a blog for those who never gave up their turntables or records
’70s ROCK & ROLL includes articles about the blaxploitation movie soundtrack phenomenon, prog, glam, the singer-songwriter, reggae, disco, soft rock, arena rock, and punk, among other happenings.
Albums “shipped gold” and then went right to the cut-out bin, imports were readily available, quadraphonic sound came and went, and by the end of the decade, cassette tapes were outselling records. Discographies and price guides are included in some articles.
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MY APOLOGIES if you find yourself here looking for an article about the Beach Boys’ SURF’S UP album. The article is a work-in-progress and I accidentally pressed the Publish button instead of the Save Draft button. READ MORE
WAY BACK IN 1984, way back when people actually believed in “trickle-down economics,” I was living in Scottsdale, Arizona. I had succumbed to the ubiquitous peer pressure question of “Why do you live in the past when it comes to music?” and purchased a couple of albums by the Psychedelic Furs. While I thought the use of the word “psychedelic” in their name may have been ironic, I nonetheless liked their post-punk British rock-pop. READ MORE
I WOULD BE REMISS in my love for the Hollies if I did not mention the exploits of their on-again/off-again lead singer, Harold Allan Clarke. In his second (?) sojourn from the group he helped found in Manchester, England, in 1962, he took a rather different approach stylistically to the material with which his fans had come to associate with him. READ MORE
RELEASED IN 1975, Springsteen’s third album for Columbia, BORN TO RUN, was a virtual apotheosis of all that the rock musicians of the previous generation had hoped to achieve with the form. But that was not how the first two years as a recording artist went down. Now, there is always a story behind a record from a major company being rare and as valuable. READ MORE
THE SINGLE RELEASE of Blinded By The Light / The Angel (Columbia 4-48405) may not have been a big hit in 1973 with record-buyers, but it has been a big deal with record-collectors ever since! It is among the rarest and most sought-after of Bruce’s collectable records and record-related artifacts.
In the third edition of Goldmine’s Rock ‘n Roll 45RPM Price Guide (the last singles and picture sleeves price guide that I authored and that was published way back in 1994), I assigned near mint (NM) values of $50 to the white label promo and a whopping $500 to the stock copy. READ MORE
UNLESS YOU’RE OLD ENOUGH to have been there THEN (the early months of 1973) but weren’t paying attention or you were not a Springsteen fan (and who was back then outside of a small circle of friends near Asbury Park?) or not a fan now (and who isn’t?), then you know that Springsteen’s “Blinded By The Light” single did not make the charts here there and everywhere. READ MORE
HERE ARE THE LYRICS to Bruce Springsteen’s original recording of Blinded By The Light as best that I can decipher them. I used a couple of lyrics sites and then listened to the recording repeatedly (and yes it’s “deuce” not “douche”) each time comparing the words I had typed with the words that I was hearing.
This is part 2 in a series of essays on Springsteen’s first commercially issued single, Blinded By The Light / The Angel, from 1973. READ MORE
IT’S 6:36 IN THE MORNING and I had just dropped Berni off at work. I turned on the radio to the oldies station and lo and behold, there was Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Blinded By The Light.’ Delighted I sat back and listened, then realized that I had never heard the record on the radio before!
I remember getting the first albums, GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK, N.J. READ MORE