Super Hits of The 70s: Have A Nice Day, Vol. 14

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/cryptosicko/playlist/2sr4ZkaI1DsgrTUD77CpoP?si=z6dukZwHR263-64dfGY5EA

(Hudsons and Murphy missing)

Ok, so we've got a classic joke song with "Kung Fu Fighting", a few childhood favorites with "How Long", "Wildfire" and "Magic"... and then there's 10cc's "I'm Not In Love", one of the all-time greatest pop songs. It's just so epic, I still absolutely adore it.

So that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsAlm5xWLDU

Hudson Bros.: "So You Are A Star"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU-qoSAATfA

Michael (Martin) Murphy: "Wildfire" (album version)

Jackie Blue

'Jackie Blue' vs 'I'm Not In Love' is the toughest yet.

Smashing Pumpkins do "Jackie Blue"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLJJloXm6eU

I'm pretty sure I haven't thought about, let alone heard, "So You Are A Star" since it was new. I think it's really lovely. There are some worthy contenders on this one.

Mark Hudson in recent years

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/MarkHudsonCROPPED.jpg/250px-MarkHudsonCROPPED.jpg

Not the first time I've linked Gilbert Gottfried's podcast during this run.

https://www.gilbertpodcast.com/mark-hudson/

In any other volume, "Kung Fu Fighting", "Magic" and "Emma" might all have won - but up against "I'm Not In Love" they have no chance.

Kung Fu Fighting is a shitty song

No it isn't, it's great, I forgot "How Long"!

Oh-ho-ho hoooooooooo! (xp)

it's totally fucking racist for one thing

But deej says black guys can't be racist.

...

Produced by an Indian too!

“How Long” is one of my favorite songs of all-time, so that one.

This is the first volume where I remember literally hearing nearly all of the tracks on AM radio. Single speaker, immediately pre-boom box period.

The 10cc is just a little too creepy so it's gotta be "Jackie Blue."

Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers is Kate Hudson's dad

"I'm Not in Love," a perfect production and a great song.

(Except for the line "It hides a nasty stain that's lying there"--I mean, I know it's 10cc, but couldn't they have come up with something more... elegant? delicate?)

I may be completely wrong, but didn't one of the Hudson Brothers become the A&R guy who was the subject of Sonic Youth's "Swimsuit Issue"?

Don't know the answer but Mark Hudson was the one who worked for Geffen at that time

Man, if "Swimsuit Issue" was about Rainbow Beard...

thought for years it was a woman singing "Jackie Blue"

I'd never heard of "Jackie Blue" till this thread (and most of these tracks... as usual) - one for the singing drummers thread!

New to me and noteworthy:
"Jackie Blue" - yacht rock meets the Isley Brothers?
"Don't Call Us We'll Call You" - has immediately bulldozed its way into my imaginary best telephone songs playlist, although it has a lot more going for it than that.
"Up In A Puff of Smoke" - decent; moog assisted glitter stomps are always going to earn a second play.

…but all of these are up against some of my all time favourites. Hardest choice yet.

Jackie Blue for me

but Pilot’s Magic close second purely for handclaps alone
oh ho ho it’s magic👏🏻
you know 👏🏻👏🏻

from wiki:

According to the book, "It Shined", by Michael Granda, the band name was derived from "Cosmic Corn Cob & His Amazing Ozark Mountain Daredevils", a name that John Dillon came up with at a Kansas City "naming party" after the band was told that the name they had previously been using, "Family Tree", was already taken. The band shortened the name because none of the band members at the time wanted to be called "Cosmic Corn Cob", and they did not want the name to sound similar to the Amazing Rhythm Aces. The band is sometimes also affectionately referred to by its fans as "the Ducks".

I feel like I know less now than before I read this

Objectively "I'm Not in Love" is the best song here. But "Kung Fu Fighting." I really do like it. I remember "Long Tall Glasses" and "Up in a Puff of Smoke" are being pretty good too. (Read somewhere that the beep tones on "Don't Call Us" are the actual beep tones of one of the labels that rejected them.)

"as being"

("Emergency Band", "Burlap Socks" and "Buffalo Chips" were other names they considered for this grouping in the early days).

the 70’s was just a bad time for brainstorming it seems

In something a friend and I wrote on the era, we just called them the real OMD.

"Emergency Band", "Burlap Socks" and "Buffalo Chips" were other names they considered for this grouping in the early days).

the 70’s was just a bad time for brainstorming it seems

― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, September 2, 2018 10:56 AM (three minutes ago)

Re: 10cc - I remember hearing INIL on Radio 1 a lot in '75 but more often than not it was heavily edited or cut short, so it was only c.'77/'78 when my older sister suddenly splurged on most of their back catalogue including Sheet Music, The Original Soundtrack and How Dare You! that I heard INIL in all its 6 minute glory.

Man, I caned those LPs almost to death. I was fascinated by the list of instruments played on each song and the versatility of the quartet over who played and sang what - to the extent that I was rather disappointed that other bands didn't come close to matching up in this department. There was so much to discover about the craft of making a record in the studio in these three albums that, I have to say, at the time INIL didn't stand out as anything particularly special. It undoubtedly stands up better today than a lot of my then (age 12) faves by the band do however...

I really really really love "Wildfire" so that one

i should spend more time on these '70s hits. i wasn't around for them the first time around and some of them never came back. "jackie blue" is great! just the kind of hooky soft rock i love from the '70s - not a song i was likely to get around to because the band name makes me think they're country rock, which isn't a sort of '70s music i'm terribly into.

"i'm not in love" is probably going to run away with this, but i kind of hate it? it's weird and creepy, like if boards of canada decided to make a pop song. and i don't like whatever key it's in. the whole thing sounds like a hellish dystopian nightmare, and i don't need any reminders.

"kung fu fighting" i love. it's also definitely at least a little bit racist, though not to the extent that "talons of weng-chiang" is. also, it's totally a piece of lazy hackwork. it is definitely super fun and hooky, though.

nope, it's gotta be "magic" for me. this one did make it on '70s hits radio when i was a kid and it's stuck with me. so much that i actually listened to one of their later albums, called "morin heights". it's not a great record, but the last three songs are damn good and flow together well, worth listening to for anybody who likes "magic". i guess later on some of them started working with the alan parsons project, which isn't something i particularly care about.

I just looked at the lyrics for "Kung Fu Fighting," and I'm not trying to be disingenuous when I say I don't see racism. At worst, in the line "There was funky Billie Chin and little Sammy Chong," it's tasteless, though not as tasteless as the Cellos' incredible "Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am the Japanese Sandman)". It's basically the kind of stupid thing people thought was okay back then. But I certainly don't hear hate or any suggestion of superiority. It sounds like someone who watched a lot of martial arts films and was trying, in his clumsy way, to pay tribute to them. It wasn't made with 2018 in mind--I doubt it was made with any kind of deliberation at all.

(xp) Never heard "Morin Heights" but am quite partial to the first two Pilot albums.

I find "Chevy Van," "Jackie Blue," and "Wildfire" unlistenable for various reasons -- mainly overexposure. "Long Tall Glasses," "How Long," and "Magic" are all better than I remembered, though "Magic" gets docked points for being a multi-day earworm.

I accept the description of "Kung Fu Fighting" as racist, but it's racist in a peculiar way. For me it brings back memories of seeing Shaw Brothers movies in ratty downtown movie palaces with loudly appreciative audiences. It is hackwork and also an effective evocation of the exuberant style of those movies. I remember the martial arts fad of the 70s as empowering a lot of young black men and bringing people together who were segregated in almost every other space in their lives. I hear the song today as a goofy, racist expression of an anti-racist moment.

"I'm Not in Love" is an amazing recording, years ahead of its time, and as noted objectively the best song in the poll. I voted for "Kung Fu Fighting."

Weird that Shakey should find "Kung Fu Fighting" racist when about one in four reggae tracks from 1974 to 1976 were inspired by Kung Fu movies.

Yeah, I think we just have to remember that Kung Fu cinema was huge in the 70s (and on into the 80s--as a kid, I remember my local video store overflowing with these things) and thus endlessly exploitable. Tasteful? Probably not, but more an example of everyone trying to make a quick buck than racism/cultural appropriation.

(clemenza's reading of the song as the writer's tribute to a genre he enjoys is more generous than mine, but basically the same idea)

I just looked at the lyrics for "Kung Fu Fighting," and I'm not trying to be disingenuous when I say I don't see racism. At worst, in the line "There was funky Billie Chin and little Sammy Chong," it's tasteless, though not as tasteless as the Cellos' incredible "Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am the Japanese Sandman)". It's basically the kind of stupid thing people thought was okay back then. But I certainly don't hear hate or any suggestion of superiority. It sounds like someone who watched a lot of martial arts films and was trying, in his clumsy way, to pay tribute to them. It wasn't made with 2018 in mind--I doubt it was made with any kind of deliberation at all.

― clemenza

well, and a lot of what i'm saying is informed by the recent "talons of weng-chiang" kerfluffle, i'm not talking about the original intent argument, or what it was in the mid 1970s. there's no reason for me to belive that carl douglas was in any way racist. all i'm saying is that it is 2018 and if i'm djing at a party with people of asian descent present, i'm almost certainly not going to play that song. maybe a lot of asian people are cool with it. i could see being cool with it and i could see not being cool with it.

I have a soft spot for Wildfire, and I think How Long is gorgeous

I do think it would have been cooler if he had used actual martial artists' names

@rocking_bob Sorry to burst the bubble : when I met Carl he told me they (Sammy Chong & Billy Chin) were made up names that scanned.

— AG Ford (@Dukenfield) September 1, 2014

little jackie chan and funky sammo hung?

When Chinese ppl tell me they take offense at the term “chinaman/chinaman” as racist, I take their word for it.

Chinese ppl’s role in Jamaican culture is a little more tangled, given the nature of Jamaican patois, Chinese ppl’s place in Jamaican society, their involvement in the reggae industry, and the way the kung fu craze was absorbed in reggae culture.

Chinamen

Was supposed to be that second one, which is in the lyrics iirc

i cant deal with Kung Fu Fighting anymore after that stupid fkn dancing hamster toy

Carl Douglas is from Jamaica.

Admittedly though he grew up in the UK and the record is a UK record.

Has Carl Carlton showed up on any of these? Probably the wrong genre

Was just recalling that Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" was a big radio hit during the same time frame as "I'm Not in Love." Kind of a double dose of future shock on the AM radio dial. Same situation in the UK.

for the record douglas also refers to women as "mighty fine bitches" on his tribute to the 1968 film "witchfinder general". basically the man is not cut out to be a lyricist.

I did not know carl douglas was from jamaica!

Xp

and is not related to Carol Douglas

The character on The Brady Bunch?

Nah, the singer of "Doctor's Orders" that was also a big hit from 1974

... and will no doubt show up at some point.

Forgot about that one

if i'm djing at a party with people of asian descent present, i'm almost certainly not going to play that song.

That I understand--same thing that stops me from ever playing "Rang Tang Ding Dong (I Am the Japanese Sandman)" over the P.A. for morning-entry music, even though I think it might be the greatest doo-wop single ever.

Lots of noveltyish hits from 1973-4 that seem to be disappearing from the series around 1975, with only KFF really representing that contingent here. Dunno if "Mr. Jaws" or "Shaving Cream" or "Convoy" will appear on the next coupla volumes.

Love seeing proggish pop like Sugarloaf and Pilot get their time in the spotlight. Going with "Jackie Blue", which sounds nothing like what I imagine Ozarkian Evel Knievels wanted to sound like.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

After several dud compilations in this series, finally one that's loaded with great songs. "Jackie Blue" is terrific and I expect it will easily place ... second. "Wildfire" is a nice song from the guy who wrote one of my favorite Monkees songs, "What Am I Doin' Hanging 'Round". "Don't Call Us" sounds nothing at all like Sugarloaf's other big hit but is almost as good. "How Long" is a likable, bouncy pub-rocker about infidelity (though not of the sort you're likely assuming). I won't defend "Chevy Van" but I've always liked it, though the circumstances where I first heard it have much to do with that.

But "I'm Not in Love" towers over everything else here. It's a gorgeous song with one of the all time most innovative and unique productions. I was quite surprised when I read Graham Gouldman describing what the lyrics (mostly by Eric Stewart) were really about - a guy who obviously is crushing out on a woman but trying his best to deny it. Silly me, I'd always taken the lyrics in a literal "I'm not that into you" way; probably says much about outlook on all things romantic. Also, the 'hiding the stain on the wall' lyric is brilliant.

I agree, this is full of great songs. "I'm Not In Love" and a seven-way for second for me.

...seven way tie...

If you can have a seven-way and still say "I'm Not In Love", more power to you.

lol!

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

Dreck.

Sorry to burst the bubble : when I met Carl he told me they (Sammy Chong & Billy Chin) were made up names that scanned.

But is it mere coincidence that the Assistant Manager of the League Cup winning Wolverhampton Wanderers team that year was Sammy Chung?

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