My Seventies Music

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  • Pickettywitch – “Same Old Feeling”

    In 1970 English band Pickettywitch, with female lead singer Polly Brown (sometimes billed as Polly Browne) had a hit single with “Same Old Feeling”.

    It reached Number Five on the UK singles chart that year, and No. 67 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1970.

    Pickettywitch only actually existed, with several lineup changes, from 1969 to 1973.

    I’m not surprised “Same Old Feeling” did so well, even if it didn’t make it to the very top of the charts.

    It has a very memorable tune, and I can still remember at least some of the words…

    “I still get the same old feeling, Tearing my heart inside out, Telling me without a doubt, I’m still not over you, I still get the same old yearning…”, that’s about as far as I go. 🙂

    Anyway, see for yourself, or rather listen, here is “Same Old Feeling”:

    OK, so I went back and checked… turns out I kind of remembered the words. Just got them a bit mixed up.

    This is what she really sings:

    “But I still get that same old feeling, Tearing at this heart of mine, Telling me that baby I’m, Not really over you, I still get that same old yearning, Tearing my heart inside out, Oh but now there can’t be any doubt, I’m still not over you.”

    Oh well. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. But it’s all over now, baby blue…

    Paul

  • R. Dean Taylor – “Indiana Wants Me”

    “Indiana Wants Me” was a hit for Canadian-born Motown artist and songwriter R. Dean Taylor in 1970, going to Number One in his native Canada, No. 2 in the UK and reaching No. 5 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

    In addition to his own moderate success as an artist in his own right, Taylor wrote or co-wrote and co-produced hits for such classic Motown acts as Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips or Marvin Gaye.

    I’ll be honest and tell you that until now his name meant nothing to me, but the chorus of that song is as familiar now as it was 40 years ago.

    In fact, every time I think of or hear the name of my niece’s baby daughter in Australia, those lines come back to me:

    “Indiana wants me, Lord I can’t go back there…”

    So here it is, “Indiana Wants Me”, the original single:

    Unlike the protagonist in the song, we can go to Indiana any time we like. 🙂

    Paul

  • Roger Daltrey – “Giving It All Away”

    It’s my birthday today, so I thought for this post I’d pick a singer also having a birthday today:

    Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, with “Giving It All Away”, from his first solo album “Daltrey” in 1973.

    I’ll feature supergroup The Who separately, this one’s just for Roger…

    And here it is, first the studio version of “Giving It All Away”:

    And this is a video of Roger Daltrey singing “Giving It All Away” in 1973:

    Happy Birthday Roger!

    Paul

  • Lou Reed – “Take A Walk On The Wild Side”, “Vicious”, “Sweet Jane” And “Berlin”

    Lou Reed (of the Velvet Underground) was and still is a bit different, and “Take A Walk On The Wild Side” is no exception.

    Kinda weird, but sticks in your mind…. doop, de doop, de doop, de doop de doop, doop, de doop, de doop, de doop de doop, doooooop… :-).

    He did come to New Zealand in the Seventies, as far as I can remember I didn’t go.

    If I recall rightly, there may have been some controversy, as in he didn’t play!

    Anyway, this is the original, and many say the best, version of “Take A Walk On The Wild Side”:

    Another song from Lou Reed I quite like, despite the title, is “Vicious”:

    And here’s some live Lou Reed, “Sweet Jane” live in Paris in 1974 (I don’t actually know this, but it sounds cool; just read it was a Velvet Underground song):

    I just had a look in my record collection, and I actually have a Lou Reed album, “The Bells”, but it’s from 1979 and none of these songs are on it as they all came out in the early Seventies.

    Just read that it’s Lou Reed’s birthday in two days time, the day after mine, and the same day as a friend in Berlin.

    By coincidence, one of his albums was titled… “Berlin”.

    One of my favourite cities, in fact I nearly moved there in 1983.

    Come to think of it, why don’t I just include “Berlin” here as well…

    Auf Wiedersehen…
    Paul

  • Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band – “Still The Same”, “Night Moves”, “Main Street”, “Against The Wind”, “We’ve Got Tonight”, “Turn The Page” And “Old Time Rock And Roll”

    In the Seventies I used to listen to Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band quite a lot, songs such as “Still The Same” come to mind, “Night Moves”, “Main Street”, “Against The Wind”, “We’ve Got Tonight” or “Old Time Rock And Roll”.

    Heartland rocker Bob Seger – born in Detroit, Michigan – combines raunchy rock music with soulful ballads, and presents them with a distinctive raspy voice.

    Although in the music business a long time before, he really came into his own from about 1976 onwards.

    Here’s the “Still The Same” studio version:

    “Still The Same” live in San Diego:

    “Night Moves”:

    “Main Street” live:

    “Against The Wind”:

    “We’ve Got Tonight”:

    Here’s one I didn’t even realise was a Bob Seger song, “Turn The Page”:

    I found this really quiet compared to the versions of the song I’m familiar with, very melancholic in fact.

    And now finally, a live version of Bob Seger’s signature song “Old Time Rock And Roll” (the video quality’s not great, but the music is):

    Keep on rocking…

    Paul

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