Super Hits Of The '70s: Have A Nice Day - volume by volume discussion

Up first, volume one of Rhino's successful series devoted to '70s pop music (though this volume actually contains tracks that began their chart run in 1969). Volume one's tracks:

1. More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Starecase 2. Baby It's You - Smith 3. Smile a Little Smile for Me - Flying Machine 4. Cherry Hill Park - Billy Joe Royal 5. Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) - Steam 6. Venus - Shocking Blue 7. Early in the Morning - Vanity Fare 8. Arizona - Mark Lindsay 9. Rapper - The Jaggerz 10. Come Saturday Morning - The Sandpipers 11. Tracy
[*] - The Cuff Links 12. Mississippi Queen
[*] - Mountain

The last two tracks did not appear on cassette, only cd.

My memory is that I was excited when I saw the first few volumes of this series at Tower Records and immediately bought all four volumes available. It's easy to forget now, but Rhino really was the first to reissue lots of stuff, so the appearance of these cds was finally making a lot of music from my childhood available again.

 

I Love this Rhino Series and have all but Vol. 20 Which I will get sometime in the near future as well. The Mark Lindsay track "Arizona" is a favorite of mine from this First Volume. I Like The Jaggerz "Rapper" too. Many of those tracks are not found too easily these days .

 

That's a pretty solid first volume. I may have to go shopping this weekend. Smith did a smokin' version of Baby It's You!

 

My favorites from volume 1 are probably the tracks by Spiral Starecase, Flying Machine, and Steam, though I like a lot of the others as well. Curiously I don't think I had ever heard the track by The Jaggerz when it was popular. It surprised me when I looked it up and saw it reached the top 10 as I just don't remember it getting much airplay where I lived.

 

Cherry Hill Park by Billy Joe Royal is a favorite of mine. Royal worked closely with Joe South (Hush, I Knew You When, These Are Not My People, etc.). One of singles that I've always liked was "Campfire Girls," and it peaked at #91 in 1966. Recently he's been touring with B.J. Thomas on what they call the "Raindrops and Boondocks" tour.

 

My sister used to have the 45 of The Jaggerz "The Rapper," and I can't help but think that a different version was used for the cd issue of the song. Either that or my memory is showing its age.

 

Different mix,for sure.There's at least three different mixes.

 

Great idea for a thread.

I had thought at one time of starting a thread on people's favourite tracks from the set but this idea is much more comprehensive.

Thanks.

 

Volume 1 is fantastic, though "Mississippi Queen" sounds a bit out of place. I don't care if I ever hear "Na Na Na Na Na Hey hey" ever again, but I still love the rest of the songs.

All of the songs on the first few volumes are a bit before my time, but I remember hearing them all for the first time on oldies radio in the early 80's. "Cherry Hill Park" is probably my favorite of the bunch, followed by "Smile a Little Smile" and "More Today Than Yesterday"

The first time I heard "Venus" I thought "hey, that's the same riff as that Beatles Stars on 45 Medley"

 

One of my absolute favorite comp series (along with SOUL HITS of 70s) of all time.

Favs off vol 1 are Cherry Hill, More Today, Smith, and Jaggerz.

 

"Venus" is my favorite from Vol. 1. Great single. I can remember it coming out of the car radio.

(I bought the first volumes of the series together in a cardboard slip case from Sam's Club(?). Anyone else buy them that way?)

 

Fantastic series of CDs, with vol.1 being one of the best. "More Today Than Yesterday" what a great feel good song. Perfect tune to start the series of "Have a Nice Day".

 

These discs are marvelous, each and every one. Like other posters, I bought 'em when they first came out and they were -- in the early days of CD, when most releases were big and new -- like being transported in a wonderful time machine.

As these songs came out, my brother and I would sometimes sleep in the car (??) just because it had an AM radio and we could sample WLS late into the night. How my dad must have loved what that did to his battery!

 

My two favorite tracks from this first volume are "Smile a Little Smile for Me," which sounds a lot like early Badfinger to me, and "Venus."

 

Just curious to know if fans of this series also have the Time/Life Sound Of The Seventies discs.

 

Hi Reb,

I have a # of them. Grabbed 'em at my Half Price Books for a buck each, a total no-brainer.

 

I love this song. I picked up a clean copy of the LP recently, and have the HAND CD, too. What other mix am I missing?

 

Good solid collection.

Sandpipers and Mountain both poles apart from one another really do seem out of place on here though.

Everything else is pretty much spot on with "Venus", "Cherry Hill Park" and "Baby It's You" leading the pack.

 

When I first started taking drum lessons, "Venus" was the first song I learned to play all the way through. Still love it.

 

If we're going through these disc-by-disc, then I'll pass along my mastering notes.

"Arizona" - Mark Lindsey - digitally identical clone on Time-Life's Superhits - Early '70s Classics and probably AM Gold - Early '70s Classics (both 1992)

"Venus" - Shocking Blue - digitally identical clone of Rhino's Billboard Top Rock 'N' Roll Hits - 1970 (1989)

I haven't gone back to 1970 in any kind of detail, so there may be many others. I'll post whatever I have...

 

Here's the track list!
1. More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Starecase
2. Baby It's You - Smith
3. Smile a Little Smile for Me - Flying Machine
4. Cherry Hill Park - Billy Joe Royal
5. Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) - Steam
6. Venus - Shocking Blue
7. Early in the Morning - Vanity Fare
8. Arizona - Mark Lindsay
9. Rapper - The Jaggerz
10. Come Saturday Morning - The Sandpipers
11. Tracy [*] - The Cuff Links
12. Mississippi Queen [*] - Mountain

Thank you for starting this thread! I was just about to myself.


This is a great volume, and actually starts out at the end of 1969. The only one I did not know before this series, and the one I don't really care for is "Come Saturday Morning"

The mastering is quite good, and state of the art for 1990. The only thing i wish they had done in this series is use more single versions, but that's OK for some things. I much prefer the LP version of Smith's "Baby, It's You".

Imagine the look on my face when I first read in Rolling Stone magazine early January in 1990 that this series was being released by Rhino! I just sat there with a big grin on my face. It was at work, and I was sitting in an office at the desk reading it after work.

 

You are correct. The CD here uses the LP stereo version, while the mono 45 sounds different, in that there are effects at the beginning of the first, second, and third chorus. The guitars and vocals are louder, too.

 

I had them physically, until Katrina. One of the best collections I've ever heard. Time Life has rehashed/butchered them into new collections with less tracks per disc and less volumes.

 

I have seven of the series: vols. 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 14, 16. The one with How Do You Do by Mouth and Macneal was a fairly recent addition; the other six I bought within a couple of months, ten or fifteen years ago.

Early in the Morning by Vanity Fare is the clear standout track for me, followed by Tracy and Come Saturday Morning (which I also have on a Treasured Tunes CD).

Early in the Morning always reminds me of a chocolate malted milkshake for some reason. Maybe it's a bizarre instance of synaesthesia?

Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye, Baby It's You and More Today Than Yesterday are quite good, and I don't mind hearing Smile A Little Smile For Me once in a while.

Mississippi Queen and Cherry Hill Park (one of the most pointless songs ever) I can live without.