Customer Reviews

Best of 1976 & 1977

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4 star:		(1)
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This is a great double disc of 70s UK hits at a great price. Since this only lists the names of the songs, here are the artists in order by track listing. Disc 1 is for the year 1976(tracks 1 thru 20): Harpo, Bonnie Tyler, Tavares, Real Thing, Brotherhood of Man, Johnny Wakelin, Osibisa, KC & the Sunshine Band, Brass Construction, Jesse Green, Dorothy Moore, Barry Biggs, Little River Band, Sylvers, Wurzels, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Mud, & Pussycat.
Disc 2 is for the year 1977 (tracks 1 thru 20, shown here as tracks 21 thru 40): Mink DeVille, Al Stewart, David Soul, Hot Chocolate, The Stranglers, Bonnie Tyler, Deep Purple, Shalamar, T. Connection, Tavares, Racing Cars, Dillinger, Byron Lee & Mighty Sparrow, Crystal Gayle, Trinidad Oil Company, Peter Brown, Tom Robinson Band, Brighouse & Rastrick Band, David Parton, & Mr. Big.
The best songs on here include The Wurzels-Combine Harvester (this is a spoof song, to the melody of Melanie-Brand New Key, kind of a folk-country-pop hybrid, but very catchy and you'll be cranking it in no time), Pussycat-Mississippi (a great country pop tune, it deserved to be a US hit, sounds like a country pop version of ABBA), Mr. Big-Romeo (not to be confused the late 80s early 90s US rock group Mr. Big, this tune is a good slice of late 70s uptempo pop and certainly should have been a big US pop hit), The Stranglers-No More Heroes (a good punk-new wave tune by a good punk/new wave band), Tom Robinson Band-2-4-6-8 Motorway (guitar driven and punk influenced, but I wouldn't call it punk), and KC & the Sunshine Band-Keep It Comin' Love (which would have been a #1 hit but it was released at the same time as Debby Boone's You Light Up My Life, which spent 10 straight weeks at #1 so it had to settle for #2).
Mud-Lean on Me is a cover of Bill Withers' 1972 pop hit. David Parton-Isn't She Lovely is a cover of Stevie Wonder's hit. Parton's is pretty faithful to the original, but Wonder's version is still much better. Deep Purple-Smoke on the Water is a live version. This song was a US hit in 1973. Mink DeVille, who does Spanish Stroll, sounds like Lou Reed. Racing Cars-They Shoot Horses, Don't They is a good mellow ditty which would fall under adult contemporary. Barry Biggs-Sideshow is a reggae cover of Blue Magic's 1974 US hit. It's interesting, but nowhere near as good as the original. Shalamar-Uptown Festival is a cover medley of 60's Motown songs Going to a Go-Go, I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), Uptight (Everything Is Alright), Stop! In the Name of Love, and It's the Same Old Song.
The bad on here is Peter Brown-Do Ya Wanna Get Funky with Me is a rerecorded version. It's actually not bad as far as re-records go, this sounds like a fairly current dance remix version. However, it is a letdown if you're expecting the original. Dillinger-Cocaine has to be heard to be believed! It's basically two Jamaican guys talking with music in the background. It's a pretty weak "song" though. It's fun the first time around though, but does NOT hold up to repeated listenings!
Still the double disc is a great value and I give it 4 stars.

When I read the advertised product, I could not get enough information about the song content otherwise I would have never bought it. Never heard of half the songs or artists i.e Movie Star by Harpo. Then artists I knew sang songs I never heard of, i.e. Lost in France by Bonnie Tyler. This should never have been advertised "best of". I felt ripped off but most of all disappointed.