Various Artists - Have a Nice Day 1 (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Outstanding start for a good series

John A. Kuczma | Marietta, GA USA | 07/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Volume 1 of the "Have a Nice Day" series showed great promise for a series that unfortunately only delivered in spotty fashion. However, this first disc is tremendous.The selection of music is an overview of the many disparate styles that would form the sound of the seventies. Starting with the decades first mega-hit, "NaNa HeyHey Kiss Him Goodbye", these dozen tracks cover a little bit of everything. Yes, this track and a few others here were released in late 1969, but hit their stride in the winter and spring of 1970.For middle-of-the-road pop, there is Vanity Fair's "Early in the Morning", the Spiral Staircase's "More Today than Yesterday" and Mark Lindsay's "Arizona." For those who prefer a softer sound, there is the Sandpiper's mellow and lovely "Come Saturday Morning" and The Flying Machine's "Smile a Little Smile for Me." Mountain gives a preview of the harder side of the decade with "Mississippi Queen" while Shocking Blue checks in with "Venus." There's even a bit of an oddity in Billy Joe Royal's only hit that wasn't squeaky clean, the transparently suggestive "Cherry Hill Park."As with all of the discs in this series, the mastering is magnificent and all songs are originals (some in the set could have been better edited, but that's nitpicking). Many later volumes had difficulty coming up with twelve strong entries, but not Volume 1. This is a truly excellent value; twelve tracks, twelve great songs. Highly recommended."

Have A Nice Day; Volume One IS # One But It's A Tie With Vol

My Opinion | U S | 09/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In my opinion: Twenty Three out of the Twenty Five versions of this, Super Hits Of The 70s; Have A Nice Day, series have their ups and downs and some are better than others and there are several one and two hit wonders on them but the bottom line is this.... Volume One IS Number One and Volume Two is right along beside it. In otherwords; if both volumes were playing against each other in a ballgame the game would most definitely end in a tie. From start to finish those two are solid and the quality of the music is nothing less than fabulous.

This Vol. One starts out with Spiral Staircase's, More Today Than Yesterday, and it most definitely will have you singing along with it.

The second song is, Baby It's You, from the excellent band Smith. Gayle McCormick's bluesy vocals sound fantastic on this tune, which was also a good song for The Beatles on their American LP called The Early Beatles from 1965 plus it was a huge hit for The Shirelles.

The third song is a very beautiful tune which made it to the top five in November 1969 and will melt your heart being, Smile A Little Smile For Me, by The Flying Machine. Folks;I think I remember a slightly different version of this song by The Flying Machine then what is on this disc. Correct me if I am wrong.

The fourth song is by the great Billy Joe Royal called, Cherry Hill Park. Billy Joe Royal a one or two hit wonder?.....No Way! .The fifth song is Steams immortal, Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye. This gem is an Anthem and reached # one in December 1969 and most all of us have sung it at one time or another. Especially at a ballgame. Bannarama had a hit with this song in the 80s.

The sixth song is, Venus, by The Shocking Blue which was a huge smash for this band. Bananarama also had a smash hit in 1986 with this one.

The seventh song is Vanity Fare's charming, Early In The Morning. Vanity Fare also has a timeless classic on Vol.Two.

The eighth song is by Mark Lindsay being, Arizona. That song was Mark's first solo hit. As several of you already know; Mark also sang lead vocals for Paul Revere And The Raiders.

The ninth song went all the way to # Two in March 1970 being, The Rapper, by The Jaggerz. A fantastic song by a great band from Pittsburgh.

The tenth song is a beautiful romantic ballad that was nominated for an Oscar called, Come Saturday Morning, by The Sandpipers. It was also featured on the Motion Picture The Sterile Cuckoo with Liza Minilli.

The eleventh song is a very nice bubblegummy like tune by The Cuff Links called, Tracy. This Gem was sung by Ron Dante who also sang lead for The Archies.

And last but definitely not least this disc also has the rockin, Mississippi Queen, by Mountain.

These songs hit their peak between June 1969 and July 1970 and this is definitely a five star disc. As an aging Babyboomer I can say that I still love the music and these twelve songs are twelve more reasons why I still do.

Do I have a favorite tune on this Volume One compilation?.....Yes.....All twelve of them! If you like music from this era this Volume is a must.

"

Buy it for The Spiral Staircase & Shocking Blue

L. S. Slaughter | Chapel Hill, NC | 01/09/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As always with these compilations, there is dreck one has to wade through, but where else can you find Shocking Blue's kick-butt "Venus" and the Spiral Staircase's "More Today Than Yesterday" on the same disc, WITH Steam's classic high school chant "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey"?! "More Today.." is one of those exquisitely crafted, joyous pop classics one wants to play over and over until the mood sticks. What happened to these one-hit wonders? The brass and percussion arrangement is choice, too. "Venus" was defiled in the 80s by Bananarama, but the Danish group here is almost proto-punk. I'm certain this song came out in the sixties, but perhaps it had a second life in the 70s. In any event, "Venus" is classic rock'n'roll, pure pop for now people as Nick Lowe sang."

Satisfying Assortment

L. S. Slaughter | 06/28/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sure, some of these tracks were released in 1969, and this is supposed to be a 70s series; but somehow, everything fits together nicely as a collection of pop singles (most of them big hits) that define the dawning of the Me Decade. Irreverent liner notes and some photos. All original versions. One of the best of the "Have a Nice Day" series (24 more volumes followed!)."

I've reviewed all 25 volumes. I hope my input helps you wit

Rykre | Carson City, Nevada | 01/23/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"We use to have K-Tel, Sessions, Ronco, Pickwick, and the such that use to release various artists collections. But, in the CD format, it was Time-Life Music and Rhino Records that ruled in releasing various artists CD's. This is volume one of the 25 volumes of "Have a Nice Day: Super Hits of the 70's", that came out that reflects all the obscurities of the 1970's.

This is not your Elton John, Cat Stevens, Three Dog Night, Carpenters, John Denver, Carole King, Carly Simon, CCR, The Doors, Rod Stewart, Santana, Neil Diamond, or any of the such put together. This is your collection of all those one hit wonders that fell through the cracks that were heard amongst all them big names artists that were never heard again. That's the beauty of the whole "Have a Nice Day" series. I hope you'll read all my reviews. I'll tell you important things about most every song in the series.

"Good Morning Starshine" by Oliver should have started this collection off because I think it was one of the first songs that represented the sound of the multi-diversity of the upcoming seventies. But, this series opens with Sacramento's Spiral Starecase with their song "More Today Than Yesterday". When I first heard this song, I thought it was Stevie Wonder. But, in a way, I'm glad it's not. I appreciate this song for the one hit wonder that it is.

Listen to these fabulous introductions to the sound of AM radio once we had to consider that the days of The Beatles, Janis Joplin, and The Doors were over. For Volume One of this "Have a Nice Day" series, I don'tb think anything on this collection gets played on the radio anymore. Even on oldies radio. But yet, we all know and love these songs. Who doesn't remember "Venus" by Shocking Blue, "Smile a Little Smile For Me" by The Flying Machine (featuring James Taylor), "Tracy" by The Cuff Links, and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam? Totally obscure by today's oldies radio, but we never forgot them.

My personal favorites on this first volume are "Early in The Morning" by Vanity Fare and "Come Saturday Morning" by The Sandpipers (originally known for "Guantanamera" back in the sixties). I believe FM rock stations will still play "Mississippi Queen" by Mountain because it does rock. And for novelty's sake, this volume gives us "The Rapper" by the Jaggerz (featuring Donnie Iris), and the more middle of the road sounds of "Baby It's You" by Smith, "Cherry Hill Park" by Billy Joe Royal, and "Arizona" by Mark Lindsay.

That's the beauty of seventies pop radio. Everybody had something different to say and they all had a sound of their own. I miss that diversity. That diversity was the beauty and intention of the whole 25 volume series. I don't want a whole CD that all sounds alike. I don't like radio to sound that way either, and yet, that's how radio is anymore. All those obscurities that we loved are being ignored because today's DJs don't understand what made radio so wonderful back then. Radio today is too organized, with absolute intentions of forced sameness, which, with over-saturation, makes everything so quickly tiresome, and then easily forgettable in a very short period of time. When pop, country, soul, comedy, rock, and even Christianity got to share the same sound space as typical pop music, radio remained stimulating, intriguing, and magical. Every next song was always a pleasant surprise. Record companies started to become more insistent on what they wanted to record and sell, and therefore, brought an end to the uniqueness of personal expression and basic musical diversity. So nowadays, a certain sound gets stuck being in it's own radio format, or just not played on radio at all because it was just too unique or original. The days of pop diversity is dead. Today, if you want to sell a song, you gotta sound miserable or upset about something. Today, an artist gets categorized right away. And if you don't fit in with the most currently recognized sound of the present airwaves, you don't even stand a chance. I really do miss the seventies. I wonder what other people feel.

"

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