My Seventies Music

Month: April 2010

  • John Paul Young – “Love Is In The Air”

    I’ll be quite honest – “Love Is In The Air” by John Paul Young used to really get on my nerves!

    But as I suppose it can be considered part of the legacy of the Seventies – it was a disco hit in 1977-1978 – I thought I’d include it here.

    John Paul Young was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and emigrated to Australia with his family, arriving on Australia Day (26 January) in 1962.

    “Love Is In The Air” was written by former The Easybeats members Vanda & Young, who also provided him with a number of other songs, and who played a role in the development of Australian hard rock band AC/DC (more on that another time).

    So without further ado, here’s “Love Is In The Air” from John Paul Young:

    Nuff said, i.e. I can’t think of anything else to say about this one…

    Paul

  • Gary Moore – “Wishing Well”, “Parisienne Walkways”, “Don’t Believe A Word” And “Still Got The Blues (For You)”

    Cover of 1979 Gary Moore album "Back On The Streets"
    As I mentioned previously, British (actually Northern Irish) rocker and guitar legend Gary Moore has made the Free track “Wishing Well” very much his own, and in fact, until the other day, I always thought he wrote it!

    Here is his studio version of “Wishing Well”

    This is Gary Moore playing “Wishing Well” live in Belfast, Northern Ireland (his home town) in 1984:

    And live in Sheffield, England, in 2007, as far as I can work out (in any case it’s Monsters Of Rock):

    In this 1979 clip Gary Moore plays a song by (and with) Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, “Parisienne Walkways”, which was included on his 1979 album “Back On The Streets”:

    As a contrast, here he plays another Phil Lynott track from 1976, “Don’t Believe A Word”, also on the “Back On The Streets” album from 1979:

    Anf finally, though written well after the Seventies, “Still Got The Blues (For You)”:

    I think this is probably my favourite Gary Moore song.

    What’s yours?

    Paul

    Update: Gary Moore died in February 2011. R.I.P. Gary, your sound will be remembered for a long time.

  • Gordon Lightfoot – “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Sundown” and “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”

    Cover of Gordon Lightfoot single "The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"

    Three Seventies songs from Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot stick in my mind – “If You Could Read My Mind”, “Sundown” and “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”.

    “If You Could Read My Mind”, written after his divorce, reached No. 1 in Canada and the 5th spot in the USA. Here is the original:

    And here is “If You Could Read My Mind” sung live in Chicago in 1979:

    “Sundown”, sung here live in 1974, went to Number 1 on both the Canadian and U.S. singles charts in that year:

    Finally, “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”, written after an incident on the Great Lakes on November 10, 1975, reached the top spot in Canada and peaked at No. 2 in America in 1976. This video commemorates every single one of the 29 crew members lost on the ship:

    Here Gordon Lightfoot sings the ballad live in 1979:

    There is something timeless about the music of Gordon Lightfoot.

    Take your time to enjoy it…

    Paul

  • Free – “All Right Now” and “Wishing Well

    Free was a UK band that had a strong influence on many other bands, with songs like “All Right Now” and “Wishing Well” being covered numerous times by many great musicians.

    These have included Gary Moore as well as later acts that singer and writer Paul Rodgers and other band members went on to play in – such as Bad Company, and the touring combination of Paul Rodgers and remaining members of Queen.

    Here is a live version of Free playing “All Right Now” in 1970 at the Isle of Wight Festival in the UK:

    And here is the original “Wishing Well:

    I wish you well…

    Paul

  • Boston – “More Than A Feeling”, “Foreplay/Long Time”, “Don’t Look Back”, “A Man I’ll Never Be”, “Feelin’ Satisfied” and “Amanda”

    Cover of Boston's debut album "Boston"
    I really only connect one song with Boston, and that’s “More Than A Feeling”, which has definitely stuck in my mind.

    Of course they had other singles in the Seventies, like “Foreplay/Long Time”, “Don’t Look Back”, “A Man I’ll Never Be” and “Feelin’ Satisfied” – I just don’t remember any of them.

    The debut album “Boston” peaked at Number 3 on the album charts, becoming the second best-selling debut album of all time in the USA, and still sells well. Three of the singles from it were Top 40 hits.

    “More Than A Feeling” made it to No. 5 on the U.S. singles charts in 1976:

    The beginning of “Foreplay/Long Time”, a No. 22 single in 1977 from the same album, sounds like I’ve heard it before, but not from Boston…

    Here’s one of the many live versions of “Foreplay/Long Time”:

    “Don’t Look Back”, from the album of the same name, was a year later, in 1978, when it reached No. 4:

    The same year, also from that album, “A Man I’ll Never Be” didn’t quite make the Top 30, peaking at 31:

    “Feelin’ Satisfied” just got into the Top 50 (No. 46) in 1979:

    And just as a contrast, here’s the studio version of “Feelin’ Satisfied”:

    Finally, although not in the Seventies, here is Boston’s only Number One single (in 1986, though written in 1980), named after a girl I knew when I was a kid (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it 😉 ). It’s from the No. 1 album “Third Stage”, and is called “Amanda”:

    Sweet. Bittersweet. Hope you liked it.

    Paul

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