The music that I grew up in during high school and even my elementary school days have proven to be popular today more than 40 years after their initial popularity. I was lucky to have my Dad who had a good friend who used to own a vending machine company. He would get a lot of old records out of jukeboxes from his friend and those are what first exposed me to the great pop and rock music of the time... starting from when I was in grade school.
My love for music carried on into high school and well beyond. And how the answer to the mime questions from
Scrivener's Friday 5 of July 5:
High School Music.
1. What song, album, or artist, disliked by you in high school, now sounds pretty good?
I liked most everything that was popular on the radio and in my record collection during the 1970s. They're all still good and at many times better than anything out today.
2. What specific high-school memory do you have of discovering some song, album, or artist you considered old?
My parents liked
Connie Francis back in the day, which I considered old in the 1960 and 70s. Found some old records, played them years later and have grown to like some of her music.
3. What song or album best serves as the soundtrack for your senior year of high school? (bonus challenge: answer this question with a different song or album for each year of high school!)
1970 - Let It Be - The Beatles (album and single)
1971 - Naturally - Three Dog Night (singles: "Joy to the World", "Liar", album track "Sunlight")
1971 - Abraxus - Santana - This album came out in late 1970s I believe, but it became huge in 1971. Features the hits "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va". Lots of other great songs.
1972 - Led Zeppelin IV - I got this LP via the Capitol music club back in the day, and of course "Stairway to Heaven" became the most overplayed track even at that early stage. The album actually came out in 1971 but did not take off until early 1972. Great album overall.
1973 - ELTON JOHN - My 2 favorite Elton John albums became popular in 1973 and carried over to 1974 - "
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" and "
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - played my vinyl copies and the cassette duplicates I made from this all the way through my graduation in high school and way beyond. Have bought these in LP form, cassette, and CD... also "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" on 8-track too.
1974 - Band on the Run - Paul McCartney and Wings - the best post-Beatles album ever by anyone who was in The Beatles.
1975 - I graduated this year; the soundtrack album for my senior year with the previous ones still high on my playlist was
"That's the Way of the World" by Earth, Wind and Fire... seems like a lot of kids had and played this. After graduation in the summer of 1975, the 2nd
Cecilio and Kapono album "Elua" was released and I liked this one better than the first.
The first
Fleetwood Mac album that you refer to which feature
Buckingham-Nicks for the first time ever came out in late 1975 but I don't consider it a high school album. I was already gone from high school but in early 1976 when "Over My Head" was released as a single, this album gradually grew on me and became on of my favorites with the single of "Rhiannon" being my all time favorite Fleetwood Mac songs ever. And while I really love their next album,
Rumours that came out in 1977, in some ways this album is better than that one.
Other albums that were and are still part of my regular soundtrack from 1970 to 1975 include:
Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin (1973)
Ram - Paul & Linda McCartney (1971)
Tapestry - Carole King (1971)
Sound Magazine - The Partridge Family (1971) - yes, bubblegum but to me the best bubblegum album of the 1970s.
ELTON JOHN's albums: Elton John (1970); Tumbleweed Connection (1971); Madman Across the Water (1971); Honkey Chateau (1972); Caribou (1974); Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) - I was a huge EJ fan back then and still like these albums today.
America - America (1972)
Fragile - Yes (1972)
AWB - Average White Band (1974)
Harvest - Neil Young (1972)
Venus & Mars - Paul McCartney & Wings (1975)
Mystery To Me - Fleetwood Mac (1973) - best one with Bob Welch in the band.
No Secrets - Carly Simon (1972)
Talking Book - Stevie Wonder (1972)
One of These Nights - The Eagles (1975)
Countdown to Ecstasy - Steely Dan (1973)
Can't Buy a Thrill - Steely Dan (1972)
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (1973) - never clicked with me until later in life.
4. What’s a song, album, or artist from your high-school years you loved then (and might still love) but have great difficulty listening to now, and what’s the reason?
Many songs that were popular on the radio between the summer of 1971 and spring of 1972. It was during this time my sister had a bout with cancer and it killed her. She was two years below me. We both liked a lot of music that came out at this time and several songs bring back some bittersweet memories.
5. What song, album, or artist from your high-school years, seemingly forgotten nowadays, do you still listen to with fondness?
The following albums seem to have been forgotten:
Naturally - Three Dog Night (1971)
Harmony - Three Dog Night (1972)
It Ain't Easy - Three Dog Night (1970)
Now and Then - The Carpenters (1973)
Carpenters - The Carpenters (2nd album - 1971)
Down the Road - Stephen Stills & Manassas (1973)
Never a Dull Moment - Rod Stewart (1972)
Venus and Mars - Paul McCartney and Wings (1975)
Living in a Material World - George Harrison (1973)
RINGO - Ringo Starr (1973)
Mind Games - John Lennon (1974)
The following were obscure and still are today.... and I listen to them with some regularity. Visit
my LastFM page.
Carryin' On - The Stampeders (1971)
Give Up Your Guns / Timothy (LP) - The Buoys (1971)
Sound Magazine album - The Partridge Family (1971)
One World - Rare Earth (1971) - damn album never made it to digital CD or MP3!!!!!
SINGLE:
"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" - Middle of the Road (1971)
SINGLE:
"Stop Wait Listen" - Circus (1972)
SINGLE: "Hot Sand" - The Shocking Blue (1970 - B side to "Venus")
SINGLE: "Almost Home" - The Rascals (1971)
SINGLE: "Me Japanese Boy {I Love You} - Liz Damon & the Orient Express (1973)
SINGLE:
"Summer Sun" - Jamestown Massacre (1972)
SINGLE: "If That's the Way That You Want It" - Diamond Head (1973)
SINGLE:
"We're On Our Way" - Chris Hodge (1972)
SINGLE: "Gotta Get Away" - Cecilio & Kapono (1974)
SINGLE:
"Where Evil Grows" - Poppy Family (1971)
SINGLE: "Don't Let Him Touch You" - Joy Flemming (1972)
SINGLE:
"Pretty Lady" - Lighthouse (1973)
SINGLE:
"Forevermore" - Tokyo Happy Coats (1970)
And there you have it. Below are some audio and video links to some of the music mentioned here.
My Top Albums of All Time
