Customer Reviews

Have a Nice Day 14

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another Groovy Collection of 70's Hot Wax from the folks at Rhino. This one is worth the price of admission for Ace's underrated pop-classic "How Long", Pilot's McCartney-esque "Magic" and the atmospheric wonders of "I'm Not in Love" by 10cc. Also worthy is Michael Murphey's "Wildfire", a haunting ode to a pony which was one of the most memorable hits of 1975. Sugarloaf's "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" not only rips the Music Biz, but also rips-off the Beatles' "I Feel Fine". (Quite humorously I might add...) Of course, the real treasures of these "Have a Nice Day" discs are those dreadful "only in the 70's" songs which are so bad that ultimately you just gotta love 'em. Volume 14 serves up two such "classics": Sammy Johns' stoned-out hippy anthem Chevy Van" and Carl Douglas' "Kung Fu Fighting". Both are laughably dreadful. In fact,"Kung Fu" may be the worst song of the 70's but, I must admit, camp-classics like these bring me back to the "Have a Nice Day" series over and over again! This one's a keeper -- a trip down memory lane draped in bellbottoms, black-lights and lava-lamps.

Overall a solid, representative example of what life in popular music was like after Elton John got "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" out of his system. I'm sure Ringo Starr didn't mind Jerry Corbetta's snub of him in "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You:" After all, Ringo had two hits of his own ("Only You" and "The No-No Song") sandwiched around Corbetta's offering. The cute little "boingy" sounds featured on "Up In A Puff Of Smoke" bring to mind the DeFranco Family's "Abracadabra" of a year earlier, only they're more effective - and more mature-sounding - here. "Long Tall Glasses" did for this generation of high-schoolers waht "Up On Cripple Creek" did for the previous batch, and "Wildfire" has to rank among the top ten "death pop" records ever (see what you started, Gilbert O'Sullivan?). Don't try to figure out what it was about 1975 that brought out all these "magic" and "miracle" songs - Barry Manilow's "It's A Miracle" and "Could It Be Magic?" and Jefferson Starship's "Miracles" - in addition to Pilot's "Magic." Just enjoy the Pilot cut - it won't be difficult. The lone complaint here concerns "Jackie Blue:" This CD uses the 45-rpm edit rather than the LP version, which contains an additional verse.

Chapter 14 of the "Have A Nice Day" musical saga focuses on 1974-75 with, as Paul Grein's excellent liner notes attest, many performers content to mimic the era's superstars (Eagles, Elton, McCartney).

Lyrical themes string some songs together: Hollywood stardom (the Hudson Brothers' lame power ballad, Hot Chocolate's "Emma") country-rock about the mysterious and fantastic (Michael Martin Murphy's signature #2 hit "Wildfire," the Ozark Mountain Daredevils' obtuse southern rock lite "Jackie Blue") and the requisite male fantasy (Sammy Johns "Chevy Van"). But it also includes Leo Sayer's best hit song ("Long Tall Glasses"), Paul Carrack's lead vocal debut (Ace's "How Long," about a band breakup), and two exceptionally well-produced singles (Pilot's Alan Parsons-produced "Magic" and 10CC's #2 "I'm Not In Love," heard in an edited version.) As always with this series and other various artist compilations, the ratio of familiar, well-liked hits should determine whether to purchase.

If you are like me, a child of the 70's, this disc will bring back many great memories! Chevy Van, Wildfire, Magic and Jackie Blue are all some of my favorite tunes from this era. And of course Kung Fu Fighting will liven up any party (even if some are afraid to admit it). It was one of the first gifts my girlfriend, to whom I am now happily married, gave me. 6 years later it is still a popular listen in our house and in my car. Truly one of the best 70's compilations out there!!

Check out these gems! "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas, "Chevy Van" by Sammy Johns (used as the unofficial theme song for the movie "The Van" in 1977 released, of course, by Rhino as well), "Jackie Blue" (45 edit) by Ozark Mountain Daredevils, "How Long" by Ace, "Wildfire" (45 edit) by Michael Murphy, and "Long Tall Glasses" by Leo Sayer. Wonderful stuff!

But, my absolute favorites from this Volume 14 are "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" by Sugarloaf, "Emma" by Hot Chocolate, and "Magic" by Pilot.

The sleepers are "Up in a Puff of Smoke" by Polly Brown which I'd probably enjoy more if it were mastered better, and "So You Are a Star" by the Saturday morning variety show hosts The Hudson Brothers is better than their silly "Rendezvous."

The only real disappointment with this collection is having the 45 edit of "I'm Not in Love" by 10cc. This song is too good to be able to tolerate it edited like this.

But, the gems all outweigh the mild disappointments. It's not absolutely perfect as a collection, so it loses one star.

Overall a very representative example of life in popular music after Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." I'm sure Ringo Starr got over Jerry Corbetta's snub of him in "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You;" after all Ringo had two hits of his own ("Only You" and "The No-No Song") sandwiched around Corbetta's offering. The cute little "boingy" sounds heard on "Up In A Puff Of Smoke" bring to mind the DeFranco Family's "Abracadabra" of a year earlier, only they're far more effective here. "Long Tall Glasses" did for this generation of high-schoolers what "Up On Cripple Creek" did for their predecessors, and "Wildfire" is definitely among the top ten "death pop" entries of the '70s (see what you started, Gilbert O'Sullivan?). What was it about this era that brought out all these songs with themes of "magic" and "miracles?" (In addition to Pilot's "Magic," other examples include Barry Manilow's "It's a Miracle" and "Could It Be Magic?" and Jefferson Starship's "Miracles"). Don't try and figure it out - just enjoy the Pilot cut, which fits in perfectly with the rest of the titles on the CD. The only complaint concerns "Jackie Blue:" They used the single edit and not the LP version, which has an additional verse.

I got this CD because of the classic "Chevy van" but after listening to a couple of times you learn to love all of the songs!!

Original artists, original songs! You can't get a better sound of the seventies than this line! One word of caution- don't play it in the car becuase it is impossible not to jam (people will think you are nuts!)

With the exception of the Hudson Brothers' McCartneyesque "So You Are a Star," all these tracks were monster hits. Best of all, this CD gathers some difficult to locate songs, all in their original versions.

An above average selection of songs from the H.A.N.D. series of CDs. The songs span 1974-1975. I got this CD mostly for "I'm Not In Love" since it was combined with lesser heard tracks that I'd not seen in other collections. Some comments on the individual songs: I didn't recognize "Emma" until it hit its eerie chorus, then it all came back to me. "Chevy Van" has a pleasant sound that recalls the era when vans were still very popular--a carryover from the late '60s / Ken Keesey / Woodstock wandering lifestyle. This song was also used in a Chevrolet commercial in those years. Three songs I never liked since they were overplayed and had weaknesses are "Long Tall Glasses" (completely stupid story song with no moral), "Jackie Blue" (excessively mournful bent guitar notes), "Magic" (too jerky, too aggressive, too commercial). "How Long" has a really good sound throughout and guitarists universally loved its phase shifted lead guitar solo in the middle. "Wildfire" was a favorite of a high school girl I knew then, as it probably was for all girls who were horse lovers. Definitely pretty, whether you like horses or not. "I'm Not In Love" is a bit spacy and weird, but has a nice sound and a lot of memories since it was played so often. A fragment of that song was used in a humor song about Mr. Jaws, derived from the 1975 movie "Jaws."