A Subjective Selection Of Great Music From The Seventies…
In 1975 Scottish rock band Nazareth released their version of the Everly Brothers track from 1960, “Love Hurts”.
It was the only version of several to become a hit.
Here’s the video recording of the studio version:
Tags: Dream On, Love Hurts, Music of the Seventies, Nazareth, Scottish rock band, Seventies Rock BandsIn 1970 Creedence Clearwater Revival released their album “Cosmo’s Factory”, with hits like “Lookin’ Out My Back Door”, “Up Around the bend”, “Who’ll Stop The Rain, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and “Long As I Can See The Light”.
From another album that year, “Pendulum”, the only tracks I can remember were “Have You Ever Seen The Rain?” and “Hey Tonight”.
Creedence Clearwater Revival accompanied me from the late Sixties into the Seventies, although by 1972 they had broken up.
Although from 1969, “Bad Moon Rising” and “Lodi”, which I had on single, and “Midnight Special” and “Down On The Corner” from the album “Willy And The Poorboys” were popular long into the next decade, as were songs like “Born On The Bayou” and “Suzie Q” and of course the iconic “Proud Mary”, with which Ike and Tina Turner also had a hit in 1971.
So here’s what I have found, first, a classic CCR song, “Long As I Can See The Light”:
Tags: Bad Moon Rising, Born On The Bayou, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Doug Clifford, Down On The Corner, Have You Ever Seen The Rain, Hey Tonight, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, John Fogerty, Lodi, Long As I Can See The Light, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Music of the Seventies, Proud Mary, Seventies Rock Bands, Stu Cook, Suzie Q, Tom Fogerty, Up Around The Bend, Who'll Stop The RainDriving down country roads in New Zealand in my late teens, often the melody of the John Denver song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” would come to mind, and I’d find myself singing it as I drove along.
I say late teens because I sold my car to go on my first trip to Europe just before I turned twenty. In fact, I had my 20th birthday on the plane back home a couple of months later.
Because of the time differences and the international dateline, I actually only had about an hour of birthday, at Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii.
Anyway… I used to find the song particularly appropriate when I was driving home from university along State Highway 50, actually a series of practically empty back roads that run the length of Central Hawkes Bay parallel to the main road, State Highway 2.
It follows a range of mountains and crosses numerous rivers…
As you are perhaps aware, John Denver lost his life in a plane crash, flying solo, in 1997. Long before then, this had become one of his signature songs.
Here is a live version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”:
Tags: Annie's Song, Blue Ridge Mountains, calypso, Grandma's Feather Bed, John Denver, Leaving On A Jet Plane, Miss Piggy, Muppets, Music of the Seventies, Rocky Mountain High, Shenandoah River, Sunshine On My Shoulders, Take Me Home Country Roads, Thank God I'm A Country Boy, Toots And The Maytals, West Jamaica, West VirginiaI first saw the lascivious lips of The Rocky Horror Picture Show singing “Science Fiction/Double Feature” in the cinema of a small town in New Zealand, which has since burnt down.
The film came out in 1975, so it must have been some time after that.
I remember being amazed to learn that creator Richard O’Brien was also from New Zealand (actually he was born in the UK but emigrated there with his family as a child).
Another shock was seeing my father’s name in the sound credits, but it was obviously a different person. I’ve never come across the same combination before or since, so it was a strange coincidence.
Anyway, here is that song about the late night double picture feature show (“I wanna go…”), unfortunately without the moving lips, but with the lyrics in case you want to sing along:
Tags: Brad and Janet, Frank N. Furter, Frankenstein Place, Horror Picture Show, Kings Road, Late Night, Lips, Lips Picture, Music of the Seventies, New Year, Over At The Frankenstein Place, Phone Call, Place Time, Premises, Richard O Brien, Richard O'Brien, Riff Raff, Rocky Horror Picture, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Science Fiction Double Feature, Science Fiction/Double Feature, Special Effects, Stage Production, Standing In The Doorway, Strange Coincidence, Subtitles, Susan Sarandon, Sweet Transvestite, Tim Curry, Time WarpLast night in the car listening to someone talking on a CD I picked up the words “staying alive” and my mind immediately turned to the Bee Gees – born on the Isle of Man, they spent their childhood near Manchester, England and in Redcliffe on the outskirts of Brisbane, Australia, before going on to become one of the top acts in the USA.
The Bee Gees were really a Sixties band who reinvented themselves in the Seventies, beginning with “Jive Talkin'”, “Nights On Broadway” and “You Should Be Dancing”, and really taking off with songs like “Night Fever”, “Stayin’ Alive”, “How Deep Is Your Love” and “More Than A Woman” from the hit film “Saturday Night Fever” starring John Travolta.
Tags: Andy Gibb, Barry Gibb, Bee Gees, Brisbane Australia, Brothers Gibb, Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You, First of May, How Deep Is Your Love, I Can't See Nobody, I started A Joke, I've Gotta Get A Message To You, Isle of Man, Jive Talkin', John Travolta, Manchester England, Massachussetts, Maurice Gibb, More Than A Woman, Music of the Seventies, New York Mining Disaster 1941, Night Fever, Nights On Broadway, Redcliffe Queensland, Saturday Night Fever, Seventies, Seventies Rock Bands, Sixties, Spicks and Specks, Stayin' Alive, You Should Be Dancing
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