The west coast vinyl was nothing too fancy either. The War albums sounded amazing while Cornelius Bros & Sister Rose - Greatest Hits was dull as dish water. That's the mastering you are referring to, rolled off and not great stereo separation either.
War used Crystal Sound and/or Artisan Sound Recorders for their mastering (depending on what time period). That may explain the equation.
Am going to spin it later today based on your comments...I do remember thinking it wasn’t the typical album with a one hit wonder and then all filler tracks. Thanks!!!
Very interesting that you cite One Tin Soldier as being compressed...exactly what I thought though when I was a teen I didn’t know why something didn’t sound good, I just knew it didn’t. The interesting thing about Right Back is there are good sounding versions out there, UA just made it very challenging to find one as their vinyl was absolutely terrible. But in this case, you are fighting both plants that perhaps didn’t have a low generation master, and noisy vinyl. I have a copy of War’s Greatest Hits, on the same label. I bought a few and all of them were bad. And then, bam, found a mint copy and not only is it dead quiet, they obviously had the masters to put it together and it sounds fantastic. If memory serves, it’s a record club pressing.
A year-end wrap-up is far better than -- and not as narrow as -- a No. 1 singles review. The overall wrap shows what people really listened to, which wasn't always the No. 1s.
Favorite number 1 from 1976: "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" Steve Gadd Kind of a weak year for number 1 hits. Least favourite: "Disco Duck" I'd rather hear a cat hack up a hairball on a loop set to "Three Blind Mice" on a cheap Casio keyboard. Should have made number 1: "Bohemian Rhapsody" "Dream Weaver" "Sara Smile" "Lowdown"
All great pics. Disco Duck.... well... that doesn't even sound like a Top 10... Maybe No. 19 (if that)...
I didn't realize Pfunk had done that well on the year end chart - they beat "Disco Duck"! A lot of those #1s came in incredibly low on the year-end charts. I assume they're not using Billboard as a source, or their algorithm doesn't give much of a boost for hitting #1, but still. It felt notable compared to earlier years.
Looking back over the year-end list, it's difficult for me to pick out my top 5 favorites since even the best songs of 76 are kinda lame. I don't consider "Silly Love Songs" to be one of Paul's best tracks and even "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" is kind of a throwaway. Lots of junk hit the top of the chart followed by mostly mediocre tired-sounding retreads. It was a year when a song as terrible as "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" spent a month at #1. Some of the #2s were much better suited to be honored with the top spot.
Here are the Top 100 hits of 1976. https://top40weekly.com/top-100-songs-1955-2015/ Note how low Disco Duck scored at the bottom. This despite it was a No. 1 for a week and was at No. 2 for a month !!! Note also how many songs many felt should be No. 1 scored higher than the No. 1s !! 1976 1 Silly Love Songs Wings 2 Don’t Go Breaking My Heart Elton John & Kiki Dee 3 Disco Lady Johnnie Taylor 4 December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night) The Four Seasons 5 Play That Funky Music Wild Cherry 6 Kiss and Say Goodbye The Manhattans 7 Love Machine The Miracles 8 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover Paul Simon 9 Love Is Alive Gary Wright 10 A Fifth of Beethoven Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band 11 Sara Smile Hall & Oates 12 Afternoon Delight Starland Vocal Band 13 I Write the Songs Barry Manilow 14 Fly, Robin, Fly Silver Convention 15 Love Hangover Diana Ross 16 Get Closer Seals and Crofts 17 More, More, More Andrea True Connection 18 Bohemian Rhapsody Queen 19 Misty Blue Dorothy Moore 20 Boogie Fever The Sylvers 21 I’d Really Love to See You Tonight England Dan & John Ford Coley 22 You Sexy Thing Hot Chocolate 23 Love Hurts Nazareth 24 Get Up and Boogie Silver Convention 25 Take It to the Limit Eagles 26 (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty KC and the Sunshine Band 27 Sweet Love Commodores 28 Right Back Where We Started From Maxine Nightingale 29 Theme from S.W.A.T. Rhythm Heritage 30 Love Rollercoaster Ohio Players 31 You Should Be Dancing Bee Gees 32 You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine Lou Rawls 33 Golden Years David Bowie 34 Moonlight Feels Right Starbuck 35 Only Sixteen Dr. Hook 36 Let Your Love Flow The Bellamy Brothers 37 Dream Weaver Gary Wright 38 Turn the Beat Around Vicki Sue Robinson 39 Lonely Night (Angel Face) Captain & Tennille 40 All by Myself Eric Carmen 41 Love to Love You Baby Donna Summer 42 Deep Purple Donny & Marie Osmond 43 Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) Diana Ross 44 Sweet Thing Rufus 45 That’s the Way (I Like It) KC and the Sunshine Band 46 A Little Bit More Dr. Hook 47 Shannon Henry Gross 48 If You Leave Me Now Chicago 49 Lowdown Boz Scaggs 50 Show Me the Way Peter Frampton 51 Dream On Aerosmith 52 I Love Music The O’Jays 53 Say You Love Me Fleetwood Mac 54 Times of Your Life Paul Anka 55 Devil Woman Cliff Richard 56 Fooled Around and Fell in Love Elvin Bishop 57 Convoy C. W. McCall 58 Welcome Back John Sebastian 59 Sing a Song Earth, Wind & Fire 60 Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel Tavares 61 I’ll Be Good to You The Brothers Johnson 62 Rock and Roll Music The Beach Boys 63 Shop Around Captain & Tennille 64 Saturday Night Bay City Rollers 65 Island Girl Elton John 66 Let’s Do It Again The Staple Singers 67 Let ‘Em In Wings 68 Baby Face Wing and a Prayer Fife and Drum Corps 69 This Masquerade George Benson 70 Evil Woman Electric Light Orchestra 71 Wham Bam Silver 72 I’m Easy Keith Carradine 73 Wake Up Everybody Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 74 Summer War 75 Let Her In John Travolta 76 Fox on the Run Sweet 77 Rhiannon Fleetwood Mac 78 Got to Get You into My Life The Beatles 79 Fanny (Be Tender with My Love) Bee Gees 80 Getaway Earth, Wind & Fire 81 She’s Gone Hall & Oates 82 Still the One Orleans 83 You’re My Best Friend Queen 84 With Your Love Jefferson Starship 85 Slow Ride Foghat 86 Who’d She Coo? Ohio Players 87 The Boys Are Back in Town Thin Lizzy 88 Walk Away from Love David Ruffin 89 Baby, I Love Your Way (live) Peter Frampton 90 Young Hearts Run Free Candi Staton 91 Breaking Up Is Hard to Do Neil Sedaka 92 Money Honey Bay City Rollers 93 Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) Parliament 94 Junk Food Junkie Larry Groce 95 Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again Barry Manilow 96 Rock and Roll All Nite Kiss 97 Disco Duck Rick Dees & His Cast of Idiots 98 Take the Money and Run Steve Miller Band 99 Squeeze Box The Who 100 Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.) Glen Campbell
1976....I thought it was a great radio year. And seeing the whole list confirms that for me. The only thing that surprises me is how low the Frampton songs came in. Thought they were much bigger hits than that. ....and what's that Donny and Marie song doing at 42?
"Disco Duck" likely performed low on the year-end chart due to it reaching #1 later in the year and still being in the middle of its chart run when the survey year ended. I think Billboard uses a December to November method to compile the year end charts, not January to December. Also, I think there's some kind of point system for the year-ends wherein songs get points for where they peaked on the chart, how many weeks it stayed there, total weeks on the chart, etc., which would explain why lower peaking songs often rank above higher peaking songs on the year-end surveys. A #2 song that spends 30 weeks on the chart may end up peaking higher in the year-end surveys than a #1 song that charted for 20 weeks or less, for example.
Yeah, I was wondering how the cutoff worked, although "Duck" didn't peak that late in the year. I'd imagine most of its run was done, but maybe if it was a November cutoff (although "If You Leave Me Now" ranked much higher, and it hit #1 later, so...). I'd love to know how they assign points, and if #1 is being properly weighted. Usually the #1 hit sells a lot more units - and frequently gets a lot more radio play - than even the #2 or #3, let alone poor #11 or #27.
Of the list above, the only ones I ever hear (by my own doing) on a regular basis are Golden Years and Rhiannon. There's only a handful of songs on here I don't know, but I don't listen to this timeframe that often, I don't usually go back there on my musical explorations. (and also the Beatles song, but to me that doesn't count -- that's really a 1966 song) I'm a big Who fan, but Squeeze Box is not one of my favorites from them. From that particular album, I much prefer Slip Kid (not sure if this was ever released as a single).
Jeans On is a great song. Surprised it didn't go higher. Another of many songs which sounded like they charted higher. It certainly got enough airplay.
1976 was full of stuff on the lower reaches of the charts that should have done much better. Even songs from Eurovision that would have made a great hit here, but was never released, due to shortsightedness of American record companies. Of course, the banal and insipid "Save Your Kisses For Me" made a big dent here, but far superior songs from the contest had to be content with being #1 overseas.
I don't know all of those songs in the Top 100 of 1976, but of the ones I do like, there are few if any that I'd be unhappy if I could never hear them again. Ironically, as a person who is more of a "pop" than "rock" fan, it's The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy at no. 87 that is probably my favourite off the list.
Pop music morphed into a dance phase in a big way in '76 and lovers of what Pop had been were finding less and less of what they loved in the genre. A couple of upcoming #1s will illustrate this. Time marches on or should I say boogies down?
Using this list, my top 5 are: Dream On - Aerosmith Let ‘em In - Wings Fox on the Run - Sweet Take the Money and Run - Steve Miller Band Give Up the Funk - Parliament None of them made #1.
From the Top 100 list I tried to make a Top 10, but couldn't stop. Fanny Be Tender Give Up the Funk You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine Fooled Around and Fell in Love The Boys Are Back in Town Lowdown Turn the Beat Around Love Hangover She's Gone Sara Smile Disco Lady Love Is Alive
I'd originally tagged around 5 #1s as the best of the bunch, plus around 5 #2 as worthy of note. Of the remainder of that year's hot 100 I'll call out: 11 Sara Smile - Hall & Oates A moody classic. arguably their finest single. 16 Get Closer - Seals and Crofts Their last big hit if memory serves, a really fantastic pop tune which gave no indication their fortunes were about to fade. Mellow but not dull, with a breezy, sweeping scope. Way more deserving of a #1 spot than most of the singles that made it to #1 that year. 17 More, More, More - Andrea True Connection True actually delivers a pretty great performance, and the song is probably the best K.C.-soundalike anybody ever charted with. I love the sort of meandering horn bit leading up to the chorus. Doesn't get more disco porno than this. + 41 Love to Love You - Baby Donna Summer OK, you can get more disco porno than an actual porn star. I stand corrected. I said corrected. Perverts. 18 Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen Probably the most famous song from this year, and unlike pretty much everything else that charted. In a way, sort of a preview of the early '80s and that initial blast of off-kilter British-driven initial MTV material from Adam Ant and the like. Except Queen were actual glam rockers and not just next-generation inspired by glam followers... 22 You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate Another '76 hit that would become more noteworthy decades down the road. 25 Take It to the Limit - Eagles Sounds like a #1 to me. Stunning recording. 28 Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale Another hit that just sounds like a #1. Sorta Tony Orlando-esque, only without his lounge lizard vocals cocking things up. 33 Golden Years - David Bowie Elvis was a fool for turning this one down. Retro, yet totally contemporary. Bowie scores again, but it would be the last time for quite awhile. He was off to pioneer the sound of the next decade. 34 Moonlight Feels Right - Starbuck Nifty little pop song. 36 Let Your Love Flow - The Bellamy Brothers One of the better country/rock hits of the decade. 49 Lowdown - Boz Scaggs Smooth jazz/pop, propulsive and sleek. Always delighted when it came on the radio. Following in the footsteps of early Chicago, Boz and Steely Dan really helped broaden the sound of pop/rock and let a lot of jazz flow in. It's a trend that would stumble somewhat in the very early '80s on mainstream radio, but pick up a slew of adherents as the decade wore on - particularly in England thanks to Joe Jackson and the rise of sophistipop acts like Sade and Swing Out Sister. By the middle of the decade Sting and others were scoring huge jazz-tinged hits once again, but I think the public's tolerance and later appetite for jazz in their pop/rock can be traced back to here. 51 Dream On - Aerosmith A hard-rocking classic. America's Zep. 53 Say You Love Me - Fleetwood Mac 77 Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac Bizarre that "Say You Love Me" was a bigger hit than "Rhiannon" - the latter is certainly better known today, but they're both great songs, fantastically produced and delights to listen to. The Buckingham/Nicks-fronted Mac were poised to become superstars in the US, a sort of depoliticized CSNY. 67 Let ‘Em In - Wings "Silly Love Songs" got all the attention this year, but I always preferred this stoned little oddity from the mind of McCartney. 70 Evil Woman - Electric Light Orchestra Here's one you could swear was Top 10, if not a #1, thanks to all of the subsequent radio play it got. Proved much more popular in the long run than most of the Top 10 this year. The intro is killer but that trippy orchestral break in the middle is one of the great hooks of the '80s. I'm surprised nobody has sampled it in another hit (or maybe they have...). 84 With Your Love - Jefferson Starship We kind of forget now, but Jefferson Starship were a big deal at the time, and this was one more mellow gold classic, a fantastic follow-up to the prior year's "Miracles". 90 Young Hearts Run Free - Candi Staton Awesome cut, disco-friendly but with a strong lyric and killer vocal from Candi it works just as well off the dance floor as a soulful R&B number. I'm frankly kinda shocked it only got to #20, because it sounds like a Top 10 hit to me. I'm also stunned nobody has had a hit remake with this one. 93 Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker) - Parliament Another '76 hit that's gone on to become much larger than it ever was on the charts. Iconic. The "Bohemian Rhapsody" of funk. Quite a few cuts on that list I had no memory of whatsoever. Some pretty big hits on that list vanished from pop radio by the time I became a big listener on my own, circa 1980. And I sought out oldies stations, so it's not because I wasn't listening to the right stations. They were just gone... Not an awful year I suppose on the charts, but not fantastic, either. Some great disco hits! In spite of the grumbling on this thread, I think the disco is actually pretty much the highlight of the year. A lot of the rock and "light" rock feels formulaic and bland and sounds embarrassing and tacky in comparison, both to the disco and against really talented rock acts like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac (who were about to leave most of those clowns sucking their exhaust). Not a huge fan of most of the funk this year either to be honest - the grooves don't speak to me and the rest feels disjointed and forgettable. Acts like the O'Jays and the Staple Singers seemed to be running out of gas. This is probably heresy, but the Bee Gees were making better R&B records than most of the crossover R&B hits on this chart, like "Sweet Love" by the Commodores or dreck like "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers. It was a year where odd, off the wall stuff got onto the charts, for better ("50 Ways To Leave Your Lover", "Bohemian Rhapsody") or worse ("Disco Duck", "Convoy"), so it's got that going for it in my book. But there was also a lot of really bland junk from bands who'd produced better (that lame pair of Dr. Hook hits, for example). If memory serves, '77's hits would be on the whole a bit more conventional, and the year a little more solid with fewer lame duds. Let's see if that holds true or not...