Various Artists - History Of The 70's Vol.1 (1979)

(Various Artists  1970-74)
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Every generation has a soft spot for the decade in which it came of age. For rock and roll fans, however, it’s hard to argue that any decade surpassed the ‘70s, on a number of fronts. Post-Beatles and pre-MTV, the ‘70s occupied a sweet spot where rock and roll was played out on wide-open terrain, and on a field where “genre” had yet to become a catch-word. And so, this post gives you a sample of those well known classics (ROCK, GLAM, POP) that we Baby Boomers grew up with, as teenagers.

Take note that even though this compilation is entitled Vol.1, I can find no trace of a Vol.2 every being released. One must wonder whether EMI had intended to release a Vol.2 which covered the second half of the Seventies (Vol.1 only covers the first half), but changed their mind later, perhaps due to poor sales with Vol.1.

SUZI QUATRO - CAN THE CAN
Born in the U.S.A., where at the age of 14 she left school and formed a band with her three sisters, Suzi Quatro was discovered by Mickie Most in Detroit, while recording a new album with Jeff Beck. Mickie signed Suzi Quatro to the RAK label in 1972, and a year later she took the world by storm.

Hits like 48 CRASH, DAYTONA DEMON, DEVIL GATE DRIVE and THE WILD ONE all made the charts here in Australia. Of course, it started with CAN THE CAN, which reached No. 1 and stayed on the charts for 29 Weeks.

Although she did not have many hit records during the mid-seventies, in 1978 she returned to the charts with THE RACE IS ON, IF YOU CAN'T GIVE ME LOVE and a duet with Chris Norman (from Smokie) called STUMBLIN 'IN.

BLUE SWEDE - HOOKED ON A FEELING
Before the onslaught by Swedish supergroup Abba in the mid 70s, an unknown Swedish band by the name of BLUE SWEDE took the pop charts by storm, all over the world. The record HOOKED ON A FEELING, made Top 10 in most European countries and here in Australia had a similar impact The single reached No. 4 and remained m the charts for 24 weeks. An already well established band in Sweden, this single was their first recording in the English language. They recorded an album which sold very well in Australia Unfortunately, they were not to repeat the success of their smash-hit. The band broke up a couple of years later and at this stage, only the lead-singer, BJORN SKIFS, is still in the music industry. Bjorn is, at the moment, a very successful solo artist in Europe and destined to come up with a hit record here in Australia.

DAVE EDMUNDS - PROMISED LAND
Dave Edmunds is one of those artists who is always on the verge of becoming a big name in the pop industry. It started back in 1967, when, as the lead guitarist with the UK band LOVE SCULPTURE, he reached the No 1 spot in the U.K. with SABRE DANCE. In 1970 he decided to go solo and his first single, I HEAR YOU KNOCKING, hit the No. 1 spot in England, selling over 3,000,000 copies. The record made Top 20 in Australia as well, but his big hit here was PROMISED LAND, which reached No. 7 and stayed on the charts for 17 weeks Strangely enough, this record proved only to be a hit in Australia. Although Dave has been quiet for the last few years, it will only be a matter of time before he will be back on the charts.

JOE SOUTH - CHILDREN
Joe South started his career as a session musician, working with such artists as BOB DYLAN, ARETHA FRANKLIN, as well as playing on Simon and Garfunkel SOUNDS OF SILENCE album.

His compositions created a lot of interest , and several of these songs became hits, like DOWN IN THE BOONDOCKS by Billy Joe Royal and HUSH by Deep Purple. In 1968, Joe signed with Capitol Records and recorded his first album INTROSPECT.

However, it was not until 1969 that the album started to chart in the U.S.A. The big hit single off the album was GAMES PEOPLE PLAY. CHILDREN reached No. 51 and stayed 9 weeks on the charts
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ROSS RYAN - I AM PEGASUS
Discovered in 1972 when he was the support act for Roy Orbison, Ross was signed to EMI in 1973. His first album for EMI was A POEM YOU CAN KEEP. This album featured his hit single I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT.

This was followed by his biggest hit to date, I AM PEGASUS which reached No.2 and stayed on the charts for an unbelievable 38 weeks. In early 1974, both the album MY NAME MEANS HORSE and the single taken from this album were certified Gold. The then Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Gough Whitlam, presented Ross with the Gold Record Awards.

LA DE DAS - TOO POOPED TO POP
The LA DE DAS were originally from New Zealand, where they had a No.1 hit with a song called HEY BABY They came over to Australia in 1966, but if wasn't until 1971 that their first Australian hit, GONNA SEE MY BABY TONIGHT follow-up, MORNING GOOD MORNING, charted in 1972 and their last hit, as featured on this album, was TOO POOPED TO POP in 1974.  It reached No. 24 and stayed on the charts for 19 weeks.

Although the LA DE DAS went through quite a few personnel changes, their lead guitarist Kevin Borich stayed with the band till the end. He wrote most of their songs and was also lead vocalist.


When the LA DE DAS disbanded, he formed his own band, which is now known as one of Australia's premier bands, namely The Kevin Borich Express.




STEVIE WRIGHT - EVIE PARTS 1,2 AND 3
It is not often that a single which lasts longer than the customary 3 to 4 minutes becomes a hit, due to the fact that commercial radio stations around the world feel anything longer than 4 minutes becomes boring to their listening audience.
However, every now and then a record comes along that will break this rule.  

One such record was EVIE written and produced by Vanda &
Young and performed by STEVIE WRIGHT. When it was decided to release EVIE as the single from the HARD ROAD album, it was decided to put Part ONE on Side A and and PARTS 2 & 3 on the B Side of the single.

Radio stations around Australia preferred the longer version, and for about 4 months in 1974, all major radio stations programmed the album version. EVIE reached No.1 on the Australian Charts and stayed in the charts for 26 weeks. The album version of EVIE is featured on this album. It is a classic!

GEORGE BAKER SELECTION - LITTLE GREEN BAG
The Seventies will be remembered for the influx of bands on the international charts. The George Baker Selection is one of those bands. They hail from Holland, where, together with THE T-SET, they have been the top band for many years.

They were to have two big international hits: the first, LITTLE GREEN BAG, made it to the top of all European charts and to No. 16 here in Australia and stayed on the charts for 26 weeks. Their second hit came a few years later and made it to the No.1 spot just about everywhere the record was released. That song was, of course, UNA PALOMA BLANCA.

T REX - HOT LOVE
MARC BOLAN, born in London. 1948, is still regarded as one of the most important artists to emerge from the seventies. Although Marc had been recording for many years on quite a number of different labels, it was not until late 1970 that he achieved chart success in the U.K  The record, issued through Fly Records, was RIDE A WHITE SWAN, and reached No 2 in England.

The follow up to that was HOT LOVE, which stayed at the top of the English charts for a mammoth 6 weeks. It reached No.2 here in Australia and stayed in the charts for 16 weeks. In September 1977, while driving with his girlfriend Gloria Jones, Marc was involved in a car accident and was killed instantly

JOE COCKER - THE LETTER
Probably best known for his double 'live' album and the movie MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN, Joe started his musical career in 1964 with the Decca Record Company. His first single I'LL CRY INSTEAD, only managed to earn him 10 pence and with that sort of encouragement, he decided to go back to his job as a gas-fitter. After a few years playing in different groups, he decided to record once again. This time he was luckier, MARJORINE created a lot of interest by the media and the follow-up WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS reached No.1 in the U.K and No.27 in Australia, staying on the charts for 13 weeks.

ALVIN STARDUST - MY COO CA CHOO
Alvin, whose real name is Bernard Jewry, was born in London and started as the lead singer of the successful British band SHANE FENTON AND THE FENTONES at the age of 15. Then they played London's Royal Albert Hall, they had The Beatles as a support act. In 1973, Alvin signed with a newly-formed UK label, Magnet Records, and released his first single, MY COO CA CHOO, which became a smash hit, stormed the Australian charts and went as high as No.1 and stayed in the charts for 26 weeks.

In 1974, he was acclaimed as Britain's Top Selling Male Singles Artist and was awarded the London Weekend Television Trophy as Britain's Most Outstanding Live Performer. MY COO CA CHOO proved to be Alvin's one and only big hit here in Australia.

HANK B. MARVIN - SACHA
HANK B. MARVIN is best known as the lead guitarist of the Shadows. This instrumental group was formed back in 1958 under the name of the DRIFTERS, but due to objections from the American DRIFTERS, they changed their name to THE SHADOWS.

Their first No. 1 single in the U.K., was APACHE in - July 1960. The SHADOWS were also part of the success-story with CLIFF RICHARD. CLIFF & THE SHADOWS were responsible for a string of hits like MOVE IT, SU MMER HOLIDAY, as well as the hit movies THE YOUNG ONES and SUMMER HOLIDAY SACHA reached No. 15 and stayed an incredible 41 weeks on the Australian charts.

PETER SKELLERN - YOU'RE A LADY

Peter's musical career started at the age of 16, when he became organist and choirmaster of St. Paul's Church, Bury, U.K., In 1968 he graduated from The London Guildhall School of Music and joined a rock band called THE MARCH HARE. After recording one album, he decided to give the recording-side of the business away and joined a publishing company. However, after a few years in publishing, the urge to record again became too much and after signing with Decca Records, he released YOU'RE A LADY. It reached No. 3 in the U.K. and No. 2 in Australia, staying a total of 17 weeks on the charts. Peter had one more hit in the seventies, namely HOLD ON TO LOVE, which, although a big hit in the U.K., could not surpass the performance of YOU'RE A LADY here in Australia.

RASPBERRIES - GO ALL THE WAY
The RASPBERRIES were formed early 1970 in Cleveland, U.S.A., and although their music sounded very much British, all four members of the band were American. The four members were Wallace Bryson, James Bonfanti, David Smalley and Eric Carmen. Of the four members, Eric Carmen has been by far the most successful solo artist since the band broke up. When their first album was released by Capitol Records in early 1972, the RASPBERRIES were accused of just copying the early Beatles sound. However, the media might have over-reacted a bit, as the RASPBERRIES proved to be a very successful band on their own merits. Their biggest single, GO ALL THE WAY, made the Top 10 in America and became one of the bestsellers of 1972 in that Country. In Australia, the single charted at No. 12 and stayed in the charts for 16 weeks.

RUSSELL MORRIS - RACHEL
Russell started his musical career with a Melbourne-based band SOMEBODY'S IMAGE. After two years with that band, Russell decided to go solo. He recorded two-singles, THE REAL THING and PART 3 INTO PAPER WALLS, both of these reaching the No. 1 spot and both of them produced by his then manager- lan "Molly" Meldrum.

His third single, RACHEL, was originally recorded in the U.K., but Russell wasn't too happy with the end result and decided to re-record here in Australia. That was in early 1970 and RACHEL became Russell's third hit in a row, reaching No. 25 on the Australian charts and remaining there for 21 weeks.
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This post consists of FLACs  ripped from my EMI Vinyl and includes the usual cover artwork and label scans.  Hope you enjoy this trip back down Seventies memory lane, especially with the full length version of 'Evie' running for 12 minutes and the hard hitting 'Can The Can' by a leather clad Suzi Quatro.

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Tracklisting
01 –Suzi Quatro    (Can The Can)
02 –Blue Swede    (Hooked On A Feeling)
03 –Dave Edmunds  (Promised Land)
04 –Joe South    (Children)
05 –The La De Das  (Too Pooped To Pop)
06 –Ross Ryan    (I Am Pegasus)
07 –Stevie Wright  (Evie - Parts 1, 2 And 3)

08 –George Baker Selection  (Little Green Bag)
09 –T. Rex  (Hot Love)
10 –Joe Cocker    (The Letter)
11 –Alvin Stardust  (My Coo Ca Choo)
12 –Hank B. Marvin  (Sacha)
13 –Peter Skellern  (You're A Lady)
14 –Raspberries    (Go All The Way)
15 –Russell Morris  (Rachel)
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History Of The Seventies FLAC Link (334Mb)
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