Best Song from my March 2023 flood, a poll of 7” singles in my collection

Truthfully, I don't remember even owing a bunch of these. This is what I think happened based on the release dates, meaning I was very young. I got an allowance and I spent money on some 7" singles. I'm sure my parents bought most of these for me. One of my first memories of buying music was a K-mart. I once got caught putting two singles in one sleeve, they let me go because I was an innocent looking kid but I knew what I was doing. By being caught it did teach me not to steal.

i want a Spotify of this and my taste was pretty good for a kid.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3PbiwiWahoxd1cxbOrLf8Y?si=7f36d521ff53470c

NICE, thanks Nate!

No problem, I saw your list and immediately thought the same thing. About 70% of the songs here are basically the soundtrack to my life between the ages of 9-12.

We are about the same age then. There are some great songs in this batch and will be a lot of fun to listen to this Spotify.

voting Olivia Newton John - Magic (which needs to be on the Songs not on Spotify thread)

It's on that Spotify playlist

Yeap, listening to Nate Woolls posted Spotify and it is playing in the US version.

what! I've been waiting for it to show up for years! thanks

"Coming Up" is such a strange song, doesn't even really sound like Paul McCartney. I do remember reading that John Lennon really liked that song.

But that all changed one afternoon, when Lennon heard a familiar voice crackling over the car radio. "F*ck a pig! It's Paul!" he exclaimed. And sure enough, it was "Coming Up," McCartney's latest single. To Lennon's ears, it was simply infectious. Indeed, while he had tended to dismiss much of Paul's recent work as empty-headed instances of bubblegum pop, this new tune had truly caught his imagination.

I always found this hilarious. Fuck a pig!

https://www.salon.com/2020/03/14/fk-a-pig-its-paul-this-mccartney-song-reignited-john-lennons-competitive-songwriting-drive/

Random thoughts, I never knew I was such a Cliff Richard fan, in fact not even sure how s few of these songs go by title alone.

I have always thought it was The Pointer Sisters, even Wikipedia has it with the "the" but my 7" clearly state only Pointer Sisters without the "The."

"Coming Up" and "Magic" were in a picture sleeve and therefore on the bottom. Those have been ruined by this flood but kept together after drying out.

Surprised that I never got around to selling some of this stuff.

More later...

I really love 'Coming Up' and am surprised to learn it was written and released before John died

Stars on 45 must have been the first time I heard any of those Beatles songs. Whoever it is singing John's parts really sounds like him.

"What a Fool Believes", for being the best consonant-less pop song in history

Tip: listen to funky town on headphones to hear the cowbell travel to the back of your skull during the chorus.

Can't not vote Devil Woman. Just for taking me back to blowing my 10 year old pop loving mind

But hot child in the city rules too

lots of good songs here, you did have good taste as a child

fuck it i'm voting for "sailing"

Sailing was my 2nd pick

Many songs I like in here but the one 7” in here I’d pay to own is McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now.

Btw the dub/disco/reggae version of it is even better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sta0lA01dc

Btw regarding the Paul McCartney song, the one that was a hit and got airplay was the “live at glasgow” version of it. Not sure if that’s the version Lennon listened to but it’s more identifiable as Paul’s voice.

Most this stuff is not really up my alley (no shade)… voted “Let’s Go,” b/c it felt like a breath of fresh air after many of the others.

(Sorry about your flood, Bee!)

I sang "Babe" as a solo (accompanied by my music teacher on piano) when I was in 7th grade.

"Hot Child in the City" is a classic, but going with Rod.

xp apparently it was the live version that made John say Fuck A Pig, but when he heard "the freak version he made in his barn" he liked that one even more.

"Magic" for getting a hook out of a 7b5 chord.

voted for "mary jane"

Stars on 45 must have been the first time I heard any of those Beatles songs. Whoever it is singing John's parts really sounds like him.

― nate woolls, Wednesday, March 29, 2023 5:55 PM

Same, this was my first exposure to the Beatles. I was so in love with that 7" that I bought the LP. Oh youth and not knowing.

this is one serious goodie box! most of these are from ‘78-‘81 (with a few earlier ones like “December, 1963” and “If You Leave Me Now”), which places them in my late teens.

about 30 of these are in the Good to Great category for me, with the big six probably being “We Don’t Talk Anymore”, “Funkytown”, “Magic”, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now”, “Cruisin’”, and yes! Shalamar’s “The Second Time Around”. that’s the one I loved most intensely at the time, and it’s getting my vote.

I’m also ecstatic to learn that “Magic” is on Spotify at long last. thinking of polling the whole of the Olivia’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 comp it’s on - quite a lot of these tracks had been unavailable for streaming until now.

Hmm. A lot of late '70s bilge. Might go with "Tragedy" or "Slow Hand."

Olivia Newton-John – Magic
Shalamar - The Second Time Around
Pointer Sisters - He's So Shy
Commodores - Too Hot ta Trot
Donna Summer featuring Brooklyn Dreams - Heaven Knows
Christopher Cross - Sailing
Diana Ross and Michael Jackson - Ease on Down the Road
McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now
The Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes

Tossing it to "Heaven Knows" as I expect "Magic" and "What a Fool Believes" to be adequately supported

"Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" handily for me.

https://i.redd.it/336dg3en1t231.jpg

(Actually captures my feelings about the two decades perfectly thanks to a well-placed head.)

I can conjure all but 3 or 4 of these records from memory.

My top tier would be "Fame," "Miss You," "Heaven Knows," and "Cars"

Trivia factoid: "The Second Time Around" was the first Billboard Dance/Disco #1 record of the 1980s. Also it was the second R&B #1 record of the 1980s (after MJ's "Rock with You")

Voted for Gary Numan just ahead of Cruisin' and Funky Town. Nice list Bee!

Hmm. A lot of late '70s bilge. Might go with "Tragedy" or "Slow Hand."

Cliff Richard - A Little in Love

voted for this, love those two Alan Tarney written/produced Cliff albums. There's something about Tarney's sound that is particularly reminiscent of modern day 80s-referencing indie music, more so than most of the actual pop from that era - I think maybe there's a tastefulness about it that it shares with the revivalists?

or even when it's bad taste, it's tasteful bad taste if that makes sense

It's not on this list but I absolutely love Wired For Sound.

If it was on this list I'd for it over any of these

About 70% of the songs here are basically the soundtrack to my life between the ages of 9-12.

― nate woolls, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 22:55 (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm too young to remember any of these songs from the first time round, but the general vibe reminds me a bit of this mid-80s compilation tape my parents had that I used to play a lot as a kid in the late 90s: 'Open Top Cars And Girls In T Shirts'

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/W/IMAGERENDERING_521856-T1/images/I/61N9XqpOU3L._AC_SY355_.jpg

because of this compilation I always thought of this as a particular 'type' of music even though there wasn't a specific name for it, but I guess it's what later became codified as yacht rock

sorry, 'T'Shirts' not T Shirts

I could swear that there was a tv advert for this compilation that used to be on youtube, but it doesn't seem to be there anymore

There are some great songs here but it has to be Lipps Inc.'s 'Funky Town'.

I wouldn’t call Mary Jane bilge
― at bottom, wrapping my arms around some tripe called "Quest" (breastcrawl),

I wouldn't either.

Fuck, you just made me realize that my record collection is situated directly underneath the upstairs bathroom. Gonna have to do some rearranging.

December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) gets my vote.

I wouldn’t call Mary Jane bilge
― at bottom, wrapping my arms around some tripe called "Quest" (breastcrawl),

I wouldn't either.

― the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)

Yeah, she's commonly known as the queen of hip hop soul

Bravo. Those rehearsals paid off.

What a Fool Believes, just over Magic and Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (the Risco Connection version of that Moka posted is excellent, I like it even more than the original).

Lotta good stuff here, but I adore the star-blanketed languor of the Pointers' "Slow Hand."

Heaven Knows

I've come around to the notion that "MacArthur Park" in its full version is as monumental as anything Donna ever did outside of, you know, that song

Btw regarding the Paul McCartney song, the one that was a hit and got airplay was the “live at glasgow” version of it.

The 7" single has the Live at Glasgow version as the B-Side. I do wonder which one I played as a kid.

voted "cruisin'"

"and if you want it you got it foreverrr"

Apparently the versions flipped during the middle of "Coming Up"'s chart run.

Lots of all-time jams here but it's Cruisin'

Agree with all of the love for "Crusin'". I do remember, around this time, that it was the greatest song of all-time and was my reactionary vote. I held off as I'm going through the Spotify playlist and will see if it does end up getting it.

The apex of Smokey as producer, which never gets discussed as often as his songwriting

I sang "Babe" as a solo (accompanied by my music teacher on piano) when I was in 7th grade.

― underwater as a compliment (Eazy)

I was a huge fan of "Babe" too. I remember listening to it over and over again to write out the lyrics. When I compiled this list I did find a typed copy of those lyrics in the sleeve. I also remember struggling with some of the words, I didn't compare my young self with the actual lyrics today.

Runnin' wild & lookin' pretty

Another vote for Oh What a Night. Corny as fuck, but I love that song. A little embarrassed putting it ahead of some of these other jams.

This looks…pretty hard.

Interesting facts: "The Second Time Around" and "YMCA" are the two songs not on Spotify US. YMCA is one of the biggest songs of all time and it's not on streaming?

Pointer Sisters are great.

Well I can't actually say Pointer Sisters are great is a fact but nonetheless...

I have a history with Stars on 45 so I'm the guy who voted for it.

xp No, the Pointer Sisters were indeed great

Y.M.C.A. on Spotify

(and here’s The Second Time Around)

I was going by the posted Spotify and actually didn't research, thanks for pointing it out.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Cars or Funky Town

Voted Funky Town

I had a blast listening to these songs again. It's funny because if I was 10 years older my buying habits would have been totally different. Even if I made a list of best songs from this era, I'm not sure many would make my list.

Almost forgot, could have voted for around a dozen of these but my vote went to "He's So Shy."

Don't care for most of these tbh, my tastes lay elsewhere during this time period. Voting Numan for getting his weirdo synth pop new wave onto the charts.

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