Write Back Weekend "Stars on 45"
At first I thought compiling a list of my favorite seventies artists for this week's TITMT would be easier said than done. After all, I was born in 1977. What do I know first hand about seventies music, much less the seventies, period? In fact, when I think seventies all I think is bell bottoms, bad tripping and the colors brown and orange. In other words, as a decade, the seventies scared me. I've always been grateful that I didn't have to actually recall much of it first hand and instead have been able to relive it from a safe, decade or two distance.
This also served to confuse some of you in my age bracket. A lot of you said that you didn't really know enough about the seventies to get all the jokes listed in the I Love the Seventies updates. On that, I have two things to say. One, when you watch the show, you realize you really didn't need to be there most of the time to get the joke, unless of course you're under eighteen and/or living under your pet rock.
The second thing though is a lot harder to relate to. This is the plain fact that I have always been a stone, cold pop culture junkie. I attribute some of this to my parents interests, but really I seek a lot of these things out myself. Even my favorite commentator, the one, the only Michael Ian Black wouldn't technically remember a lot of which he comments on but that doesn't stop him from being sarcastic about the seventies either. We can't help it. The seventies as a whole just made the mockery so much simpler.
So then I thought about it some more. Since I didn't like much about the seventies that's when it hit me; this list was actually going to be the easiest to come up with, not the hardest. That's because to me, there were so few artists to continually enjoy! What follows is my list of my favorite seventies arists. Note some of them might not have started or ended their careers in the seventies, but in some way, shape or form something about each of them framed what the seventies should salvage- at least to me.
1. Bee Gees- How anyone can talk about the best artists of the seventies and not mention the "Brothers Gibb" is beyond me. Whether it was the Bee Gees or their little brother Andy, it was all falsetto-lically fantastic to me. Seriously. These guys had like, an insane amount of hits. They even had not one, but two movies named after one of their songs. Or was the song named after one of their movies? You know what? It doesn't even matter. They rocked, no matter how you sliced it.
Since they say imitation is the best form of flattery, check out one of my fave SNL skits ever. It's Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon doing a little something called "The Barry Gibb Talk Show".
2. Elton John Elton John obviously had a career that flourished well beyond the seventies, but since the seventies was where it all began I had to give credit where credit was due. I actually think I might have enjoyed eighties Elton better, but then again, I enjoy everything eighties better. That doesn't change the fact that my favorite Elton song of all time, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, still has it's roots in the seventies.
3. Billy Joel Billy Joel's rightfully earned place on this list is a lot like Elton's. Joel rocked the eighties (especially in the music video department), but the seventies Joel wrote songs like Movin' Out, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant and of course, Piano Man. I guess you could say this is where he really started the fire.
4. Queen When I was little I remember watching a movie called Flash Gordon. There's a scene in there where Flash is on a bed of nails. In the background we hear the theme song, chanting. FLASH! AHHHA! It scared the hell of me back then and truth be told, it still creeps me out now. But little did I know that the geniuses behind that song were the great band Queen. Flash Gordon aside, Queen was truly a killer band, no pun intended. They were also uniquely inventive. Very few acts before or since have made avant garde music so popular. Sure many of tried, but Queen married the genres of pop, rock and opera like nobody's business, before or since.
5. Electric Light Orchestra I've always felt bad for the guys of Electric Light Orchestra or as those in the know called them, ELO. This is because in my mind, they are one of the most underrated acts of the seventies. At the time they had a slew of hits, but as the years dragged on somehow they never got the respect they deserved. ELO had many hits, but their signature sound was their rich harmonies. Just give songs like Telephone Line and Do Ya' another listen and you'll hear what I mean.
6. Eagles The Eagles were a really cool band and this is why. They were one of the first artists to make country sounding music sound cool. The Eagles made the kind of music you could woo a lady with on songs like Desperado and New Kid In Town. Then with one click on the jukebox, they'd make bar fighting music like Heartache Tonight and Life In the Fast Lane. Not to mention the fact that many members of The Eagles went on to have successful solo careers in their own rights. It just goes to show you how much talent those guys had.
7. Fleetwood Mac It took me several years to appreciate Fleetwood Mac's music. I think it all started with Don't Stop and a weird semi-crush on Lindsay Buckingham that I developed in high school, several years after he was in his prime. I always thought Stevie Nicks was a bit overrated though. Still do if I'm being honest. But one thing is certain. Fleetwood Mac's incestous relationship no doubt bred some tension, but it also bred some great songs.
8. Elvis Presley I went back and forth on whether or not to include Elvis on this list before finally coming up with a rationalization that justified his being here. It was simple. I listened to If I Can Dream and Suspicious Minds back to back the morning I sat down to write this post. If I Can Dream might be technically late sixties and if so, then I cheated a bit. I know the seventies are when Elvis got into his scary, seguined beached whale phase, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be here in his final decade, before he left the building for good.
9. Barry Manilow I know people are going to be throwing tomatoes at me for this one but I don't care. There always has to be at least one controversial choice in every list I make. I think it's an unwritten rule. Anyway, I chose Barry not to purposely be controversial, but simply for the fact that the man wrote some of the best love songs, ever. He's like Celine Dion or better yet, the seventies answer to Clay Aiken. I don't care if you like them or not, you still should be able to listen to songs like Mandy, Weekend In New England and Even Now and be moved, no matter who you are.
10. Elvis Costello Who would have guessed it a decade with not one, but two great singers named Elvis? Amazing! Costello, however, is a very, very different musician then Presley. The great thing is they are both great in their own right. Elvis Costello and The Attractions made some great power pop punk type songs in the late eighties that proved to be very influential on the decades to come. Some consider men like Costello the Godfather of the new wave movement. With songs like Pump It Up and Oliver's Army, I can see why.
11. Squeeze As I sat down to formulate this list I realized that lo and behold, I had more than ten favorite artists. Who woulda thunk it? This is why I couldn't walk away without including one of my favorite bands of all time, Squeeze. They got their start in the seventies with great songs like Up The Junction, Slap and Tickle and Take Me, I'm Yours
but they didn't have mainsteam success until 81' with the smash hit, Tempted. Unfortunately many people wrongfully assume Squeeze was a one hit wonder because they never had a US hit nearly as big as this one. Because of this many people are missing out on some really great albums which actually goes well with the TITMT topic for the week before this one. Don't you just love it when things come together like that?
Honorable Mentions Go To...: Blondie, David Bowie, America, Abba, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Journey, Bob Seger, Meatloaf and Chicago.
This also served to confuse some of you in my age bracket. A lot of you said that you didn't really know enough about the seventies to get all the jokes listed in the I Love the Seventies updates. On that, I have two things to say. One, when you watch the show, you realize you really didn't need to be there most of the time to get the joke, unless of course you're under eighteen and/or living under your pet rock.
The second thing though is a lot harder to relate to. This is the plain fact that I have always been a stone, cold pop culture junkie. I attribute some of this to my parents interests, but really I seek a lot of these things out myself. Even my favorite commentator, the one, the only Michael Ian Black wouldn't technically remember a lot of which he comments on but that doesn't stop him from being sarcastic about the seventies either. We can't help it. The seventies as a whole just made the mockery so much simpler.
So then I thought about it some more. Since I didn't like much about the seventies that's when it hit me; this list was actually going to be the easiest to come up with, not the hardest. That's because to me, there were so few artists to continually enjoy! What follows is my list of my favorite seventies arists. Note some of them might not have started or ended their careers in the seventies, but in some way, shape or form something about each of them framed what the seventies should salvage- at least to me.
1. Bee Gees- How anyone can talk about the best artists of the seventies and not mention the "Brothers Gibb" is beyond me. Whether it was the Bee Gees or their little brother Andy, it was all falsetto-lically fantastic to me. Seriously. These guys had like, an insane amount of hits. They even had not one, but two movies named after one of their songs. Or was the song named after one of their movies? You know what? It doesn't even matter. They rocked, no matter how you sliced it.
Since they say imitation is the best form of flattery, check out one of my fave SNL skits ever. It's Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon doing a little something called "The Barry Gibb Talk Show".
2. Elton John Elton John obviously had a career that flourished well beyond the seventies, but since the seventies was where it all began I had to give credit where credit was due. I actually think I might have enjoyed eighties Elton better, but then again, I enjoy everything eighties better. That doesn't change the fact that my favorite Elton song of all time, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, still has it's roots in the seventies.
3. Billy Joel Billy Joel's rightfully earned place on this list is a lot like Elton's. Joel rocked the eighties (especially in the music video department), but the seventies Joel wrote songs like Movin' Out, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant and of course, Piano Man. I guess you could say this is where he really started the fire.
4. Queen When I was little I remember watching a movie called Flash Gordon. There's a scene in there where Flash is on a bed of nails. In the background we hear the theme song, chanting. FLASH! AHHHA! It scared the hell of me back then and truth be told, it still creeps me out now. But little did I know that the geniuses behind that song were the great band Queen. Flash Gordon aside, Queen was truly a killer band, no pun intended. They were also uniquely inventive. Very few acts before or since have made avant garde music so popular. Sure many of tried, but Queen married the genres of pop, rock and opera like nobody's business, before or since.
5. Electric Light Orchestra I've always felt bad for the guys of Electric Light Orchestra or as those in the know called them, ELO. This is because in my mind, they are one of the most underrated acts of the seventies. At the time they had a slew of hits, but as the years dragged on somehow they never got the respect they deserved. ELO had many hits, but their signature sound was their rich harmonies. Just give songs like Telephone Line and Do Ya' another listen and you'll hear what I mean.
6. Eagles The Eagles were a really cool band and this is why. They were one of the first artists to make country sounding music sound cool. The Eagles made the kind of music you could woo a lady with on songs like Desperado and New Kid In Town. Then with one click on the jukebox, they'd make bar fighting music like Heartache Tonight and Life In the Fast Lane. Not to mention the fact that many members of The Eagles went on to have successful solo careers in their own rights. It just goes to show you how much talent those guys had.
7. Fleetwood Mac It took me several years to appreciate Fleetwood Mac's music. I think it all started with Don't Stop and a weird semi-crush on Lindsay Buckingham that I developed in high school, several years after he was in his prime. I always thought Stevie Nicks was a bit overrated though. Still do if I'm being honest. But one thing is certain. Fleetwood Mac's incestous relationship no doubt bred some tension, but it also bred some great songs.
8. Elvis Presley I went back and forth on whether or not to include Elvis on this list before finally coming up with a rationalization that justified his being here. It was simple. I listened to If I Can Dream and Suspicious Minds back to back the morning I sat down to write this post. If I Can Dream might be technically late sixties and if so, then I cheated a bit. I know the seventies are when Elvis got into his scary, seguined beached whale phase, but that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be here in his final decade, before he left the building for good.
9. Barry Manilow I know people are going to be throwing tomatoes at me for this one but I don't care. There always has to be at least one controversial choice in every list I make. I think it's an unwritten rule. Anyway, I chose Barry not to purposely be controversial, but simply for the fact that the man wrote some of the best love songs, ever. He's like Celine Dion or better yet, the seventies answer to Clay Aiken. I don't care if you like them or not, you still should be able to listen to songs like Mandy, Weekend In New England and Even Now and be moved, no matter who you are.
10. Elvis Costello Who would have guessed it a decade with not one, but two great singers named Elvis? Amazing! Costello, however, is a very, very different musician then Presley. The great thing is they are both great in their own right. Elvis Costello and The Attractions made some great power pop punk type songs in the late eighties that proved to be very influential on the decades to come. Some consider men like Costello the Godfather of the new wave movement. With songs like Pump It Up and Oliver's Army, I can see why.
11. Squeeze As I sat down to formulate this list I realized that lo and behold, I had more than ten favorite artists. Who woulda thunk it? This is why I couldn't walk away without including one of my favorite bands of all time, Squeeze. They got their start in the seventies with great songs like Up The Junction, Slap and Tickle and Take Me, I'm Yours
but they didn't have mainsteam success until 81' with the smash hit, Tempted. Unfortunately many people wrongfully assume Squeeze was a one hit wonder because they never had a US hit nearly as big as this one. Because of this many people are missing out on some really great albums which actually goes well with the TITMT topic for the week before this one. Don't you just love it when things come together like that?
Honorable Mentions Go To...: Blondie, David Bowie, America, Abba, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Journey, Bob Seger, Meatloaf and Chicago.
<< Home