1970s music draft- Link to google spreadsheet in first post (1 Viewer)

[jwb]

I didn't see it get picked, but perhaps i missed it. I did look up the Village People, just to be thorough. And I noticed that they did a cover of "Just a Gigolo". I had only heard DLRoth's version until I saw this. Funny stuff.

Goodness, those videos are awful. Of course, I'm looking at them with modern eyes. Any video in the 70's was a big deal.

 

[dal_boys_phan]

did YMCA really not get drafted? 

Almost went against my theme (artists I've seen live) to pick this one as my Round 30 selection.  Almost.  Heck, I do own the albums, which were the first ones in my collection in my single digit years, which I believe was the direct result of not having an older sibling to set me on the right path.  Fortunately, I quickly spun towards Zeppelin and VH before I cracked 10 with good older friend selections.

 

[KarmaPolice]

We'll wait until middle of next week (for the last few to catch up) and then have a daily poll for each category, hopefully with some discussion. 

We doing full FFA polls for these?

 

[Tau837]

I realize there are still some songs to be drafted, but it doesn't really seem like spotlighting is a problem at this point. Here is my list of songs chosen from the current leftovers:

• 1970 song: Lola, Kinks
  
• 1971 song: Wild Horses, Rolling Stones
  
• 1972 song: Join Together, Who
  
• 1973 song: The Rain Song, Led Zeppelin
  
• 1974 song: A Pirate Looks at Forty, Jimmy Buffett (album released in 1974)
  
• 1975 song: Thunder Road, Bruce Springsteen
  
• 1976 song: You're My Best Friend, Queen
  
• 1977 song: Breakdown, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
  
• 1978 song: You Really Got Me, Van Halen (ideally with Eruption lead in)
  
• 1979 song: Cool Change, Little River Band
  
• Soft rock/singer-songwriter song: Sara Smile, Hall and Oates
  
• Best hard rock/classic rock song: Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin
  
• Best funk/soul/Disco song: Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe, Barry White
  
• Best punk/post-punk song: Life During Wartime, Talking Heads
  
• Wildcard song: Escape (the Pina Colada song), Rupert Holmes
  

 

[timschochet]

We doing full FFA polls for these?

Sure, what the hell? 

 

[otb_lifer]

these missed the cut for me, but ... some glorious, lovely 70s cheez - great tunes - and i dig the hell outta them 

Which Way You Goin' Billy? - Poppy Family: a few years before the ultimate cheezfest of Seasons in the Sun, Terry Jacks laid down this smoothie with the missus (technically '69, but this clip is from '70) ... guy has 70s cred on lock   

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep  - Middle of the Road: a forerunner of ABBA, no doubt ... love this video, what with Edgar Allan Poe on drums ... the camera man zooming on the chick with the Ziggy 'cut and her hot pants ... the spastic 'dance' moves - yes. 

One Tin Soldier - Coven: ode to Billy Jack, as it were ... one of the great anti-heroes from that era of cinema.

Wildfire - Michael Martin Murphey: 'there's been a hoot owl howlin' out my window now/for six nights in a row/she's coming for me i know/and on Wildfire we're both gonna go'  

If The Hands Of Time (Brian's Song theme)  - Peter Nero: the ultimate tearjerker of a made for TV flick ... we all dusted up when seeing this one.

Ben -  Michael Jackson: with Chick Heston intro!  ode to a real friggin' rat ... to this day, still my favorite MJ song.

Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast - Wayne Newton: oh, man ...  it goes from    to    to  in 3:27 flat.

 

[FUBAR]

did YMCA really not get drafted? 

It was on my list, below in the navy.

 

[simey]

these missed the cut for me, but ... some glorious, lovely 70s cheez - great tunes - and i dig the hell outta them 

You still owe your 30th draft pick, ding dong.

 

[otb_lifer]

ding dong.

i owe 1970 album, those were songs ... jeez, didn't realize there was so much decorum up in here at this juncture 

ROUND 30 

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (1970 album)

because i consider those malevolent bells that kick off their debut track as the harbinger of the end of the 'peace/love' hippie era   - a sign that something more sinister and powerful was being unleashed from the hinterlands ... Iommi is a god. just brilliant. 

it still gives me a freakin' chill ...  that opener and the awesome N.I.B. are my two favorite evah Sabbath tunes, so there ya go.

FIN.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I almost took this one just for my first puberty-related crush in Junior High. I'm positive she thinks about me all of the time to this day, but I'm thinking keeping my hard-to-get stance is going to pay off soon.

 

[simey]

ding dong.

i owe 1970 album, those were songs ... jeez, didn't realize there was so much decorum up in here at this juncture 

Decorum?  I thought you didn't realize you owed a pick. I was just trying to help you out. 

 

[otb_lifer]

Decorum?  I thought you didn't realize you owed a pick. I was just trying to help you out. 

was just havin' a go at ya - a tad facetious, perhaps  

gracias for the reminder 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Here are some cool singles-based songs (as opposed to taking every song Zep ever put on an album) that I don't think got picked:

Rock The Boat. It's arguable, but this may be the first "disco" record. Or maybe it was....

When Will I See You Again, Lead singer has just a bit of a lisp  Been in love with her since I first heard this song.

Wildwood Weed. Jim Stafford was a great songwriter and a pretty damned good singer to boot.

Mandy, who gave without taking

We Never Danced To A Love Song. This is probably TMI, but I got laid more playing this record than any other. Plus, I like the subtle dig at everyone having to go disco in the late 70s - Manhattans said "#### that, sometimes, and just hold each other close"

Run Joey Run. If this ain't the pinnacle of 70s drama-songs, then the next one is.......

Wildfire

 

[simey]

Here are some cool singles-based songs (as opposed to taking every song Zep ever put on an album) that I don't think got picked:

When Will I See You Again,

I almost drafted this at one point. There is a lot of music I almost drafted. My last pick for '79 was an England Dan and John Ford Coley song, but I changed it to Journey at the last minute. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

Sure, what the hell? 

I get the impulse not to go through the judging thing, but has this route ever turned out?  I think we have tried a couple times and it's just a combo of: A. voting for the obvious choices, and B. not understanding what we did, and just post after post of "this is dumb, why isn't (insert obvious song/album) in the poll". 

 

[FUBAR]

Mandy, who gave without taking

  Woof! 

 

[Mister CIA]

Here are some cool singles-based songs (as opposed to taking every song Zep ever put on an album) that I don't think got picked:

Rock The Boat. It's arguable, but this may be the first "disco" record. Or maybe it was....

When Will I See You Again, Lead singer has just a bit of a lisp  Been in love with her since I first heard this song.

Wildwood Weed. Jim Stafford was a great songwriter and a pretty damned good singer to boot.

Mandy, who gave without taking

We Never Danced To A Love Song. This is probably TMI, but I got laid more playing this record than any other. Plus, I like the subtle dig at everyone having to go disco in the late 70s - Manhattans said "#### that, sometimes, and just hold each other close"

Run Joey Run. If this ain't the pinnacle of 70s drama-songs, then the next one is.......

Wildfire

Lots of great material on the cutting floor.

I Love the Nightlife

Love Train

Love Rollercoaster

Midnight at the Oasis

Mama Told Me not to Come

Cover of the Rolling Stone

Horse with No Name

Make it with You

Me and You and a Dog Named Boo

It Never Rains in Southern California

Candida

The Hustle

Everyone's a Winner

TSOP

 

[simey]

Lots of great material on the cutting floor.

Love Rollercoaster

I almost took this song too. I remember that urban legend that was being spread during the time of the song, that some woman got stabbed to death in or near the studio while recording Love Rollercoaster, and you could hear her scream in the background of the song. My friends and I back then used to put on a K-Tel album that had the song on it, and when it got to the part where she allegedly screamed, we would all be like this  . On your link, the screaming starts around 2:51.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

TSOP

 one of my favorite instrumental breaks on some of my old mix tapes.

 

[Doug B]

My last pick for '79 was an England Dan and John Ford Coley song, but I changed it to Journey at the last minute. 

I wanted to take "The Party's Over (Hopelessly In Love)", falsely remembering that it was first pressed on a "1979" Japanese import. "The Party's Over" was actually the lone studio track on Captured (1981).

...

My last two picks coming up -- was on vacation with the kids since Thursday, and my online phone time was chewed up following current events :(

.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Spooky '70s MOR pop:

Angie Baby

The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia

Dark Lady

Devil Woman

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Spooky '70s MOR pop:

Angie Baby

The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia

Dark Lady

Devil Woman

Some of that era's top 40 did have a certain evil undercurrent. Can almost hear it playing in the background of a Satanic ritual.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Some of that era's top 40 did have a certain evil undercurrent. Can almost hear it playing in the background of a Satanic ritual.

Yep. Play "Dark Lady" backwards and it's "Helter Skelter"

 

[Doug B]

Last two:

29.10: "New Orleans Ladies", LeRoux  [link]  (wildcard song)

Giving a little love to a sweet regional hit. When I was a little kid, my mom's cousin was a Top-40 DJ in upstate New York. She called him one night on a lark and requested "New Orleans Ladies". He was surprised that someone up there knew the song, but then he recognized her voice and had a good laugh.

30.12: Demons and Wizards, Uriah Heep (wildcard album)
   "The Wizard"
   "Easy Livin'"
   "Traveller in Time"
   "Paradise - The Spell"

Ah ... got these guys in under the wire.

.

 

[Doug B]

29.10: "New Orleans Ladies", LeRoux  [link]  (wildcard song)

Giving a little love to a sweet regional hit.

Interesting cover (in French) by local Cajun/Zydeco artist Wayne Toups.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

30.12: Demons and Wizard, Uriah Heep (wildcard album)
   "The Wizard"
   "Easy Livin'"
   "Traveller in Time"
   "Paradise - The Spell"

Ah ... got these guys in under the wire.

.

Oh, HELL yes! Where most of the other Brit Art-Rockers dabbled with fantasy & mythology, but pulled back from the edge, Uriah Heep went all-in. That was the death of them, of course, but they get all of the credit in the world from me for not holding back.

Bonus Track

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Roberta Flack may have been the finest singer of the 70s. She was like the actor John Cazale - didn't show up often but, when she did, just killed it.

First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Where Is The Love with the criminally underrated Donny Hathaway

Killing Me Softly

Feel Like Making Love

The Closer I Get To You again with Hathaway

Bonus Donny

 

[Doug B]

Killing Me Softly

A lot of people in this draft probably know that "Killing Me Softly with His Song" was inspired by Don McLean of "American Pie" fame. Just posting this for anyone following who may not have run across it:
 

According to Lori Lieberman, who performed the original recording in 1972, the song was born of a poem she wrote after experiencing a strong reaction to the Don McLean song "Empty Chairs." She then related this information to [lyricist Norman] Gimbel, who took her feelings and put them into words. Then Gimbel passed the words to [composer John] Fox, who set them to music.

Don McLean said he didn’t know the song described him and, when asked about it, said “I’m absolutely amazed. I’ve heard both Lori’s and Roberta’s version and I must say I’m very humbled about the whole thing. You can’t help but feel that way about a song written and performed as well as this one is.”

... In an April 5, 1973 article in the Daily News, Norman Gimbel was quoted as follows: "She [Lori Lieberman] told us about this strong experience she had listening to McLean ("I felt all flushed with fever / Embarrassed by the crowd / I felt he had found my letters / And read each one out loud / I prayed that he would finish / But he just kept right on …"). I had a notion this might make a good song so the three of us discussed it. We talked it over several times, just as we did for the rest of the numbers we wrote for this album and we all felt it had possibilities".

 

[Tom Skerritt]

Feels So Good

The Hustle

I Go Crazy

 

[Doug B]

I Go Crazy

Great tune. Coin flip between this one by Paul Davis and Gordon Lightfoot when I took my soft-rock song.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I really wanted some King, but never got to it. This song is one of his best and maybe the last great record he put out. That piano is like a drum and, speaking of drums, whoever's on the kits is just killing it. 

Burning Love

 

[otb_lifer]

The Hustle

#### yeah ... we had to do pee wee tire drills to this 

it was 70s disco to me - as much I abhorred the genre back then (DISCO SUCKS!!1!111!) I've grown to really dig a ####load of it, and this tune is the troof 

 

[shuke]

28:03: Driver's Seat - Sniff N the Tears - 1978

I had a couple of other more familiar, maybe more critically acclaimed but this song is so "of that time."  And one of my personal favorites.  

Finally!  SOD

 

[timschochet]

I get the impulse not to go through the judging thing, but has this route ever turned out?  I think we have tried a couple times and it's just a combo of: A. voting for the obvious choices, and B. not understanding what we did, and just post after post of "this is dumb, why isn't (insert obvious song/album) in the poll". 

Yeah after thinking it over I agree. Maybe we should just skip the judging altogether. 

 

[shuke]

Huge miss

 

[jwb]

Huge miss

Yup. This too.

 

[otb_lifer]

big whiff  on this massterpiece 

pack a lunch - enjoy 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

big whiff  on this massterpiece 

pack a lunch - enjoy 

I was really waffling on taking this for my '72 tune and ended up taking "Summer Breeze" instead. I've been second-thinking this choice more than any other.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Yeah after thinking it over I agree. Maybe we should just skip the judging altogether. 

That's what I was saying a while back - just throw up a category every so often and let folks talk about it. If someone wants to rank or judge in the middle of that discussion, that's fine (I personally always find @John Maddens Lunchbox to be a really interesting read in the aftermath of these drafts whether he's officially "ranking" or not).

 

[otb_lifer]

I was really waffling on taking this for my '72 tune and ended up taking "Summer Breeze" instead. I've been second-thinking this choice more than any other.

same with me and "Dudes" for '72 ... then whiffed wildcard with the Slits  

really surprised it's a wallflower thus far ...

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Just for the sheer amount of their records I love, the Temptations are one of my top two or three favorite acts. They were like M*A*S*H or Cheers was to TV comedies - they replaced players and kept rolling. I mean, you have an immortal like David ####### Ruffin leave (or even a demi-god like Eddie Kendricks) and still kick it, you're bad-assed. Imagine the Stones without Jagger or the Four Tops without Levi Stubbs or Zep without Plant - that's what they lost with Ruffin. His replacement was Dennis Edwards, who was more of a vocal jackhammer in the style of Wilson Pickett but who absolutely killed it on "Papa" and those other songs from this period.

 

[simey]

big whiff  on this massterpiece 

pack a lunch - enjoy 

I was really waffling on taking this for my '72 tune and ended up taking "Summer Breeze" instead. I've been second-thinking this choice more than any other.

Seals and Crofts were a big soft rock act in the 70s. I'm glad you drafted them to represent the decade.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Seals and Crofts were a big soft rock act in the 70s. I'm glad you drafted them to represent the decade.

All of their songs remind me of summers on the Chesapeake when I was but a wee lad.

 

[Mister CIA]

I would have thought one person in this draft would have selected Slow Ride.

 

[dal_boys_phan]

Some of my considerations that went undrafted...these two were my final cuts as my albums in the respective year, but as noted pulled the trigger in another direction

- Dr. John – Dr. John’s Gumbo (1972 album) - passed over in favor of Aretha's "YG&B" (Rd. 14)

- B.B. King – Live in Cook County Jail (1971 album) - passed over in favor of Elton's "Madman" (Rd. 15)

Also considered taking a Chicago album for many a year, but passed over in favor of taking a song instead - didn't double up on any artist in my draft.

Which brings me to Springsteen as that was the only artist I considered drafting twice in multiple slots.  Considered "Rosalita" for both the 73 and 79 song, but honestly my favorite from WIESS is "E Street Shuffle" - from an album I considered taking as well.  Thought going E Street Shuffle as my classic rock (Rd. 28 selection of China Grove) or wildcard song (Rd. 30 selection of Copacabana), but not doubling up won out.  If "Born To Run" had still been there in Round 30 (@KarmaPolice took it 15 or so rounds earlier), I would have taken it to bookend my draft with both the album and song.

 

[Binky The Doormat]

I would have thought one person in this draft would have selected Slow Ride.

FOGHAT MANNNNNNNN!!!  WOOOOOOOOOOO!

My senior year, that song was everywhere, all the time.  I liked it then.  

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Lots and lots of good tunes had to be left on the board.  Here are some albums from my board - not sure that a couple of them didn't get taken, I mostly quit marking stuff off after I made my pick:

1970 Albums

No Dice - Bad Finger

Elton John - Elton John

Closer to Home - Grand Funk Railroad

American Woman - The Gues Who

Gasoline Alley - Rod Stewart

Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens

Band of Gypsys - Jimi Hendrix

1971 Albums

Madman Across the Water - Elton John 

Runt - Todd Rundgren

Killer - Alice Cooper

Mud Slide Slim - James Taylor

1972 Albums

Harvest - Neil Young

Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull

Can't Buy a Thrill - Steely Dan

Let's Stay Together - Al Green

School's Out - Alice Cooper

Catch Bull at Four - Cat Stevens

All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople

Smokin' - Humble Pie

Anthology - Steve Miller Band

Barnstorm - Joe Walsh

More to come ...

 

[Tom Skerritt]

Here is my draft... (albums have wiki links, and songs have video links). Punk/Post Punk is my least known genre. I picked those early to get ones that I knew. I'm a big funk/soul/blues and folk/singer-songwriter guy. Obviously love classic rock as well. I'm also a former pothead who loves long psychedelic jams. I play bass, guitar and saxophone. Can also play some keys and drums. Feel free to judge.

1. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon

2. Talking Heads - Fear of Music

3. Queen - A Night at the Opera

4. CSN&Y - Deja Vu

5. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

6. Dire Straits - Self-titled album

7. Heart - Little Queen

8. Blues Brothers - Briefcase Full of Blues

9. Yes - The Yes Album

10. ELP - Trilogy

11. Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger

12. Blue Oyster Cult - Agents of Fortune

13. Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson

14. Use Me - Bill Withers

15. If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

16. Rock Lobster - The B-52's

17. Instant Karma - John Lennon

18. Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith

19. Steely Dan - Pretzel Logic

20. Foreigner - Head Games

21. Birdland - Weather Report

22. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon

23. Lady Writer - Dire Straits

24. Rich Girl - Hall & Oates

25. Treat Her Like A Lady - Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose

26. Help Me - Joni Mitchell

27. Frankenstein - The Edgar Winter Group

28. Reminiscing - Little River Band

29. Angry Eyes - Loggins & Messina

30. Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell

 

[FUBAR]

same with me and "Dudes" for '72 ... then whiffed wildcard with the Slits  

really surprised it's a wallflower thus far ...

72 is one of the deepest years imo. 

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Thanks for running the show Tim.  And thanks to those that kept the Google spreadsheet updated.  Fun draft with many new discoveries for me.  

Here's my roster:

ALBUMS

1970  The Velvet Underground - Loaded

1971  T. Rex - Electric Warrior

1972  Stevie Wonder - Talking Book

1973  Bruce Springsteen - Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ

1974  Roxy Music - Country Life

1975  Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Zuma

1976  The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers

1977  Television - Marquee Moon

1978  Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers

1979  XTC - Drums and Wires

Punk/Post Punk  Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Hard/Classic Rock  AC/DC - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Singer/Songwriter  Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman

Funk/Soul/Disco  Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

Wild Card  Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool

SONGS

1970  Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

1971  David Bowie - Changes

1972  Todd Rundgren - Hello It's Me

1973  Little Feat - Dixie Chicken

1974  Gram Parsons - $1000 Wedding

1975  Led Zeppelin - Kashmir

1976  Graham Parker & the Rumour - Don't Ask Me Questions

1977  The Kinks - Juke Box Music

1978  The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

1979  Cheap Trick - Dream Police

Punk/Post Punk  Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen

Hard/Classic Rock  The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again

Singer/Songwriter  John Prine - Sam Stone

Funk/Soul/Disco  Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun

Wild Card  Rodriguez - Cause