Have A Nice Decade: The '70s Pop Culture Box

When this material originally resurfaced in an earlier Rhino-celebrates-the-'70s program, many rock scribes contorted themselves into revisionist pretzels: this isn't so bad, they argued--none too convincingly. There'll be none of that here: much of the music on this colossal box set is godawful. The world doesn't miss the likes of Sammy ("Chevy Van") Johns and Sammy ("Candy Man") Davis. Or at least it doesn't miss the records they cut during the decade of disaster flicks and Jonathan Livingston Seagull. That said, this elaborate box is something to behold. The lovingly compiled 92-page booklet provides background on the ridiculous (David Soul, C.W. McCall, Carl Douglas) and the sublime (Parliament, James Brown, the Staple Singers), and the music swings on the same pendulum, with Harry Chapin, Bill Withers, and Cat Stevens sitting amid Wayne Newton, The Captain & Tennille, and Meco's jittery electro-take on the Star Wars theme. Seven discs, 160 selections! To paraphrase a popular ad slogan of the era, you won't believe you listened to the whole thing. --Steven Stolder Amazon.com

Great collection of 70's tunes

I liked that many of these songs fit into the "one hit wonder" category, it was fun to listen to them again after all this time. I agree with what many people said about the news snip-its randomly inserted through out - while I didn't completely hate them, it was annoying when I created an itunes play list with some of these songs for a party and all of a sudden the music stops and some weird recorded voice stated speaking about some news-worthy event. I thought they might show up as separate tracks on the CD, providing the ability to omit them from playlists, but that was not the case. Dispite this, I love the box set. July 20, 2008

Memories FOREVER!~

This is one of the best box sets EVER! From a decade that no one will miss. That is ofcousre if you have this July 15, 2008

We sing about beauty and we sing about truth.

This is a pretty cool seven CD box set that covers hit songs of the 1970s. It features songs from many different styles of music; including pop, rock, country, folk, R&B, disco, novelty and others. A few of the songs are preceded by brief excerpts from news reports or press conferences. I know that some people didn't like this aspect of the collection, but it didn't bother me, because the sound bites usually relate to the following song in an amusing way. There are many great songs here, and there are also many not-so-great songs ("Feelings", anyone?). A lot of these songs are quite frankly on the "cheesy" side, but in a way that is part of their appeal. This collection does a fantastic job of covering the good, the bad and the ugly of 1970s popular music. June 6, 2008

An Audio Way-Back Machine

Do you remember watching "Chico and The Man"? Do you remember when the Colts were in Baltimore and the Orioles were famous for Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer and Earl Weaver instead of Cal Ripken? How about Chevy Vans with Shag Carpets with murals painted along the side? If so YOU MUST PICK UP THIS BOX SET! Rhino has done a fantastic job compiling 7 CD's worth of memories from the "ME" decade. Journey back to a time when AM Radio (that's right...AM Radio) featured hits by Alice Cooper, Peter Frampton, mixed with hits from Motown artists like Stevie Wonder and James Brown...and throw in a dash of Disco for flavor. A time when music wasn't so fragmented, a time when there really was Top 40 radio. Sure some of the songs in this set are goofy, and will make you roll your eyes (Popcorn by Hot Butter) but you can't help but feel their nostalgic charm. There are going to be tons of songs in this set that you know by heart...but, there are also tunes found here that you probably haven't heard in 20+ years (well, except when today's American Idol winners and hip-hop artists steal certain portions of these songs to incorporate in today's "music") Maybe nothing on this set is ground-breaking, and the booklet included in this set even recognizes that the musical path we followed in the 1970's was nowhere near the path carved by music pioneers in the 1960's, but you will still have a great time listening to these tunes. The booklet by the way is fantastic. Great track by track listing of the songs and the artists who performed them. It's full of the useless trivia that I crave and which currently clogs up about 80% of my brain pan. I loved listening to a tune, and reading the paragraph or two about the artist or the song while it played out.
I see other reviewers here who disliked the "sound bites" or news clips that are wedged between some of the songs....I loved them, and only wish they had provided more per disk. (There is usually only 4 or 5 per CD). Sure I loved hearing "Convoy" and "The Streak" again, but I also enjoyed listening to Jimmy Carter denounce his "Playboy" interview, and nothing is so chilling as hearing Jim Jones urge his followers to "hurry" and drink the Kool-Aid before authorities arrive. Moments that really defined the 70's.
So jump into your favorite bell bottoms and peasant blouse or jam your butt into some sequined spandex and get your boogie on. February 26, 2008

Pass this one by!

This seven disc compilation would have been perfect, if Rhino had left off the highly annoying soundbites that precede many of the tracks. I did not purchase this set to hear segments of ancient news stories that did not interest me then, nevermind today! January 26, 2008

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