My Seventies Music

Tag: Chicago

  • Earth, Wind & Fire – “Boogie Wonderland”

    Cover of "The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1" album (1978)

    American R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire from Chicago had quite a distinguished career in the Seventies, but the only (original) song from them that instantly comes to mind for me is “Boogie Wonderland”, from 1979.

    I guess I just didn’t listen to their kind of music that often.

    Nevertheless, the band was very successful, with six Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards.

    They were inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

    What I do remember is the very strong horn section, and you’ll notice it here in “Boogie Wonderland”:

    Short and sweet today.

    Paul

  • Chicago – “If You Leave Me Now”, “Hard To Say I’m Sorry/Get Away” and “Beginnings”

    Cover of 1976 Chicago single "If You Leave Me Now"
    There have been over 100 versions of the Chicago song “If You Leave Me Now”, but the classic was and is the original, which went to Number 1 in the USA (both singles and album charts, the album was Chicago X), Australia and in the UK, among others, in 1976.

    Chicago had many hits right through the Seventies and beyond, but “If You Leave Me Now” is the one that stands out for me:

    The next Chicago track to reach No. 1 (and the first since 1978 to reach the Top 50) was “Hard To Say I’m Sorry”, which is actually from 1982. On the album it segued into “Get Away”, as it does in this live version recorded in Dortmund, Germany:

    And this is what Chicago, then still known as The Chicago Transit Authority, sounded like in the early days, still very jazz oriented with lots of brass, “Beginnings”, released in October 1969:

    Not everyone’s cup of tea, and it didn’t chart, but quite pleasant nonetheless.

    Paul

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