Super Hits of The 70s: Have A Nice Day, Vol. 10

...girl, don't they warn ya?

usually there's a clear front-runner for me with these comps, but this boasts two (maybe 3) songs that are absolute classics - Hammond, Stealers Wheel and Lawrence.

tbf there's a bunch of these I don't know at all

Dobie by a laid-back mile, though I dig the Hammond and Looking Glass tracks.

Shakey otm although my list of frontrunners is different and longer.

Oh, this is pretty difficult. LWIII, Stealers Wheel and Dobie Gray are the main contenders. I'm not about to vote for the Stories version of "Brother Louie" over the Hot Chocolate original, though it's good. I like the Albert Hammond song. I've never heard the Dr. Hook, I only know the song through a version by R. Stevie Moore! I really like Hurricane Smith but "Don't Let It Die" is his masterpiece. Don't think I know the rest?

was first exposed to drift away through the awful uncle kracker cover, but the original is unassailable. voting for that

I've got to go with Dr. Hook for a second time (favourite line: "Oh, that's beautiful"). Love "Dead Skunk" too. Stealers Wheel is a little too closely associated now with you-know-what--don't know how much of a life it has outside of that anymore. Definitively K-Tel: Hurricane Smith, Vicki Lawrence, DeFrancos. "Drift Away" (which I like fine) will win going away.

tbf there's a bunch of these I don't know at all

Think this is the first one where I could hum every song right now.

was first exposed to drift away through the awful uncle kracker cover

had no idea this was a cover :( cuz yeah that cover is fucking horrible

Forgot to mention in the OP the Reba cover of the Vicki. The video was from her Baroque "I'm An Actress!" period of short films as videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4GMUlCBgd0

the Dobie Gray version is so much more laid back!

xp

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cryptosicko/playlist/1Q0GS7bNtGHVXmQi9UNjJs?si=tqnXi7d6QL69uvUb0eXRPw

("Wildflower" is missing, and as usual, I'm not entirely certain about a couple of these versions)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ8n_Esop5I

Skylark: "Wildflower"

In 1972 in Victoria, Canada, a rookie policeman wrote a poem for his girlfriend while driving home in his police car. Dave "the Cop" Richardson gave the poem to his friend David Foster, a young aspiring young musician looking for material for his new band, SKYLARK. Foster passed it along to Skylark guitarist Doug Edwards who set it to music. It was the first song Edwards had ever composed.

WILDFLOWER is one of the most performed songs in the history of Canadian popular music. Over 30 years it has sold multiple million copies in more than sixty versions. It's been honored with a BMI Millionaire's Award and SOCAN Classic and Crystal Awards. It is the song that launched David Foster's career.

woah i never knew Dobie Gray was black

I always mix up "Wildflower" and Michael Martin Murphy's "Wildfire"

Wow, haven't ever heard Wildflower. Yikes. But I'm not Canadian so maybe I don't get it.

If all this is true, I don’t understand why it wasn’t in Weirdos

DeFranco Family is not available on UK Spotify, so here they are - introduced by Jack Benny (I had to look that up, so thought I'd mention it, sorry 'merkins).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Iw2qYtN8A

Assuming this is a substitute for the Osmonds by the compilers? Song isn't bad. The choreography could do with some work.

"Wildflower" is a lovely song. Will probably get my vote over several other strong contenders in this set.

It is misattributed above though - David Foster was in the band, but the song was written by Dave Richardson (lyrics) and Skylark guitarist Doug Edwards (music). Richardson wasn't in the band; he was a police officer who wrote "Wildflower" as a poem for his girlfriend without it being originally intended for a song.

I have a very vivid memory of being driven through LA as a kid on the way to the La Brea Tar Pits and listening to Drift Away on KRTH 101 so I’ll probbaly vote for that but Never Rains is currently on my iTunes so “?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUCcULhyN1I

"Brother Louie" won't play for me off Spotify, so here it is...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUCcULhyN1I

Did Elvis cover "Drift Away"? Seems perfect for him circa 1972. I remember an old interview where Jagger or Dylan or one of those deities was raving about it.

"There is a rumour that 'Drift Away' was originally written for Elvis Presley. When he head Dobie Gray’s demo of the song he turned it down."

http://seventiesmusic.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/drift-away-dobie-gray-1973/

Sounds apocryphal (at least the second half).

From the same site--there's actually a something approaching a real video for it (probably shot for a TV show; they didn't make promo videos then, did they?).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuyDWzctgY

"Drift Away" was my #1 in the classic rock poll we did here some years ago.

when i was young i thought this song was a homage to the beach boys. "give me the beach boys and free my soul..."

so naturally i still sing it this way when it comes on

Have we discussed "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" in detail anywhere on the board? The story, as presented by the singer, makes no sense: if she is going to go to the trouble of disposing of the wife's body, why not get rid of the lover as well? Also, even if her brother was convicted in a quick show trial, there was still opportunity enough for her to come forward and exonerate him (unless her attitude is "hey, I took care of your cheatin' wife, you're on your own from here"). The song only works, I think, if its real subject is guilt in letting her brother hang for her actions and eventual cowardice; she paints the picture of corrupt Southern justice that plays on our stereotypical notions of how such things work in order to convince herself that "the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands" when, really, its just her.

Believe ilx0r Pleasant Plains pleasplained that whole storyline to us once.

Starting to think i may be on my own on this, but i go with Edward Bears Last Song. It's hopelessly corny and dated but i always go for a good kixs-off tune. However,i like most of these, at least a little bit.

The surprise of this batch for me is how much I don't absolutely loathe "Drift Away" when it isn't being performed by Uncle Kracker.

(xpost) Not to mention...

NICE GUY EDDIE: When I was coming down here, I was playin it. And "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" came on. Now I ain't heard that song since it was big, but when it was big, I heard it a million-trillion times. I'm listening to it this morning, and this was the first time I ever realized that the lady singing the song, was the one who killed Andy.

MR. BLUE: You didn't know Vicki Lawrence killed the guy?

NICE GUY EDDIE: I thought the cheatin' wife shot Andy.

MR. BLONDE: They say it in the song.

NICE GUY EDDIE: I know, I heard it. I must've zoned out whenever that part came on before. I thought when she said that little sister stuff, she was talkin' about her sister- in-law, the cheatin' wife.

JOE: No, she did it. She killed the cheatin' wife, too.

I have never heard the Uncle Kracker cover, and I'm gonna keep it that way. "Drift Away" is my vote, and I don't want it sullied.

I had never actually attempted to parse the lyrics of "The Night the Lights..." I pretty much always changed radio stations on that one when it was new.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

This one is the most impossible for me

Okay. Voted

this installment includes work from the fathers of two big names in 21st Century Alt/College Rock

Is it really true that Tony DeFranco is Ani's dad?

Never heard that one before! The more you know.

the defranco family tune...woof.

I saw that Jack Benny special with the DeFranco Family. (It might've been Jack's last before his death in Dec '74.)

The Replacements version almost makes it listenable

also, Vicki Lawrence was a regular on the Carol Burnett Show for its entire '67-78 run, and was only 29 when it ended.

i am probably most fond of "It Never Rains in Southern California" and "The Cover of the Rolling Stone"

Way back x-post: they've been making promo videos (if you're generous with the definition) since there's been sound film. This Drift Away is one of them.

Anyway, voted for Drift Away because I dug it when I was three and I was not wrong.

Also voted Dobie.

Fun fact: this Volume and Volume 5 are tied so far as having the lowest number of UK hits (two).

also, Vicki Lawrence was a regular on the Carol Burnett Show for its entire '67-78 run, and was only 29 when it ended.

now how are you gonna bring this up without mentioning Mama's Family, morbs? so that means she was all of 34-35 when she put on that wig. and that butt.

they've been making promo videos (if you're generous with the definition) since there's been sound film

I've seen some good ones from the mid-late '60s ("Itchycoo Park," "Rain," "Happy Jack"), and I know they pick up again with "Heroes" in the late '70s. Having a hard time thinking of any from the early '70s, though.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I see I was the difference between Loudon or Albert tying for 2nd.

Things I Learned From This Poll:

--Hurricane Smith was Norman Smith, Engineer/Producer for the Beatles, early Floyd, and the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow.

--"Drift Away" writer Mentor Williams was Paul Williams brother, and he was Lynn "Rose Garden" Anderson's partner for decades.

I also did a little research on the K-Tel tributes by Pravda Records, finding This Article with this relevant track from the last one linked...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=274&v=pXHBHfi9ddE

I've seen some good ones from the mid-late '60s ("Itchycoo Park," "Rain," "Happy Jack"), and I know they pick up again with "Heroes" in the late '70s. Having a hard time thinking of any from the early '70s, though.

Have you not being following these threads?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e0qYP_PTlY

I will pay closer attention posthaste.

i wouldve voted for Hammond or Stealers Wheel but lots of classiks on here

I was the only vote for the DeFranco Family? And you call yourselves poptimists!!

I could have put Albert Hammond into a 3-Way Tie (For Second) but I’m glad I gave Looking Glass’s slept on other hit its sole vote.

Wow, that's a surprising result.

I worked as a sales rep for a small distributor back in the late 80s/early 90s. Rhino was one of our best selling labels. I remember these things coming out one after another, and thinking, There is no way there was this much from that part of the 70s worth saving. Thirty years on, I realize I was wrong.

Note the pathos in the Edward Bear song. The singer is writing "the last song I'll ever write for you" for someone who'll never hear and couldn't care less if they did. The singer's powerlessness is paralleled in the limp, hazy production.

In an interview published on the website for the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, composer Larry Evoy states that the song was inspired by his own personal experience. "It was written over a period of time and was literal. I would actually go to sleep with my light on, hoping that she’d think I was still awake and would drop by, and she did."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Song_(Edward_Bear_song)

I don't feel like hunting for it downstairs, but I used to work with (in a record store) and once interviewed the guy who produced Edward Bear, Paul White, when he was at Capitol. He told me the same story, more or less, in the interview, that he never got over the woman he wrote the song for.

I'm picturing now a whole melodramatic scenario where he leaves the light on all night, staring into space with his turntable on automatic replay playing "Last Song" over and over so loudly he can't hear her banging on the door.

The lukewarm production and the sentimental backstory somehow still have not ruined this childhood favorite for me. I also enjoyed its appearance in the Canadian film Weirdos - the main character has an Edward Bear poster in his bedroom! He is also obsessed with Andy Warhol, who keeps showing up throughout the picture to give him advice. #onethread

Not to be confused with the Canadian novel The Bear, by Marian Engel.

Was the bear's name Edward?

Ha, don’t think so.

I was at grad school with a woman who had obtained rights to film Bear but it doesn't look like that ever came to completion.

Oh right, no “The.” Maybe I should put it on my other thread.

It's just called Bear? I don't think I've ever heard . . . oh, wait, is this the one about the woman who has sex with a bear?

Couldn’t tell you, haven’t read it.

Ayup. "The shocking erotic novel of a woman in love."

The Skylark song is the only one I didn't immediately recognize but I sat with it for two seconds and remembered that it's the 'let her cryyyyyy for she's a lady' song. I may have listened to this series way too much.

Same for me except I haven’t tried to listen to it yet

Listening now. Still don’t recognize it.

I don't know how many times I saw The Neville Brothers over the years, 10 or 15 maybe, and Aaron pretty much always sang "Wildflower." He must have had a thing for that song.