5 Albums to Love: The Sounds of 76

Karen: For me, there's a certain year that always brings up a very specific group of albums when I think of it. The year was 1976, the bicentennial, and for a variety of reasons, it was a year that generated a lot of strong memories for me, particularly about music. I turned 12 that year, and was becoming much more interested in music and different artists. For the first time, I was really aware of what was popular. There were certain albums and artists that just seemed to be constantly played on the radio (no MTV yet!) and they define that year for me more than any other. Let me say that these are not necessarily albums I love -in some cases, I don't even like them! But they evoke a warm fuzzy feeling for me because they are associated with a particularly good time in my life. In no particular order, and in keeping with our 'five' rule, here they are.

1. Fleetwood Mac, by Fleetwood Mac. Yes, this album did come out the year before, 1975, but it hit number one on the charts in 1976, and you could not escape it anywhere! Rihannon, Over My Head, and Say You Love Me were huge hits. Personally, I always preferred Christie McVie's singing over self-absorbed flower-child Stevie Nicks, but I thought Nicks' song Landslide was actually the best song on this album.






2. Frampton Comes Alive, by Peter Frampton. Holy cow, was this huge! I had no idea who Frampton was, where he had come from, but just about everyone owned this album. I can specifically recall a summer night cruising around with my older brother and his friends, and this album playing. It's amazing that a live performance from a little-known English guitarist could take off the way it did. It probably didn't hurt that Frampton was a pretty boy either. I saw him on TV recently, and sadly, he has lost his long curly blond locks. But he's still playing guitar.




3. Rocks, by Aerosmith. One of the first albums I ever bought myself, back from when Aerosmith was actually good, and not just cranking out drippy power ballads. Last Child seemed to be on constant rotation on the radio for months, and Back in the Saddle and Sick as a Dog really kicked some a** too. The band really seemed like they were the the American answer to the Rolling Stones back in 1976. Too bad they wouldn't be able to maintain it.





4. Fly Like An Eagle, by the Steve Miller Band. OK, not a fan here at all, but damn if Fly Like An Eagle and Take The Money and Run weren't catchy tunes. Another couple of songs that were simply inescapable that year.








5. Boston, by Boston. OK, here's an album I really have no interest in, but I swear, every time I hear More Than A Feeling, I'm swept up in a huge wave of nostalgia. Although this came out late in 1976, when it hit, it hit big. For the most part, its success did (and still does) elude me. It just doesn't do a lot for me. But again, it was everywhere that year, with "Peace of Mind" also playing all the time it seemed.



Now I can hear you saying: where's Hotel California? Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? The Pretender? Well, those all came out pretty late in '76, so they're not tied to that year for me. Another album that I listened to in 1976 was Presence by Led Zeppelin, but sadly, Presence had little presence, although I love Achilles' Last Stand. Albums from 76 that I discovered later in life include the Ramones' debut album, and AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. But when I think back to this year, the albums above instantly come to mind.

5 Female Voices from the 1970's-'80's to Love

To say this is a varied list would be an understatement. Sappy AM radio material to electropop to hard rock -- I think I have it covered here. The following is a list, as usual in no particular order, of female vocalists who I really appreciate. Oh, yeah -- and I'm going to discuss 6 vocalists to love, because I couldn't pare down my list. Sue me...

1. Karen Carpenter, the Carpenters.

What's that you say? Did I hear a snicker out there? Shame on you and go dig out your mom's old LP's and check out this lovely lady who met such an untimely end. Whether it's Rainy Days and Mondays or Superstar, or the honey-dripping Yesterday Once More and Close to You, Karen Carpenter's vocals epitomized the new easy listening style of the early to mid-1970's. She was tailor-made for the diversion of AM and FM radio, maintaining a presence on what would become the "older" frequency, seemingly left behind by rock's progression into experimentation.

2. Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac.

I'll bet more people identify Stevie Nicks with the band than they do Christine McVie. And that's fine -- it was Nicks and then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham who made Fleetwood Mac the commercial success they became in the 1970's and on into the next decade. But McVie was there first, and continued to produce hits. Her voice was quite different from Nicks, and really fit the personality of the songs on which she sang lead vocals. Don't Stop, Little Lies, Everywhere, Hold Me, Over My Head, and You Make Loving Fun are all standards for the band, and for those who listened to Top 40 radio during the Bronze Age of Comics.

3. Alison Moyet, Yazoo.

College rock, my friends. Don't Go alone puts her on this list. Situation is no slouch, either. Wow -- what a voice. Big, powerful... she is truly gifted. Now I would not say I'm a Yaz (as they are known in the States) fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I could never forget some of their songs that we listened to on 12" singles, at frat parties, etc. Good stuff!

4. Chrissie Hynde, the Pretenders.

The Pretenders have been a lasting act, first hitting it big in the US in 1980 with the catchy Brass in Pocket. Middle of the Road and Back on the Chain Gang got huge radio play in the mid-'80's as well. Hynde's punky, sometimes bluesy vocals are often sassy -- appropriate for the sound of the band. A side note on Hynde -- although the Pretenders were formed in the UK, she originally hails from Akron, Ohio and was a student at Kent State in 1970 during the infamous Kent State killings.

5. Pat Benatar.

Seriously -- you can't forget the intro. to Heartbreaker, Benatar's breakthrough hit. Although she slipped into video "say what?!" with her crazy dancing performance in Love is a Battlefield I'll forgive her. And despite her diminutive size (she's what, five feet tall?), her voice is impressive.

6. Ann Wilson, Heart

Here's your bonus -- how could I leave the Wilson sisters off the list? Straight On, Dreamboat Annie, Barracuda, Magic Man, Even it Up, and on and on. Rockers, hit makers, and let's face it -- Nancy's held up pretty well over the years. But it has always been Ann's driving, even loud, vocals that symbolize the band's sound. When I think of Heart, it's Ann Wilson that I hear first -- not any trademark musical sound.