Have a Nice Decade: The 70s Pop Culture Box CD1 Poll

This is rock, specifically the run from 11 to 15 which I don't think I can call at all.

"Ride Captain Ride" just gets the nod over about five other songs.

spirit in the sky

Large percentage of throwaway stuff here. "Band Of Gold" it is though.

easier to go with worst song (Three Dog Night) than best, but I went with "Spirit in the Sky" for best.

ABC's gonna win this in a walk I think, but no matter what you might think of James Taylor, "Fire and Rain" is a fucking devastating song.

"Little Green Bag"

i have no runaway care, but "ooh child" is purddy

Green Eyed Lady! Man I miss hearing this song on classic rock radio like 12 times a day while listening to classic rock radio and playing NBA Live '00 all day long instead of studying.

"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"
Heard it for the first time in years recently. Pop masterpiece.

spirit in the sky for the awesome keys and guitar

Heard 'Rose Garden' again the other day and it's a good song/record -- I remember there wasn't much C&W crossover onto the Top 40 in this time period, except for novelty stuff like 'When You're Hot, You're Hot'.

man this is way tight. maybe two sucky songs, tops.

Delfonics in the HOUSE

Gonna be hard to pick. Actually don't remember having heard three of these- The Ides of March, George Baker and Murray Head. Is that a version of The Carpenters/Delaney and Bonnie "Superstar"?

Oh, it's from JC Superstar, duh.

OK, I always thought "Vehicle" was the only Blood, Sweat and Tears song that I liked. Please forgive my Bimble moment.

"o-o-h child" always makes me happy whenever i hear it, so that's what got my vote.

I went with the 73 men who sailed up from the San Francisco Bay.

American Woman but only if it's the full length version.

1-3 and 11-15

Usually it would be Freda Payne - but today, I'm in a Delfonics mood.

I went American Woman. Was going to say maybe the only one who did, but now I see...

Wild World. I always loved that song.

I think I'm gonna vote Chairmen of the Board because nobody else so far has said they will.

The Russian Eurovision winner obviously loved "Wild World" too.

1-3 and 11-15
This is about right.

Heard "Vehicle" for the first time ever a coupla weeks ago - only song I was unfamiliar with until then. Of the rest, there's a lotta pro-Jesus sentiment, isn't there? Also a lot of horticulture, mystically-powered women and back-to-nature sentiments.

Dunno who I'm gonna vote for, I haven't decided yet.

16. James Taylor (1970): "Fire and Rain"

^^^^
dead fucking last

The Jackson 5
The Ides of March
The Guess Who

Heard "Vehicle" for the first time ever a coupla weeks ago - only song I was unfamiliar with until then.

damn good pop song! the singer (and i think songwriter), jim peterik, went on many years later to form survivor, for whom he sang "eye of the tiger."

I have to go with the Delfonics here.

American Woman but only if it's the full length version.

i think it is because it has this slow 45 second built up that comes before the radio version kicks in.

"band of gold">"abc">"didn't i blow yr mind this time didn't i">"rose garden">>"give me just a little more time">"ooh child">>"green-eyed lady", "spirit in the sky", "venus">"fire and rain" (j0hn otm, but the isley's version is definitive for me). "american woman" dead last. vile vile song.

my worst song on this CD is Murray Head's "Superstar" although i kind of like the main vocals. really, really bad songs are yet to come.

"Give Me Just a Little More Time"
followed by "Ride Captain Ride"

BAND OF GOLD

Dunno what Geir means by "throwaway" stuff; tons of great records here. Come on! "ABC," "Venus," "Love Grows," "Rose Garden" . . . Was gonna vote for Blues Image, then Chairmen, finally settled on the Five Stairsteps.

Dunno what Geir means by "throwaway" stuff; tons of great records here. Come on! "ABC," "Venus," "Love Grows," "Rose Garden"

"ABC", sure. But generally a lot of one-hit-wonder stuff while the more established artists are not represented here to the same extent.

i agree with most people here, this CD is pretty damn good with few throwaways.

On the rest of the set, does Debbie Boone appear?

Hoo, good old UK! Never made that a hit! Hray for us!

Shocking Blue (cult act, several albums) and Lynn Anderson (country star, lots of singles on the C&W chart) aren't one-hit wonders. Neither are Freda Payne or Chairmen/General Johnson or Three Dog Night or Cat Stevens or the Raiders. Besides, this is pretty representative of what was in the charts. What do you want, the Beatles?

(that's a rhetorical question)

Don't try to reason with him

I want this CD. I expect I want the whole box set.

Shocking Blue (cult act, several albums) and Lynn Anderson (country star, lots of singles on the C&W chart) aren't one-hit wonders. Neither are Freda Payne or Chairmen/General Johnson or Three Dog Night or Cat Stevens or the Raiders. Besides, this is pretty representative of what was in the charts. What do you want, the Beatles?

For instance, Elton John, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Simon & Garfunkel all had a good year in 1970, including strong hit performances.

Led Zeppelin had a hit single in 1970? I assume when you say "established artists" you mean their reputation has become established over the years, because Elton John was not an established artist in 1970.

Unlike, say, Enoch Powell or Jonathan King, both of whom I am sure are much more to Geir's liking.

I assume when you say "established artists" you mean their reputation has become established over the years

Yes. Usually a sign of quality, over acts who only last for a year or two.

Geir, I imagine most of those acts are unlicensable -- the reunited Sabs-with-Dio aren't even allowed to call themselves Black Sabbath on their album, by Sharon Osbourne's fiat -- or prohibitively expensive. And Deep Purple only had two hit singles in America, where the box was compiled, neither of them in 1970. Plus, not exactly hard to get hold of "Your Song," y'know?

Sure, I guess the main problem here is that I feel the very start of the 70s was one of the worst periods ever for pop (as opposed to more serious album oriented music), and that things will improved towards mid-decade.

And I hate "Green Eyed Lady," but I don't need it to be written out of history.

all these songs are great. I cast a sympathy vote with Hamilton Joe Frank & Reynolds.

You know what I would like to see on here, though, is "Come and Get It." Prolly similar reasons as above for its not being included.

Wasn't much of a hit, I believe?

(At least not in the US)

another for band of gold, without really having to think hard about it. i think, mind you, that would be true of a whole load of polls that contained band of gold.

Shoot, this is obscenely low on the list of what should be one of my top priorities right now, but man, I'm gonna have to go try and download "Ride Captain Ride".

What songs do you guys totally hate on this compilation? For me it's American Woman, Green-Eyed Lady, and Band of Gold (the latter tune more b/c of radio overexposure more than anything else)

Badfinger: Top 10 in the U.S.

ABC. But even the songs I don't like on this list are a lot of fun.

i cant deny abc

I considered "ABC". Would have voted for "I'll Be There" had it been there. Or "I Want You Back" even. "ABC" is probably my least favourite of those earliest Jackson Five hits.

What songs do you guys totally hate on this compilation?

"American Woman"
"Fire and Rain"
"Put Your Hand in the Hand"
"Signs"
"Don't Pull Your Love"
"Me and You and a Dog Named Boo"
"Joy to the World"

I can appreciate all these in an abstract popist way, but the titles alone are enough to make me cringe. It's all about overexposure at an impressionable age.

Freda P. = my alltime karaoke request.

You guys, this box set squashes the Have a Nice Decade box like grape. It's like the same set with all the annoying crap taken out.

(and the packaging is awesome.)

shit i want that

yeah you do. Short list of favorite boxes ever.

Huge amount of overlap between that and the Didn't It Blow Your Mind! series, otherwise I'd be buying that right now.

These are songs that I hate with a passion:

Edison Lighthouse (1970): "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)"
Lynn Anderson (1970): "Rose Garden"
George Baker Selection (1970): "Little Green Bag"
Ocean (1971): "Put Your Hand in the Hand"

And absolutely not "Fire And Rain", which was close to getting my vote. A beautiful little song.

Tony Burrows and Joe South spit on you.

A waste of saliva

(I never understood what your current screenname means. Is it short for Tom Dadaismus? Is it "Key of D" in Portuguese?)

Surname. Boring, innit?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

24. Three Dog Night (1970): "Joy to the World" 0

Nice work ILM! Didn't know you had it in you.

have a nice blood

these are great results, really can't ask for anything more (good job as always ILM). next CD will be up in a few days.