Lost and Found in the Seventies: Songs You’ll Never Forget is a mixed bag of tunes. I love “I’ll Take You There” by The Staple Singers but I could do without Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz.”
Some of the choices are a bit obscure. I haven’t heard Roxy Music’s “Love Is The Drug” since the Seventies. The same for the Dwight Twilley Band’s “I’m On Fire.”
My favorite song on this CD is Linda Ronstadt’s “You’re No Good.” How many of these songs from nearly 50 years ago do you remember? Any favorites here? GRADE: B
TRACK LIST:
| 1 | Al Green– | Let’s Stay Together | 3:18 |
| 2 | The Staple Singers– | I’ll Take You There | 4:36 |
| 3 | Minnie Riperton– | Lovin’ You | 3:43 |
| 4 | Blue Swede– | Hooked On A Feeling | 2:54 |
| 5 | The Hollies– | The Air That I Breathe | 4:08 |
| 6 | Raspberries– | Go All The Way | 3:20 |
| 7 | The Edgar Winter Group– | Frankenstein | 4:44 |
| 8 | Sugarloaf– | Green-Eyed Lady | 3:33 |
| 9 | Sweet*– | Ballroom Blitz | 4:01 |
| 10 | Roxy Music– | Love Is The Drug | 4:05 |
| 11 | Dwight Twilley Band– | I’m On Fire | 3:17 |
| 12 | Ten Years After– | I’d Love To Change The World | 3:44 |
| 13 | Canned Heat– | Let’s Work Together | 3:11 |
| 14 | Ike & Tina Turner– | Proud Mary | 4:54 |
| 15 | Joe South– | Games People Play | 3:30 |
| 16 | Nitty Gritty Dirt Band– | Mr. Bojangles | 3:37 |
| 17 | Melanie (2)– | Brand New Key | 2:24 |
| 18 | Jim Croce– | Time In A Bottle | 2:28 |
| 19 | Linda Ronstadt– | You’re No Good | 3:40 |
| 20 | Don McLean– | American Pie | 8:27 |
I remember every single one of them—which I’m sure is no surprise to everyone here. However, I think of “Games People Play” as a late-sixties song and “Love Is the Drug” as very proto-eighties: neither of them really feel as much like the seventies as the rest of the collection. My favorites here include the aforementioned “Love Is the Drug”, Ike & Tina’s version of “Proud Mary”, and “I’m on Fire”—an obscure gem from a one-hit wonder (who passed away not long ago).
Deb, I knew you would be familiar with all of these songs. Did you notice the stack of 8-track tapes on the cover of this CD? I owned a few of them back in the day…
Most of the Seventies passed me by musically but I still recognize and like half a dozen of these songs. I could do without the Minnie Riperton and the Melanie choice, and I much prefer Betty Everett’s take over Linda Ronstadt. The Staple Singers, Ike and Tina, Nitty Gritty, Jim Croce, and Don MacLean are my favorites here. I’d add Canned Heat just o n principle but I don’t recognize the song.
Jerry, some of the song choices–and the groups/artists for that matter–are puzzling on this CD.
They were cheap to rent and were likely to stick in 70s-fans memories, George. I didn’t hear “Games People Play” much until the the ’70s, myself, but, the, on its 1968 release, I was either 3 or 4yo, so more likely to pay attention to my Peter Pan Records albums and AESOP’S FABLES OUR WAY by the Smothers Brothsrs.
I remember all of them, however dimly, or in the case of “Brand New Key” or the obnoxious “Ooga Ooga Ooga Shaka” opening of the Blue Swede (though I misremembered them having the more likely name “Blue Suede”) version of “Hooked on a Feeling” or “Ballroom Blitz”, grimly. (The dopier fellow kids in Enfield, CT liked to tell each other, ca. 1975, “KISS and Sweet had a rumble and KISS won!”–they meant a literal knife fight, as opposed to throwing incorrect arrays of M&Ms into hallways.) I enjoyed Ripperton’s vocal dynamics better than you did, but can see how that flash could put someone off (she was No Maria Muldaur)…while I recall the Sugarloaf song as pretty inane. And agree with Jerry that the original of “You’re No Good” is better…and Whitney Houston’s apparently abusive aunt also did a decent non-hit version, but Ronstadt’s is good enough to enjoy. Dwight Tiwlley might’ve been a one-hit guy, but he made a career out of pretty good work for decades.
Al Green and the Staples’s songs remain great. the Croce and the Hollies and the Turners’ (despite him), nearly so. You’ve highlighted worse $1.98 wonders, George!
I remember all but five. As Deb notes, “Games People Play” was released in August 1968, as I was preparing for freshmen year in college. ’68 and ’69 were transitional years between the sounds of the ’60s and those of the ’70s, the breakups of the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel on the distant horizon, Diana Ross on her way to divorcing the other Supremes. Joe South and Al Green are favourites.
Fred, I’m glad you verified Deb’s canny observation about “Games People Play.” Perhaps it was a rounding error… “Love is a Drug” was released in 1975 though it sounds like an Eighties song.
I know all but three. Favorites? Al Green, Ike & Tina, Blue Swede (ooga chucka), Linda Ronstadt (though not my favorite song), The Staples. To me Canned Heat belongs to the late ’60s.
I hear “Mr. Bojangles” regularly on Sirius, though it was written in 1968 and recorded in 1969, though it was released in 1970.
Jeff, Canned Heat’s “Let’s Work Together” was released in 1970. You’re right: Sirius/XM Radio plays “Mr. Bojangles” frequently.
As far as I’m concerned, none of these songs were lost; I recognize them all.
I would be interested in seeing the inclusion criteria. This is certainly an eclectic mix.
Favorite is a toss-up between Don McLean and Linda Ronstadt.
Beth, I suspect the cost of the rights to include the song on the CD was a main criteria…