Rock Evolution – The History of Rock & Roll - 1984 - (page 198)

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

I went down to the TV room to watch the final and every f#*king chair had a towel on it, each one belonging to a German!

Lebensraum, you know, lebensraum.

God but the Germans must get sick of all those jokes we make about them! ;-)

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Ok, let's give song this a proper write-up now with some time.

Supertramp's "School" later on that decade during middle school for me was one of their first songs I've really loved and have fond memories of singing along to with my school buddies in that late 70's time period when we found this.

Best part of the song that still gives me chills with that guitar and lyrics:

Maybe I'm mistaken expecting you to fight
Or maybe I'm just crazy, I don't know wrong from right

This jazz fusion opener to their album Crime of the Century was an early favourite song of theirs. It was often played on AOR FM stations and was a great song enjoyed by my group of middle school friends. Even though Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies have their own vocally led songs, it is really a unique aspect of this band where they both have that back and forth vocals that really works, and this track is a prime example. It was predominately a Hodgson song, but Davies wrote both the piano solo and a good deal of the lyrics. The unmistakable harmonica led intro into the girl's scream into the guitar playing was just simply an iconic beginning. Hodgson said of the girl's scream: "Everything, especially that scream that you're talking about just before the band comes in, does represent a lot... I mean, you know, school is a wonderful place. Obviously, it's a school playground but that scream does represent a lot more."

At the age of 7, what do I remember about 1974? I don't remember much about Nixon resigning as Ford was the first US President I have conscious memories of. Most first graders would probably not either. From a football point of view, it wasn't that year's World Cup, it was the American football during the fall of 1974 where my childhood team of the Pittsburgh Steelers would have a great season at 10-3-1 and go on to win their first ever Super Bowl after that season in early 1975. I remember watching the season over many Sundays that fall.

From a music point of view, I wasn't yet buying records, but I still have memories of heavy doses of AM/FM radio in the DC market while traveling to my grandparents on weekends. "Jackie Blue" was one of those songs, but there were plenty others too. I'll go with this song from a Canadian artist who for the longest time as a child I thought this song was from Neil Diamond. This artist had several hits from 1968 to 1971, but had not had a single since then, and as a result had been without a record label since early 1973. He ended up forming his own label, and personally financed the recording session that produced this song. He only could afford to record two sides, and deciding the second side was good enough to be an A-side, he put an instrumental of the track on its B-side.

Is this song cheesy? You betcha, but it represents a memory at that time of what I recall listening to that year from the radio.

"Rock Me Gently" - Andy Kim

Excellent choice. Did Crime of the Century come out in ’74? I think it did. For me, far and away their best album. I like everything off it — even today (I thought Breakfast in America, which is constantly played on the radio, at least here in France, is close to being pop junk.)
We're clearly very different generations. As I've indicated, I was 20, freshly graduated. Politically, I remember ’74 with perfect clarity. The two big stories in the press were invasion of Cyprus by the Turks, and the ongoing Watergate thing, which was getting gnarlier and gnarlier for Nixon and his entourage.
That summer, I got a job in a bread factory in Bristol. Only six weeks, but one hell of an education. That was when I finally understood that a lot of the work people do to keep the economy going is purely and simple a devastating attack on the body and soul. The job involved doing — get this! — alternate weeks of nights and days. Sunday was the changeover day. It was murderous. It's difficult enough doing nights, but alternating weeks of days and nights, your body and mind simply can't ever adjust to it. As I say, I only did it for six weeks. But there were people who'd been working there for years (they hated us, of course — we were just “tourists”, passing through, therefore just getting in their way, really). They seemed to have been turned into zombies by the job.
Anyway, back to the thread subject…

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

Really enjoying the picks although we are all apprehensive about the year.
I’m back in work again after Recess, so have to keep it short.
I was 11years old in 1974.
I have two abiding memories of the year that I’ll go into detail about later.
One good, one bad.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Brilliant write up Sads !!

"Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks, "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae, and "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas.

I just wanted to add that "Seasons in the Sun", already chosen above, was another one of those sing-along songs in the car, but not fully realizing the deathbed addressing, though I do remember well the part of:

Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die, when all the birds are singing in the sky

and thought to myself listening as a child, "that's kind of an odd statement, hmm, where is this going?"

I loved the other two songs on the radio too, so Bill has clearly hit a hat trick with this nomination. More to come, I'm sure... ;-)

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Excellent choice. Did Crime of the Century come out in ’74? I think it did. For me, far and away their best album. I like everything off it — even today (I thought Breakfast in America, which is constantly played on the radio, at least here in France, is close to being pop junk.)

Oh boy, where do we begin with that above? ;-)

First, yes, it was 1974 and CotC was recently reviewed a few weeks ago in the Album Thread. I enjoyed it so much with my 9/10 score that I got lumped into "8 and above [score] baffle me as the English falling all over English prog (even poppy prog) always does" by another fellow American. ;-)

Let's just say you and I are closer on BiA, as I enjoy CotC overall more, although sharing that same view might be a bit Foggy for others who will not be shy in sharing their opinion of such. I'll leave it at that and you can check out that thread on p. 2253 if you'd like to explore that album further. I will try not to derail us here!

We're clearly very different generations. As I've indicated, I was 20, freshly graduated. Politically, I remember ’74 with perfect clarity. The two big stories in the press were invasion of Cyprus by the Turks, and the ongoing Watergate thing, which was getting gnarlier and gnarlier for Nixon and his entourage.

I was probably aware of things then, but I certainly can't point to a "I remember where I was when he resigned" moment on him. Probably for the best, politics would soon be coming for the next election as a 4th grade school assignment in reviewing a debate off of a homemade cassette tape (sadly, probably a crap Memorex early on before I wised up).

That summer, I got a job in a bread factory in Bristol. Only six weeks, but one hell of an education. That was when I finally understood that a lot of the work people do to keep the economy going is purely and simple a devastating attack on the body and soul. The job involved doing — get this! — alternate weeks of nights and days. Sunday was the changeover day. It was murderous. It's difficult enough doing nights, but alternating weeks of days and nights, your body and mind simply can't ever adjust to it. As I say, I only did it for six weeks. But there were people who'd been working there for years (they hated us, of course — we were just “tourists”, passing through, therefore just getting in their way, really). They seemed to have been turned into zombies by the job.
Anyway, back to the thread subject…

I will say I do enjoy the different vantage points that everyone is offering on this year, and kudos to @Saddleworth2 for sparking the discussion. I think context with the songs is what it's all about vs. just plopping them up here. Anyone can do that. ;-)

 

[Saddleworth2]

Oh boy, where do we begin with that above? ;-)

First, yes, it was 1974 and CotC was recently reviewed a few weeks ago in the Album Thread. I enjoyed it so much with my 9/10 score that I got lumped into "8 and above [score] baffle me as the English falling all over English prog (even poppy prog) always does" by another fellow American. ;-)

Let's just say you and I are closer on BiA, as I enjoy CotC overall more, although sharing that same view might be a bit Foggy for others who will not be shy in sharing their opinion of such. I'll leave it at that and you can check out that thread on p. 2253 if you'd like to explore that album further. I will try not to derail us here!


I was probably aware of things then, but I certainly can't point to a "I remember where I was when he resigned" moment on him. Probably for the best, politics would soon be coming for the next election as a 4th grade school assignment in reviewing a debate off of a homemade cassette tape (sadly, probably a crap Memorex early on before I wised up).


I will say I do enjoy the different vantage points that everyone is offering on this year, and kudos to @Saddleworth2 for sparking the discussion. I think context with the songs is what it's all about vs. just plopping them up here. Anyone can do that. ;-)

That’s what was envisaged when the thread was set up. I’m glad you are getting something from it.

 

[RobMCFC]

"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" by Steely Dan

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" by Steely Dan

Seconded.
Since I pop in and out of this thread — with long absences — I missed the boat on 1972. I presume someone gave a very honourable mention to Can't Buy A Thrill? One of the best début albums that I know of.

You know the back story on “Rikki” I suppose?

Still on the theme of personal anecdote interwoven with songs — I remember grabbing my girlfriend in the bedroom when “Pretzel Logic” came on, and deciding that we were going to dance/shuffle round the room to that track.Right the way through. She was amazed and pleased. I am no dancer! She loved dancing, but never had a partner…

 

[RobMCFC]

Seconded.
Since I pop in and out of this thread — with long absences — I missed the boat on 1972. I presume someone gave a very honourable mention to Can't Buy A Thrill? One of the best début albums that I know of.

You know the back story on “Rikki” I suppose?

Still on the theme of personal anecdote interwoven with songs — I remember grabbing my girlfriend in the bedroom when “Pretzel Logic” came on, and deciding that we were going to dance/shuffle round the room to that track.Right the way through. She was amazed and pleased. I am no dancer! She loved dancing, but never had a partner…

I nominated “Do It Again” - I’ve probably heard it a few times over the years but it’s only in the last 4 or 5 years I knew it was them and listened to it properly.

No idea about the story behind “Rikki”.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

I nominated “Do It Again” - I’ve probably heard it a few times over the years but it’s only in the last 4 or 5 years I knew it was them and listened to it properly.

No idea about the story behind “Rikki”.

Fagen and Becker met as students at Bard College, which is apparently in upstate New York. (They did not go to William and Mary, despite the lyrics of another very well-known song). Neither of them were studying music, I believe (they were studying literary things, hence the quite bookish slant to their lyrics occasionally), but they both played, for pleasure. Both were jazz aficionados, who'd spent the fifties listening to Sonny Rollins, Coltrane etc. Anyway, Fagen met a woman called Rikki at a faculty/student get-together. A faculty party, I think. This all emerged many years after the song. Both Fagen and the woman in question remained discreet. Fagen got chatting to her, fancied her, and gave her his number. Small obstacle — she was not long married to a faculty member. And pregnant. All in all, she decided not to call that number.

You can tell that I'm a long-time fringe member of the Steely fandom, to have acquired such trivia.

 

[peter.evans]

Fagen and Becker met as students at Bard College, which is apparently in upstate New York. (They did not go to William and Mary, despite the lyrics of another very well-known song). Neither of them were studying music, I believe (they were studying literary things, hence the quite bookish slant to their lyrics occasionally), but they both played, for pleasure. Both were jazz aficionados, who'd spent the fifties listening to Sonny Rollins, Coltrane etc. Anyway, Fagen met a woman called Rikki at a faculty/student get-together. A faculty party, I think. This all emerged many years after the song. Both Fagen and the woman in question remained discreet. Fagen got chatting to her, fancied her, and gave her his number. Small obstacle — she was not long married to a faculty member. And pregnant. All in all, she decided not to call that number.

You can tell that I'm a long-time fringe member of the Steely fandom, to have acquired such trivia.

Ha ha yes I've heard that one and as a paid up member of the Dan's loyal fandom, as they called it the title track of Pretzel Logic is just another classic for me. Beckers guitar solo is just sensational There is a great live version on YouTube from the shows they did at the Rainbow in May 74.Pretzel Logic was another album of the year contender by them, as were all of their 70s albums. It won the NME and Village Voice critics polls and was very highly ranked in every other poll you will see from 74.

 

[OB1]

I just wanted to add that "Seasons in the Sun", already chosen above, was another one of those sing-along songs in the car, but not fully realizing the deathbed addressing, though I do remember well the part of:

Goodbye my friend, it's hard to die, when all the birds are singing in the sky

and thought to myself listening as a child, "that's kind of an odd statement, hmm, where is this going?"

I loved the other two songs on the radio too, so Bill has clearly hit a hat trick with this nomination. More to come, I'm sure... ;-)

Never much liked Tottenham on the Run, too miserable.

 

[OB1]

Lebensraum, you know, lebensraum.

God but the Germans must get sick of all those jokes we make about them! ;-)

Not a joke though - absolute fact.

I once holidayed in Menorca with my wife and another couple. We stayed in apartment across the road from a hotel full of Germans. I recall going out one morning (about 8 am) to get fresh bread etc for breakfast and every sun bed at the hotel had a towel on it. No one is sight around the pool, just towels on sun beds.

 

[mancity2012_eamo]

1974.
Bad memory. The year the Troubles came to Dublin, with three bombs going off around works closing times.
Let’s just say, I was almost eleven years old and it was the end of my childish view of what was going on a million miles away up North.
It caused absolute chaos in our household that whole night.

Good memory.
As I say I was eleven that year and had never been on holidays. I’d never been anywhere really. My mother agreed that I could go to the Gaeltacht during the summer with the school and other schools too.
A minibus of us were driven down to Kilkieran in The arsehole of nowhere. Connemara.
A place I fell in love with. We were there learning and speaking Irish for a month with a load of others from various Dublin schools.
We stayed with native speaking households and went to classes in the morning and had activities in the afternoons.
I loved it. I was never away before. It started my love affair with the west of Ireland. I went three years on the trot to pretty much the same area and grew to know it well.
A place I have gone down to as an adult and have brought my own family down to see.

Much happier memories.

Now my next pick is not someone I knew of when I was eleven, but retrospectively grew to admire so much in later life.
I nominated him for 1973 and the 1974 sister album was actually from the same recordings but released a year later in stereo and quadrophonic sound.
I was going to go for the album title track - Apostrophe’ with a jamming session between Zappa and Jack Bruce, then thought no pick something that demonstrates the Zappa humour too.
Was going to go with Stinkfoot but,…….
Final decision.
Frank Zappa - Cosmic Debris.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Q: Are we REALLY doing this?
A: Yeah, I kinda think we are...

Q: What exactly is this song about?
A: It's a song that is loosely about "War and Peace", and as some would notice, probably as long.

Q: Was this from that classic band lineup we heard a few years ago?
A: Uh, no. Rick Wakeman had left that band after the (sorry, "bloated") Tales from Topographic Oceans album and tour where audience members actually booed the band for playing those tracks live. Or so I have heard (remember, I was too young to be going to concerts and the parents certainly weren't any of an influence on this). Wakeman had informed the band of his decision to leave midway into the tour, following disagreements and frustration with the direction the band had taken with the album. Alan White was also now part of Yes as Bill Bruford had moved on to King Crimson.

Q: so there was no keyboardist?
A: No, there actually was, and this new member came from a jazz and classical background, the one and only Swiss Patrick Moraz (later of the Moody Blues). A different approach than Wakeman and only on this one and only album, but prog heads loved it.

Q: Just wait a prog minute, I see this song is 22 minutes long?
A: Yes, but it "is" the side 1 from this very underrated and surprisingly unique jazzy prog album that some say only rivals Close To The Edge in this group's successful prog experimentation (see what I highlighted there?)

Q: I heard there was a stripped-down 5 minute version of this snipet of the song "Soon", why don't we just roll with that?
A: yes, and that is what the FM radio stations would play in the late-70s and early 80s when I first heard this song, and that's about the "peace" aspect of the song, but you miss all the war. Where's the appreciation of peace without the struggles of war? Especially in the music that is just as good.

Q: Are you sure you are adding this?
A: Yes, Our reason to be here...

"The Gates of Delirium" - Yes

 

[threespires]

As an 8 or 9 year old I don't think I fully understood this song but musically it was unsettling enough for me to get that it wasn't a happy song. It might well be the first song I noticed the guitar effects on, albeit I wouldn't have used that term.

Emma - Hot Chocolate

 

[Bill Walker]

Q: Are we REALLY doing this?
A: Yeah, I kinda think we are...

Q: What exactly is this song about?
A: It's a song that is loosely about "War and Peace", and as some would notice, probably as long.

Q: Was this from that classic band lineup we heard a few years ago?
A: Uh, no. Rick Wakeman had left that band after the (sorry, "bloated") Tales from Topographic Oceans album and tour where audience members actually booed the band for playing those tracks live. Or so I have heard (remember, I was too young to be going to concerts and the parents certainly weren't any of an influence on this). Wakeman had informed the band of his decision to leave midway into the tour, following disagreements and frustration with the direction the band had taken with the album. Alan White was also now part of Yes as Bill Bruford had moved on to King Crimson.

Q: so there was no keyboardist?
A: No, there actually was, and this new member came from a jazz and classical background, the one and only Swiss Patrick Moraz (later of the Moody Blues). A different approach than Wakeman and only on this one and only album, but prog heads loved it.

Q: Just wait a prog minute, I see this song is 22 minutes long?
A: Yes, but it "is" the side 1 from this very underrated and surprisingly unique jazzy prog album that some say only rivals Close To The Edge in this group's successful prog experimentation (see what I highlighted there?)

Q: I heard there was a stripped-down 5 minute version of this snipet of the song "Soon", why don't we just roll with that?
A: yes, and that is what the FM radio stations would play in the late-70s and early 80s when I first heard this song, and that's about the "peace" aspect of the song, but you miss all the war. Where's the appreciation of peace without the struggles of war? Especially in the music that is just as good.

Q: Are you sure you are adding this?
A: Yes, Our reason to be here...

"The Gates of Delirium" - Yes

Haha nice post...

But 'Tales' is my 2nd favourite after Close to the Edge.
In some ways it's closer to the edge :)

Moraz was never a moody blue according to the other moody blues.

 

[Saddleworth2]

updated with another 4 tracks from yesterday. 36 tracks and a playlist of 2 hours 45 mins.

 

[OB1]

1974.
Bad memory. The year the Troubles came to Dublin, with three bombs going off around works closing times.
Let’s just say, I was almost eleven years old and it was the end of my childish view of what was going on a million miles away up North.
It caused absolute chaos in our household that whole night.

Good memory.
As I say I was eleven that year and had never been on holidays. I’d never been anywhere really. My mother agreed that I could go to the Gaeltacht during the summer with the school and other schools too.
A minibus of us were driven down to Kilkieran in The arsehole of nowhere. Connemara.
A place I fell in love with. We were there learning and speaking Irish for a month with a load of others from various Dublin schools.
We stayed with native speaking households and went to classes in the morning and had activities in the afternoons.
I loved it. I was never away before. It started my love affair with the west of Ireland. I went three years on the trot to pretty much the same area and grew to know it well.
A place I have gone down to as an adult and have brought my own family down to see.

Much happier memories.

Now my next pick is not someone I knew of when I was eleven, but retrospectively grew to admire so much in later life.
I nominated him for 1973 and the 1974 sister album was actually from the same recordings but released a year later in stereo and quadrophonic sound.
I was going to go for the album title track - Apostrophe’ with a jamming session between Zappa and Jack Bruce, then thought no pick something that demonstrates the Zappa humour too.
Was going to go with Stinkfoot but,…….
Final decision.
Frank Zappa - Cosmic Debris.

Good choice but I have had an infantile love of Yellow Snow since the mid 70’s. Apostrophe was the first Zappa album I heard, a friend who was a year older had the album.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Q: Are we REALLY doing this?
A: Yeah, I kinda think we are...

Q: What exactly is this song about?
A: It's a song that is loosely about "War and Peace", and as some would notice, probably as long.

Q: Was this from that classic band lineup we heard a few years ago?
A: Uh, no. Rick Wakeman had left that band after the (sorry, "bloated") Tales from Topographic Oceans album and tour where audience members actually booed the band for playing those tracks live. Or so I have heard (remember, I was too young to be going to concerts and the parents certainly weren't any of an influence on this). Wakeman had informed the band of his decision to leave midway into the tour, following disagreements and frustration with the direction the band had taken with the album. Alan White was also now part of Yes as Bill Bruford had moved on to King Crimson.

Q: so there was no keyboardist?
A: No, there actually was, and this new member came from a jazz and classical background, the one and only Swiss Patrick Moraz (later of the Moody Blues). A different approach than Wakeman and only on this one and only album, but prog heads loved it.

Q: Just wait a prog minute, I see this song is 22 minutes long?
A: Yes, but it "is" the side 1 from this very underrated and surprisingly unique jazzy prog album that some say only rivals Close To The Edge in this group's successful prog experimentation (see what I highlighted there?)

Q: I heard there was a stripped-down 5 minute version of this snipet of the song "Soon", why don't we just roll with that?
A: yes, and that is what the FM radio stations would play in the late-70s and early 80s when I first heard this song, and that's about the "peace" aspect of the song, but you miss all the war. Where's the appreciation of peace without the struggles of war? Especially in the music that is just as good.

Q: Are you sure you are adding this?
A: Yes, Our reason to be here...

"The Gates of Delirium" - Yes

Haha nice post...

But 'Tales' is my 2nd favourite after Close to the Edge.
In some ways it's closer to the edge :)

Moraz was never a moody blue according to the other moody blues.

Bill Bruford (one of the most articulate and head-screwed-on musicians there's ever been in rock) is very interesting on comparing his experiences in Yes with his experiences with Crimson. You probably know that…