Great garage rock track from Alex Chilton's fantastic "Life flies on sherbert" album. Really simple but infective riff, and a catchy shouty chorus. May be a bit of a surprise to people who've only heard Chilton's work with Big Star, as he'd obviously been heavily influenced by the New York garage bands he's been working with in the late 70's.

This belgian artist was very popular up to the second half of the 70's I believe.

I got to really enjoy most of his tunes because that is what my dad would listen on his 195? reel to reel.

I was able to find most of his albums online.

Very good channel separation.

Enjoy

A week ago I was in India, the holiday of a lifetime. As well as all the tourist stuff, like temples and museums, I always make sure that I get a slice of pop culture when I'm in a foreign country. So the night tended to conclude in the hotel with a bit of Indian TV.

Watched a fair bit of MTV India which, if anything, is even heavier on ads and blatent self-promotion that its British and American equivalents. I was cheered to see that most of the music they played was in Hindi and there was a limit on the American and European bands that got airplay (seemingly, strangely, limited to The Rasmus and Britney Spears).

But MTV is only watchable for a limited amount of time. Jet lag and excitement dictates that one spends more time awake than asleep and so I got to see a few late 70's Bollywood classics, among them 'Shaan' (translation: 'Pride'). This Asha Bhosle gem is from this movie. The film itself struk me as a fairly banal James Bond rip off although, not speaking Hindi, I grant that I'll have missed the more subtle aspects of plot construction.

This song stopped me in my tracks. I knew that Bollywood was an area that I enjoyed but was in a grand state of ignorance of, and I was looking forward to rectifying this. Pyar Karne Wale takes the prize for best Donna Summer rip off EVER. Stealing its barely-adjusted backing from 'I Feel Love', Bhosle wails and moans over the top, transforming Moroder's disco classic into something that simultanously establishes common ground between Indian and European disco while evoking its more subtle differences.

Myself and boyfriend came back with what seems like every Bollywood soundtrack produced between 1972 and 1980 including, of course, Shaan. I look forward to educating myself in this genre and finding more similar gems.

Quincy Jones is renowned more for his great arrangements than for his melodies, but I think this tune, from the soundtrack to 'the deadly affair' is really great. It's a slow bossa with a haunting lyric. Astrud sings in her trademark cool, detached style. I never grow tired of hearing this one. Astrud seems to have made a few impromptu appearances on film soundtracks, and I'm always on the lookout for more; one other great one was the Ennio Morricone score 'casse' (burglars), on which she sings two tracks.

It's very 70's with a slow start but picks up and is really fun by the end. Diana DeGarmo sang it on American Idol, season 3.

This song starts with a great simple keyboard riff, and the driving bass gives it a real urgency, unusual for the Beach Boys 70's music in that it makes you really want to dance. A great vocal performance by Dennis Wilson, with intriguing lyrics.

Woohoo! My first recommendation.
Bernard Kawka, one time vocalist for the Novi Singers, recorded this little dancefloor filler in 1989. It has a slight Steely Dan/Donald Fagen sound and feel to it, which doesn't usually grab my attention in this way, but this really is a fantastic track. Great arrangements by Bernard too. He's joined by Polish female vocalist Ewa Bem who was in a Novi-esque vocal group in the 70's named Bemibem. I'd never heard of this group before buying the compilation that "Sky's the Limit" is found on. The comp is titled "Holding Hands - Rare Jazz/Fusion Gems From Polish Vaults Vol. 2". It's on the English label "Cosmic Sounds", which must've passed me by because they've been releasing compilations for at least the past 4 years and I hadn't come across them before. The "Holding Hands" comp is really suprisingly good. Every track is a winner.

* P.S. Please excuse the MP3 quality. I wanted to fit as much of it in as I could.

Bridget St John is an english folk singer, whose records were released through Dandelion, DJ John Peel's record label, in the 70's. Her songs remind me of Nico or Nick Drake.
Take notice : surprisingly enough, there are 2 singers called Bridget St John. The 2nd one is an american pop/rock singer

A unique song from a low profile band of the 70's. It's a trippy but well composed psychedelic song with good riffs and interesting lyrics.

From the era when it seemed every band was named after a fabric, this angular indie gem was, for my money, one of the very best singles of the nascent Britpop era. Precipitating the self-referential indulgences of later bands, but not with the aura of smugness that pervaded the Albarn-esque dahn-tha-dawgs mockernee, the legend that is no-surname Lawrence (from alternative gods Felt) spews forth a classic.

The best way to describe this is 'miserable glam' - a great Mud-style beat clashes perfectly with Lawrence's scathing vocals of how he hates everything about so-called classic rock: "Spector's wall, knock it down; Jerry Lee, run him out of town." He ends up extolling the virtues of MOR and, in a stroke of utter pop genius, segues his tune into Middle Of The Road's hit Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep as sung by the kind of girl who populated the 70's Top Of The Pops LPs.

Great reggae from the 70's.

Lush, with strings, mid 70's sweet soul group ballad...Lyrically about the proverbial lunch box/hard hat guy on the job singin' 'bout the love he's gonna bring home to his gyrrrrl

A great ballad with the typical Valli/Four Seasons sound and a real 70's feel. Very evocotive, close your eyes and your there, on the balmy sun drenched West Coast of California. I brought the single when it came out in the 70's, but can't seem to find it anywhere on CD. If anyone knows of it on CD Please let me know.

New york punk late 70's? early 80's?

I'm very surprised there are no other Georgie Fame songs here.

Here's yet another British solo singer of the 1960's who never really made it in America...except, I think, with the song 'Bonnie & Clyde'.

By 1969 Georgie Fame's success as a hit-maker was starting to wind down, before, in the early '70's, he teamed up with Alan Price and had a hit with the forgettable 'Rosetta'.

I think this song has been forgotten, this version anyway, but it's far from forgettable.

A really terrific late '60's chart hit, that only made it to no.16 on the British charts, but should have done so much better.

A really upbeat, summer song.

It was covered by someone else sometime in the '70's, I think, but that version was far inferior to this.

Wondeful gentle arrangement...lots of mellow brass & Georgie's voice at its understated, confident best.

An August Darnell penned song that rivals much of the prestigious 'Dr. Buzzard' catalog. Smooth, tropical, moderate-tempo late 70's Cosmopolitan-Disco tune with wordly lyrics...and Lordes Cotto on vocals!

When I first came to this site I was suprised to not see any Harper's Bizarre tunes! They were a pretty fab vocal group who seem to be getting their due.

This song is from an almost unknown "lost" album from 76'. (Their heyday was the mid to late 60's, and had great success with their hit "Feelin' Groovy" in 67') And is a suprisingly jammin' version of a song from 1943 called "Speak Low" (From the film "One Touch of Venus"). I've heard other versions of this song, but nothing like this!

It starts off sounding like an O'donell Levy track, with a slinky/breezy latin step, and smooth, jazzy, compressed chords gliding across the top..... And then the vocal kicks-in, with this apropos low vocal harmony, instantly recognizable as HB, but more subdued.... They take the song and totally make it their own! Really just a superb track! Very A&M like, but with a bit more whimsy.... This record is hard to come by and needs a re-issue..... HELLO?!

HB is a must for fans of later B-boy's stuff or other Sunny pop from LA in the 60's and 70's!!!

Acoustic cover of the hit song in the 1970's by original artist, B.J. Thomas.

Found this sealed copy at a local thriftery, an artist i've never heard from a good period at Columbia. Most of the LP meanders in a poetic way, highlighting Spheeris's moody lyrics, sometimes getting a little too "drippy" at times. This track stands out like a champ from the rest, and was penned by a sideman on the LP, Lee Calvin Nicoli. It has such a great pop appeal, in a sort of Cat Stevens way, with a brilliant arrangement (by the author no doubt), that moves along bouncing and resting... A perfect song for a rainy sunday afternoon!

Seems this fellow died very young, and has quite a cult following from what i've read. Should be a nice discovery for fans of 70's folk. And singer-songwriter stuff.

70's oh so 70's daubs of wierd gaudiness, layered over plain drabness.

Quirky....very quirky also hilarious, disturbing and unforgettable.

Sample Lyric " Oh what a woman what a tongue, what an abrasive manner"

I first heard this when i around 15 or 16, borrowed from a local Mushroom dealer called Mad dog, I kid you not. At the time I'd "Inadvertently" consumed some of his wares, and was beginning to get hazy and paisley, hence he made me and a couple of friends lay down on his room floor, head to toe, turned off the lights and put Majory Razorblade on.........we giggled in the darkness like school kids,which we were, as we listened to the tale of the woman with the long and fusty dress..I've never forgotten it....

I highly recommend the Album Majory Razorblade, by Kevin Coyne - a lost genius. The title track sets the tone for an album full of seedy characters, each lost in their own wanton little worlds, with lashings of philosphical blurbs "Being on your own is hard, being with someone is harder"

well worth exploring.........

Typical Blaxbloitation sound with the divine guitar of Curtis completing it. Makes me wish i were born black and living in NY in the 70's. Mayfield's finest hour for sure.

This song is an intriguing one for me, I can never get enough of it! It's one of the easy listening classics from the early 70's and is one of the most perfect examples of the "Now Sound" genre, recorded by a Hawaiian bar band led by lead singer Liz Damon. Interestingly, it is a cover of a song written by Chicago soul songwriter Johnny Cameron and it was originally recorded by Betty Everett on the Uni label. I was lucky enough to find a copy of Betty's original version, but unfortunately her version has never been put on CD.

This song has a delightfully slow tempo and dreamy, romantic lyrics that somehow seem timeless. To me, the song always seemed to be in an older style than its early 70's release date would suggest. The bridge features great horn playing and a wonderful descending bass run.

The original 45 on White Whale Records had a song called "You're Falling in Love" on the flip side, and that song too is a classic, in my opinion.

This is one of the songs that first got me started as a music fan when I heard it back in the summer of 1970 in Yosemite Park. I still like it just as much today...I am a huge Michael Nesmith fan, and this is my favorite song by him. Beautiful pastoral-sounding lyrics and Mike's delightful falsetto at the end of each verse make this song a wonderful gem of a ballad. Also key to the beauty of this track is the pedal steel playing of the great Red Rhodes, who was
involved in all of Mike's early 70's albums.

After nearly three and a half years of speculation, I finally bought this album in the fall of 2003. Wow. As soon as I popped it in, I knew that it was Monster Magnet, but I knew I had a new band to add to my favorite list. These guys rock, period, they're in the lower upper class of hard rock (with upper upper being reserved for such acts as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Dream Theater), hell I don't even want to categorize them, as this would place a restriction on their potential (in much the same way the Jewish cannot write the word "God," and Muslims cannot draw Him, according to friends I have of those faiths). The song starts off like a fireside story, we've got a low bass beat, a great little intro compliments of Ed Mundell. Wyndorf's space, money, power, sex and religion influenced lyrics become prevalent as soon as the song begins, and we are launched into a maracca, tambourine, and 70's/80's hard line influenced metal trip. Ned Raggett's characterization of an 'acid folk' edge to the beginning of the song gives it good justice, and Space Lord slowly cranks up the volume, settling down once, and then cranking it up again, ready to conquer worlds with the hard rock edge that has kept Monster Magnet in the limelight, but away from the new age/pathetic sounds. Upon listening to this song, we think "classic rock," not because of it's refusal to metamorphose (or rather, transmogrify) into today's rock, but because of it's influence from the aforementioned 60's - 80's hard core, unfiltered, instrumentally diverse sound (including alternate percussive effects from tambourines and maraccas, as well as keyboard infiltration that would make The Doors jealous), which is uniquely self-complimenting, orchestrated, and coherent. Space Lord deals with becoming (unconsciously) corrupt with power, wealth, and ultimately desire (Now give me the strenth to split the world into, yeah/I've ate all the rest, and now I've gotta eat you), which may delineate the stereotypical American 'powertrip,' hence the album's appropriate name. If you are looking for unrelenting excellent rock, which isn't too harsh to listen to, but most certainly isn't along the lines of Phish or Weezer (in any respect at all), I recommend this song, album and any others one could get one's hands on. 5 out of 5 stars for its genre.

With the likes of Buzzsaw by The Turtles and Dance With The Devil by Cozy Powell, Groovin' With Mr. Bloe is one of my favourite late 60's-early 70's groovy "novelty" pop instrumentals.
Beginning with a tight drum beat that carries on throughout the song and followed by one of the fattest basslines ever, this is a real dancefloor gem for hip crowds. Best of all is the harmonica lead by Mr. Bloe himself, a session musician by the name of Harry Pitch. Groovin'...became a surprise top ten hit but the best credit to the song is that it allegedly still enjoys club play by Richard Searling, the legendary northern soul deejay.

Whenever I hear this track I think the same thing, that it seems to be the beginning of something
bigger. ....And it seems in a way that it was...

What a great version of an already undisputed soul classic! He really adds something to it thats loose and breezy. Like he did with his arrangement work, he adds something indefineable, but definately something we would hear for decades to come in american radio pop. More precisely, in the 70's.

It's one of the many blossoms in the blue-eyed soul bouquet!

Doesn't everybody love a good collaboration? It turns out Noah Lennox's beachboy-inspired vocals fit in nicely with the sound-collage electronica of Bradford Cox's offbeat side-project, Atlas Sound. The tight vocal harmonies, and childlike sampled groove compliment each other perfectly.

Nothing too deep in terms of vocal content. It's one of those songs where the chorus is repeated about 800 times, but you can never remember the words.

Instead, this song is all about atmosphere. I'm a sucker for that bleached-out, 70's technicolor vibe lately, and this song captures it more effectively than most. The lo-fi skuzziness, however, only enhances its pop-perfection.

Enjoy before summer ends! This is the perfect doobed-up jam for driving to the beach on a day where you can see the heat. Happy listening.

short, bouncy cover of the broadcast song.
it's interesting because it removes all the dissonant electronics that make up the "broadcast sound", leaving a much purer-sounding piece of 70's style pop-psych.
in a weird way, this now feels like the alternative universe original version, and the original song the cover.
i love the giddy woooh-ing in the chorus.

I've been looking for a Japanese song with an late 60's/early 70's loungy, yet soulful and deep sound for a while. This song by Okumura Chiyo (Japanese name order, last name first) is the closest track I've been able to find yet. The title means love slave, the beginning lyrics translate something like, "from the day I met you, I've been your love slave, I want to wrap myself around your knee like a puppy..." This song is somewhere between traditional Japanese enka and soul similar to say Nancy Holloway for example. The Japanese instrumentation blends nicely with the bleeding bass and horns. If anyone knows of any other Japanese songs in a similar vein, I'd love to hear some more recommendations.

Brilliant wordless vocal/scat Latin jazz-pop from the mid-70's!

Whoa... am I loosing my mind here? Next I'll be listening to Cristopher Cross. But Phoebe's got something knowing about her voice. She's alluring in her 70's way. And then the last verse comes in about the guy being married and she wants him to stay. "He makes things alright..."

This is my most favorite song in the world. I love it because it is a classic, latin, late 1970's, sultry, soft, dinner party or alone-with-someone-special type of track. The instrumentation is not totally typical of latin music (fast rhythm, very ornate), it is soft and easy. The vocals are absolutely velvety and very sensual. Although it is a "sad" song, it is one of those songs that makes you want think about that special certain someone.

old 70's

My best friend recommended these guys to me recently. She knows how I love the old Curtis Mayfield and Earth Wind and Fire stuff. These guys have that type of favor.

You can hear them on their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/secrecyone

Loud and Brash=Brittish punk in the 1970's

Disco, dance, superficial, but SO fun! Who hasn't heard this song a million times? It's still great!

Barry White flawlessly blended the sounds of soul and classical music and practically invented disco. This instrumental rescues the string section from the stuffy opera house and creates a difinitive sound for the 1970's. You can hear his influence in much of the decade's music that came after this song's release.

had this on a tape for ages and have recently found a japanese copy of the cd on impulse-awesome jazz/soft/easy vibes straight out of the free design school of harmonies-today [ a jefferson airplane cover i believe] is a jazzy/psych number that makes me half close my eyes and dream of places far away and times past-i would recommend the rest of the album too-all soft pop and sitar jazz...mush better than his fusion nonsense [bar the theme to starsky and hutch] from the 70's.the album is called the honey suckle breeze and is a revelation.

First of all I had to ask myself whether the real reason I really like this song is because the title is cribbed from a movie I love. (An ace bit of film noir from 1950, starring Joan Crawford, that I can't recommend strongly enough.) And yeah, it is rather "Fade to Grey"- Part II, (though I think the melody/mood/dynamics are stronger here.) And yeah, lyrically it�s all a bit John Foxx-light - images of European ennui and dissipation minus the inspiration. And yeah, I'm the first to admit Visage is to great post-punk-electro what Baccara is to prime 1970's disco, but I love "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" and I love "The Damned Don't Cry" - damn it!

We had a good time in the eighties,we really did.Unemployment,strikes,kids inculcated with the Thatcher mantra of making money which has depoliticized the youth of today.Fortunately the hypocrisy of Blair has encouraged a few students to tear themselves away from their business studies and take to the streets.Revolution revives art;it happened in the late 50's and 60's when teenagers rebelled against the staidness of post war England,
and again in the bleak mid 70's when youth rebelled against the poor prospects on offer.Fashion,music and literature are never healthier than when faced with intransigence.
In 1981 the post punk landscape was a glorious directionless quagmire.Record labels littered the nation,some only managing a few releases.Lowther International was home to the Vital Disorders who were angry but not too angry to write a great tune.
The Prams EP contains three slices of political pop,domestic and general.Prams is a scream of feminist outrage,of how women have their dreams ruptured,trapped by the drudgery of daily life,the omnipotent cry of the tyrannical baby squashing their ambitions.

"Lets talk about prams and washing machines,
Lets talk about the end of childhood dreams".

That is the chorus,sung with increasing vitriol as the song progresses,until you can almost feel the phlegm hit your face,as Tina Pilchards spits out those words one final time.Sizzling.

Beautifully produced by Garry ASHIYA (part of the unit hige no miboujin (aka La veuve moustachue) with You-ichi KISHINO), this song from the single of the same name sounds a lot like Garry's works with hige no miboujin, creating a sort of classy, elegant 70's atmosphere. Yoko's vocals are fantastic and suit the song perfectly!