friday random ten, 1975 edition
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Artist:
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Album:
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Track:
1. Patti Smith, "Gloria." There were some great albums in 1975 ... everyone knows how important Born to Run was to me, and there was Blood on the Tracks, and Physical Graffiti, and a zillion others. But I don't know that any of them had the same shock effect of hearing "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine."
2. War, "Low Rider." Not many bands had as great a run in the early 70s than this one.
3. Pink Floyd, "Have a Cigar." I don't care what people say. Wish You Were Here was Pink Floyd's best album, and this is David Gilmour's best solo.
4. Bob Dylan, "Idiot Wind." Speaking of great runs, Dylan was on one himself in the mid-70s. It fell apart eventually, and we pretty much lost him until his remarkable comeback 20 years later.
5. Jessi Colter, "I'm Not Lisa." Her name isn't Julie, either, actually.
6. The O'Jays, "I Love Music." R&B went from "Backstabbers" to "I Love Music" pretty quickly. Maybe everyone was blinded by the colors on this video.
7. Eric Carmen, "All By Myself." Song made a comeback in recent years, as the video link demonstrates.
8. The Miracles, "Love Machine." I don't work for nobody but you. Best post-Smokey single?
9. Bonnie Raitt, "Sugar Mama." Speaking of bests, Home Plate was the best album Bonnie Raitt ever made. No, I don't care what people say.
10. Bruce Springsteen, "Mountain of Love." It's 1975, I could trot out something from Born to Run. Shuffle play had other ideas. Bruce and the band trotted this one out recently ... here it is, 34 years ago, in a video that could be worse:
Comments (4)
What a great juxtaposition of music. Boy, this list really showcases what was going on in the mid 70s. Putting Patti in context next to Eric Carmen, Bob and the OJays really gives you a feel for what was cooking in that transitional decade.
Cheers, Masoo! Happy Friday!
Geez masoo, you go with the crowd so much..it's like you care what the people say..I guess it would've been too perfect if the Meters Tune-People Say came out in 75, but alas it was released in 74.
Lady Miss makes a good point..the last vestiges of independent thinking and music driven signings at major labels were happening in 75, allowing for the Patti Smith's of the world to get signed.
Could it happen now..I guess it doesn't really matter.
You know, I was thinking much the same thing when putting this list together. I'll put most anything on my hard drive, so often there's a diversity to these lists that doesn't so much reflect the particular year, but just reflects my obsessive archiving. In this case, though, I think it reflects a real feel for music at the time. In 1975, it wasn't hard to find people who listened to Patti Smith AND War AND Pink Floyd.
Yeah, you right. The Balkanization of Pop Music had yet to become as extreme as it is today. But that still couldn't make me take Jessi Colter seriously.