Whitey Morgan & The 78s (worth a dabble if you like a bit of Americana) welcome you to the latest edition of the Hot 100 Countdown as we reach number seventy eight... a number for which, once I'd discounted songs about 1978, there were two clear contenders.
We'll get to those in a moment. First though, your suggestions...
Martin was first out of the gate with something which would have been a clear winner had this been about 1978...
Bruce Springsteen - Racing In The Street '78... Oh, the harmonica! Oh, the piano! Oh the nostalgic American romanticism!
Martin also offered the following, which I'd never hear before but does the job nicely...
Rich Mullins & A Ragamuffin Band - 78 Eatonwood Green
Next up was The Swede who offered this lo fi oddity. Pretty good, though it does sound like it was recorded on Memorex.
Omni - 78
Rigid Digit was among those suggesting today's winner, but he also offered a couple more sterling contenders that live right next to each other in all our record collections. This...
Manic Street Preachers - Montana/Autumn/78
And this... which gets him top marks. Always got time for Manly Barrymore.
Barry Manilow - Summer of '78
All excellent - but what were my original contenders? Well, the runner-up was always going to be this, seconded by Martin...
Stiff Little Fingers - 78 RPM
The winner though? Obvious, it seems. Suggested first by Lynchie, then seconded by just about everybody else.
My other half went to uni with the lead singer of Gomez. Her only memory of him is that he was "a bit full of himself", which I guess goes with the territory if you're gonna be a pop singer. However, I'd back this up by saying that the one time I saw Gomez play live in the late 90s, they spoiled a perfectly fine gig by not knowing when to finish and doing about 27 encores like they were James Brown or someone with a lot more than just one half-decent album to go at. We left at about encore five, but for all I know they carried on all night. They'd probably still be doing the show today if the venue in question hadn't been knocked down 15 years ago.
Anyway...
Next week... 77. Any suggestions gratefully received.
No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones
ReplyDelete1977 by the Only Band That Matters
The album 77 by The Talking Heads surely merits an honorary mention as does 1977 by Ash
A few suggestions for you this week Rol. A bit of British reggae from Merger with '77' and another song with the same title, but recorded much more recently by Men From North Country - a great little band, but not one of their best it has to be said.
ReplyDeleteIf you're up for lyrical quotes, I can offer 'Celebrate Summer', the last T.Rex single issued in Marc Bolan's lifetime, which contains the line '..summer is heaven in '77...'
Oh, and would 'Two Sevens Clash' by Culture qualify? It's always worth a spin either way.
Not much to add to CC and The Swede's suggestions, other than 77 by The Big Pink, which is a bit anodyne, unfortunately. Or Blizzard of 77 by Nada Surf, which is (marginally) less anodyne.
ReplyDeleteOr how about Jubilee by Blur, since it's about someone born in 1977. Okay, at no point is "77" in the lyrics, but hey, I'm trying to think laterally here.
I know how much you love dance music so you're bound to have this! Kurtis Mantronik Presents Chamonix - 77 Strings.
ReplyDeleteMondo 77 by Looper is a great tune. Stuart David originally from Belle & Sebastian after he left. I believe it featured in a few movies, just love this.
ReplyDeleteA bit late to the party Rol, sorry. But I'd have gone for Wreckless Eric's '33s and 45s' from his Bungalow Hi album; see what I did there?
ReplyDeleteFor melodic hardcore punk with really terrible drumming***, I'd go for "Secret 77" by Bad Brains.
ReplyDelete***The lyrics are pretty dodgy as well...
The Swede's choice of Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" would get my vote though.
Marc Bolan informs us that "Summer is heaven in 77" in Celebrate Summer (the last T.Rex single before that incident with a tree).
ReplyDeleteFrom the second wave of Punk, Total Chaos - Riot 77
Outside chance (stretching the rules a bit?):
Love - 7 and 7 Is