We've already covered the first twenty-eight albums in Time Life Music's Sounds Of The Seventies series. Click HERE. Today, we've come together to cover the seven discs that were mailed out in 1993.
After FM Rock IV came, there was probably some point when we thought about cancelling our subscription to Sounds Of The Seventies for fear that this was going to be the remainder of the series: FM Rock compilations filled with unfamiliar songs I really had no interest in hearing. There are eighteen songs on FM Rock IV, with four of them making the Billboard Hot 100, though none higher than number 70. We were familiar with six songs, but none of the others sparked any interest after hearing them. These four FM Rock albums are among the least-played discs in our library.
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For the first time in the Sounds Of The Seventies series, a latter repressing finds the cover artist and their track pulled and replaced. Coverboy Peter Tosh and his track "(You Got To Walk And) Don't Look Back" got yanked, replaced by an image of hands on a keyboard and Mountain's "Never In My Life". Another track, Robin Trower's "Bridge Of Sighs" was replaced by "Message From The Country" by The Move.
Fortunately, we did not cancel our subscription and were rewarded with Punk And New Wave as the thirtieth disc in a series with no end in sight. The disc has twenty-one tracks, though we count only one charter: "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads, which snuck onto the Hot 100 at number 92. Unlike the preceding FM Rock discs, I actually enjoyed hearing the songs on this disc that were previously unknown to me. Who knew Nick Lowe had another song besides "Cruel To Be Kind"? Or that Patti Smith has a song other than "Because The Night"? Now I know. Punk And New Wave set a high bar for the punk compilations that would follow, and it remains a favorite.
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Unwrapping this disc from its cardboard mailer put a huge smile on our face. AM Top Twenty has twenty-two magnificent tracks and, despite the title, all but one of them made the Top 20 ("One Tin Soldier" peaked at number 26). There are five Number Ones from 1974 and a Number One from 1976 ("Afternoon Delight") on the album. More so than any disc so far, AM Top Twenty plays like a great K-Tel album without janky edits. It also overlaps the discs in Rhino's Super Hits Of The '70s series. We counted only two songs on AM Top Twenty that do not also appear on the Rhino compilations, though it should be noted that those twenty songs are spread out over eleven of the Rhino discs.
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AM Pop Classics plays like AM Top Twenty II. AM Pop Classics has twenty-two tracks from the first half of the Seventies, including eighteen Top 20 tracks and no Number Ones. We counted and found that nineteen of these tracks are also spread over eleven of the Super Hits Of The '70s discs. The disc is a great listen, has a heavy K-Tel vibe, and pairs well with the AM Top Twenty disc for a K-BILLY Super Hits Weekend!
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The parade of early 1970s AM pop continues with the arrival of AM Pop Classics II. Packed with twenty-two tracks, including nineteen Top 20 hits and a pair of Number Ones ("My Eyes Adored You" and "Laughter In The Rain") from 1975. Similar notes to AM Pop Classics. Nine of these tracks overlap with tracks on nine different Super Hits Of The Seventies discs. We will never stop enjoying "Heartbeat–It's A Lovebeat". Ever.
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And then along came The Late '70s, covering 1975-1979. With twenty-two tracks and nearly seventy-five minutes of music, this may be the longest disc in the series. All of the tracks made the Top 40, with nineteen of them climbing into the Top 20 and five going all the way to Number One. Eight of the tracks on The Late '70s overlap across four Super Hits Of The '70s discs, with a pair of tracks on each. There are so many of our favorite songs on here that we have to max out the rating.
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Looks like we spoke too soon, as AM Nuggets clocks in at seventy-six minutes, and will probably be the longest disc in the Sounds Of the Seventies series. It is disc thirty-five and has twenty-one tracks, including sixteen Top 20 singles and a lone Number One in "Torn Between Two Lovers". Although there are a handful of tracks from 1975 or earlier, a full two-thirds of these tracks are from 1977 or 1978, and that's where our mind goes when we listen, back to sixth grade and seventh grade. It's impossible to listen to the songs on AM Nuggets without a big grin on our face, as almost every track has happy memories attached. There are two tracks we don't recall ever hearing until this disc arrived: "Sugar Baby Love" and "He's Gonna Step On You Again".
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Join us again soon for the next part of our look at Time Life Music's Sounds Of The Seventies series as we listen to the discs from 1994.
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