I promise not to turn this into a '70s music blog, but over the course of my various peregrinations this week I now have four or five hours of "70s on 7" under my belt. And on the drive to Anaheim¹ this morning it occurred to me that during this time I haven't heard a single Fleetwood Mac song. Also nothing from Bruce Springsteen. Nothing from Abba. Nothing from Pink Floyd. Nothing from Wings. Nothing from Steely Dan. Nothing from the Bee Gees. Nothing from Elton John.
I'm not saying these are all great bands. Opinions will vary. But they were all big acts in the '70s. I suppose it's praiseworthy that "70s on 7" isn't saturated with just the stuff we've all heard a thousand times, but doesn't it seem odd that in 4+ hours I haven't heard a single song from any of these groups?
¹Anaheim is where the radiation clinic is located. I'm writing this in the waiting room.
Muzak(TM) (and its various competitors) also eschews the rare artists or songs that are actually musically interesting, precisely because they *are* interesting and therefore focus the listener's attention, which is not the purpose. You would better load up a thumb drive with your favorites, the (there is, expectably, only one) satellite service is not going to give you what you want because you are so heavily outnumbered.
My sister regularly listens to the "Classic Vinyl" channel on Sirius and it plays all of the groups you mentioned. It's 60s/70s.
Thanks for that - I needed a new channel.
Also try The Bridge on Sirius XM-27. It advertises itself as mellow rock. Lots of Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, The Eagles, Jackson Brown, Bob Segar etc. This is what I listen to most of the time.
Thanks! Saw that one but wasn't sure what it was.
Yes, was just about to mention Classic Vinyl! I also like Mosaic sometimes. It's a mix of 90s through 2000s.
Although, 90% of the time when I'm driving I'm listening to books on Audible. But Sirius is great for the road trips with the family we usually do a couple times a year.
Their playlists are online. I just pulled up the past 6 hours (ish) and found:
- Abba
- Wings
- BeeGees (twice)
- Elton John (twice)
So they're there, and probably the others you mentioned get played too. Random variation in your sample.
In fairness, Sirius XM's "70s on 7" self-consciously adopts an AM top 40 vibe, as exemplified by its occasionally spoofy (and often catchy) jingles that immediately conjures images of Casey Kasem. Those who argue the 70s were a great decade for music (as I do) are more often thinking not of singles but of albums whose iconic tracks more normally played on an FM station in those days, and which are more likely to be heard on Sirius's "Classic Vinyl" station. Still, I enjoy a jolt of the old top 40 for nostalgia's sake even if, like popcorn, it is not a lasting meal.
You're right. We listen to the 70s on 7 a lot, and while I hear a fair amount of Fleetwood Mac I never hear Steely Dan. I do like listening on weekends (I think?) to the American Top 40 countdown for a particular year.
And if I never hear "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" again it will be, as they say, too soon.
I was going to suggest that maybe they don't have permission from the copyright holders to play those groups, but other commenters have disproved that.
As others have noted I think that channel plays AM hits from the 70s, you need to find one of the ones that does FM and album oriented.
You know, I have Steely Dan on my phone (along with lots of other stuff), and most cars these days have Android Auto or Apple CarPlay....
I usually listen to pandora. It's far from perfect, but I've discovered more than a few new artists using it. Though the music I listen to isn't much like Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nick's, the songs would eventually lead to a song of theirs. Or used to a lot more than it does now.
royalties costs are higher on the big bands music?
What, your radiation clinic is in Disneyland?
That's, --I don't even know where to start.
Is it in the Land of Tomorrow?
It sounds like you are getting the XM radio version of my 70's elementary school music class. Absolutely none of the artists you mentioned would have been sung in that class. But "Carpenters"? Damn straight! ("I'm on the top of the world, looking down on creation, and the only explanation I can find ...")
And on my deathbed I likely will have "Billy don't be a hero!" or "The night Chicago died", or "Convoy" running through my brain, urging me on to my Celestial Reward.
The 70's were weird. But maybe 80's, 90's, and 00's kids have similarly weird juxtaposition between mainstream popular music and what will actualy be remembered as good.
“ 7" under my belt.”
Ahem
I haven't heard a single Fleetwood Mac song. Also nothing from Bruce Springsteen. Nothing from Abba. Nothing from Pink Floyd. Nothing from Wings. Nothing from Steely Dan. Nothing from the Bee Gees. Nothing from Elton John.
Sheesh! Not much of a '70s station then. What are they playing, Rick Dees tunes?
This one?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhnRyQCeqXI
Or this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4lpQWcT5g
For long car travel (which I very seldom do), I go with 20's - 30's stuff.I've found -- much to my surprise -- that other decades grate after as little as a couple of hours in the can. Agreed about AOR; Steely Dan was for too many in my set 'too complex'.
While we're on the subject of music, the investment blogger Barry Ritholtz posted a very interesting observation several years ago about how much more band-oriented the UK is music-wise compared to the US, which is much more characterized by the dominance of singer-songwriters and individual performers backed by bands. While considering the question of best-ever bands, a multitude of UK bands immediately spring to mind with legitimate claims to the title over the decades (Beatles, Stones, Led Zep, Clash, U2, Oasis, Radiohead - just to mention a few possibilities).
But try to think of a list of best US bands ever -- it's not nearly so easy! The Doors, maybe? Nirvana was certainly great, but only had three albums. It turns out that many of the best, most productive, and successful US musical acts over longer time periods weren't bands in the traditional sense (at least without "...and the [something]" after the leader's name): Dylan, Hendrix, Springsteen, MJ, Prince, Madonna. If we expand the search to include R&B and soul, possibilities like the Temptations and Earth, Wind, and Fire come into view, but sticking more to a rock orientation (and even expanded into mainstream pop) really makes it tough. If I remember right, Ritholtz ended up settling on CCR, and a good argument could certainly be made for them, but isn't that oddly unsatisfying?
I have a couple of other band suggestions, but none of them are nearly so obvious contenders as in the UK list. I'm curious what other bands people can think of before I share mine.
I was astonished how far down this thread I had to read before I encountered the first mention of R&B.
Earth, Wind, and Fire were great, as were the Temptations. And in the Washington DC area, where I was living and working in the first half of the seventies, radio was filled with them, as well as the sounds of the Chi-Lites, the O'Jays, Kool & the Gang, Sly & the Family Stone, the Commodores, the Stylistics, the Spinners, ... my goodness, what a list! I would drive to work in the morning rush, and as the traffic was creeping across the 11th Street Bridge, I could see in the cars all around me, people bobbing and weaving, "dancing in their seats."
That was, by far, the LEAST forgettable decade of music in my 80 years.
There's a hole in that playlist:
Talking Book (1972)
Innervisions (1973)
Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974)
Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
Four records, four years.
James Taylor?
I feel your pain. That said, here's a nitpicking response that doesn't address the heart of the matter:
Bruce Springsteen - not really a "70s" artist. Sure, "Born to Run" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town" are great albums, but he didn't have a Top 20 single until 1980 ("Hungry Heart") and his commercial peak was definitely in the 80s.
The rest of them: yes, "70s" artists.
P. S. Now I'm curious: what artists *are* they playing?
Eh....
On the cover of Time as The Future of Rock and Roll in 1975
https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19751027,00.html
Oh those bands? You can hear most of those on Yacht Rock Radio.
As I mentioned in your last complaint about Sirius, turn to Classic Rewind and Classic Vinyl (channels 25 and 26) as a start if you want 60's and 70's rock.
Channel 7 is Pop (top 40 stuff).
My memory isn't very good but from reading the blogs here it doesn't appear any Black people created any music during the 70a.
I never liked any pop music from the 1970’s. I was too young and my juvenile delinquent older teenage brother was into it. So I hated it… and him. He’s dead now… so that’s what you get. It poisoned him for life.
Going out on a limb to suggest this may have something to do with royalty payments. There are algorithms involved and something to do with songs that were popular back in the day but don't receive much royalty-producing play now.
This is weird because in today's world you can choose pretty much anything to listen to and it costs pennies and what even is the point of this post? This is today's That Thing You Don't Care About (what Kevin Drum listens to while driving)? It's Enough of a Big Deal to Kevin Drum to Make a Blog Post About.
My biggest complaint about most "classic" stations is that they all play the same songs from those artists. I would love to listen to a station that plays deeper cuts, rather than the same few songs we're always heard.
Anything from Jethro Tull? Yes? All my fave prog rock bands? I suspect not.
That does seem weird. Actual 70s radio was quite full of most of those. Not Pink Floyd, though. I don't know if I EVER heard Pink Floyd on the radio back in the day.
I'm pretty sure I heard Money on the radio in the 70s.
I'm glad to see that others have mentioned the many black artists who put out great stuff in the 70's. I think Sly and the Family Stone were great but their best was probably in the 60's. But Motown alone had great great music coming across the pop airways. My God, Steve Wonder alone is a one man musical decade.
Also, I think the former Beatles solo material, mostly never quite as good as what they did together was frequently better than most everything else.
I am a fan of Billy Joel who did some good stuff in the 70's . For some reason he was never quite as cool as othet musicians of that moment but cool frequently slides away into vapor over time.
Last, I want to add a popular artist who spans many different categories who put out one of the all time greatest pop albums imho. I first heard it on the radio driving back into the US from Vancouver in the summer of1972 and it completely knocked my socks off. Still does. Randy Newman " Sail Away."
Okay wow I'd never heard that. Thanks for turning me onto it.
Yes! Thanks for the reminder. That Randy Newman album is one of the greats. Tough to say, but “Political Science” is probably my favorite song on it, or at least the one that immediately pops up in my mind. It’s just sooo ironically sarcastic…if that’s even a thing.
Also a plug for Newman's "Good Old Boys" album. Absolutely brilliant musically and satirically, though that includes use of the N word, so be warned.
If you haven't already, check out the original or one of the live versions on youtube. Or the Etta James version or the Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee.
Or the late great Harry Nilsson's version.
I played this for an old friend a couple years ago who had never heard of it and knew little of Randy Newman- hey, he's an academic what do you expect ? . He was leaning in to the window of a van we were sharing and he was visibly crying by the end of the song.
We've made some progress in the 52 years since that song came out and much more since the slave ships stopped making their way into Charleston Bay but we need to make more. Maybe a bi-racial woman as our next President is another step.