My Seventies Music

Author: Paul

  • J. Geils Band – “Looking For A Love”, “Love Stinks”, “Freeze Frame” and “Centerfold”

    The J. Geils Band, which started as an acoustic blues trio in the mid Sixties, went on to have a number of hits in the Seventies, including “Looking For A Love”.

    To be honest, I don’t really remember much, if anything, of them in those years.

    At the end of the decade they moved somewhat from blues-rock to a more commercial sound, charting with “Love Stinks” in 1980, followed by “Freeze Frame” and “Centerfold”.

    These are the songs that I mainly associate with the J. Geils Band, and in fact I saw them perform the tracks live in June 1982 at the Munich Olympic Stadium, when they were a curtain raiser for the Rolling Stones.

    I had a seat at the opposite end of the stadium, so I couldn’t see a lot of detail, but I do remember it was one heck of a show.

    This obviously wasn’t the J. Geils Band’s first visit to Germany, as here is a 1979 live performance of “Looking For A Love” at Rockpalast, a popular German live rock TV show:

    I have two versions of “Love Stinks” for you, first the studio sound:

    And now “Love Stinks” live (in this video the synchronisation stinks too…)

    And I eventually found a video of “Freeze Frame” that didn’t have the sound disabled – hopefully this one hasn’t by the time you watch it…

    This video of “Centerfold” isn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it’s kind of fun – these kids were certainly having a great time making it:

    Bit different to the show I saw at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, but I like it, hope you do too…

    Paul

  • Al Stewart – “The Year Of The Cat”, “On The Border”, “Time Passages”

    Was 1978 “The Year Of The Cat”, when – I think – I heard the song of the same name by Al Stewart all the time?

    Well, the song itself apparently came out in 1977.

    It was helped on its way to success by none other than Alan Parsons, and was, it seems, part of the inspiration for him to establish The Alan Parsons Project. He then went on to produce the album “Time Passages”.

    Anyway, without further ado, here’s “The Year Of The Cat” from Al Stewart:

    Presumably from the same album, and also a hit shortly after or thereabouts, was “On The Border”:

    And, as mentioned, a later album was “Time Passages”, which must have been successful because I certainly remember it well:

    I don’t remember much else about him though, and I’m not even sure if I knew what he looked like!

    Just now on seeing the videos I thought he looked very young.

    I guess that could have something to do with time passages…. or at least time passing…

    Paul

  • Emmylou Harris – “Shop Around”

    Back in about 1976 I heard country singer Emmylou Harris for the first time, I particularly remember her singing “Shop Around”.

    I also connect her with Bob Dylan, I think it was duets or backing on his “Hurricane” album.

    And I know I had an album by Emmylou Harris – I figure it must be one of the ones that went missing from my collection by the time I took all my records from New Zealand to Germany a decade later.

    Here is a live version of “Shop Around” by Emmylou Harris and the Hot Band:

    Shop till you drop!

    Paul

  • The Alan Parsons Project – “The Raven”, “(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether”, “I Robot”, “Breakdown”, “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”, “Some Other Time”, “Don’t Let It Show”, “Time”, “Eye In The Sky”

    When I heard the name Alan Parsons mentioned today, in my mind I was in a student flat in about 1977 in Waldegrave Street, Palmerston North, New Zealand, listening to “The Raven” from the album “Tales Of Mystery And Imagination”, the first from The Alan Parsons Project.

    The Alan Parsons Project was founded by its namesake Alan Parsons, a young engineer at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, and Eric Woolfson, who wrote most of the songs and sang on many of them. Woolfson died at the beginning of December last year (2009).

    Alan Parsons first came to prominence engineering the Beatles album “Abbey Road”, and was also particularly well known for his work on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side Of The Moon”, as well as many works by The Hollies.

    He also played a major role in influencing the sound of Al Stewart’s “The Year Of The Cat” and “Time Passages”, which he also produced.

    The Alan Parsons Project was really a fluid group of different musicians around these two main protagonists, and produced studio music in the genre some call progressive rock.

    “Tales Of Mystery And Imagination”, released in 1976, was a tribute to horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. Here are two tracks from it:

    “The Raven” (lead vocals by Leonard Whiting, Alan Parsons lead vocal through a “vocoder”):

    “(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether” (vocals John Miles and Jack Harris):

    The following year “I Robot” was released. There are a number of tunes from this record I still remember well.

    Firstly, of course, the title track, “I Robot”:

    “Breakdown” (vocals Allan Clarke):

    “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You” (vocals Lenny Zakatek):

    “Some Other Time” (vocals Peter Straker and Jaki Whitren):

    “Don’t Let It Show” (vocals Dave Townsend)

    Although in the early years there was little live material, later you can find more, and especially recently, although The Alan Parsons Project itself ceased to exist back in 1987 already.

    Here is a live version of “Don’t Let It Show”:

    In 1980 the musicians released the album “The Turn Of A Friendly Card”.

    It featured the song “Time”, with lead vocals by Eric Woolfson:

    Finally, from the 1982 album of the same name, “Eye In The Sky”, also sung by Eric Woolfson:

    And here’s “Eye In The Sky” live:

    Here’s looking at you!

    Paul

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