1970s – Page 6

Maureen McGovern | Different Worlds (opening theme from “Angie”)

“Philadelphia coffee shop waitress Angie Falco (Donna Pescow) starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson (Robert Hays), a pediatrician,” (ABC.fandom.com). “While she assumes he is a struggling young doctor, he reveals that he is actually rebelling against his wealthy family, presumably residents in the Main Line region of the city’s suburbs. The other Falco family members are Angie’s mother Theresa (Doris Roberts) and her younger sister Marie (Debralee Scott).

… Angie and Brad later marry, merging their two very different families: the blue-blooded Bensons and the urban Italian-American Falcos … Angie premiered on February 2, 1979 (and ran for) two seasons and 36 episodes.”

The show’s theme song, “Different Worlds,” was performed by Maureen McGovern. Written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, the tune was released by McGovern as a single from her eponymous fourth studio album in June 1979. The track peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was #1 for two weeks on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Starting in C major, the tune shifts to Eb major at 0:25, wearing its late-disco era on its sleeve. Many more key changes follow — more than anyone could reasonably expect from a 90-second opening theme!

Derek + the Dominos | Bell Bottom Blues

“Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970) is Eric Clapton’s tortured love letter to the wife of his friend, George Harrison … Clapton poured his heart into the songs on Layla,” (American Songwriter). “The five co-writes with (Derek + the Dominos bandmate) Bobby Whitlock – songs like ‘Anyday’ and the bluesy ‘Tell The Truth’ – fuse high-energy rock with some of the most emotional electric blues of all time … Clapton would never again present the blues with such urgency as on the album versions of ‘Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out’ and the Big Bill Broonzy staple ‘Key to the Highway.’

‘Bell Bottom Blues,’ the only song on the album Clapton wrote entirely by himself, is a portrait of a man on the brink of collapse. After the record’s release, Clapton sank into depression and addiction. As Whitlock recalls, one of the great all-time rock and roll bands ‘didn’t break up, it just kind of dissipated … Eric locked himself away for a couple of years, and that was that.'”

Starting in a slightly de-tuned C major, the tune shifts up to A major for its plaintive chorus (heard for the time between 0:41 – 1:16). Verse 2 reverts to the original key. The pattern continues from there.

Ocean | Put Your Hand In the Hand

“Toronto, Canada quintet Ocean’s … first single, ‘Put Your Hand in the Hand,’ a #2 pop hit in America in 1971, was written by Gene MacLellan, who’d played with Robbie Robertson in both the Consuls and the Suedes,” (Songfacts). “Several singles followed during the early ’70s, but none were as popular as the debut. Ocean disbanded in 1975.

The song also references when Jesus calmed the sea in (the books of) Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In the midst of a storm that threatened to overturn their boat, the panicked apostles woke Jesus and begged him to help. Jesus didn’t see what all the fuss was about and simply commanded the waves to be still. He asked his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ Ocean wasn’t a gospel group, didn’t feel a strong connection to the religious aspect of the song … and were hesitant to release the single … They were right. The group was typecast as a gospel rock band thanks to the Jesus-themed debut.”

Starting in E major, the tune features a big downward leap to A major (1:13) to accommodate the shift from the female lead vocal to verses featuring several of the band’s male singers on lead.

Os Mutantes | Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol

“Though initially only rarely heard outside of Brazil, Os Mutantes is currently acknowledged as among the most dynamic, original, radical, and influential bands of their era,” (Lincoln Center). “These brash musical experimentalists engaged distortion, feedback, sampling techniques and a prescient selection of studio tricks to create a lighthearted, playful, yet still extreme Brazilian pop.

An integral part of the psychedelic, Tropicália and protest movements, Os Mutantes combined unbridled guitars, traditional rhythms, an optimistic vision of the future, and an advanced melodic sensibility. Now, nearly 60 years removed from their founding, Os Mutantes’s approach to sonic collage and a wry tendency toward cultural irony ushered in a near-universal modern music aesthetic.”

“Tudo Fo Feito Pelo Sol” (1974), which translates to “Everything Was Made By the Sun,” begins in D major. At 6:10, a sparsely textured outro led by bass and keyboards is built in D minor. Many thanks to Aaron L. for this unique track!

The Spinners (feat. Dionne Warwick) | Then Came You

” … The Spinners … like so many of the other great soul groups of the early ’70s, had started off singing doo-wop in the ’50s,” (Stereogum). “The original group, first called the Domingoes, came together in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale in 1954. They released their first single in 1961 and joined the Motown roster in 1963, when Motown bought out all of the competing local label Tri-Phi. Even with the Motown machine behind them, the Spinners couldn’t score a top-10 single all through the ’60s. They came close once — 1970’s ‘It’s A Shame,’ which Stevie Wonder co-wrote with Lee Garrett and Syreeta Wright, peaked at #14. But the Spinners were consistently overshadowed by the other titans on the Motown roster, and they left the label for Atlantic in 1972. Atlantic paired the Spinners up with Thom Bell, and things started to click. All of a sudden, the Spinners had a bunch of hits. (Before ‘Then Came You,’ the Spinners’ highest-charting single was the 1972 Bell production ‘I’ll Be Around,’ which peaked at #3 … )

Warwick and the Spinners weren’t really a natural combination. They came from two different worlds. But early-’70s soul had absorbed some of the Bacharach/David aesthetic, that combination of orchestral flash and emotional depth. And on ‘Then Came You,’ they make sense together … written by Sherman Marshall and Philip Pugh, (it’s) a simple little trifle of a love song with a big hook … Warwick and the Spinners sing the beginning of the song together, making a sort of chocolate/peanut butter combination. But as the song goes on, they break apart, with Warwick doing the leads and the Spinners ad-libbing, pushing her on. Eventually, Warwick and Spinner Phillippe Wynne are jumping back and forth on each other, vamping hard.

But it’s the groove, more than the voices, that sells the song. There’s a central pulse to ‘Then Came You,’ one that nods toward disco without giving in to it. And there are all these great little Thom Bell production touches to it: a flanged-out wah-wah guitar, an itchy bongo ripple, a shivery string figure. All those things are there to serve the groove, which pushes relentlessly forward. Warwick and the Spinners just surf that groove, their voices dancing on top of it. That groove is what keeps ‘Then Came You’ memorable … ” In the middle of an interlude section that mimics the intro, the track features a whole-step key change at 2:12.

Peter Allen | Continental American

“In the 1970s, Peter Allen gained recognition both as a composer of romantic ballads such as ‘I Honestly Love You’ and ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud,’ and, contrastingly, as a flamboyant stage performer,” (AllMusic). Allen, an Australian, later served as an opener for Judy Garland. In 1970, Allen played his first show as a solo act at the Bitter End nightclub in Greenwich Village.

“Allen became interested in the trend toward introspective singer/songwriters in the early ’70s, and in writing more commercial music. Employed as a staff writer at Metromedia Records, he co-wrote ‘Jennifer’ with Carole Bayer Sager,” co-wrote “I Honestly Love You,” with Jeff Barry, (a #1 hit for Olivia Newton-John), and provided Melissa Manchester with the Top Ten song “Don’t Cry Out Loud” (co-written with Carole Bayer Sager). Rita Coolidge released a Top 40 hit with another Allen-Sager ballad, “I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love.” Allen, Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, and Christopher Cross co-wrote the theme for the film comedy Arthur, which was a #1 hit for Cross in the fall of 1981 and won Allen and his fellow songwriters the Academy Award for best song. His songwriting career continued until he passed away from complications of HIV in 1992.

“Continental American (1974) was a dour singer/songwriter collection that used show business clichés in music and words to express a world view of regret and resignation.” Starting in G minor, the tonality of album’s title track flips over to the relative major (Bb) at 0:45. After another verse and chorus, an extended interlude starts at 2:25 in Bb mixolydian before a downward shift of tonality to A minor at 2:54, leading to the familiar flip to the relative C major. 3:34 brings a shift to Db major for another chorus, then upward again to D major at 4:o3 and yet again for another jump to C major for the tune’s multi-layered ending. Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for this intriguing tune!

Heatwave | Whack That Axe

“Rod Temperton,” (Heatwave’s keyboardist) “could write … Temperton might have been the brains, but the rest of the guys did a great job executing his vision,” (SomethingElseReviews). “Party bands have gotten so pre-fab these days, relying so much on sampling and studio help. Heatwave, however, was a real band. The musicians who played on stage were the same ones who played it in the studio, with a minimal amount of session players brought in for Central Heating (1977). The musicianship … makes this period music hold up so well to the present day.

The vocals, led by brothers Keith and the late Johnnie Wilder, were well above the pack, too. Keith’s harder-edged vocal was perfectly complimented by Johnnie’s velvet-smooth croon. In the studio, they often added layers upon layers of choral vocals that rivaled in richness to contemporaries Earth Wind and Fire.” The band formed in the UK but had a mixed roster of two Brits, two Americans, a Swiss citizen, a Czechoslovak national, and a Jamaican!

Built in C major overall, “Whack That Axe” (written by Temperton and sharing an album with one of the band’s three biggest hits, “Grooveline”) gently flips over to the relative A minor for the brief bridge (2:08 – 2:26).

The Four Guys | Too Late to Turn Back Now

“Formed in the late 50s … in Steubenville-Toronto, Ohio, USA, (The Four Guys) group moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in April 1967,” (AllMusic). “Their reception was such that they became regulars on the show and built lasting popularity from this engagement.” The group worked with Hank Williams, Jr., Jimmy Dean, and Charley Pride.

The quartet were “just as much at home on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry as they are on the Las Vegas circuit” (Slipcue) … The Four Guys released several albums and a number of singles from the early 1970s through the early 1980s.

“Too Late to Turn Back Now” (1974) featured the quartet’s famous vocal blend; the tune shifts up a half-step at 1:31.

Jethro Tull | Teacher

“English progressive rock giants Jethro Tull are a unique phenomenon in popular music history,” (AllMusic). “Led by enigmatic frontman Ian Anderson — a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and rock’s premier flutist … their mix of heavy rock, flute-led folk melodies, blues licks, surreal, impossibly dense lyrics, and overall profundity defies easy analysis, yet in their 1970s heyday, they garnered a massive level of commercial success, notching a string of gold and platinum records and securing their place within the classic rock canon with releases like Aqualung (1971), Thick as a Brick (1972), and A Passion Play (1973). Even as critics cooled on them, Tull remained popular through later phases with their folk-rock records of the late ’70s, the electronic experimentation of the early ’80s, and eventually a Grammy Award-winning return to hard rock with 1987’s Crest of a Knave.

Benefit (1970) was the album on which the Jethro Tull sound solidified around folk music, abandoning blues entirely. Beginning with the opening number, “With You There to Help Me,” (Ian) Anderson adopts his now-familiar, slightly mournful folksinger/sage persona, with a rather sardonic outlook on life and the world…”

The mid-tempo track “Teacher” is built in A major overall, but the chorus features a D major/minor mix and then an instrumental section in B minor (first heard at 0:48 and 1:02). The pattern continues with verse 2.

The Tubes | I Want It All

“Produced by Todd Rundgren, Remote Control (1979) is a concept album that could be seen as the next installment in Utopia, so similar are the two,” (Progrography). “Rundgren is credited with co-writing two songs (‘Love’s a Mystery’ and ‘TV Is King’), but his fingerprints are all over Remote Control, from the high-register choruses to the compressed and sped-up arrangements. Of course, sounding like Utopia isn’t a bad thing; in fact, this is probably my favorite Tubes album after their first. The album generated a legitimate hit (okay, in the UK) with ‘Prime Time,’ and should have had a second with ‘Love’s a Mystery (I Don’t Understand).’ If the reports are true that the band entered the studio with a concept but without any songs, then this record is a testament to the band’s creativity, because there isn’t a bad song in the batch.

Along with (Rundgren and Utopia albums) Adventures In Utopia, Healing, and Swing To The Right, Remote Control represents a sort of Rundgren renaissance for art pop fans between 1979 and 1982. The Tubes never made another album like it, and they never made a better one after it. If you haven’t heard this or the three Utopia/Rundgren records I just mentioned, turn off the TV tonight and turn on to some great music instead.”

Starting in B major with plenty of compound chords ringing out over the tonic pedal point, the chorus (0:40 – 0:55) shifts into D mixolydian; the most prominent building block at that point is a D/C chord until the next verse returns to B major. The pattern continues until the second portion of the bridge (2:14 – 2:45) in G# dorian before the chorus returns at 3:00 and fades to the end.