makes me wish I was never conceived.” We propose to replace this song with ‘Love or Let Me Be Lonely’ by Friends of Distinction. Even though it came out in 1970, it’s still a way better song than Key Largo. Sorry.
3. Make It With You (Bread): There is far too much Bread in this collection. Stephan says “if it were up to me, Bread would never have existed. They are vagina rock, and Bread is the perfect name for them because they are soft and squishy and belong on a shelf in a plastic bag somewhere.” We are replacing this song with “Evil Woman,” by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).
4. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Chicago). This is a good song because Chicago had some of the best horns of the 1970’s, but the lyrics are extremely silly. “As I was walking down the street one day, a man came up to me and asked me what the time was on my watch, and I said—“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?” Hey—hippie—the guy DOES care what time it is, because he asked you. Why not just say 6:30 like a normal person? I’m just saying. Oh, also-- Terry Cath, the original lead singer of Chicago, died of a self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound. His last words? “Don’t worry, guys—it’s not even loaded. See?” So, there you go.
5. Dream Weaver, (Gary Wright) This is a great song, if a little "Moody Blues." Goes along with the theme, though.
6. Hello It's Me (Todd Rundgren) This one stays because it’s a pretty good song (if a little bit long), but Todd Rundgren wins the award for “least irony of the entire 1970’s, for having a song (and an entire album) called “I’m in You.” Stephan likes to add that Rundgren’s follow-up to this album should’ve been called “Is It In Yet?”
7. Sara Smile (Daryl Hall and John Oates) A great song, period. No joke.
8. Chuck E.'s In Love (Rickie Lee Jones) Stephan’s all “I F-icking Hate That Song,” and it’s a shame too, because it’s a song about Chuck E. Weiss from Chuck E. Weiss and the Goddamn Liars, who is a contemporary of Tom Waits, and should have a better song about him because this one sucks. We’re replacing this one with ‘Serpentine Fire,” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. See, that feels better, and it still fits in the list.
9. Black Water (The Doobie Brothers) An awesome song, though I did just want to point out that none of those guys was named Doobie, and they weren’t brothers. Do you know where I’m going with this? I hope so. We'll get to the Doobie Brothers later, but suffice it to say that anything by them is totally approved for this box set.
10. Still The One (Orleans). Sigh. Okay, it can stay, but only with the caveat been used in so many trailers, commercials, and movies that it’s barely got any of its original cultural currency left. Plus, this song treads dangerously close to ‘bar band music,’ but it makes it through.
11. Hurt So Bad (Linda Ronstadt) We replaced this one with “You’re No Good,” because we liked it better.
12. Cool Change (Little River Band) First of all, “cool change” has no meaning. This song meanders and ultimately goes nowhere. Plus, the lead singer goes all Bob Seger/ Joe Cocker in the middle of the song, and really loses me. We are replacing this one with “Never Goin’ Back Again,” by Fleetwood Mac, off of “Rumors,” which was one of the biggest-selling albums of the seventies. “Rumors” is an album with no clunkers, with the possible exception of "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow," which has not only been overused, but is too syrupy for my taste.
13. Biggest Part Of Me (Ambrosia) I will admit it—I am a big Ambrosia fan. I celebrate their entire songlist.
14. Never Be The Same (Christopher Cross) Um, huh? For Christopher Cross, you’re much better off with “Ride Like the Wind.”
15 You Can Do Magic (America) I like the song, Stephan doesn’t—he says this and “Horse With No Name” are mere silhouettes of real songs, and that cocaine and sexual favors were assuredly exchanged in order to get those songs airplay. I kept this one in exchange for cutting “Horse With No Name” later.
So, that's it for Disc One. Tomorrow, Disc Two, which includes "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree. Remember that one?
