Who Could Forget the Songs of the Seventies?

Oh my God, I can't believe it took me so long to write this up, since the life-changingness of it really cannot be underestimated. 

The other night I was watching tv upstairs, and this completely awesome infomercial came on.  Have you seen it?   It was for "Time Life Classics Presents Classic Soft Rock."  Right away I knew it was going to be just awesome, because the very first shot was the two guys from Air Supply doing an acapella version of "Lost in Love," only now they're really old, and the twenty-something hostess has to pretend like she knows who they are and is all "Wow-- that's a great song!  Tell us what ELSE we'll get in the 10-CD set!"  And then the guys from Air Supply start reading off this list, and they start showing these old videos, and I start crying from laughter, partially because I KNOW THE WORDS TO EVERY SONG.

Oh yeah.  I'm just going to throw a few out there for you, just to get us started.  How about a little "Summer Breeze," by Seals and Croft?  Ringing any bells?  What about Christopher Cross' "Ride Like the Wind," with some outstanding backup vocals by one Michael McDonald?    Oh-- what about "Hello, It's Me" by Todd Rundgren?    I think you should go over there right now and check out the playlists on the 10 CD set, and I think you should actually play all of the clips, and maybe then you will agree with me that more awesomeness has never been aggregated into one place.  This is a genre of seventies music that we started out calling "Lido Rock," but now we've been referring to it as "Wow, this sucks-- turn it up!"  This is the music from when we first became cognizant of music,and (for better or worse), this stuff is what was on the radio.

Anyway, I run downstairs and I'm all "I'm totally buying this box set!," to which Stephan objected because a) I buy too much stuff from infomercials, and he made the valid point that I still haven't cooked anything in my Grill XPress, and b) we already have alot of these songs, and probably just needed to sit down and make a playlist out of them, and figure out which ones were worth buying.  He also made the totally valid point that "fully one third of the songs on that box set make me ashamed to be alive." 

To illustrate one of these songs, please let me turn your attention to the musical stylings of one Rupert Holmes:

Oh yeah, that's the song "Him," which you could probably have heard in your mom's Chevelle on the way home from school in 1979.  Rupert Holmes is also the genius behind the "Pina Colada Song" where the two people take out the classified ads, and find out that they answered each other's ads, and they laugh about it and we all have to go home and put our heads in the oven.  So, of course-- Stephan was right-- 1/3 of the songs were songs like this one, and "Lonesome Loser" by the Little River Band, which I think I first heard on 8-track my dad's Corvette when he came to pick me up for my weekend custody visitation.  So, that's how old I am, and I just don't care who knows it.  Becuase now?  We have cut out the truly awful, and added some better songs that Time Life overlooked (like, where is Stevie Wonder in this list?), and have created the most awesome soft rock playlist in the world, and it is all we are listening to.

It includes:
"Daniel" by Elton John (though I really prefer "Levon," if I"m being honest)
"Minute by Minute," by the Doobie Brothers
"Blinded by the Light," by Manfried Mann's Earth Band
"Sister Golden Hair," by America
"Year of the Cat," by Al Stewart

See, these are actual cool songs, some of which I forgot about.  Some of them just remind me of my childhood, but who cares?  Mostly they stand the test of time.

It does not include:

"Key Largo," by Bertie Higgins
"Baby I'm -A-Want You," by Bread
"Longer", by Dan Fogelberg, who we have already discussed wears women's underpants and needs to be held.
"Baby Come Back," by Player.  Just--oh my god.
"Sad Eyes," by Robert John.  Again, wow.  This one goes beyond funny to just plain bad.
Oh, and "Wildfire?"  by Michel Martin Murphey?  About the pony that busted down his stall?  Definitely in the "makes me want to kill myself" category, so it's not on the list, though it IS fun to torture people with.  "She'll keep riding WIIIIIILLDDDFIIRRREEEEE!!!"

Anyhow, I think you should use these spectacular playlists to make your own 1970's flashback list.  We made ours for about $40 in iTunes, and have been rocking out ever since.   

I have made a list of all the songs we cut, and will be returning to them periodically.  Because, I'm sorry, "I'm Not in Love," by 10cc, is just too funny to let pass by without a mention.  So earnest!  So many beards and so much body odor!  The talking woman in the middle!  Oh.  My.  God!

Please, feel free to chime in with your seventies favorites.  We are open to add to the list, but probably not with REO Speedwagon.

Comments

[Katie]

What's the awful song about someone leaving a cake out in the rain? That's gotta be a bad 70s song.

My mom only listens to classical music, but the one lp she had when I was a kid that was "contemporary" was one by Olivia Newton John. That's right: "Have You Ever Been Mellow?"

Hope that brought a smile to your face.

[Brandi McKay]

What about "Afternoon Delight" and "Brandy (You're a fine girl)"? Two of my personal favorites from the 70's.

[Kimberly]

Ok, I've got to admit that I have a bunch of these on my iPod right now. I just heard "Brandy" on my flight back from Georgia this weekend...ah, it brings back the 70s. Since the 70s really were the time of trucker movies and television shows, I really think you need to add in "Convoy" and "East Bound and Down" (Smokey & the Bandit) for the quintessential 70s play list.

In case you've forgotten them here they are on YouTube:
"Convoy": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyK1zbYV9BE&feature=related
"East Bound and Down": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnRwQjTYfGI&feature=related

[Karen]

ummm..."Mandy." and "I made it through the rain" yes. Barry Manilow. I had all his albums on Long Playing record! and I'm not even the least bit ashamed to say it.

[Heather Ferreira]

I think Waxidermy calls these songs "Bonerz"... at any rate, they're fantastic songs and make me smile whenever I hear them :)