I guess great minds do think alike. 🙂
Guest Post by Hardscrabble Farmer
Some of my fondest memories of youth revolve around music. In the 1960’s when I was still a child virtually every song I ever heard came from a radio tuned to 77WABC on the AM dial, a powerful station in NYC that broadcast popular music of the day. At the age of ten my parents bought me a phonograph for my birthday and I began to buy records to play in my room after school. I think they were about 50 cents each around that time and there were two sides to each, the hit song you bought the record for and the flipside with a second cut.
I can still remember the titles of most of them, Indiana Wants Me, by R. Dean Taylor on the Rare Earth label- it was the only 45 I ever owned that was red- Cherokee People by Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Patches by Clarence Carter, one of my favorites to this day. The first album I bought was The Hollies He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother and I played it so often I literally wore it out. After that I switched over to albums and spent almost every cent I earned from my paper route on new ones; Carole King’s Tapestry, America’s self titled first album, and Don McClean’s American Pie.
By the time I was a teenager I probably had half a dozen milk crates full of vinyl and I continued to add to the collection whenever I could, spending God knows how many hours of my life playing them as a background for whatever else was going on in my life. We lived in what was called the tri-state area, halfway between Philadelphia and NYC so we got the best of both in terms of radio stations.
By the mid 70’s FM had replaced AM radio and it opened up a world of music that was far more broad than what you’d get from a top ten radio station. One of the premier radio stations of that era was a powerful one out of Philly called 93.3 WMMR and it featured a couple of DJ’s that introduced new artists and albums that hadn’t made the mainstream. One of my favorite programs during that time was the Wednesday Night release of new albums played without commercial interruption by a guy named Ed Shiacky.
Every week I made sure to be in my room, often painting at my easel when he’d cue the needle at 9 o’clock and a new world would open. I can still recall the opening bars of so many of those albums playing in a dark room, windows open, sound cranked up. Whenever I hear them the teenager inside still sings along.
The following albums were among the very best of the 1970’s by my standards. I’m not surprised at how long these have been around, but it is equally curious that almost every one of them has proved itself to be able to continue to be relevant, to stand up to the passage of time. Most of them have great album covers too, the added bonus.
I certainly hope that they bring back memories, but I know that they aren’t the only influential and memorable ones that came out of the extraordinarily creative period in American music history. I have tried to pick one album for each year of the decade, but the years 1975 and 1977 were impossible to pick from the final two, so I included an extra for each.
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1975
1976
1977
1977
1978
1979
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Well, “Farmer”…I’m gonna have to give you the nod on most of those choices since they mostly live in my private collection. I think it’s a gross miscarriage of justice not to include Lynyrd Skynyrd in that mix…given the fact it (the 70’s) was their hay day and they were chart topping at that time.
heyday
HardScrabble you should have made list top 100. IMHO lot of great music in the 70’s. We moved to central Florida in 1971 , we didn’t get a lot of bands coming to play for us at the time. But they came to record their albums at this studio called VJ studio one of a few 64 track facilities at the time.
Tom Petty, Molly Hatchet and others recorded there. Memories are flooding back here the studio in it’s former was a X rated hotel that was owned by a childhood friends step dad, lol.
Carry on….
My home system just played “Dreams I’ll never see” by MH and I was expressing to my wife how when I was a Radio PD, I overheard my music director on a conference call with MH’s manager and their label, trying to convince them base on our research and feedback, to issue the song as a single. We actually did do audience research back then and it brought me a bunch of #1 stations.
BTW my first 45 was a grocery store promo, one side Pat Boone with “Speedy Gonzales” and the flip David Rose & his Orch with “The stripper”. I was about 8 and my big sis let me buy it and play on her player as I didn’t have one at home. My first LP was “All Summer Long” by the Beach Boys. I still have that one.
Life’s a bitch, ain’t it.
Don’t forget Queen’s Night at the Opera gave us Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975
First 45 Hair by the Cowsills First album In A Gadda da vida Iron Butterfly. Went over well with Mom and Dad.
All good choices. Was pleased to see ELO included.
What’s wild is that I used to store my vinyl in stacked milk crates also. But I was one who embraced new technology every step of the way; choosing sound quality (and portability) over nostalgia, I guess.
Although all of your choices are great, and 5 of yours above would have made my top 10 for the 70s, my list would have also included Boston (debut 1976), Foghat (Live, 1978), Clapton (Slowhand, 1977), Eagles (Hotel California, 1976), Lynyrd Skynyrd (debut 1973).
But ask me on any other day and I might roll in others ranging from early 70’s Allman Brothers (at Filmore), to later ’70s – The Police & The Clash.
A great era available now from our fingertips to our tympanic membranes via digital magic.
That was a hard list to narrow down. Both Boston’s self titled first album and Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore were runners up. I did include Hotel California, maybe the definitive American album of the decade. I even had to leave off my hometown boy Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run and Yes Songs.
You could easily name a hundred more.
Oops. I guess you did have the Eagles there. And, you are right, there are just too many great choices to narrow down.
Although most of us here are likely rockers, we may not recall right off hand what 1970s group sold the most albums from the early 70s to early 80s worldwide and became one of the most successful groups of all time.
Who was it?
Well, the answer will come as no surprise to anyone who happened to have a radio on at anytime during that era; in the car, on the job, at the beach, or around the swimming pool…..
Abba is girl’s music.
It is all meant to be danced to.
I doubt very much G. Gordon Liddy would deem ABBA girly music; he enjoys their jams.
I w0rked with a Vietnamese guy who saw Mama Mia six times. Weird.
Hey HF,
We really are cut from the same cloth. First album was American Pie, favorite album was/is Goodbye Yellowbrick Road, and I won a copy of Born to Run by being the 15th caller to 77WABC.
Great stuff. I guess we are going to have to play some of these during the Independence Day event!
well done. No one could seriously argue those choices.
As a freshman at US Santa Barbara, when Fleetwood came out with Rumours in early ’77, you could literally walk the dorms any time of day or night and SOMEONE was playing it. Guys liked it. Chicks LOVED it. To say it was HUGE would be an understatement. From my perspective, it and Hotel California were ne plus ultra of that decade.
I would have included Jeff Beck Blow By Blow, Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon, Stevie Wonder Songs In The Key Of Life, Gino Vannelli Powerful People, Traffic The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, Emerson Lake & Palmer Brain Salad Surgery, Spooky Tooth The Last Puff, Savoy Brown Hellbound Train, Uriah Heep Look At Yourself, Joni Mitchell Court And Spark, Foghat Fool For The City, Thin Lizzy Jailbreak, The Allman Brothers Live At The Fillmore East, The Beatles Let It Be, Moody Blues Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, Eric Clapton 461 Ocean Blvd., Loggins And Messina Mother Lode, and there are a thousand others I could name these were just a few off the top of my head, I do agree with all your choices too
Yokes, I hope you aren’t perplexed by the lyrics, foreign as they may be to your ears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwXduCAR4Ow
It’s the old joke: You know the sound a satisfied woman makes?
No.
I didn’t think so.
It works because nobody knows.
Like Prince said, women are never satisfied. (When Doves Cry).
Stop hatin’ morons.
Lonely Bull
[youtube
Refried
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Ha! I”ve got all those (and others) on shuffle right now. Minus the Cars.
How many crates did you haul off to school? Lmao. Thanks.
EC- I have watched that video at least 10 times in the last 3-4 months. Me likey…..
That was great.
Here they are by the master.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2fg3bR2osU
Nicely done. The “wah wah” lady in the red dress has pistol earrings. That’s cool.
Alice cooper, Pink Floyd ,Supertramp,
We can all agree, the best music came out of the 70’s
No votes for Iska’s favorite – Rush?
A voice like a dentist’s drill.
Nope, two dogs fucking!
I read a better description once. Guinea pig on amphetamines. That said, “Working Man” is practically Black Sabbath
Rush – “Working Man” early ’74 with John Rutsey on drums (before Neil Peart arrived).
Great subject matter Farmer! As a child of the 50’s ( 1950 ) IMHO the 1970’s had a greater breadth and variety of music than any period before or since ( although I dearly love the 60’s stuff ). I agree whole heartedly with some of your choices, others….. Potato/patoto.
My list ( strictly my opinion ):
1. Van Morrison – Moondance 1970
His best ever. Extremely conductive to the Horizontal Polka.
2. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks 1976
3. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours 1977
Not a bad/weak cut on it.
4. Carole King – Tapestry 1971
A great album by one of the best songwriters in America.
5. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young -So Far 1974
Just a slightly better collection than Deja Vu
6. Stones – Sticky Fingers 1970
7. Steely Dan – Aja 1977
8. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On? 1971
9. Rod Stewart & the Small Faces -Every Picture Tells A Story 1971
Again, not a bad/weak cut on it.
10. ELO – Eldorado 1974
One of the best concept albums ever. Also one of their best period.
Was pleased to see you included Hall& Oates Abandon Luncheonette. Although not on par song wise with the others in your list I always had a soft spot for them.
Rumors was great and it mollified my HUGE unhappiness that Bob Welch got booted.
How is Betty Jo Bialosky?
You must mean Melanie Haver? Susan Underhill? Everyone knew her as Nancy…..
I had almost all of these and HSF’s list but I’d have to include in my Top Ten…….
Kansas Leftoverture
Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon
Aerosmith Rocks
Rush 2112
Styx Grand Illusion
Haven’t thought about Styx in twenty years.
I personally found the 70’s to be the beginning of the end. My kids love 70’s oldies, I’m trying to forget that whole tacky decade. I do still listen to and own Deja Vu.
BL’s favorite 70s performer
Is that you in drag HF? Small hands, small ……….
And- a -one-and- a two….. 🙂 Droll, very droll Admin.
Ten minutes of your fave (AC/DC) and I would volunteer for Dr. Kevorkian to give me a shot.
Just have to contribute to this GREAT idea for a slow, slow, cold Sunday.
Bill Haley and, “Rock Around the Clock”, on a 45 till the parents threatened to break it.
One more classic rocker for the line up is Bob Segar.
APOLOGIES, screwed the link off subject.
A excellent collection.
My tastes are a little bit different.
“Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd”
“38 Special”
“Molly Hatchet”
” Cat Scratch Fever”
” The Dark Side of the Moon”
” L.A. Woman ”
“Van Halen”
” The Grand Illusion”
” Bat Out of Hell”
” Love It to Death”
“Cheap Trick”
“Led Zeppelin IV “
My parents had a melt down when Led Zepplin sang the Lemon song
My Dad hated Heart’s Crazy on You and Clapton’s Layla. Yelled at us to “turn that racket down”. The only saving grace was the piano part at the end of Layla.
Reali, you must have missed my recent comment about Layla – I hate it, the damn song brings you to the brink of a nervous breakdown and then gives you a half hour of piano to bring you down from the edge.
To this day, my mother talks about how she got so tired of hearing my brother play “I Shot the Sheriff.” She, too, wanted to break that album.
All list of this music need a nod to the longest running most famous of the time, the Stones.
Here is a favorite, and almost as popular as “Satisfaction”.
That was on the short list.
Sympathy for the Devil from Beggars Banquet album came out in 1968 which is technically not the ’70s. But it always felt to me that music seemed to break at the half decade more than the full decade. In other words, pre 1965 music seemed more like the ’50s, ’65 to ’75 music seemed more aligned, and ’76 to ’85 music seemed more in sync. Beyond that, I have no idea as the “music” died. And to me, hands down ’65 to ’75 is the best.
Agree. 1967 Sgt. Pepper was a game changer. Up until then most of the material on albums was just a potpourri of unrelated songs. A couple of strong hits with the rest mostly filler. Sgt. Pepper changed all that and began the era of themed albums. The other big leap forward from the mid 60’s onward was the dramatic increase in musicianship. Up until then most artists were mere window dressing – the music was played by studio guys ( Wrecking Crew etc.). Post 65′ saw the introduction of very capable musicians writing and playing their own material.
I agree, Nick Danger.
My kids have been making me feel a little old lately. Hardscrabble reminds me I’m not. Some of these albums were released before I was born. I was rocking out to Alvin and the Chipmunks about the time Tom Petty released that last one in 79. Good times.
now u are making ME feel old. I was 12 when the first one came out…..LOL
I still have my Alvin and the Chipmunks album. I actually played it for my son when he was little.
I won’t argue over what albums to include or omit; I preferred double albums or those that opened up as they had more artwork, usually lyrics and worked well for sifting seeds.
Yep, double albums for seed sifting. Used to prop against for rolling as well.
Don’t want to pick too many holes, but the following are albums that I believe cannot be left off any list of those defining the 70s.
Dark Side of the Moon
London Calling
Born to Run (which I refuse to now listen to because Springsteen is a total dick)
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Just for Admin and HF’s info Loopster, I also own “Dark Side Of The Moon”, that is hardly Lawrence f’n Welk.
Everybody owns Dark Side.
I was equally as interested in the symbolism and underlying meaning with Dark Side. Managed to decipher some of it.
Now for a little dancing entertainment ……..Who does it better, Joos or Arabs?? I give it to the guys in the white dresses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1weDjpXhCE
Click on (watch this video on youtube)
I like to shuffle play this version of your catchy dancing tune….she looks a bit khazarian… I like white girls shuffling, speaking Americano…But FRWL shared a real cute koreaniono viddy…
Between my wife and I we own 5 vinyl copies and 1 CD, plus the live version from Pulse. Its a must own.
Agree with these and most mentioned but Jethro Tull “Thick as a Brick” should be in there somewhere and the Who “Quadraphenia”
I love your list but Dark Side of the Moon (1973) has to be on it. Makes my top 5 greatest albums of all time. I’d also find room for America’s first album (1971) and Jefferson Starship’s Red Octopus (1975).
I guess I’m odd. I was never really into Pink Floyd. Like several of their songs, though.
No David Bowie?
No. He was a sick bastard.
So are Elton John and Michael Jackson. In point of fact the vast majority of pop/rock musicians have the morals of Satan worshiping alley cats.
What? No country music? The 60s and 70s were the golden age of country. Here’s some George Jones and Tammy Wynette:
Who’s gonna fill their shoes?
Did any of the groups above do any gospel songs, or were they all complete satanists? Some of the best country gospel was also from the 60s and 70s. Here’s George and Tammy again:
Try this one TF,
Seatrain
[youtube
This guy could sing some gospel in the 70s.
My father bought and brought me an Elvis 45 rpm record player back from the states in 1956 when I was 8 in Puerto Rico. The older girl next door taught me to dance with his music. Moar Shuffle dance here:
Nice compilation, HSF. I was one of the wild & crazy dj’s you might have heard, and I was also a fan of WABC back in the 60’s. Although I was in Louisville, KY I could hear their clear-channel 50KW signal at night when the Ionosphere bounced their skyway.
Anyway, I saw this and though of you and our inside joke:
Winners all, but what did it for me was “Tommy” and especially “Quadrophenia”. Being an awkward teen “Quad” sounded like Pete was speaking directly to me.
“Love, reign o’er me”
Late 70’s famous rocker worth a mention with one of his famous pieces. Never tire of this one.
Great picks. I donated all my LPs to goodwill when I thought they were too much to lug around during the cd era. Way before ebay. Now I just listen to Radio Paradise and hear all those great albums and more.
Great choices, Hardscrabble. I sing along with each one. Those are the songs I grew up with. But I still remember the late ’60s songs as well (Born in ’62.). We always had the car radio on when driving and one of us kids usually had a radio on at home, or the “record player” with 8-track, which I used until high school. Upgraded to cassette around that time. What a great period of music that was.
Although it is a compilation album, I couldn’t leave out the Woodstock album, if even just for this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=44&v=bW5M5xljdCI
Excellent choices, Hardscrabble, and excellent additions from commenters all.
My very first album was Gordon Lightfoot, Don Quixote. My sister stills gets pissed to this day because basically I bought it because she wanted it, and it was the only copy in the store. How little did I know what an addiction this would spark in me. At one time I had boxes and boxes of vinyl, until I sold them during a sad time of my earlier years.
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OOPS! Posting as TS.
Two more just because…
1. CCR – Kind of kicked the 70s off, and even more appropriate today.
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2. Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy – Show Biz Kids
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RIP Alvin Lee
We’ve heard from the Boomers, and no one will care (rightly) what the millennials have to say about music, and while I can admit that the late 60’s and early 70’s were the best era for Rock n Roll, there was a second period that came close and we Xer’s just happened to catch it. There is no music like that you discovered in your teens. Sometimes that music just happens to be genuinely, objectively great.
So, here is my list of the great albums (and yes they were CD’s, although I had at least one of them on vinyl) that dropped between 1991 and 1996 (for me highschool and my first two years of college):
1. Fugheddaboudit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q72w10D9_x0
2. Right on #1’S heels in 91. You’ve heard the hits, but there is real depth and diversity here. A un-requited love lament about Sinead O’Connor of all people ( I Could Have Lied) is one of the very best songs I’ve heard period.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye9Yz8ikdJQ
3. You cannot do 90s music without Bradley Nowell, though he sometimes is dismissed. Sure, it’s mostly trite, frat-boy lyrics, but its brought to life by Nowell’s immense talent. The self-titled album was the big (and posthumous) release, but this earlier album is stronger.
4. No idea what’s happened to Billy Corgan, but in 1993 he committed genius.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fzCc7gQ9kc&list=PLFOHkHQEC8vvYvWPS-8R9juGgWsSRfbpj
5. Chris Cornell needs to be here too. For me its just about a toss-up between this and Superunknown:
6. Not just a nod to Admin. This album is brilliant. I remember a day in 94, driving to school in the morning, and Longview played. It played constantly for a month. Then it was Basket Case, then Welcome to Paradise, the She, then When I Come Around…you get the point, hit after hit. I personally love Pulling Teeth.
7. Who forgets their first real concert. October 1993 Glen Miller Ball Room, Boulder Colorado with Belly (who deserve honorable mention in their own right).
8. They were often accused of being derivative. Only issue I have with that is I like them better than the band they sound most like.
9. It was not Nevermind that really kicked off the Grunge era. This one beat it by a month or two. Nowhere near my favorite band of the 90’s but terrific and prolific nonetheless.
10. So, this one is out of my date range and the band is considered a one-hit-wonder. The only problem is that one hit is middle of the pack in their catalog IMO. It’s kind of my pet band in the sense that I have 4 of their albums (all fantastic) while most have heard just the one song. Still, everyone I turn on to these guys likes them almost immediately. There is something to be said for that.
I’m same age . Good list hit some grunge and Marcy Playground ! but as in the former post so many more to add to this era also. Janes Addiction,Blur,Oasis, ……
Thank you to “Untuned” for mentioning ABBA.
Thank you to “TS” for mentioning CCR.
No one mentioned Janis Joplin??? You noobs!!!! Kris Kristofferson also deserves a mention.
A fine thought.
What a wonderful post and comment thread! Don’t forget about this guy:
Some motherfucker down-votes Billy Joel?? Then take this:
And this:
Neil Young – After the Gold Rush?
99 and I’m saying it now… I keep coming back to this post to see what other great music I’d completely forgotten about.
Any Black Oak Arkansas fans or was that local to us Deliverance country rockabillies?
. because someone is liable to come along to grab 100 and then, I’ll sneak right in. I saw what you did there coyote.
All the good music was used up in the 1970s.
The 1970s were the decade of Peak Music.
If it didn’t dance out of the 1970s, it ain’t worth dancing to!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZohPmz0RVVY&list=PLikNM2e4ewewmmTETFW2MuLpthjuHy_pN
Bah, this is a whitewash of everything wrong with the 70’s. A nation that considers Hotel California as the culmination of creativity might as well be nuked from space. Maggie is right, if you can’t dance to it, it don’t rock.
TSOP was a fave. Barry White and the Love’s Unlimited Orchestra, especially this classic-
Now you’re cooking with gas. How can anybody omit The Hustle? That defined the 70’s
@DD “If it didn’t dance out of the 1970s, it ain’t worth dancing to!”
Here is a DD dancible tune feat. some dang fine danseuses. It is no coinkydink the hired actress AOC is a doppelganger for my serious celebrity crush Rosario D.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL5A4H8QJH8