[Bill,
April 8, 2008]
In which I get sappy and sentimental and, well, 70s
For some reason, I'm all happy and in touch with my inner child today, and the little guy's remembering the stuff on AM radio while couped up in the back of the parents' 1966 Buick station wagon as my folks drove us kids around here and there. I still remember the license plate. LDP 445. That's noteworthy because I don't remember my current license plate.
Anyway, while I don't like pop, usually, I have a soft spot for certain sentimental, sappy stuff (alliteration unintentional, but I'm not re-writing it.) So I'm gonna go through some of it here. I make no warrantees or guarantees about the critical value of any of these songs — just I'm always happy when these songs occasionally make it on the radio.
In deference to reader feedback, I will list the artist and the song.
Three Degrees. "When Will I See You Again."
The Five Stairsteps. "Ooh Child (Things are Gonna Get Easier.)"
War. "Why Can't We Be Friends."
It was a simpler, more united time. Newark and Detroit were no longer smoldering, but barely. The burned-out buildings would stand in some cases for two decades. King and Kennedy were still a little warm in their graves. Whites were fleeing to the suburbs as fast as they could, to get away from corrupt big-city machines and, of course, rioting blacks. Students were burning ROTC buildings. The National Guard shot four students at Kent State, and my kindergarten teacher came in one day, shaken, and told us about it. Nixon's War dragged on and the body bags came home every week and parents talked about whose kid was graduating and might end up going, and whose kid wasn't. Yep, united times; not like the divisive times we live in now.
Yet, it seemed back then, even the crappy Top 40 music had its moments. Chaos begets something ...
Anyway, Looking Glass. "Brandi." Ignore the typos in this video. Beats looking at an album cover, right?
Three Dog Night. "Shambala." Freaky video.
And even though the single was released in 1969, the album didn't come out until 1970.
Fifth Dimension. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".
As goofy and dated as this video is, Marilyn McCoo could seriously shake her hips, couldn't she? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been allowed to stay up late and watch this on tv.
Skip forward a few years, Diana Ross. "Touch Me in the Morning." Which is dying for a sardonic remake. IJS. But here it be, in all its full sappiness.
That's my seven sappy sentimental Seventies songs. I think every one of them should be played once a year on oldies radio stations. Too much will ruin them. But every once in a while reminds you -- hey, I remember liking that song.
Blah blah blah. Good night!
Anyway, while I don't like pop, usually, I have a soft spot for certain sentimental, sappy stuff (alliteration unintentional, but I'm not re-writing it.) So I'm gonna go through some of it here. I make no warrantees or guarantees about the critical value of any of these songs — just I'm always happy when these songs occasionally make it on the radio.
In deference to reader feedback, I will list the artist and the song.
Three Degrees. "When Will I See You Again."
The Five Stairsteps. "Ooh Child (Things are Gonna Get Easier.)"
War. "Why Can't We Be Friends."
It was a simpler, more united time. Newark and Detroit were no longer smoldering, but barely. The burned-out buildings would stand in some cases for two decades. King and Kennedy were still a little warm in their graves. Whites were fleeing to the suburbs as fast as they could, to get away from corrupt big-city machines and, of course, rioting blacks. Students were burning ROTC buildings. The National Guard shot four students at Kent State, and my kindergarten teacher came in one day, shaken, and told us about it. Nixon's War dragged on and the body bags came home every week and parents talked about whose kid was graduating and might end up going, and whose kid wasn't. Yep, united times; not like the divisive times we live in now.
Yet, it seemed back then, even the crappy Top 40 music had its moments. Chaos begets something ...
Anyway, Looking Glass. "Brandi." Ignore the typos in this video. Beats looking at an album cover, right?
Three Dog Night. "Shambala." Freaky video.
And even though the single was released in 1969, the album didn't come out until 1970.
Fifth Dimension. "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".
As goofy and dated as this video is, Marilyn McCoo could seriously shake her hips, couldn't she? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been allowed to stay up late and watch this on tv.
Skip forward a few years, Diana Ross. "Touch Me in the Morning." Which is dying for a sardonic remake. IJS. But here it be, in all its full sappiness.
That's my seven sappy sentimental Seventies songs. I think every one of them should be played once a year on oldies radio stations. Too much will ruin them. But every once in a while reminds you -- hey, I remember liking that song.
Blah blah blah. Good night!