Welcome back to the 1975 Hideaway 100, the countdown of our hundred favorite songs from 1975. To see other Hideaway countdowns of our favorite songs or albums, visit this link. Read on to see the next ten songs in the 1975 Hideaway 100!
Like "Do You Know Where You're Going To" back at number 100 on the 1975 Hideaway 100, "Shining Star" was a huge hit from a failed film's soundtrack. And like most Earth, Wind & Fire music, "Shining Star" exudes positivity in its music and lyrics. When I was asked a few years back to make a Funk 101 playlist for a friend, "Shining Star" was low-hanging fruit of the highest order.
Originally recorded by the songwriter and his brother (aka The Sutherland Brothers) in 1972, Rod Stewart recorded "Sailing" at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1975 for his album Atlantic Crossing. Stewart has said it is the only song in his long career recorded without a sip of alcohol to calm his nerves. The song, like several others mentioned already on our countdown, is very soothing and calming to this listener though we also appreciate the way the orchestral and choral backing builds throughout the song.
The smooth and romantic beauty of "Dance With Me" was lost on this nine-year-old listener in 1975. Don't recall hearing it much in 1975 but sometime in 1977 (or 1978 or 1979), Dad brought home three Ronco albums: Solid Gold, Funky Favorites, and Hit Explosion. All three compilations had songs that I already liked or owned on 45 as well as songs I hadn't heard before. For whatever reason, this time "Dance With Me" clicked with me as the final song on Hit Explosion. The song is still clicking with me all these years later.
Another latter-day discovery from 1975 is Smokey's "If You Think You Know How To Love Me". I don't recall hearing the song until 1979 when Pat Benatar released her recording of the Chinnichap song as her second single. The song is one of three Mike Chapman-Nicky Chinn songs on Benatar's Mike Chapman produced In The Heat Of The Night. While I hold Pat Benatar's first four albums in the highest regard, I've come to appreciate Smokie's original take on the song in the past 10 years.
I remember watching The Rockford Files on Friday nights once The Six Million Dollar Man was moved from Fridays to Sundays. Loved the opening scene of Rockford's answering machine taking a call and the country blues-ish theme song featuring banjo, dobro, and harmonica. "The Rockford Files" has aged remarkably well to my ears, still sounding as fresh and unique as it did every Friday night.
My memories of first hearing Heart's "Magic Man" are of a young boy enthralled by the slow-burning intro and that serpentine guitar riff. It may have been the hardest rocking song I had heard up until that time and certainly the hardest rocking song sung by a woman. Having gotten into the wonderful world of Marvel Comics around the same time the song was getting plays on WLS in the Fall of 1976, I would imagine it was Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, singing "Magic Man" when the song came on the radio. After finally catching a clip of Heart performing the song on The Midnight Special, I wasn't too far off with Ann Wilson casting her spell in a star-printed blue dress.
Discovered "Eighteen With A Bullet" on the wonderful 1987 compilation The Island Story, one of several songs from the Seventies I had missed their first time around, hiding in plain sight among crucial reggae tracks and some of my favorite songs from the Eighties. The song "Eighteen With A Bullet" seemed to regularly re-appear in my collection on new compilation discs: Rhino's Super Hits of the 70s in 1990, then Time-Life's Sounds of The Seventies in 1993 and the soundtrack of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1999. Most recently, the quirky unconventional track was released on a Hard To Find 45s On CD disc from 2017.
Tanya Tucker's "San Antonio Stroll" is another Cow Talk Jukebox favorite, a lively ode to small-town life. I was not exposed to square dancing until we moved to Illinois and square dancing was taught in P.E. classes up through my freshman year in high school. Tucker was just seventeen years old when she recorded "San Antonio Stroll" and she sounded sassy and giddy, much like the teenage girl she was at the time.
The brothers Tavares are known for their familiar layered harmonies, and "It Only Takes A Minute" is one of their finest songs. The upbeat tempo and driving rhythm, smooth vocals, and catchy, uplifting lyrics combine to create the group's biggest chart hit on the Hot 100. I can and have listened to this song on repeat for half an hour. It's got groove for days, yet even the album version lasts just four minutes.
"There Goes Another Love Song" is Southern Rock at its capitalized best. Great guitar riffs, twangy vocals, and a driving rhythm are the main ingredients. Uncle Sam had the band's self-titled debut album on eight-track; I heard it aplenty. Once I bought my own vinyl of the album in the late '80s, I found out that the tape had a slightly different running order than the record, though the opening track ("There Goes Another Love Song") and the closing track ("Green Grass and High Tides") were identical. That closing track is the entirety of the tape's program 4.
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