The three albums I mentioned by name in the entry are the ones to start with. They actually had a top 40 hit with Astral Man in 1974, but it’s not typical of their sound.Nektar is unfamiliar to me - have to check them out.
I just listened to Marvellous Moses - that's some really good stuff. I'm intrigued.The three albums I mentioned by name in the entry are the ones to start with. They actually had a top 40 hit with Astral Man in 1974, but it’s not typical of their sound.Nektar is unfamiliar to me - have to check them out.
I’d never heard Nektar until someone from my other music/sports geek board picked Recycled in the 1970s album draft we did. Side 2 of Recycled hooked me, then I explored the rest from there.I just listened to Marvellous Moses - that's some really good stuff. I'm intrigued.
Do tell...I’d never heard Nektar until someone from my other music/sports geek board picked Recycled in the 1970s album draft we did. Side 2 of Recycled hooked me, then I explored the rest from there.
Rotojunkie, now known as Rotojunkiefix with the url of rjbullpen.com. In The Sports Bar, their equivalent of the FFA, we would do music, movie and TV drafts from time to time. On other threads I’ve referred to the Neil, Beatles/solo Beatles and Rolling Stones drafts I’ve done there.Do tell...
That's too bad it's not too active anymore, although we could easily say the same thing about this board compared to where it used to be. :(Rotojunkie, now known as Rotojunkiefix with the url of rjbullpen.com. In The Sports Bar, their equivalent of the FFA, we would do music, movie and TV drafts from time to time. On other threads I’ve referred to the Neil, Beatles/solo Beatles and Rolling Stones drafts I’ve done there.
It’s not very active these days and there hasn’t been a draft in a while.
This place is party central compared to there.That's too bad it's not too active anymore, although we could easily say the same thing about this board compared to where it used to be. :(
Thanks for this. I will give these a listen.The original lineup's six albums from 1971 to 1975 are all outstanding, particularly A Tab in the Ocean (1972), which sounds like a more intricate version of prime Deep Purple, Remember the Future (1973), a concept album about a clairvoyant blind boy that gained them a cult following in the US in part due to some spectacular Floydian instrumental passages, and Recycled, their 1975 output.
OH: "This song is everything I hate about rock music. No, not everything, but a particular boring, overworked tunelessness. It sucks so bad. You know when you see old rich people who spend a ####load of money to dress really poorly, like a $400 Cosby sweater, or Donald Trump with really expensive ####ty suits? That’s what that song reminds me of."Pip's Invitation said:54. Letting Go -- Wings (from Venus and Mars)
Tim took the two successful singles from this album, I'm taking the less successful one (which still made the lower rungs of the top 40). Paul McCartney wrote this song about his wife and bandmate Linda, wondering whether he wasn't letting her pursue her own interests enough. (Is this what led to Cook of the House on the next album?) But it's the music that earns it a spot here. It may be the most Stones-y Paul ever sounded. The guitars are thick and grinding, the rhythm is a flexible take on blues, and Paul's vocal is quite forthright.
Even better is the slightly faster and much louder live version from the Wings over America live album and Rockshow concert film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7frF7Ir2oA. This version is what made the song a favorite.
i believe i saw them with my tiny doppelganger (same face, hair, posture then but huge difference in height, quite weird), Mike Kamen - of New York Rock & Roll Ensemble and soundtracker of many films, most notably Terry Gilliam's - and, if i'm remembering correctly, it was he who invited them over to America for a big-fuss NYC showcase gig.53. Marvellous Moses -- Nektar (from Recycled)
Nektar was a much-underappreciated prog/hard rock band who released a bunch of fascinating albums in the '70s. The members were from the UK but the band formed in Germany in the '60s after each original member had made his way to Hamburg to try to follow in the footsteps of the Beatles. By the time of their debut album in 1971, they had grown into something much louder and more complex than British Invasion music. The original lineup's six albums from 1971 to 1975 are all outstanding, particularly A Tab in the Ocean (1972), which sounds like a more intricate version of prime Deep Purple, Remember the Future (1973), a concept album about a clairvoyant blind boy that gained them a cult following in the US in part due to some spectacular Floydian instrumental passages, and Recycled, their 1975 output.
Recycled is another concept album, this one about environmental devastation. On both sides, the songs all run together (and were originally labeled just as "Recycled Part 1" and "Recycled Part 2"; the same had been the case for Remember the Future). Side 1 details a future in which only "recycled energy" remains and the human race is on the brink of extinction. Side 2 ponders how we might have gotten there via excessive tourism and overuse of the wilderness. The album expands the band's use of synthesizers and its influence can be heard in latter-day prog-influenced bands from Ozric Tentacles to Umphrey's McGree.
Marvellous [sic] Moses and another song from side 2 (It's All Over) are more distinct as individual songs than the rest; they date from at least early 1974 (they appear in the Remember the Future tour setlists) and thus were probably written before the others. Marvellous Moses makes great use of synthesizers, set to a backdrop of a bouncing rhythm and memorable melody. It sticks in my head frequently.
Unfortunately, the band were unable to build on the achievements of this record. Burned out from their frantic touring and recording pace from '71 to '75, singer/guitarist Roye Albrighton quit the band in '76. They carried on with a new frontman but gained no traction. When Albrighton returned in 1980, musical trends had changed and their output struggled to balance their old sound with the new landscape, leading to a breakup in 1982. The band reappeared in 2000 and has continued with various lineups since then, even after Albrighton's death in 2016.
Said NYC gig is on Youtube in its entirety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSf5exe-plYi believe i saw them with my tiny doppelganger (same face, hair, posture then but huge difference in height, quite weird), Mike Kamen - of New York Rock & Roll Ensemble and soundtracker of many films, most notably Terry Gilliam's - and, if i'm remembering correctly, it was he who invited them over to America for a big-fuss NYC showcase gig.
At this show, Albrighton says Marvellous Moses was written to celebrate the band's finally getting to tour in the US after 5 years of trying.Said NYC gig is on Youtube in its entirety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSf5exe-plY
One of the FM stations there started playing Remember the Future and it caught on with their listeners.
yeah, i'm pretty sure that's it, cuz they open with a rock&roll-y thing and that's sumn that Mike (one of the first American progsters) would have responded to cuz he hated that prog had forgotten to be rock&roll most of the time and they woulda known that. i would have been backstage for at least a part, tho i don't remember where it was or meeting the boys. it wouldnt have been @ Julliard, who loved Kamen but were still really stuffy, but it was a proper hall.Said NYC gig is on Youtube in its entirety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSf5exe-plY
One of the FM stations there started playing Remember the Future and it caught on with their listeners.
It was at the Academy of Music.yeah, i'm pretty sure that's it, cuz they open with a rock&roll-y thing and that's sumn that Mike (one of the first American progsters) would have responded to cuz he hated that prog had forgotten to be rock&roll most of the time and they woulda known that. i would have been backstage for at least a part, tho i don't remember where it was or meeting the boys. it wouldnt have been @ Julliard, who loved Kamen but were still really stuffy, but it was a proper hall.
hey I don’t need to be the thread police but maybe put spoiler tags on anything that might be upcoming?johnnycakes said:After seeing some of these picks, I am holding out hope for
I’m not changing my list, so I don’t see any reason for others to hide discussion of songs that haven’t been picked yet. It’s not going to influence me. My request was to spoiler-tag songs that I have already mentioned will not be on the list in my spoiler-tag posts, if people have seen those posts and are reacting to them. If they haven’t seen them and are speculating, I don’t think it’s a big deal.hey I don’t need to be the thread police but maybe put spoiler tags on anything that might be upcoming?
I grew up in Philly and was 4 years old in 1975, so my knowledge of Midwest regional bands from the era is not great. But the list does have bands like Nektar that most people haven’t heard of, so we’ll see.I’m holding out hope for a Midwest band that didn’t release an LP in 1975 but re-issued a previous album & scored their biggest single that summer. but they were a true regional thing, back when that still was a thing, so unlikely.
Through 1974 they self-produced, played mostly Big Ten/MAC towns.1975- they were on a major label and were popular on both coasts and the Deep South. Faded badly in the ‘80s but their hits remained cultural institutions on AOR classic rock stations.I grew up in Philly and was 4 years old in 1975, so my knowledge of Midwest regional bands from the era is not great. But the list does have bands like Nektar that most people haven’t heard of, so we’ll see.
Let us know who they are at the end of the countdown if they don’t come up.Through 1974 they self-produced, played mostly Big Ten/MAC towns.1975- they were on a major label and were popular on both coasts and the Deep South. Faded badly in the ‘80s but their hits remained cultural institutions on AOR classic rock stations.
I gave it a like before clicking the link to listen to the song.OH: "This song is everything I hate about rock music. No, not everything, but a particular boring, overworked tunelessness. It sucks so bad. You know when you see old rich people who spend a ####load of money to dress really poorly, like a $400 Cosby sweater, or Donald Trump with really expensive ####ty suits? That’s what that song reminds me of."
Always loved this one, though.......50. It Only Takes a Minute -- Tavares (from In the City)
Another one from when soul and funk were on the cusp of morphing into disco. The synth bass is awesome and the vocal arrangement is fantastic. While the strings hint at disco, there's no evidence of the formulaic blah that was to come in that genre.
Eventually the Brits caught on, making a hit out of the cover by boy band Take That.
Unrelated:I grew up in Philly and was 4 years old in 1975, so my knowledge of Midwest regional bands from the era is not great. But the list does have bands like Nektar that most people haven’t heard of, so we’ll see.
There are some pretty awesome instrumental passages. Are any from fully instrumental songs? Not tellin'.Unrelated:
Any instrumental works in the near future?
May you receiveThere are some pretty awesome instrumental passages. Are any from fully instrumental songs? Not tellin'.
I love instrumental rock/metal/pop. To paraphrase Mr. Costanza of Seinfeld fame, much like tinsel on a Christmas tree I sometimes find vocals distracting.There are some pretty awesome instrumental passages. Are any from fully instrumental songs? Not tellin'.
Hell to the yeah. One of the underrated gems in the vast Sabbath repertoire.47. Symptom of the Universe -- Black Sabbath (from Sabotage)
The riffage is killer, as are Bill Ward's drum fills when Ozzy screams "yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah" at the end of each verse. Tony Iommi crams a lot of notes into his solo without disrupting the flow of the song or devolving into wankery. And then all of the sudden, when you'd thought you'd figured out what kind of song this was, acoustic guitar shows up on the bridge and the rhythm shifts to something light and flexible. This is as good an example of any of why Sabbath was such a big deal to some people.
Oh how I hate Ozzie's voice.47. Symptom of the Universe -- Black Sabbath (from Sabotage)
The riffage is killer, as are Bill Ward's drum fills when Ozzy screams ...
so goodAnd now we go in the other direction.
46. Diamonds & Rust -- Joan Baez (from Diamonds & Rust)
What a voice - among the best female vocalists in history IMO.And now we go in the other direction.
46. Diamonds & Rust -- Joan Baez (from Diamonds & Rust)
I've always thought this to be one of Baez' best songs, namely due to her strong, compelling vocal. The song is about the memories that are triggered after she received a phone call from a lover of a decade ago. It's not explicitly confirmed in the lyrics, but the ex-lover is Bob Dylan. "You were so good with words/and at keeping things vague" -- who else could that be? Another connection was that on this album she included a cover of Dylan's then-new Simple Twist of Fate, which made Tim's list.
Maybe this is not quite so jarring an entry coming after Sabbath: It spawned a well-known cover by Judas Priest, which led to subsequent covers by Blackmore's Night, SOD and Great White.
This is one of my favorite Sabbath songs of all time. Live versions tend to be better than the studio. The opening riff still gives me goosebumps. So simple. So GD good.Between the main riff and Ward's drum fills, this song is almost too good to be real. This is top notch stuff, even by Sabbath's lofty standards.
That was Astral Man, which would become their only top 40 hit a few months later.yeah, i'm pretty sure that's it, cuz they open with a rock&roll-y thing
Now that I think about it, the title and lyrics may themselves be a cheesy marketing gimmick. They were inspired by Telly Savalas’ catch phrase “who loves ya, baby,” which was popular shtick at the time.48. Who Loves You -- The Four Seasons (from Who Loves You)
The B-side was a "disco version," but it was the exact same track as the A-side with the instrumental break spliced in a second time. Gotta love cheesy marketing gimmicks.
To people who prefer hard rock/metal over folk/pop, sure. But that doesn’t describe everyone.The Judas Priest cover is far more definitive IMO
Thanks. 45 is a logical pair with 46, but then 44 is entirely different territory. Both coming later today.Gotta love a list that has a straight line of The Four Seasons-Black Sabbath-Joan Baez. Major props.