Styx (1972) Best Thing‏

The debut single from Theatrical Arena rockers of the late 70s and early 80s this sees a Zeppelin- esque  crunch mixed with some virtuoso keyboard, acoustic guitar and piano trading lead vocals with their powerful group harmonies; all trademarks of their heyday. A simple blues rocker complete with their instrumental strengths this proved they were capable of writing melodic pop melodies and performing incredibly fast guitar and keyboard licks, this mixture of classical musicality, strutting rock n roll with gospel harmonies stacked on top would prove an formidable stadium band.

Frijid Pink (1970) God Gave Me You‏

 A garage band from Detroit who never attained the longevity and notoriety of their contemporaries, The Stooges and The MC5, but carried a compact, bluesy groove and more melodic tunes. Their biggest hit was the cover of House of the Rising Sun a track located in the middle of their self titled debut. And while it displays their satanic jagged guitar work and the singer Kelly Green's bluesy Leon Russell-esque howl, the other cover on the LP, Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel, suited their sound better. 
 The opening track like the bonus track, Music For The People, is a rousing soulful rocker with gentle guitars leading to a gospel rock chorus and to me is more indicative of their abilities such as the searing wah wah of Gary Ray Thompson and the solid groove of the bands rhythm section.

Caravan (1971) In The Land of Grey and Pink

From the Canterbury Prog Rocker's album In the Land of Grey and Pink, this acoustic guitar driven pop song. It's an unusually rhythmic groover which mixes delicate piano fills, hard driving acoustic guitars rocking funkily with a smooth spacey guitar solo. The 'Pink' of the song is in the colourful ensemble of instrumentation while the 'Grey' is the bleak depiction of a society and the downbeat vocals and occasional 'blowing raspberries' style scat.

Spooky Tooth (1974) The Mirror

Possibly the most underrated of the British Blues scene of the 60's this band managed to have psychedelic creativity and hard rock chops and some of it's lineups features Gary Wright, an American who would strike out with his own solo career, cough Dreamweaver cough..

Though never becoming as well known or having a famous hit they produce some stellar albums in the late 60's and early 70s probably culminating in The Mirror (1974) though it didn't feature the voice of the band Mike Harrison's scorched wail. The Title Track features a hypnotic verse before the entrance of choral backing vocals and a bright layerings of Moog synthesizer and flourishes of ARP String Ensemble to create a dreamy, reflective texture.

McDonald and Giles (1971) Flight of the Ibis

Ian McDonald, the saxophonist and flautist of King Crimson left the successful Prog outfit after it's initial ground breaking success to create this collaboration with that group's drummer Michael Giles. The flower pop of this prog record owes it's sound to the more lighter Canterbury Sound bands rather than the dark prog of Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator though Giles' drumming is still par excellence.

Commodores (1974) Superman

I'm noticing a trend in disco songs trashing the comic superhero, Superman, just like the earlier post on the Kink's disco hit '(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman' and also in the Sugarhill Gang's seminal Rapper's Delight, where Big Bank Hank calls him 'a sucker in a blue and red suit' over a Chic sample.

 Anyhow this interesting gem from promising Funk band, The Commodores, features a young Lionel Ritchie singin from the perspective of Kal El. It's a novelty disco song mixing harsh sound effects such as horse whips, along with soaring saxes, throbbing clavinets and Milan Williams' aggressive synth licks in a bizarre song from the band's and Ritchie's discography.

Bee Gees (1975) Edge of the Universe‏

Starting with some Allman Brothers'  styled twin slide guitars that manage to sound spacey rather the blues. This leads to Barry Gibb's breathy tale of a summer in space with his dog named Shenandoah and with some glittering keyboards along for the ride to give create a romantic, interstellar flavour. This lush ballad is at the end of the Main Course (1975) which established their new blend of Philly inspired brand of funky soft rock, which would see them go to the very top of the Disco charts. This number in particular is a nice blend of their new Adult Contemporary sound and their old dance hall styled numbers with it's sincere delivery matched by a new mainstream rock ballad edge.

Aerosmith (1975) No More No More‏

A hard driving number from America's Greatest Rock n Roll Band capture the essence of the band's swagger and primal urges in Steven Tyler's scruffy vocals and Joe Perry's slithery rhythms. 

Foreigner (1976) The Damage is Done

 Off Foreigner's barn storming success of a debut album this track featured a more solid group effort than the stripped down 80's outfit they would become. While a Mick Jones/ Lou Gramm song my favourite part comes at 1:35: the entrance of Ian McDonald's acoustic guitar striding in glistening strums while Al Greenwood's upbeat Moog bass line brings the triumphancy of a cavalrymen's trumpet. The body of the song has a plodding structure with some bass synth while Gramm shows off the kind of restrained hard rock vocals that made Foreigner's hit songs have an added quality to it. There are some late 70s Disco strings and Mick Jones' fiery lead at the end but it's McDonald's progressive folk guitar that provides a mellow counter point; a dynamic edge missing form their later 'Corporate Rock' sound. Like Journey, Styx et al this band started off more interesting and talented then at their supposed peak.

The Kinks (1978) (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman‏

This was during the Kinks heavy arena rock days of the late 70s and 80s where they sought a bigger commercial sound so divorced form their original look and feel. Though the Kinks started off in garage rock pioneering guitar distortion with their first hit, the seminal You Really Got Me. This is their heavy rock attempt at Disco with an aggressive, funky bassline the song goes through the motions of your typical Chic-esque disco number while Ray Davies usual kitchen sink lyrics play over it.  His  calls to be like Superman to sound closer to the Spiderman theme song but it's an interesting oddity.

Doobie Brothers (1973) Natural Thing

Starting with some towering horn like synths cutting through before the breezy rootsy Rnb soul of Tom Johnson era Doobies comes in. While he didn't have much range as a singer he had a ton of gritty soul, sort of the complete opposite of the polished falsetto of later frontman Michael Mcdonald but it's not his raw wail during the verses that impress me it's the soft scat right at the fadeout that oozes sensuality and displays his unique abilities. Meanwhile there are some pre programmed synthesisers during the verses that tastefully sound like xylophone playing. An odd package that just about works though nowhere near China Grove,  Long Train Running and Listen to the Music it's certainly as good as their later single Another Park Another Sunday; another sensual Tom Johnson gem.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1975) Mother of Love

'Music flowed from the radio like the wind'

  From their album Symphonion Dream, this is not one of their own but is another jangly slice of poppy country rock like Mr Bojangles though the lyrics are deeper. The effervescent acoustic verses and the spellbinding bridge of 'Come to me you can see right through me I'm a child in a man's disguise..'

Dwight Twilley Band (1977)‏ Looking For The Magic

Dwight Twilley Band is an underrated pop artist from the 70s this  song starts with a whisper of 'oh mercy' and some drum and piano interplay before entering the main body of the song with it's new romantic sound; a mix of power pop and new wave.  It's Twilley's hiccup vocals that makes this one stand out.

Black Sabbath (1978) A Hard Road

 Black Sabbath's 70s run with Ozzy came to an end with the Never Say Die album before they promptly said die and sacked their infamous lead singer. A Hard Road chugs along with more of a hard rock feel like many songs on the album leading to it's low standing with hardcore fans more used to their classic metal style. The subjects were less ominous more about their upbringing in Aston, Birmingham. A Hard Road is a 6 minute rocker that could have been the closer, with it's great harmony vocals at the end from the band giving it it's rousing finale. Ozzy is on top form with great lines such as 'Old Man Dyin, Young Man Cryin, World still turns as Father Time Looks on ' and a Springsteenish vibe with inspiring lyrics such as 'Forget all your sorrow, Don't live in the past. And look to the future cause life goes too fast'. A great forgotten gem that ended the 70s classic line-up, time to look to the future and the 80s for Sabbath.

Journey (1975) Mystery Mountain‏

This rocker from Journey's very Progressive rock debut where their 80s arena pop ballad sound was nowhere to be found except in the occasional Neal Schon solos with it's clear, fiery tone. There are mystical lyrics that seem to describe your average volcano with prog lyricism, though it is Schon's ending solo simply erupts with spectacle in a more radio friendly sound than his jazzier moments. Greg Rolie's vocals are still doing the job before  he would collaborate and eventually get edged out by Steve Perry's more mainstream, pop approach. This song is the best from their early period as it has the succinct structure lacking from this indulgent phase of the band. Built around a  wah wah guitar figure the song goes supersonic as Schon shows off his superior Hendrixy fretwork. It's a wonder as his thick, ray gun of a guitar tone cuts through in an incredibly euphoric run at the end; it's dexterous but very melodic and takes you out of this world and would later find its match in Perry's soaring vocals.

Commodores (1975) Cebu

The Commodores created this gem of an instrumental on the second album with it's strong 'Quiet Storm' vibe being very ahead of it's time. While their are some of their usual strongly syncopated funk this is played with a softer intensity; a calm groove made of up of a bed of thick ,waka-waka guitar and electric organ work. All played with tasteful restraint, the ethereal synthesizers aren't dramatic but are presented in a more soothing manner that few of their contemporaries outside of Smokey Robinson's Quiet Storm (1975) album were doing at this time. This brand of smooth funk subtly paints a vivid landscape as the music swells softly under layers of restrained RnB.  The dormant mix of instruments of harder soul music into a near tropical atmosphere is evidenced by the Island name of the track Cebu, and would greatly contribute towards the distinctive sound of the 'Quiet Storm' genre of the 80s and 90s.

Spooky Tooth (1973) Things Change

Built around an acoustic guitar lick this is a great song from the underrated heavy blues outfit Spooky Tooth. It's memorable hook is different from the keyboard and organ dominated sound this British group were into and included American Expat and synth hit maker Gary 'Dreamweaver' Wright pre- solo fame ofcourse.

Fleetwood Mac (1973) Night Watch

Bob Welch possesses Hunter S Thompson Gonzo style of trippy storytelling with his murmurings in the songs' coda and dreamy mix of zinging percussion, hallowed harmonies and ringing guitars strings. An oriental sounding blues with Welch's trademark sleepy vocals with post psychedelia. From the Penguin album, Welch's hypnotic jams would soon become a trademark of this middle era of the Mac of which he fronted with Santana-esque blues guitar, also see the track The Derelict from this same album for a decent attempt at country and possibly a future Blog entry here at Lost70sGems..

Jo Jo Gunne (1972) Babylon

 In 1972 the artist oriented label Asylum Records released the debut albums from two American bands;  Jojo Gunne in January then The Eagles in June. While the latter went on to great success with three singles in the charts top 22 Gunne couldn't quite get that far. The trouble was Gunne's mix of boogie rock n roll just wasn't as interesting as the Eagles pioneering blend of country and rock and neither were their songs. Gunne were not as ambitious or experimental as their previous endeavour the edgy psychedelic group, Spirit, of which they shared bassist Mark Andes and Singer Jay 'Thunder Island' Ferguson. Though less adventurous they had some decent tunes though not of the order of their label mates such as Jackson Browne. 

 They had a debut hit with the generic biker rock of 'Run Run Run' a fairly simple honky tonker that lacked the strong harmonies or fresh lyrics of Take it Easy, though ironically they had their own song called Take it Easy though it's a meandering album cut.  Run Run Run did perform higher in the UK reaching no. 6 a big achievement than what the Eagles achieved. Though it's the album track Babylon, with its fluid guitars lines and Alt-rock vibe all driven by a hypnotic rhytmm and Fergusons' supple vocals. A hip swaying groover but unfortunately the bands bland brand of boogie flavoured hard rock didn't connect with rock audiences and Ferguson would later take his melodic vocals to soft rock chart success.