Updating the nows - Now Yearbook 1976

We are back on road, rolling back the years with the Now Yearbook so after a gap as I didn't bother with the 1997 edition we pick up from the 1977 Volume and jump back in 1976 the year of the IMF bail out and the great Summer Heatwave.

Back then we'd be sat around the record player or Hifi feeding discs as that was the dominant recorded music format then with our besties talking and singing along which is a good a reason to get the record version (it's on a four cd version) as that just takes us right back.

Basically we get a selection from the cd version with the only moan from me about where Love Me Like I Love You is, a top 5 Rollers hit it delivers on lime green vinyl.

 Record One kicks off in magnificent style with signature songs from legendary artists: A number 2 in 1976, Queen’s ‘Somebody To Love’ is first up, followed by Electric Light Orchestra with ‘Livin’ Thing’, Fleetwood Mac with ‘Say You Love Me from Rumours’, and 10cc with ‘I’m Mandy Fly Me’. Dr. Hook had a huge hit with ‘A Little Bit More’, and Chicago chart topping number1 with their all-time classic ballad ‘If You Leave Me Now’, while the side closes with Eric Carmen’s enduringly popular ‘All By Myself’. 

Flipping over to Side Two we have huge hits from the year – including 4 number1s: 14 years after making their UK chart debut, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons enjoyed their first chart-topper with ‘December 1963 (Oh What a Night) following on from their 1975 resurgence’, while Leo Sayer reached number 2 in the UK, and had a number1 in the US with ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing’. 

Pop gems follow from David Dundas, Bryan Ferry, Sailor, Smokie – and Slik, featuring a pre-Ultravox Midge Ure reached the top with ‘Forever And Ever’ produced by the same team that had hits with the Bay City Rollers. 

Showaddywaddy celebrated their biggest hit and their first number 1 with ‘Under The Moon Of Love’keeping us entertained that christmas, and the UK won at Eurovision, with the winner ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’ by Brotherhood Of Man not only topping the chart but also becoming 1976’s biggest seller and bringing the first LP to a close.
 

Record Two opens with a stellar run of pure-pop classics. Elton John celebrated his first UK number1 single, in a duet with Kiki Dee on ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, and Cliff Richard with ‘Devil Woman’, Tina Charles debuted with ‘I Love To Love’ and The Real Thing with ‘You To Me Are Everything’. 

More pop nuggets follow from Billy Ocean and Dana, before the side finishes with R&J Stone with ‘We Do It’ and the evergreen ‘Midnight Train To Georgia’ from Gladys Knight & The Pips.

 Side Two opens with ‘Silly Love Songs’ gave Wings a UK number 2 and became ‘76’s biggest seller in the US and opens a run of great vocalists; Neil Diamond, Daryl Hall & John Oates with ‘She’s Gone’, Paul Simon’s ’50 Ways To Leave Your Lover’ and a trio of the year’s classic rock smashes: ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ from Thin Lizzy, ‘Squeeze Box’ from The Who, and closing with the epic ‘Music’ from John Miles.
 

Record Three celebrates ‘76’s dancefloor scene with a stunning collection of disco and soul gold: First up, Donna Summer with her debut smash ‘Love To Love You Baby’ before ‘More More More’ from Andrea True Connection and Candi Staton’s timeless ‘Young Hearts Run Free’. Melba Moore with ‘This Is It’ comes ahead of Diana Ross with the genre-defining ‘Love Hangover’, and the side is completed with huge floor-fillers from Tavares and Barry White ahead of The Isley Brothers with the soul standard ‘Harvest For The World’.

 On Side Two country music is represented with Dolly Parton making her UK singles chart debut with ‘Jolene’ three years after it was a hit in the US, but it was a Dutch band, Pussycat, who hit the top with their country-pop track ‘Mississippi’. Bonnie Tyler made her chart debut with ‘Lost In France’, and ‘Forever And Ever’ gave Demis Roussos a ’76 chart topper, and an easy-listening classic, whilst Guys N Dolls had a second Top 5 hit with their cover of ‘You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me’. The LP ends with a trio of the year’s most beautiful ballads: Gallagher And Lyle with ‘Heart On My Sleeve’, ‘Love And Affection’ the stunning singles chart debut for Joan Armatrading, and finishing with a second peerless single on this collection from Elton John with ‘Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word’.

This is an enjoyable rump through 1976 in music even if for licensing reasons we have no Abba or David Bowie present. 

Raves From The Grave redux

We're going backwards here looking at a post made in December 2010 while it is bank holiday and my thoughts are on the return to School Days next month.

Back then I started to work through from tapes I had finding songs I'd not bought on record and cd and at that time I started to download albums and tracks  so I downloaded a group of tracks from around 1983-4 that were mainly American hits so not compiled over here.

By then I'd got this group of tracks  number had been transferred to various Mp3 players over the years  but when the old computer died, it took some of these.

Billy Satellite: Satisfy Me Aug 84
Ratt: Round and Round July 84
Night Ranger Sister Christian June 84
Dwight Twilly Band: Girls April 84
Twisted Sister: We're Not Gonna take It '83)
Twisted Sister: I Am (I'm Me) (UK April 83)
Twisted Sister: I Wanna Rock (84)
Twisted Sister: Stay Hungry (84)
Twisted Sister: Leader Of The Pack
Twisted Sister: Come Out and Play

Recently though while I've lost my original iTunes and Amazon accounts I used then, I had found my 7Digital one where some were still available.

I decided to download a Twister Sister compilation that added a few more favourites, I'd got the Tell It Like It Is Ratt compilation on cd since given I had liked Night Ranger got their Midnight  Madness and  Seven Wishes from 1984 and 5 resepectively.

I also added Billy Satellites debut, Peter Schillings Error In The System  and John Waite's No Breaks  albums which were all hits with me back then.

 

Moving more into the decade that started after 2010 had finished I was missing the two published albums by the American country pop group The Band Perry from 2010 with the above which was their debut plus Promise, their 2013 follow up.

 

Original they had been Aac downloads from Apples iTunes Stores and lost in time but I was able to track down the original cds and using the dbPoweramp software make copies for the computer and Fiio music player.

 This album a compilation from 2001 that had David Sylvian, Japan and Rain Tree Crow tracks still existed but only in an early mushy Mp3 so I got the full cd quality Flac album version to replace it with as I do now have a reissue lp of it so having a physical copy is as the English say, sorted.

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Fleetwood Mac "Self Titled"

 Like a lot of people of my era the radio featured a lot in our lives being the preeminent way of hearing new music in a world with very limited music on tv and no internet.

Sometimes you might write down a list of likes, in the past you may of taped the odd song off the radio or a friends record or borrowed the tape from the library.

I was never a Fleetwood Mac fan in my earliest days although I knew people who were so it wasn't until we were well into the cd era that I bought this, the first "California" era Fleetwood Mac album issued in 1975 when I was screaming my head off for the Rollers! 

It was responsible for the four singles Warm Ways, Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win), Over My Head and Say You Love Me (Edited) that were popular on album based radio, hardly Radio One playlist material.

I had a decent cd of this but no record so this recent Rhino High Fidelity release was welcome not least for being cut for the very first time in over forty years from the actual master tape rather than a copy. No cd has been transferred from it either.

It has deep, clean, tight bass that shows Mike Fleetwood's bass drum kit well and clear mids bringing out the vocals clearly without sounding screechy.

This can join my copies of Rumours and Tango In The Night on vinyl while the bulk of my collection of Fleetwood remains on cd or sacd. 

Warmer sounds

 

We may be heading into another heatwave this week so layers may end up being off and sleep might happen downstairs as hot air rises (and how in this house) so I've got most things done in advance which has taken a bit out of me but less than the attempt to do same during that heatwave.

I've checked up on the record racks to ensure things are more upright rather than snaking with bulges to avoid major warping issues.

There's been a few new record arrive in the last few weeks, mainly classical and one came a few days ago. 

 Issued originally in 1976, this was an early classical lp I did have but it runs for just under an hour which is a lot to get on a single lp so it didn't sound as good as it could.

Recently though the original four channel tape was found and that has been used, remixed on the fly  cut directly to vinyl over two discs now.

It unusually for classic records was also cut at 45 rpm who audiophiles maintain sounds cleaner, something that specialty popular labels having been doing for a while and it does now sound fuller while at the same time allowing to be cut louder does reduce surface noise which is telling in the quietest moments and decaying seconds of notes.

It was well worth it. 

Cuteness my way

It is August and it feels like ages since I last made a post a bit like this, shifting interests, other things intruding a bit more than is necessarily good for me, some issues elsewhere around things and the odd hole emerging.

Way back around 2009/10 I liked going to BHS in the City Centre because they stocked a good selection of things like cute knickers and socks that easily matched everything else I wore however broad that might be compared to so folks tastes.

Things like cute animals such panda's, pretty hearts and stars tended to feature or just more pale pastel designs but they've been gone for ages.

So Neko me chose cats that happened to be stocked by Accessorise In Style (their spelling NEVER mine!) on CatBay tm in a super soft finish in this ankle length design which is ideal for the summer months when you need something between shoes or trainers and your lower paws.

And they're just fine.

Likes an that

We'd be normally away this week but for reasons that's not happening this time so we're looking at other things rather packing cases like really what are you about as this girl as not everyone is the same even some might think you *ought* to tick their boxes.

Really I'm not in with the more uber-frilly sort for a number of reasons that include practicality as a person like me who struggles with dressing and isn't very stable doesn't need something with lots of buttons, tie-up fastenings and so pouffed out skirts and dresses I may catch myself in them, falling over.

I'd need help with things like that which isn't really what other peoples breaks are for by a long shot. 

 

 

It's not that I don't like dolls in their frilly outfits, bows and a bit of pink and objects that more decorative than functional and currently I'm colouring in Barbie but I like being out of doors more and that's not the environment that lends itself to frilly stuff not least on walks when you'd easily get tangled up and no I'm not really into classic "little girl dresses" even you might get me into some a bit frillier than what you'd normally expect.

 

I've been dusting off some classic 80's albums by Haircut 100 and Nick Heyward in the cd racks and this one featuring a reproduction of a postcard of Lake Louise, On. is one from 2017 I liked rather a lot and they're on tape.

 

Well one started off as a tape originally and two were taped back in the mid 1980's on an early hifi set up I had. I just love songs and singing.
 

July round up

Cooler weather most certainly suits me better that's a fact and one era I like to get out to is Hassall Green which isn't so far away  along the canal which is fairly busy at this time of year making their way from the Midlands to Runcorn and beyond in the North.

Fortunately apart from being on the Salt Line, the local bus does pass near it which helps as walking along the main road to Sandbach large portions without any kind of pathway isn't for the fainthearted.
 

There's been a few records in replacing a number that went AWL many years ago which have been cleaned sleeved and played. 

 In other news Hacker T Dogg will be joining the Blue Peter team as presenter number 44 from September 5th according to Friday's reveal on the show before it takes a summer break although activities have been posted on the Fan Club page for people to have a go at during that period before the new style show resumes.