Search - Various Artists :: 1970: 20 Original Chart Hits

1970 nostalgia for whom?

simnia | snowy bayou country, USA | 10/24/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's hard to imagine who would find this bizarre collection useful for anything in general. There are many top name bands here (Beach Boys, Hollies, Canned Heat, etc.) and many top name songs ("Whole Lotta Love," "Something," "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," etc.) but they don't match up: the best-known artists are doing their worst songs here, and the best-known songs are done by obscure or alternate artists. I've heard only 5-6 of these 20 songs in these versions before: "Let's Work Together" (Canned Heat), "Song Of Joy" (Miguel Rios), "Honey Come Back" (Glen Campbell), "Rag Mama Rag" (The Band), and "I Hear You Knocking" (Dave Edmunds). Many of these songs are awfully disappointing. For example, CCS's "Whole Lotta Love" is a Muzakified version of Led Zeppelin's hard rocker, done with flutes and horns, and "Honey Come Back" is probably the worst charted song ever done by Glen Campbell. The outstanding exception is the reason I bought the album: "Song Of Joy," which is what made it all worthwhile. That deep, powerful, beautiful, semi-orchestral song from the summer of 1970 is based on Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and versions of it have been used in various films as the paradigm of inspiration, such as in "The Dead Poets Society." (Another great version is by The Sandpipers.) This album was obviously designed to be nostalgic, but it's hard to imagine anyone familiar enough with these obscure songs that more than 5-6 of them would spark any memories. Unless you're getting it for one of its hard-to-find rarities like "Song Of Joy," I'd say skip it."

1970 UK chart hits

patc71s | Stratford, CT USA | 05/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of a series of UK chart hits, which is why most North Americans may not be familiar with all of these songs. CCS-Whole Lotta Love is a unique version of the Led Zeppelin classic. It alternates between hard rock with heavy guitars to horns. I dig this tune, partly because Led Zep's version has been played to death on classic rock radio. The Beach Boys-Cotton Fields is the strongest song on this disc. It sounds nothing like the surf music they were doing 5 to 7 years prior. It was not a US hit likely because the Beach Boys weren't considered hip at this time and also because the fans they still had probably did not take to this song since it sounded much different from their earlier hits.

Other strong tracks include Deep Purple-Black Night and The Edgar Broughton Band-Out Demons Out (a strange but hard rocking tune).

The only US hits on here were Dave Edmunds-I Hear You Knocking (which wasn't a US hit til 1971), Miguel Rios-A Song of Joy (which is all but forgotten today and tough to find on CD), Glen Campbell-Honey Come Back, and Canned Heat-Let's Work Together, although only the Dave Edmunds song was a huge hit.

This is not a perfect disc though as the lame tunes include Clive Dunn-Grandad (which I think was a big Xmas tune in the UK), John Paul Joans-Man from Nazareth (I think his last name must be a misspelling though I have no idea if this is the Led Zep bassist here), and the Herman's Hermits tunes.

I'd give it 3.5 stars as there are stronger entries in this series. FYI- When I'm Dead and Gone is by McGuinness Flint.

I think that all of the artists in this collection were either EMI artists, or recorded for labels later acquired by EMI, as there seems to be a prerequisite to have at least one Hot Choclate song per disc and sometimes two. You'll see this collection of CDs also has lots of Hot Chocolate, The Hollies, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, CCS, Dr. Hook, Eddy Grant, Suzi Quatro, Mud, The Buzzcocks, Kate Bush, Deep Purple, and The Stranglers among others yet it doesn't have any songs by Slade (possibly the biggest UK hitmakers of the 70's), Sweet, T. Rex, Bay City Rollers, Gary Glitter, and many other 70's hitmakers."