I felt the need to keep the good vibes going from last weeks Ultimate 60s playlist - so it seemed natural to move on a decade.
Here is my ultimate 70s playlist: it is not meant to be a definitive record of the decade, just ten fantastic tunes from across a range of genres. Nothing too weird, nothing obscure, no random deep album tracks....
1. James Brown: Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine
The decade started with a bang. Or rather, with the funk! This was one of the first tracks James Brown recorded with his new backing band, the J.B.'s. They dialled back the horns a bit from his 60s stuff, instead focusing on the riff - and why wouldn't you? We're talking about Bootsy Collins on bass, Catfish Collins on guitar and Jabo Starks on drums. A big feature of the song is the call and response between Brown and organist Bobby Byrd.
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama
Perhaps considered their signature song, Sweet Home appeared on the second album, 1974s Second Helping. The tune was in part a response to Neil Young's Southern Man, which Skynyrd felt was casting blame on the whole of the south for slavery. The great irony of the song - none of the three writers were actually from Alabama! Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington were from Florida, and Ed King from California.
3. Talking Heads: Take Me To The River
This is a cover of a song from earlier in the 70s, giving it a double connection to the decade. Al Green and Mabon Hodges had written it in 1974, with Talking Heads taking it on for their second album, More Songs About Buildings And Food. Their version was released in early 1979, making it into the US Top30. Apparently there were three other cover versions of the song all out around this time - by Foghat, Bryan Ferry and Levon Helm.
4. Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song
Zeppelin weren't really a singles band, which is a weird thing to say about the biggest band of the decade. But Immigrant Song, from third album Led Zeppelin III, is a rare exception and was released in 1970. It was built on a monster riff, with John Bonham, John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page all pounding away in perfect hard rock harmony, with Robert Plant busting his lungs with his usual gusto.
5. The Damned: New Rose
There used to be debate about what the first punk single actually was - was it the Pistols, or this one by the Damned, or actually I'm Stranded by Aussie band The Saints (which came out before both)? What can't be doubted though, is that this is one of the classics of the genre. The Damned sometimes get lost amongst the 'serious' bands of the time, full of social and political gravitas. Many of those bands didn't have what the Damned had though - the ability to play fast, loud and sound like they were having a blast! Noted music author David Thompson summed it up when writing about the song in 1992. "This was no sub-metal snottiness, no high octane R&B revival. Rather, it was the absolute redefinition of all that rock 'n' roll held dear, a stunning return to basics which threw every last iota of expertise and experience to the winds. The band's detractors thought they were smart when they called the Damned's record 'primitive.' They were way off the mark – the Damned's fans saw it as primeval."
6. Wings: Band On The Run
In something of a contrast to the previous tune, we go back a couple of years, to 1974. Paul McCartney's latest post-Beatles venture, Wings is just starting to become a bit of a juggernaut (in a decade full of them). With Jet having been a worldwide hit earlier that year, they release Band On The Run, a kind of mini prog rock album crammed into one five minute song. The line, "If we ever get out of here," is attributed to something George Harrison said during meetings about the Beatles issues with their own label, Apple, and how they felt like prisoners. The song is effectively a medley of three parts, with the last bit, full of laid back country-ish guitars, often being compared with The Eagles. Incredibly, it is just Paul, Linda and Denny Laine playing on the track, plus of course, the 60 strong orchestra (arranged by the soon to be legendary producer, Tony Visconti).
7. Steely Dan: Reelin' In The Years
Steely Dan were cool, clean and crisp, and never more so on this, the second single from debut album, Can't Buy A Thrill. Written by core Dan members, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, it got them a number 11 spot on the US Billboard chart. The song is noted for a guitar solo, by guest session player Elliott Randall - reputed to be the favourite guitar solo of Jimmy Page.
8. Chic: Le Freak
Now, I'm not generally much of a disco fan. Really, really not a disco fan.... But, where Nile Rodgers is concerned, I have learnt to make an exception. He is a bona fide genius and Chic made some banging tunes. I could have picked from a few, but it had to be this one - number one in several countries, and Top10 in a bunch more - Le Freak is estimated to have sold 7 million copies!
9. The Clash: (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
This might be one of The Clash's finest moments. The song is the perfect fusion of punk with the reggae and ska rhythms that many of the punk bands were becoming obsessed with. It was recorded as part of the sessions for second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope, but wasn't included in the final track list (it ended up on the US version of debut album The Clash). It touched on many elements of the social and political issues in the UK at the time, with a distinct feeling that right wing ideologies were prevailing (sound familiar).
10. David Bowie: Suffragette City
You can't have a 70s playlist without Bowie - simple as that. But what to choose? There are literally at least fifteen absolute classics I could have chosen, but I went with this - perhaps because you don't hear it quite as much as you should. It started off as a B-Side to Starman in 1972, and as a track on fifth album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, but also released as an A-Side in 1976, to promote a compilation album. It was recorded, of course, with The Spiders From Mars (Mick Ronson, Woody Woodmansey, Trevor Bolder) and had initially been offered to Mott The Hoople, who declined it (taking on All The Young Dudes instead). Bowie drew equally on the rock n roll of Little Richard and the psychedelic indie of Velvet Underground, as he fused together one of the ultimate tunes of the glam rock era.