My Seventies Music

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  • Mi-Sex – “Graffitti Crimes”, “Computer Games” and “But You Don’t Care”

    Album cover of "Graffitti Crimes" by New Zealand band Mi-Sex (1979)

    Mi-Sex was a top New Zealand band that went to Australia in the late Seventies and had a lot of success there, culminating in their first album “Graffitti Crimes”, featuring the title track as well as songs like the Australian No. 1 single “Computer Games” and their recent other single from 1979, “But You Don’t Care”.

    I remember their predecessor band Father Thyme playing at dances in the “Old Woolroom” at Massey University in about 1977 or 1978.

    I distinctly remember they played “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd – or maybe it was “Welcome To The Machine” from the same album (not so distinct after all…), and I also remember chatting to the bass player, Don Martin, in the breaks.

    Mi-Sex, however, played quite a different style, quite New Wave, and when I was planning the 1980 Massey University Student Orientation (two weeks in February-March when term started in New Zealand after the summer vacation), I tried to hire them for a festival we were running – for NZ$10,000, a lot more than Father Thyme had commanded.

    Unfortunately they were already booked for that time, so it didn’t happen, and I had to be content with buying their album, which I think I bought in Germany, having gone there a couple of weeks after Orientation ended to write my M.A. thesis.

    As I said, the album, released in July 1979, was called “Graffitti Crimes”, here’s the title track:

    One of my favourites is the 1979 single “But You Don’t Care”:

    And finally the hit “Computer Games”, which wasn’t on all versions of the album:

    Mi-Sex disbanded in 1984, and unfortunately lead singer Steve Gilpin died after a car accident on his way home from a gig in 1991.

    But their music and the memory live on.

    Paul

  • Johnny Nash – “I Can See Clearly Now” and “Tears On My Pillow”

    Cover of Johnny Nash single "I Can See Clearly Now"
    Johnny Nash had been singing quite a while when his single “I Can See Clearly Now”, which had been moving slowly up the charts for about a month, shot to the top in two weeks in 1972.

    Around this time he was producing future reggae icons Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.

    The Wailers were the backing band on the original recording in London, although it appears the single may have been made with members of The Average White Band.

    “I Can See Clearly Now” has been used in a number of films, including a Jimmy Cliff remake in 1993 for “Cool Runnings”.

    Johnny Nash, who wrote it himself, reached No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 5 in the UK with “I Can See Clearly Now”:

    In 1975 Johnny Nash had his only No. 1 hit in the UK with “Tears On My Pillow, which has definite reggae undertones:

    This one’s OK, but “I Can See Clearly” remains a classic.

    Paul

  • 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

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