70’s Radio Rock, Part 3

…Ahem. OK, done ranting about the Supreme Unfairness of Being Ordinary, I swear. Have reconciled myself (once again) to the realisation that I am in fact not a lead Pixar character, therefore if I want drama and excitement in my existence I’m gonna have to work for it.

Have also, not co-incidentally, read a rather scathing article indicating that the most successful blogs are those in which the author looks up from their navel occasionally and enthuses over their areas of outside interest. Which works out rather neatly, since as part of the reconciliation agreement I get to work out my Bob & Ray fascination around here whenever the need strikes.

Anyhoo, that’s an entry for another day, when I’ve found a hook to hang those particular observations on. Meanwhile, I was casting about for something else I do around here that isn’t personal, and realised it’s been ages since I updated this series (follow the tag below) of major mellow musical moments from everybody’s fav…no, wait…everybody’s…the decade that didn’t contain the Jonas Brothers, OK? Or Hannah Montana. Say what you like about disco, at least the fantasies were legal. Sort of.

70’s Radio Rock, Part 2

Before we get back to the music, a public service announcement:

In the course of discussing our weekend plans, a co-worker mentioned trying to find a Britney Spears costume for a ‘Hollywood trainwrecks’ theme party. I jokingly asked if she was going for the full-bore VMA ‘Night Under the Trailer’ effect, and she informed me that there was no way. “Britney may have had a belly…but at least she didn’t have stretch marks!”

So there you have it, folks: It really could have been worse.

Keeping that in mind might also be helpful as we peruse the next set of 70’s mellow musical marvels. Trust me…even the fleeting thought of Three Dog Night performing in satin pants that was required to construct this joke will eventually cost us both many therapy bills. (On the plus side, I’m saving the bling-ed out belt buckle for my next flamewar.)

Reprint: 70’s Radio Rock, Part 1

–I’ve spent this evening’s hour – and then some – catching up on the correspondence that had lapsed, along with yours truly, into semiconsciousness this past week. New (sort of) and (vaguely) exciting resumes tomorrow, promise…

Remember ‘way back in the Music thread on the old forum, when I mentioned I was deep into an experiment to see how well my favourite AM songs held up? No? Well, too bad.

Since then, I’ve accumulated an entire iPod playlist based on the ineffable grooviness that is the ‘Sounds of the 70’s – the lite-rock stuff that tends to get collected on the K-Tel label a lot. (Albeit some of it technically comes from the early eighties or late sixties. The 70’s, I’ve discovered, are less a date than a state of mind.)

Yeah, it’s definitely possible to construct snark scenarios around this stuff involving fish, barrels and convenient artillery. Still…somehow you can’t help but love an era in which ‘keepin’ it real’ was still such a wide-eyed novelty. With the likes of Neil Young and Carole King leading the way, simple and direct and heartfelt was suddenly like, totally cool, man.

Of course, as the intervening decades have relentlessly proven, just because it is in there doesn’t mean it should be hauled out for everybody to hear (Idol makes this particular error pretty much once an ep, and it drives me nuts every time) but every now and then I fall apart…