3½ Time-Outs Tuesday (Vol. 22)

Just like Conversion Diary's 7 Quick-Takes, just half as long and twice as good.

Hosted by Acts of the Apostasy

This Is The 1970′s Record Album Edition

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OK, most of you readers are probably too young to know anything about the 1970′s, but even way back then, we had music. We had things called “stereos” with “record players” that played large discs of vinyl, where an arm with a needle at the end of it rested on the vinyl. Then, as the turntable of the “record player” spun at a steady rate of speed (normally 33 rpm, or revolutions per minute), the music would magically come forth from the speakers. And as any music lover will tell you, the sound quality from vinyl records is far superior to any of that new-fangled stuff nowadays.

Ask your parents about “record players” – I’m sure they’ll have fond memories of them.

Now, I became a teenager in the 1970′s, and I had the common sense to avoid disco like the plague. And one of the things I got to do once I became a teenager was go to the record store. Back where I grew up, the place to go was “The House of Guitars” (hello Rochester NY readers!) – which is still in business. The store, IIRC, was a converted family home – three floors of records, instruments and musical accessories. I know my dad hated driving me there (back then, it was long-haired hippy freaks and drug-users, you know!) but that’s where I wanted to go to spend birthday and Christmas money.

Now, what spurred these memories, and thus this week’s 3.5 theme, was that on Sunday, Mrs LarryD and I were driving to the local landscape supply dealer, and when I turned on the radio, Billy Joel’s “Big Shot” was playing, a release from his classic 1978 album “52nd Street”. Which I used to own (being a pianist, I tended to gravitate to artists that were either keyboardists, or the band featured them. Not always, but mostly.). So then I thought, name the 3 albums that first come to mind that a) are from the 1970′s; b) that I owned and c) were popular at the time. And voila! This week’s 3.5!

What three 1970′s albums come to your mind? List ‘em in the combox.

First off is the afore-mentioned Billy Joel album. His first bona-fide big album, and there wasn’t a song on there I didn’t play over and over (back in the old days, kids, “record players” didn’t have “replay” buttons; you had to lift the arm off the record, and then place it back in the dead space groove between cuts). Classics such as “Honesty“, “My Life” and “Until The Night“. An under-appreciated song was “Rosalinda’s Eyes“.  Something about that Latin beat… (and look!  It’s a “record player” kids!)

 

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The Cars debut album, titled The Cars, also was released in 1978, and one that I nearly wore out the grooves. To many, this album represents one of the best debut albums ever – in my opinion, it’s pretty close. Their follow up album Candy-O fared better in the charts, but their first album did better commercially (6x Platinum in the US). I think they peaked with this album, and the band helped drive (get it? Cars? ‘Drive’?) music away from disco and into the more guitar-driven pop and dance music that became prevalent in the 80′s. They weren’t leading edge, but they had a cool sound, the songs had great hooks, and their founder and rhythm guitarist, Ric Ocasek, is the Jeff Goldblum of rock ‘n roll: really weird looking.

Here’s one of the hits from that album, recorded live for Rock Goes To College (an old BBC show), Bye Bye Love.

 

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Lastly – Electric Light Orchestra’s 1976 classic “A New World Record“. Yeah, they were accused of lip-synching their concerts, but hey – the music is still good, even if a bit pretentious with strings as part of the group and not merely accompaniment.  This album contains great rockers like “Do Ya” and “Rockaria“, along with other classics “Telephone Line” and “Livin’ Thing“. Jeff Lynne was a great song-writer and producer (was one of the Traveling Wilburys, too), and this album represented the peak of ELO’s popularity and skill.

Here’s the opening track “Tightrope” – back from a time when guys could wear glittery shirts and ascots, and look cool doing so…ok, maybe not so cool, but still.

 

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Now, this has nothing to do with music – but I want to introduce you to a relatively new blog called “Who Needs Green?” It’s written by a Catholic teenage boy – well, more like a young man, as he’s mature beyond his years – from Texas. I was introduced to his blog by a good friend of AoftheA – Rebecca at Shoved to Them. So go spike his hits! Make his day! Leave a comment even. Let’s support the youth of our faith who probably don’t know what a “record player” is!

Now it’s your turn – write your own 3½ Time-outs Tuesday post, steal the pic at the top, and link back to this post by clicking on the Blue Frog, and follow the instructions. It’s easy, painless and free. So join the Posse – especially you guys. This is the testosterone version of 7 Quick Takes. Your Man Card gets punched when you participate! Progress takes time, and revolutions aren’t born overnight.  You have a bonus hour now to get your submission in – until 1:00 PM Thursday.  Let’s keep the momentum going and reach the pinnacle of Catholic Internet Meme superiority!! Viva la Posse!

(Because of a formatting quirk with WordPress, the links don’t show up on this page. You have to click the Blue Frog to see who’s participated. But that’s not so hard, is it? So write up a post – I’m interested in what you have to say!)

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