Super Hits of The 70s: Have A Nice Day, Vol. 2

Whew, this one is much tougher. At least we can safely chuck Ray Stevens in the river.

('For the Love of Him' just came up on shuffle this morning after several other similar instructive songs on how a woman should mold herself and her life for a man (e.g. 'Wishin' and Hopin'') and I was thinking that I should start a thread dedicated to pop songs with cringeworthy conservative lyrics. That could wind up being a pretty huge thread.)

I'M GONNA GO TO THE PLACE THAT'S THE BEST

SitS is in my engineering HOF; key change in LGwMRG!

Love Grows vs. Spirit In the Sky here.

I kinda hate Spirit in the Sky so going with the Reservoir Dogs entry

The track's original title was "Little Greenback",[4] in reference to the color of the US dollar. The first line of the lyric, "Lookin' back on the track for a little greenback", has three rhymes (underlined); "green bag" would not be a true rhyme. However, the single was given the erroneous title, "Little Green Bag", which some took to be a "bag of marijuana". The "Little Green Bag" title was then retained for all subsequently released versions of the single as well as the group's 1970 debut album, also titled Little Green Bag.

...

In 2017 Hans Bouwens recorded a new version titled Lidl Brown Bag as an advert for the fresh-baked breadrolls of the Lidl-chainstore-supermarkets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB1Jbajy6Yw

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cryptosicko/playlist/287Njs5u0QJHSgiDKpMlNW?si=fjS4GLKXQs6pby-saXvh8w

I'm not entirely sure if the "Lay a Little Lovin' on Me" here is an original or a re-recorded version. I've tried to avoid falling into the trap of adding the latter versions of any of these songs, but in this case, it is the only one I could find that is at least by Robin McNamara.

Listened to this last night as mentioned and yeah, "For the Love of Him," dear god. "I am sorry you're mad at me because you haven't said anything, even though I have no idea whether you are actually mad at me. In fact you've done nothing all evening but come home and say nothing and frown. I ABNEGATE MYSELF."

I can only assume that Alfred will be eventually getting around to "Everything is Beautiful" in his Worst Songs Ever series.

My vote might end up going to "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" which I was inspired to check out years ago based on the fantastic chapter on them in that great Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth book from the early 2000s.

XPS The Spotify "Love Grows..." is a re-record.

xpost

("them" = The Poppy Family)

XPS The Spotify "Love Grows..." is a re-record.

Ugh. It was the only version on there that *didn't* say "re-recorded" so I thought I was safe with that one.

I've always, always been amused at the sorta-galumphing way "Ma Belle Amie" goes in the verses. Buh, buh, buh-duh-duh-duh. "A Child's Introduction to Organ and Drum Fills."

My favorite comment on "Hitchin' a Ride" when this comp came out came from Chuck Eddy, IIRC, basically saying that thanks the goony recorder and the dipshit grins you can sense these were the perfect candidates to be killed by the rednecks at the end of Easy Rider.

When the Marmalade guy gets 'soulful' at moments it kills the song. Can I blame Blood Sweat and Tears for that kind of bullshit?

Too many choices I could pick if I had to but "Little Green Bag" still sounds great, like actually sonically great. ("Spirit" too, really.)

XP Here's the original

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9XyhFQeob0

The Protogoth Poppy Family freaks me out and I love it. 'Where Evil Grows' ftw.

(Thanks for hipping me to the existence of that book, btw. Looks like a must-buy.)

some classics here, 'Hitchin A Ride' 'Lay a Little Lovin On Me'

When the Marmalade guy gets 'soulful' at moments it kills the song. Can I blame Blood Sweat and Tears for that kind of bullshit?

<Paging Clemenza and his David Clayton-Thomas Theory.>

I've somehow never heard (or heard of) that Bobbi Martin track before now.

This is totally "Little Green Bag" for me. What a bass line!

<Paging Clemenza and his David Clayton-Thomas Theory.>

I agree with this theory already.

I think the Spotify "My Baby Loves Lovin'" is also a re-record. This one on Youtube sounds more analog and dense re: harmonies & orchestration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWn_W3vOjDw

Man, Spotify is doing Tony Burrows dirty...all three of his tracks are re-records! The "United We Stand" one sounds like it was cut in a closet w/a Casio! Here's the original...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=460INShy3BU

and here's the original "Lay A Little Lovin' On Me"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJXW-9Hblts

The lowest circle of hell is reserved for whoever came up with the idea of the re-record.

1. "Love Grows" (the "Like a Rolling Stone" of the K-Tel world)
2. "Hitchin' a Ride"
3. White Plains or Robin McNamara

Don't really hate anything on there...tired of "Spirit in the Sky," though. I'd probably recognize "Reflections of My Life" off the radio, but I'm drawing a blank right now. I had an 8-Track of the Tee Set album.

Edison Lighthouse 4EVA

I kinda hate Spirit in the Sky so going with the Reservoir Dogs entry

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, June 6, 2018 12:29 PM (four hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Notably, another song from this comp is mentioned (but not played) by Steven Wright's DJ.

ooh this is tough

i love Spirit & Little Green Bag, but i also very much enjoy Rosemary! and Hitchin A Ride! and Lay a Little Lovin! My Baby Loves Lovin! i am going to weigh this heavily but will prob go with Spirit why bcz fuzzrock.

“Which Waaaay You Goin Billleeeeeee” is nice & kinda Carpentery/Linda Ronstadtish in a v good way...but also sounds like the warm bathtub in which i would open my wrists. And the outro is too goddamn long

“Ma Belle Amie” annoys me more than it amuses me.

Reflections is ~almost~ great! the McCartney Beatley bassline & other late period Beatley qualities with horns & strings. AND such & a fking killer crescendo in the chorus! but i fking haaaate the stilted dumb robot lyrics so it gets bumped down a little

For The Love of Him - a more uptempo warm bath in which I open my wrists. Bobby sings the shit out of it but god its so depressing.

United We Stand chorus sounds like an ad jingle for a mortgage broker or a bank or something.

Ray Stevens uuuuuuug bleuch

"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"

Never noticed how Motown-y the verses are on "My Baby..."

Just noticed something on the prior poll being Motown-inflected as well.

Little Green Bag has that slinky bass line and laid back vocals on the verses then it busts out into a Tom Jones number in the chorus.

Although now I can’t remember. Unless it was this poll. The riff on “Love Grows...” may be reminiscent of “I Was Made To Love Her.”

Hey, there is also a good cover of that one by Freedy Johnston and also a version by Frida, in Swedish! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qboon-IQdIk

Along with more than one version by Sonny & Cher

Just noticed something on the prior poll being Motown-inflected as well.

"More Today Than Yesterday" pops up on some Northern Soul comps.

gotta go with the dutch again on this one! not overall a fan of dutch pop but they sure could put together some good singles.

It is amazing how so many of these songs have just totally faded into obscurity.

for you maybe :D

I think one of the problems is that when it came time for a lot of these to become oldies was around the same time that oldies stations started leaning harder on Classic Rock stuff.

Poppy Family! Not their best song but they’re underrated.

The lowest circle of hell is reserved for whoever came up with the idea of the re-record.
haha otm

may be my headphones but most of these sound like rerecordings to me right now

Isn't basically a way for the bands to make some money? Let's face it, a lot of whom were probably ripped off first time round. It's also possible they didn't play on the original recordings and therefore made no money at all.

rosemary likes to go around *ahem* fertilizing

and then love grows there

Never realized that was a song about an illicit-shitting fetish before now.

:(

having read that i voted for the song

Fun fact: Vol 2 has 3 songs all sung by the same session singer Tony Burrows: Love Grows, My Baby Loves Lovin & United We Stand

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Burrows

Yesssssss, Tony Burrows! That's the guy! I know that there's a dude who had a multitude of '70s hits with different bands but I can never remember the songs in question (also 'Gimme Dat Ding' and 'Beach Baby'!).

4yo MVB once threw a shopping-mall tantrum bc "Spirit" was playing over the PA and mom wanted to leave before it ended :(

gotta go greenbaum. that fried guitar crunch groove. so satisfying.

Yesssssss, Tony Burrows! That's the guy! I know that there's a dude who had a multitude of '70s hits with different bands but I can never remember the songs in question (also 'Gimme Dat Ding' and 'Beach Baby'!).

A bit later in the game, but I only recently connected the dots of Paul Carrack's pop hit career.

"Spirit in the Sky" is good but pretty much exhausted for me at this point.

Was there some big thing in the early 70s about trying to make Christianity cool?

yes

adopting the look, language, music, etc. of youth movements has always been a strategy/feature.

Yeah, I'm aware that that was a thing but I'm still unclear on why it was a thing.

I mean, the more I read about that era the more I understand why people might've been seeking religion, but I feel like there's more to the explanation.

There used to be this thing called The Folk Mass, iirc.

not sure a dude named Norman Greenbaum was trying to evangelize people with that song.

Interesting topic. Jesus Christ Superstar, Godspell, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat... Good News for Modern Man was first published in 1966.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_movement

took a tour through spirit producer erik jacobsen's credits. lots of lovin' spoonful, tim hardin, etc., early on. but then he went on to produce peak-era chris isaak. cool.

Art direction by Jerry Lewis and Jean-Luc Godard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bioah3q7JOk

^Been chuckling all day at this.

Haven’t listened to that one for an eternity and had forgotten almost all of it apart from the singing of the title line.

I think I'm taking a stand against cool in these polls. 'Spirit in the Sky' and 'Little Green Bag' are both great but they just aren't quite square enough to suit what I look for from this genre. Like, I need to be able to picture my mom groovin' to it while she's driving around. I think I have to go with 'Hitchin' a Ride' and probably 'Lay a Little Lovin' on Me' in second.

I have probably heard a lot of these songs but Spirit in the Sky is the only one I recognize by name?? That song fucking owns though

Super Hits of The 70s: Have A Nice Day, Vol. 2 [Started by Making Plans For Sturgill (C. Grisso/McCain) in June 2018, last updated thirty minutes ago by cr.ht (crüt) on I Love Music] 69 new answers POLL closes: June 13 (in 3 days)

nice

Poppy Family! Not their best song but they’re underrated.

Indeed. Here's the really good B-side to "Which way…", a cover of the Jody Reynolds death disc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyC6wDPmkns

and everyone needs the A Good Thing Lost compilation in their lives.

But voting Vanity Fare this time.

went with Edison Lighthouse

Rosemary really is a pretty perfect one-off pop song

Like half of these are stone classics of the era.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

took a tour through spirit producer erik jacobsen's credits. lots of lovin' spoonful, tim hardin, etc., early on. but then he went on to produce peak-era chris isaak. cool.

― andrew m., Thursday, 7 June 2018 15:39 (five days ago) Permalink

Erik Jacobsen is such an underrated producer; I love his work with all three of those acts. Had no idea he produced Norman Greenbaum.

I'll probably vote "Reflections" from this installment. "Hitchin' a Ride" gets earworm points but those recorder licks grate at my ears. I do like Vanity Fare's single from a year earlier "Early in the Morning" though.

Bump for last minute votes!

Thanks!

Edison Lighthouse will not be going into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Winning this poll will be as good as it ever gets for them (short of unforgettable use in a movie or TV show, which I don't think has happened yet--I had it pegged as a possible last Mad Men song).

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I had it pegged as a possible last Mad Men song

We get the real thing in a later installment!

Top 4 in this also my Top 4.

Rosemary robbed!

Zero vote for 'Lay a Little Lovin' on Me' is just unconscionable.

(xposts) "the real thing"--multi-layered reference.

There used to be this thing called The Folk Mass, iirc.

― And Nobody POLLS Like Me (James Redd and the Blecchs)

my mom's still into rev. carey landry. saw him perform. i thought it was the most awful, square thing imaginable when i was a kid.

Zero vote for 'Lay a Little Lovin' on Me' is just unconscionable.

Yeah, it's been my favorite kinda-sorta discovery* of these so far. The whole Jeff Barry-Steed Records interzone (familiar to me only through it, The Monkees Changes lp, and the long in the vault final Atlantic Dusty Springfield sessions) is a subject for further research methinks.

*I man or may not have heard it on Dick Bartley back in the day.

Super Hits of The 70s: Have A Nice Day, Vol. 3

One more thing: "My Baby Loves Lovin'" is a Supreme Earworm. Had it in my head multiple times a day since this thread opened.

Almost voted for that but didn’t want to dilute the Tony B vote.

And yeah, the annoying recorder made me not vote for the one I liked the most when it came out.