Customer Reviews

Super Hits Of The '70s: Have a Nice Day, Vol. 18

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Overall, this isn't a bad collection. However, I was highly dissapointed with the mix of Dream Weaver. I remember listening to the song on the radio in the 70s and thinking that the crescendo keyboards leading up to the ending was a very cool piece of music. Unfortunately, whoever mixed this edit did not(find that ending cool), as the song is quickly faded out 60 seconds pre-maturely. Some decent liner notes accompany the CD as well

Volume 18 of the "Have a Nice Day" series has a strong country flavor, highlighted by three big cross-over hits; "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights", "Afternoon Delight" and "Let Your Love Flow." Television also exerts its influence with the themes from "Happy Days" and Laverne & Shirley (a close remake but not the original!)

"Fooled Around and Fell in Love" and "Dream Weaver" are the MOR pop entries, but Starbuck's "Moonlight Feels Right" again reveals a country influence.

The selections on this particular volume have an oddly pre-fabricated sound to them, which is why I give it 4 stars rather than 5. However, it's a very worthwhile collection and a worthy entry into the overall series.

Almost all are big hits, excepting Marmalade's Four Seasons' rip-off, "Falling Apart at the Seams." These hits are tough to find anywhere else, so get them while you can! All original versions, though "Dream Weaver" has been edited slightly.

This 70's series CD contains lots of tunes that have proven themselves incredibly resilient over the last thirty years. This music hasn't quite gone away even in the 2000's. "Dream Weaver" is still a staple on "classic rock" stations, and appeared in the nostalgia movie "Wayne's World" in '93. "Let Your Love Flow" from the Bellamys, is a stirring piece of work and perhaps their only "crossover" hit. The strings and horns in Maxine's "Right Back Where We Started From" made it a crossover hit in its own right, because it was played in Country Western dance clubs, too. "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" showcased the vocal talents of Mickey Thomas, who later took Marty Balin's place in the Jefferson Starship. "Happy Days" reminds us what 50's nostalgia was like in the 70's, and now we have 70's nostalgia to deal with. So ironic. "Shannon" is an ambitious work, about a dog, not a girl, who perhaps drowned (?). Full-bodied falsetto here, though. Sing along if you dare. "Afternoon Delight", the song you love to hate, has been ribbed consistently for years. Showcased in the 90's film "Politically Correct University", as well as in the Christmas Party episode of "Arrested Development". "Moonlight Feels Right", superior for its xylophone and synth portions, but also because it might be about naughty behavior between "Starbuck" and the girl from Ole Miss (what did you think that "tricky French connection" was about, anyway?). "Really Love to See You Tonight", one of a dozen pouring-out-our-hearts tunes from England Dan and John Ford Coley, is less than two minutes long, but just try to forget the lyrics! ("I won't ask for promises/so you don't have to lie..."). Great collection. What part of your past will it make you recall? Find out.

hands down my favorite track on this cd is Starland Vocal Band's AFTERNOON DELIGHT. When I was a teenager I heard it so much I think it just buried itself in my subconscious, then after a few years of not hearing it on the radio, I'd wondered if somebody had successfully erased it from the American conscious. I had to look no farther than Amazon in a search. After all these years there it was, and it unlocked a plethora of memories for me. I recalled amusement parks, campgrounds, cookouts, and yes, even a few teenage romances! Keg parties, etc. I can't guarantee it'll do the same for other buyers but there are some songs on this cd you will recognize if you grew up in the 70's

To be honest, I impulsively bought this CD at Best Buy when I couldn't find a copy of Sugar's Copper Blue. No matter--this particular CD contains some of the best singles from 1975-76 for those of us who can't afford iPods. IMO, the two best tracks are the Bellamy Bros. country-tinged "Let Your Love Flow" followed by the gospelly-blues of Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around And Fell In Love". The amazing sound quality on these two songs makes it hard to believe these tracks are 30 years old! "Dream Weaver" suffers from a horrible edit, but this song is still a classic. Also of note is Starbuck's porn-friendly "Moonlight Feels Right" which contains the best xylophone solo on this side of a cruise ship! Skip tracks 7 thru 9--inclusions could have been "Crazy on You" by Heart or Queen's "You're My Best Friend". Still, 9 good/great songs out of 12 is pretty good for a CD only that cost me $11 Cdn. A real bargain!

Even though I'm only 22 years old but I love 1970's pop music alot better than today cause they did a better job of writing songs than they do nowadays, you probably remember the Top 10 hits like Happy Days, Dream Weaver, Afternoon Delight, Right Back Where We Started and Fooled Around and Fell in Love, boy those are great songs and too bad that they don't get timeless airplay like they used to, one of my favorites on this album are Moonlight Feels Right and the aforementioned Right Back Where We Started, if you grew up in the mid to late 1970's and want to relive your childhood days with good music, then you should buy this album and the booklet that comes with it is worth the price alone.

Wasted Days and Wasted Nights 4/5
Dream Weaver 5/5
Let Your Love Flow 5/5
Right Back Where We Started 5/5
Falling Apart at the Seams 4/5
Fooled Around and Fell in Love 5/5
Happy Days 4/5
Shannon 4/5
Were Making Our Dreams Come True 4/5
Afternoon Delight 5/5
Moonlight Feels Right 5/5

I'd Really Love to See You Tonight 4/5

I bought most of the cd's to this series in the mid nineties, and found most of the earlier ones a little smoogey sounding. The quality of the selections change greatly around volumes 14 and upwards.

Volume 18 is another hand full of great memories from the 1976 era. I love every track on this volume, but found the production a little questionable. (geee, what happened to the start of gary wright's "dream-weaver"). A bit of a slip with the buttons in the recording studio here.

The cd kicks off with a spot of romance; Freddy Fender's "wasted days and wasted nights", which was one of his biggest hits in Australia. The country and western sound of the Bellamy Brothers "let your love flow" comes through with a strong upbeat feel. My feet are always on the dancing floor, with Maxine Nightingale's "right back to where we started from". "Falling apart at the seams" was a modest hit in the lower reaches of the Australian Top 100 singles chart, and was performed by Marmalade. Not a bad track but tend to skip it as it tends to be a bit of a filler. The volume goes right up, when Elvin Bishop's "fooled around and fell in love" comes on, but for some weird reason, Rhino have chopped a huge part out of this track. :( :( Pratt And McClain take us back to late afternoon seventies television when they do their randition of "happy days". Henry Gross does a version of "Shannon" but find it hard to listen to, as I've grown up with the Ol' 55 version, but never the less still find this version okay to listen too. My favourite track off the album is "making our dreams come true" by Cyndi Grecco. 2UW in Sydney used to thrash this song at the time, and seems to be one of my very first memories, The Starland Vocal Band perform their one and only hit "afternoon delight", which is followed by Starbuck's "moonlight feels right". Always love playing this song on a moonlit summers night, when the moons just rising over the eastern horizon. I can still smell that barmy summer breeze, everytime I hear this song. The CD finishes off with that classic of all classics, "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" from England Dan. Though still played often on easy listening stations, I just love that easy laid back mid seventies feel, this song comes through with.

Again another great volume in the "Have a nice day", "Super hits of the 70's" series from Rhino.

Hitting the airwaves in 1975 and the Bicentennial year 1976 the twelve songs on this Volume 18 of the, Have A Nice Day, series is a hit and miss affair but they sure bring back some special memories for me. As a matter of fact, Shannon, and, I'd Really Love To See You Tonight, by Henry Gross and England Dan & John Ford Coley in that order were two of the very first songs purchased by me and my new bride in 1976. Shannon, has always been one of our favorites and we are still very fond of both.
Freddy Fender's, Wasted Days And Wasted Nights, adds a little 70's Country charm to this disc and Gary Wright's, Dream Weaver, The Bellamy Brother's crossover hit, Let Your Love Flow, Starland Vocal Band's, Afternoon Delight, Marmalade's, Falling Apart At The Seams, (Marmalade also have a song on Volume 2 of the, Have A Nice Day ,series)and Elvin Bishop's, Fooled Around And Fell In Love, (sung by Mickey Thomas who would eventually go on to the band, Starship, in 1979) are all classic 70s tunes and after adding the two theme songs for the two popular 70s TV series; the self titled, Happy Days, and Laverne & Shirley's, Making Our Dreams Come True, I have to say this is a decent CD. Really and truly I have to give this CD three and a half stars and as I said above; the beautiful song, Shannon, sung by Henry Gross has always been ranked by us as one of the best to come out of the 70s. It is a timeless Gem!
I purchased Volume's 1, 2, 3, and 12 of this, Super Hits Of The 70s; Have A Nice Day, series on CD from Amazon recently and I want at least two more but this Volume 18 Disc has been with us many years now. I had absolutely no idea these, Have A Nice Day, series even existed until I found Volume 18 at a music store around 1997 and at that time it was the only Volume that music store had. I wondered many times what songs was on the other 24 CD compilations and thanks to Amazon I have finally found out. Everyone will have different opinions as to which one of these series are their favorites. My own personal opinion tells me that Volume's 1 & 2 are but then that could be because I am a 50 something in age however this Volume 18 ranks fairly close to those two. Check them out and you can pick your own favorites because in one way or another they are all favorites to somebody.
Final note:I purchased Volume 3 of the, Have A Nice Day, series on cassette in 1999 and it only has ten songs on it so that is all the more reason to purchase the CDs.

Be aware that the version of Making Our Dreams Come True sounds like it was transferred from a scratchy 45. Definitely not from the original master recording. The liner notes provide no explanation for this. The collection is a solid one otherwise, one of the best of the 25 volumes.