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The Greatest Year In Rock/Pop Music!

I've been really enjoying everyone's comments in the other threads I've started, lots of fun and very interesting comments and great feedback (even if my last one "stretching your memory" was a bit confusing, I should have explained better what I was asking in the first post. I think this should be much easier one to come up with an answer to:

What is the greatest (or your favorite) year in rock/pop music in your opinion, and why (if you can find an answer to that, sometimes it can be hard to quantify)

What were your favorites, or the best or most interesting (in your own opinion) 10 songs of that year to you (10 more or less, you can cheat and add more if you want)

If possible, make all the songs from the same year, but if they entered the chart before your favorite year began, it still counts. Likewise if it exited the chart after that year ended, it's OK too.

____________________________________________________

I have to say, for me, that year would be 1971. I turned 14 late that year, and was totally enamored of top 40 radio, and I had my 6-Transistor Lloyd's TR-6L http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/lloyds_6_transistor_radio_tr_6l.html with me all the time. I went through tons of the old Ray-O-Vac 9v batteries (the red and black ones with a black cat on them, remember those?). I used to test those batteries with my tongue to see if they were dead or not :) I also had some no-name cassette recorder that I used to record with a mic up to the radio speaker to save all my favorite songs to tape. The sound quality was atrocious, but I could hear my songs anywhere, anytime. I still have all those tapes today...I just keep them for old times sake, I don't plan to play them ever again except to hear the sound checks on them.

Anyway, I still wasn't too much into rock yet, although I liked Yes, the Who, Steppenwolf and the Rolling Stones by that time, I mostly leaned toward pure pop music. Therefore, my list of my favorite songs that year might not agree with what was considered "cool" but this is what I loved - and still listen to sometimes today. Not in any particular order, here is my top 10 from 1971:

My Baby Loves Lovin' - White Plains
Sooner or Later - Grass Roots
Me and You and a dog named Boo - Lobo
Signs - 5 Man Electrical Band
Temptation Eyes - Grass Roots
I'll Meet You Halfway - Partridge Family
Sweet Mary - Wadsworth Mansion
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who (Who's Next, still my favorite LP of all time)
You Are Everything - Stylistics
One Toke Over The Line - Brewer & Shipley

Of course, I could probably think of at least 40 or 50 more from that year that I love, so this list is very subjective. I just liked that I could turn on the radio and hear such a diverse array of music, even on Top 40, unlike today. I would listen to a station today if they played such a wide playlist, where I could hear Tony Orlando & Dawn one moment, then Deep Purple the next. As far as I know, such a station doesn't exist, although someone mentioned Hippie Radio in Nashville comes pretty close. Unfortunately, I can't pick them up here in LA on my car radio :) only livestream on the net.

I may add more to this list, after some careful consideration.

As always, thanks for your input, I really enjoy reading all your comments and thoughts! Seems a lot of people here think alike and enjoy the same music I do.
 
Well since I like oldies in general (1950's to 1990's!) It would be hard to specifically pick a certain year. But I would lean to 1967 (year I was born), 1976 (very good recollection of hits played on am radio driving around in parents car) and 1983 (teenager). Like you, I could have added many more songs to a certain year.

For 1976, some random picks:

1- Tonight's the Night - Rod Stewart
2- Let Em In - Paul McCartney
3- You'll Never Find..... - Lou Rawls
4- Rubberband Man - Spinners
5- Welcome Back - John Sebastian
6- Lonely Night (Angel Face) - Captain & Tennille
7- Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John & Kiki Dee
8- Lowdown - Boz Scaggs
9- More Than A Feeling - Boston
10- Shake Your Booty - KC & the Sunshine Band

There's just way too many to list, as I like most of the songs released and that charted top 10 to top 20+ in the rock era.
 
1967 for me. Everything was happening musically that year -- Sgt. Pepper, Hendrix, the whole San Francisco scene, Motown at its peak, Aretha, the Rascals, great novelty records like "Hello Hello" and those Royal Guardsmen Red Baron songs.

Top 10? Well here are the first 10 that come to mind. Ask me next week and I'll probably have 10 different ones:

I've Been Lonely Too Long -- Rascals
Hello Goodbye -- Beatles
(I Wanna) Testify -- Parliaments
I'll Turn to Stone/7-Rooms of Gloom -- Four Tops
Dandelion -- Rolling Stones
Pictures of Lily -- Who
Good Thing -- Paul Revere & the Raiders
I'm Not Your Stepping Stone -- Monkees
Respect -- Aretha Franklin
Purple Haze -- Jimi Hendrix Experience
 
1975!

Elton John was at or near his peak in creativity: "Island Girl," "Philadelphia Freedom," and a great cover of "Lucy in the Sky..." at #1 to start the year. Also, ELO had "Can't Get It Out of My Head" at the beginning of the year, and "Evil Woman" at the end. KC and the Sunshine Band kicked off their career with a couple of great chart-toppers, and Paul McCartney had what is still one of my favorite singles from his Wings years with "Listen to What the Man Said." Three minutes of pop perfection! :) And some lesser-known gems, Shirley and Company had "Shame Shame Shame" and the Dwight Twilley band had "I'm on Fire." I will have to check, but I believe that this was also the year that Gloria Gaynor had "Never Can Say Goodbye." Disco was already out there in '75, but it was not (yet) as intrusive as it would become in 1978-1979. The Four Seasons made a great comeback with "Who Loves You" (still love that groove in the middle of it!), and a couple of great (mostly) instrumentals, "Do the Hustle" by Van McCoy, and "Pick Up the Pieces" by the AWB. Even Neil Sedaka had "Bad Blood." Still a cool song! 8)

Of course, 1975 also had one of the biggest clinkers of all-time with "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton, one of the biggest sap-fests ever!

For the worst year (of my teens, anyway), that would have to be 1981. "Believe it or Not" by Joey Scarbury, "Hearts" by Marty Balin (don't care for any of his Jeff. Starship stuff, either). How did "Bette Davis Eyes" ever spend nine weeks at #1? "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John wasn't much better. And this was also the year that supposedly "pop" radio forced "Elvira" by the Oak Ridge Boys on us! ::) It wasn't so much that 1981 was a "bad" year; it was just the absence of really "good" music that year that had me listening to my Beatles albums a lot that year. And I am still sick of "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, but that was largely due to the Miami Vice overkill that it received just a few years later. ::)
 
firepoint525 said:
For the worst year (of my teens, anyway), that would have to be 1981. "Believe it or Not" by Joey Scarbury, "Hearts" by Marty Balin (don't care for any of his Jeff. Starship stuff, either). How did "Bette Davis Eyes" ever spend nine weeks at #1? "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John wasn't much better. And this was also the year that supposedly "pop" radio forced "Elvira" by the Oak Ridge Boys on us! ::) It wasn't so much that 1981 was a "bad" year; it was just the absence of really "good" music that year that had me listening to my Beatles albums a lot that year. And I am still sick of "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, but that was largely due to the Miami Vice overkill that it received just a few years later. ::)

'81 was an odd year musically. The Disco Sucks movement had been victorious, but there was nothing in the rock-genre pipeline with the mass appeal to replace it at Top 40 radio, opening the door for the sappy AC, gimmick pop, and country crossovers that defined the format until New Wave -- with a huge boost from MTV -- burst forth to start Top 40 on a seven-year joyride that would only be derailed by the audience-splintering and generation-alienating phenomena of grunge and hip-hop.

This was also the year of Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl." It doesn't sound like much now, but what a welcome jolt it was coming out of the car speakers back then!
 
It had to be 1977!! Right in the middle of the "Classic Hits" era (1964-1989). It was a great year for "feel-good" songs like "Undercover Angel," "Heaven on the 7th Floor," "Right Back Where We Started From," "That's Rock 'n' Roll," "Ariel," "Hot Line" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic." 1977 also had timeless love songs like "We're All Alone," "Nobody Does It Better," "How Deep Is Your Love," and "She Did It" by Eric Carmen. Other cool songs were "Blinded by the Light," and "Isn't It Time" by the Babys.
 
Back before Oldies radio became Classic Hits radio, 1970 had a plurality of the music, or so it seemed to me. Not sure that could be verified.

1981 truly was an oddball year for CHR. So was 1975. Lots of mellow pop, proto-disco, country crossover, and a few novelty tunes, and a disproportionate lack of real rock, IIRC. Both 1974 and 1976 rocked harder.
 
RIN3GUY said:
It had to be 1977!! Right in the middle of the "Classic Hits" era (1964-1989). It was a great year for "feel-good" songs like "Undercover Angel," "Heaven on the 7th Floor," "Right Back Where We Started From," "That's Rock 'n' Roll," "Ariel," "Hot Line" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic." 1977 also had timeless love songs like "We're All Alone," "Nobody Does It Better," "How Deep Is Your Love," and "She Did It" by Eric Carmen. Other cool songs were "Blinded by the Light," and "Isn't It Time" by the Babys.

"Angel in Your Arms," "Heard It in a Love Song," "Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude," "When I Need You" ... quality stuff. Mellow isn't necessarily a bad thing! On the other hand, the top song that year was a little something by Debby Boone you might just remember...
 
haha yes -- It's actually too bad she hit #1 & got her song run into the ground because otherwise she might still be played once in a while today. But that (unmentionable!) song was just incidental to 1977 and did not truly define its character: I Just Want To Be Your Everything, Dancing Queen, Rich Girl, the Rumours & Hotel California LPs, not to even mention the debut of Saturday Night Fever. (I will, however, dare to mention Shaun Cassidy!) 1977 just can't be beat!
 
RIN3GUY said:
haha yes -- It's actually too bad she hit #1 & got her song run into the ground because otherwise she might still be played once in a while today.

I heard it on supermarket audio (Big Y, western New England chain) the other day and it just stopped me in my tracks. I mean, that song isn't played ANYWHERE. It must really test poorly with all demographics, including all those people who loved the song and bought the record in 1977.
 
I am sure that would catch my attention too. But Debby Boone's rendition of "Baby I'm Yours" is one that I still never get tired of. In our area the same seems to be true for the '80s tune that was also #1 for 2 & 1/2 months, "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John. Her pre-Grease work is relegated to AC, and most of her post-Grease work (Deeper Than the Night, Heart Attack, Xanadu) has also been as forgotten as Donna Summer's "The Wanderer"! And speaking of great "Lost 45s", how about "Gettin' Ready For Love" by Diana Ross? Maybe I'm way off, but it seems to me that Classic Hits stations generally minimize the number of songs they play by female vocalists in an effort to get more men to listen. Our '60s/'70s/'80s station (KJMK 93.9 Joplin) plays "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher, but nothing else by Cher, as if her musical career ended in 1965!
 
firepoint525 said:
For the worst year (of my teens, anyway), that would have to be 1981. "Believe it or Not" by Joey Scarbury, "Hearts" by Marty Balin (don't care for any of his Jeff. Starship stuff, either). How did "Bette Davis Eyes" ever spend nine weeks at #1? "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John wasn't much better. And this was also the year that supposedly "pop" radio forced "Elvira" by the Oak Ridge Boys on us! ::) It wasn't so much that 1981 was a "bad" year; it was just the absence of really "good" music that year that had me listening to my Beatles albums a lot that year. And I am still sick of "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins, but that was largely due to the Miami Vice overkill that it received just a few years later. ::)

'81 wasn't that bad....began mellow with hits like "Guilty" and "What Kind of Fool" and George Benson classics, but then Hall & Oates came into the picture, along with many country crossovers, like "Elvira" and "Nine to Five". But remember, 1981 also had memorable novelties like "Double Dutch Bus" and "Shaddap You Face". Also you cannot forget "Don't Stop the Music" by Yarborough and Peoples. '81 also had it's share of rock tunes, like "Jessie's Girl" and "Keep on Lovin' You". Blondie also had the 6 minute "Rapture", and the most heartbreaking, frustrating event in the history of the Billboard charts, Foreigner's 10 week run at #2 with "Waiting For A Girl Like You", thanks to "Physical". WHAT AGONY!
 
CTListener said:
I heard it on supermarket audio (Big Y, western New England chain) the other day and it just stopped me in my tracks. I mean, that song isn't played ANYWHERE. It must really test poorly with all demographics, including all those people who loved the song and bought the record in 1977.

It's played and featured on that Time Life informercial, featuring Debby Boone herself! :D
 
RIN3GUY said:
haha yes -- It's actually too bad she hit #1 & got her song run into the ground because otherwise she might still be played once in a while today. But that (unmentionable!) song was just incidental to 1977 and did not truly define its character: I Just Want To Be Your Everything, Dancing Queen, Rich Girl, the Rumours & Hotel California LPs, not to even mention the debut of Saturday Night Fever. (I will, however, dare to mention Shaun Cassidy!) 1977 just can't be beat!

Don't forget "Couldn't Get It Right" by the Climax Blues Band.......one of the best ever!
 
RIN3GUY said:
It had to be 1977!! Right in the middle of the "Classic Hits" era (1964-1989). It was a great year for "feel-good" songs like "Undercover Angel," "Heaven on the 7th Floor," "Right Back Where We Started From," "That's Rock 'n' Roll," "Ariel," "Hot Line" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic." 1977 also had timeless love songs like "We're All Alone," "Nobody Does It Better," "How Deep Is Your Love," and "She Did It" by Eric Carmen. Other cool songs were "Blinded by the Light," and "Isn't It Time" by the Babys.
Actually, that one was from '76, early '76 (spring) at that.
 
CTListener said:
RIN3GUY said:
It had to be 1977!! Right in the middle of the "Classic Hits" era (1964-1989). It was a great year for "feel-good" songs like "Undercover Angel," "Heaven on the 7th Floor," "Right Back Where We Started From," "That's Rock 'n' Roll," "Ariel," "Hot Line" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic." 1977 also had timeless love songs like "We're All Alone," "Nobody Does It Better," "How Deep Is Your Love," and "She Did It" by Eric Carmen. Other cool songs were "Blinded by the Light," and "Isn't It Time" by the Babys.
"Angel in Your Arms," "Heard It in a Love Song," "Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude," "When I Need You" ... quality stuff. Mellow isn't necessarily a bad thing! On the other hand, the top song that year was a little something by Debby Boone you might just remember...
LeAnn Rimes' rendition of that song was FAR worse, and it was said that her version was recorded for audiences about her age, you know, NOT old enough to remember Debby Boone's version. ::)
 
1967 but it could have been most any year from 1957-1981.

My favs from '67:

Windy - The Association
Daydream Believer - The Monkees
Happy Together - The Turtles
Incense And Peppermints - Strawberry Alarm Clock
Never My Love - The Association
A Whiter Shade Of Pale - Procol Harum
Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones
For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield
San Francisco - Scott Mckenzie
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) - Harpers Bizarre
 
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