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Without question, there were some truly great (and some truly awful!) TV shows in the seventies, but good or bad, you can't deny one thing: it certainly was not boring. And any repeats we had were exclusively on the BBC, not like today... wouldn't have happened in my day... TV these days... No such thing as a remote control... four channels and were happy … etc etc.

Aaaaanyway, let's check some of those groovy (or not so much so) TV themes out from that golden age of television we call the seventies. Starting off with one of my favourite shows of the 70s (guess why?), it's the distinctive theme from “Charlie's Angels”. No, not the film, you fool!


That's one for the guys, now how about the ladies? Well, here's Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox, the boys from the California Highway Patrol, otherwise known as “Chips”! See what they did there?


Who would ever have thought the networks would buy the idea of a TV show about a Medical Examiner? But they did, and it made Jack Klugman a star. Here's “Quincy”.


Who could forget the coolest cops of the seventies, Starsky and Hutch? Whatever happened to Starsky?


Oh, we just have to have the theme to “The Incredible Hulk!” Though I do prefer the end theme...


… and here it is!


One of the funniest shows of the 70s, with the funkiest of themes, this is “Soap”.


And let's not forget “Family ties”, the show that made Michael J. Fox a superstar.


Anyone remember listening to WKRP in Cincinnati?


And to round off this look at seventies TV themes, I slagged off the singing talents (hah --- sorry!) of one Telly Savalas a little while ago, so to make it up to his fans, here's the theme to the show that made him a household name, “Kojak”.


So there you are. If you weren't around in the seventies, you not only missed some great TV but also some great music. Serves you right, not being born into the best decade of all! What were you thinking?

Anyway, next time we'll be back to the usual format. Hope you enjoyed this selection.
(Note: Apologies for the fact that some of the themes are very low volume: guess people taped them off their TV or something, so the quality leaves a little to be desired. Nothing I can do about that, unfortunately. Hope it didn't spoil your enjoyment of these classic TV themes.)

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Ah, as I may 'ave mentioned, careless talk costs lives, Sir, so I am not in a position to confirm nor deny the h'information you 'ave. 'Owever I will say this: we are in pursuit of a seventeen-year old gentleman of Canadian extraction, 'oo is wanted on several counts of crimes h'against music, and we are closin' in on 'im as I speak. More than that I am not h'authorised to reveal at this present time, for fear of the felon 'avin' it away on 'is toes, as it were. I'm sure you understand...?

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TheNiceGuy

Jolly good.

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My Music Review Blog-It's Only Rock 'n' Roll

There is no Dark Side of the Moon really, matter of fact it's all dark...

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Random Track of the Day
Saturday, October 8 2011
Nice little laid-back ballad for a change, as the random-o-meter decides the weekend is the time to relax, and picks a great track from Kim Wilde's “Another step” to ease you into the weekend.

Don't say nothing's changed --- Kim Wilde --- from "Another step" on MCA


A surprisingly good album from Ms. Wilde, if not exactly on the same level as her follow-up “Close”, this is in fact the closing track from the album, and it's about as laid-back and relaxed as you can get, a bittersweet ballad, sung as ever with sultry appeal by Kim.

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Returning to our examination of live versus studio versions of famous songs, we have to look at the phenomenal love song by Thin Lizzy, which became an absolute standard at their gigs, often held back to the the encore. But the original version of “Still in love with you” is far, far different to the live version we all know and love. Taken from the album “Night life”, which I have to say I find one of their weakest recordings, the original is more a jazz/blues song, played at a faster pace than it was on stage, and though the guitar solo is still there, I find something missing about the studio version: it just doesn't sound as emotional as it did when they played it live.

Okay, so Gary Moore is on the guitar (as indeed he should be: he was the only one in my opinion who can really put the heart and soul into the song, though John Sykes was a decent replacement, if Moore could ever be replaced), but you have additional vocals by Frankie Miller, which I think take from the song, and there's no fast part at the end, as there is on the live version. For me, it's live or nothing --- I never listen to the studio version. Would “Still in love with you” have become the classic it is, requested/demanded/expected at every Lizzy performance, if they had played it live the way it was recorded originally? You have to wonder... But I'm glad they beefed it up for the live set.

Here are the two versions for you to compare them. The live version, one of many, comes from the very last live appearance of Thin Lizzy, at the Reading Festival in 1983, as transmitted by BBC Radio One.

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The worm isn't ashamed to admit he's a fan of the Carpenters --- and thinks many hardened rockers hide just such a guilty secret! --- and here presents his penultimate selection from the seventies, with “A kind of hush”.

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Four wheel drive --- Bachman-Turner Overdrive --- 1975 (Mercury)

One of Canada's biggest musical exports in the seventies, Bachman-Turner Overdrive --- or BTO as they are usually known --- are probably best known for their massive hit “You ain't seen nothing yet”, from the previous album, “Not fragile”, but I prefer this album, from 1975. It's their fourth, and it's full of classic rock gems. Even though it was rushed out in order to capitalise on the sudden, almost overnight success of “You ain't seen nothing yet”, it doesn't come across as hurried or thrown together, despite the fact it was apparently recorded in six days! And on the seventh, they rested...!

Starting off with the title track, it's a ZZ-Top-ish boogie, rockin' along at a great pace, real rock and roll, with great gruff vocals from C.F Turner (he and Randy Bachman share the vox on this album) and a slinky guitar solo from Bachman, steamhammer drumming from his younger brother Robbie. It's a real road song, and you can just imaging cruisin' down the highway with the wind in your hair as this blares out of the stereo at the heart of the seventies. Sweet! It's followed by “She's a devil”, which begins deceptively quietly, making you think this may be a ballad. It's not! After a low-key lead-in, Turner lets loose with a growling vocal performance, and Bachman rips off the guitar riffs, giving the song a kind of Deep Purple feel in places. Lovely slide guitar from the fourth member of the quartet, Blair Thornton, adds real class to the song.

“Hey you” was the most popular track from the album, released as a single and getting right to number one in Canada, just failing to make it into the top twenty south of the border, but still a big hit. This time it's Bachman who takes over the vocals, on a song much more commercially accessible, and you can see how it became a hit, with its almost pop overtones, nice jangly guitar and very West Coast feel (despite the guys being Canadian), and its absence of any “hard” rock guitar solos or growled singing, as was the forte of Turner. Bachman's voice definitely suits the radio better: it's his voice you hear on “You ain't seen nothing yet”.

We're back with Turner then for “Flat broke love”, and it's another dirty, grinding, blues rocker with heads down and no apologies to anyone, a riff almost reminscent of “Smoke on the water” running through the song. Some nice bass work on this, and then some guitar in a very Carlos Santana vein in the middle. Then it's back to the pipes of Randy Bachman for “She's keepin' time”, another grinding rocker, with some nice backing vocals, quite commercial really. Great southern boogie-style guitar solo here.

Turner takes over for “Quick change artist”, with a kind of Springsteen vibe to it, but the artist I keep coming back to with comparisons is ZZ: it's really quite amazing how similar to the Texas trio BTO can sound. No bad thing, to be sure. There's a definite celtic flavour to “Lowland fling”, with Bachman again on vocals, and some great guitar too, kind of reminds me of mid-seventies Rainbow. Oh, and yeah, this is an album with no ballads. Not one.

Closer “Don't let the blues get you down” is another rocker, with snappy guitar and gruffly effective vocals from Turner to take the album to its conclusion. I can hear echoes of Tom Robinsons's “2,4,6,8, motorway” here, though of course it would be a few more years before that would hit the charts. Good boogie rock fun, this, and a good way to close an album that has few, if any, flaws.

TRACKLISTING

1. Four wheel drive
2. She's a devil
3. Hey you
4. Flat broke love
5. She's keepin' time
6. Quick change artist
7. Lowland fling
8. Don't let the blues get you down

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As Seventies Week draws to a close, the worm would like to go out with a bang (not literally, of course!) with this one, a real stompin' classic from 1977, Tom Robinson with “2-4-6-8 motorway”. Pedal to the metal --- yeah!

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The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars --- David Bowie --- 1972 (RCA)


Our final album for Seventies Week is a true classic, one of the most interesting, deep, disturbing and enduring of David Bowie's catalogue, an album which jointly spawned a new cult and threatened to destroy its creator. “The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” (usually shortened to “Ziggy Stardust”) is a concept album, Bowie's fifth outing, and was a huge success for him worldwide. Although there were no huge commercial hits from it, the single “Starman” gave Bowie his first hit since his debut “Space oddity”, but more importantly, reminded people Bowie, after what were generally perceived as four unremarkable albums, was still very much around, and indeed about to become not only a potent force in music, but a true cult figure, influencing everything from fashion to political thinking, mostly --- almost exclusively --- in young people.

Having created the character of Ziggy Stardust, an alien who comes to Earth to warn us we have only five years left before the end, Bowie was later to find himself so inextricably bound up in this alternate persona that it would become hard, almost impossible, for him to differentiate one from the other. Was he Bowie playing Ziggy, or Ziggy playing Bowie? This dichotomy would continue to dog his later years, and would only be resolved when he made a conscious effort to move away from all the stage trappings that made Ziggy who he was.

But for now, Ziggy had arrived and the world was Bowie's. He had once sung about “The man who sold the world”. On the basis of his new-found fame, David Bowie could conceivably now have been referred to as “The man who bought the world”. His star was on the rise, kids were flocking to his gigs, and he was, almost, the new god. It wouldn't last of course, but his fame would, and “Ziggy Stardust” would serve as the springboard that would catapult him to international and lasting fame and success, and he would, in a musical sense, never really look back.

The album opens with “Five years”, the lament for the impending death of the Earth, which starts off slow and low-key but builds in intensity as it progresses, carried on piano as the fate of the Earth is revealed, that it only has five years left before total destruction. The song features some of the most intense singing Bowie had engaged in up to that point, as the desperation and frustration in his voice reaches fever pitch. Beautiful strings, arranged by guitarist Mick Ronson, give the song a really emotional, dramatic feel. “Five years” is of course also an early eco-song, as Bowie warns the people of the Earth that their planet is dying due to a lack of natural resources. As Homer Simpson once remarked, as true today as it was then. Unfortunately.

Things keep fairly slow and laidback for “Soul love”, with more of Ronson's guitar bleeding through and giving the track a harder edge, and a great sax break from Bowie himself. The concept of “Ziggy Stardust” is well known: Ziggy, an alien, tries to warn people of the impending disaster, while beings known as “Infinites” arrive, their mode of travel to jump from universe to universe via black holes, one of which is coming to swallow the Earth. After they arrive, they descend to the planet and rip Ziggy apart onstage in order to become corporeal. “Moonage daydream” is a heavier track, the heaviest so far on the album, but still slow in pace, comparatively. It terms of the plot, it's the song wherein Ziggy Stardust is created, born from the fears, hopes and dreams of the people into the archetypal lover and rock star, and in the next track, the single “Starman”, he tells the Earth of fantastic aliens who are coming to save the planet.

“Starman” is carried almost entirely on acoustic guitar and Bowie's soulful voice, joined later by strings and electric guitar, the latter particularly effective in the end riff, which has by now become famous and instantly recognisable. “It ain't easy” is the only cover on the album, the old Three Dog Night song, and it's a mid-paced rocker with lots of guitar, both acoustic (played by Bowie) and electric, courtesy of Ronson, with a slight country twang, as the song was originally written by Ron Davies, a country performer.

“Lady Stardust” utilises a little of the melody of “Starman” and indeed also borrows a little from “Life on Mars”, and is generally accepted as being a tribute to Marc Bolan, who would die five years later --- spooky, huh? In the story, Ziggy's appeal increases as he nears cult hero status, and begins to lose himself in his own personality (no doubt an allegory, whether intended or not, to the struggle Bowie himself would have against his own “Jekyll and Hyde” syndrome). “Star” is driven on a Jerry Lee Lewis/Little Richard style piano, with a rhythm and melody that would surface again in “Suffragette City”, later on in the album. Ronson's guitar again makes its mark, particularly near the end of the song.

Perhaps strangely --- even uniquely --- for a concept album, “Ziggy Stardust” does not contain any long or epic songs, or any multi-part ones. In fact, there are only three songs over four minutes on the album, and four under three minutes, or just on three minutes. “Hang on to yourself” is a fast, rocky, almost fifties-style song with punk overtones, lots of guitar and sharp riffs. The title track starts off with a classic, famous riff, and details the rising career of Ziggy, and his fall from grace as he becomes too big for his own good. This of course would become Bowie's signature song in respect of his persona of Ziggy, and would or should have served as a cautionary tale for other musicians who pushed things too far: body and soul can only take so much. It's a rough, raw song that almost completely encompasses the album and its overall arc.

It runs into “Suffragette City”, the fastest track on the album, with mad guitar and thundering drums, great sax and fifties rock piano. It also features the immortal line “Wham bam, thank you ma'am!” It's really Ziggy's last hurrah on the album, as the next one, the closer, is a much more introspective and acoustic number. “Rock 'n' roll suicide” features the arrival of the Infinites, who approach Ziggy onstage and tear him to pieces, in order to make their own antimatter bodies compatible with being on the Earth. It starts off with a strummed acoustic guitar and a lone vocal from Bowie, then begins building to a climax, and again although it fits into the story as told above, it can also be seen as another warning to aspiring musicians and rock stars to keep control of their excesses.

Saxophone breaks in and electric guitar picks up the melody as the percussion drives the song on towards its conclusion, and Bowie's vocal gets more frenzied and desperate as the track, and the album, reaches its end. “Rock a
'n' roll suicide” can also be seen in less metaphorical terms than the destruction of Ziggy by the Infinites, taking this as an allegory for his fans taking so much of him that he is left with nothing, and collapses, due either to age, drug or alcohol addiction, or just plain exhaustion.

If you're a Bowie fan, you've heard, and most likely loved, this album. If you're not a fan, you've certainly heard of it, as much of its parlance has passed over into the mainstream, and there's probably very few people over even eighteen now whom you ask who Ziggy Stardust is associated with, who would not know the answer. A seminal album, a timeless classic, and a fitting way to bring our sojourn through the 1970s to a satisfying end.

TRACKLISTING

1. Five years
2. Soul love
3. Moonage daydream
4. Starman
5. It ain't easy
6. Lady Stardust
7. Star
8. Hang on to yourself
9. Ziggy Stardust
10. Suffragette City
11. Rock and roll suicide

Suggested further listening: "Diamond dogs”, “Aladdin Sane”, “Station to station”, “Heroes”, “Scary monsters and super creeps”, “Let's dance” and many more!

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Seventies Week: a final word.

Over the last seven days I've done my best to give you a flavour of what music was like in the 1970s. Of course, there was a lot of really bad pop and other music --- even some bad rock! --- and some truly execrable “novelty” records, like “Grandad” by Clive Dunn, “The trail of the lonesome pine” by Laurel and Hardy, and “I am a cider drinker” by The Wurzels, to name but a few, but then, what decade has not such unnecessary dross in it? The point is, the seventies produced some huge, huge stars, like Bowie, 10cc, Neil Young, The Who, ABBA, Chicago, Rod Stewart, T-Rex, Queen, The Sweet, Barry White, Slade, Free, Elton John, Thin Lizzy, Hot Chocolate … the list goes on.

It was also a decade long before such crass mass-produced music as Pop Idol, the X-Factor and their ilk, before you phoned in to make someone famous or successful, and before anyone who thought they could sing could become a star. It was a time when bands struggled to get deals, to even get gigs; when the pathway to success was not lined with gold and TV appearances but with long, wet nights playing in run-down clubs and pubs, putting in the hours at the studio and hoping for that one big break. When careers were not made online, but by radio and word of mouth, and people bought albums and singles, not downloaded tracks.

I think very few decades before or since have given us such a plethora of names that have lasted down through successive years and decades, many surviving, and indeed thriving, right up to this day. Many bands and artistes we love and revere today got their start in the seventies, and so I think we have a lot to be thankful to that time for.

I hope my little slice of the seventies has helped those of you too young to have lived through that period in music to appreciate the huge wealth of talent that came out of that time, and the debt we owe those years, and for those who remember the 70s, well I hope the series served to rekindle some old memories, remind you of some old favourites and reawaken in you love and respect for the music of that time.

And now, as I hop back into the time machine and set the controls for 2011, all that remains is to say goodbye to the seventies: I feel sure we will never see your like again.

Engaging time circuits.... Time circuits engaged …. pop!
(Tomorrow's Journal will be broadcast in its usual timeslot, October 2011. Thank you for listening.)

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