MUSICAL SUCKITUDE

I’m not sure whether to thank Roxanne or lob a brick at her for this little gem of a meme, but it’s Monday, and my brain is still full of Weekend Sludge. So let’s have some fun with it.

The idea is to examine, in glorious detail, the Depths of Suckitude of the music that was popular when you got out of High School. Philosophy being, I suppose, that the music that was popular during the time you made that high school-to-college transition is the music that shaped your Sonic Consciousness.

Whatever.

Anyway, here’s what you do. You go to the Music Outfitters website and type your high school graduation year into the search tool. Select the “list of the 100 most popular songs” and you will get the Raw Material for the next step in the process, which is to look through the list and decide which songs you hated, which ones you liked, and which one was your favorite.

Post the list on your Online Journal, striking through the songs you hated (or still hate) and boldfacing the ones you liked (or still like). Bold and underline your favorite song. No opinion? Leave it as-is.

After looking through the list for 1970, I realized that I was fortunate enough to get out of high school in a year when there was a reasonable amount of good music playing on the pop circuit. Yes, there are songs from that year that still make me retch, and there are others that were played so much that they just wore me out. “All Right Now” by Free is a good example. It’s not a terrible song per se, but it seems that when I was off at college, I’d hear that song every fucking time I ate in the dining hall. I therefore associate it with Dining Hall Food and early classes: not a felicitous combination.

And the Jackson Five? Gaaaahhhh.

The Carpenters? Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

But we had some good stuff, too. The Beatles were still on the charts, fer cryin’ out loud.

All y’all who had to grow up listening to 1980’s music? I weep for you.

Anyway, here’s my list. What does yours look like?

1. Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
   
2. (They Long To Be) Close To You, Carpenters
   
3. American Woman / No Sugar Tonight, The Guess Who
   
4. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, B.J. Thomas
   
5. War, Edwin Starr
   
6. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Diana Ross
   
7. I’ll Be There, Jackson 5
   
8. Get Ready, Rare Earth
   
9. Let It Be, The Beatles
   
10. Band Of Gold, Freda Payne
    
11. Mama Told Me (Not To Come), Three Dog Night [Randy Newman’s version is much better - and he wrote it]
    
12. Everything Is Beautiful, Ray Stevens
    
13. Make It With You, Bread
    
14. Hitchin’ A Ride, Vanity Fair
    
15. ABC, Jackson 5
    
16. The Love You Save / I Found That Girl, Jackson 5
    
17. Cracklin’ Rose, Neil Diamond
    
18. Candida, Dawn
    
19. Thank You (Fallettin Me Be Mice Elf Again) / Everybody Is A Star, Sly and The Family Stone
    
20. Spill The Wine, Eric Burdon and War
    
21. O-o-h Child / Dear Prudence, Five Stairsteps and Cubie
    
22. Spirit In The Sky, Norman Greenbaum
    
23. Lay Down (Candles In The Rain), Melanie and The Edwin Hawkins Singers
    
24. Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today), Temptations
    
25. Love On A Two Way Street, Moments
    
26. Which Way You Goin’ Billy?, Poppy Family
    
27. All Right Now, Free
    
28. Julie, Do Ya Love Me, Bobby Sherman
    
29. Green-eyed Lady, Sugarloaf
    
30. Signed Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours), Stevie Wonder
    
31. Ride Captain Ride, Blues Image
    
32. Venus, Shocking Blue
    
33. Instant Karma (We All Shine On), John Ono Lennon
    
34. Patches, Clarence Carter
    
35. Lookin’ Out My Back Door / Long As I Can See The Light, Creedence Clearwater Revival
    
36. Rainy Night In Georgia, Brook Benton
    
37. Something’s Burning, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition
    
38. Give Me Just A Little More Time, Chairmen Of The Board
    
39. Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes), Edison Lighthouse
    
40. The Long And Winding Road / For You Blue, The Beatles [L&WR had too many frickin’ strings for me. The version recently released on Let It Be - Naked is much better. FYB is just fine.]
    
41. Snowbird, Anne Murray
    
42. Reflections Of My Life, Marmalade
    
43. Hey There Lonely Girl, Eddie Holman
    
44. The Rapper, Jaggerz
    
45. He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Hollies
    
46. Tighter, Tighter, Alive and Kicking
    
47. Come And Get It, Badfinger
    
48. Cecelia, Simon and Garfunkel
    
49. Love Land, Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
    
50. Turn Back The Hands Of Time, Tyrone Davis
    
51. Lola, Kinks
    
52. In The Summertime, Mungo Jerry
    
53. Indiana Wants Me, R. Dean Taylor
    
54. (I Know) I’m Losing You, Rare Earth
    
55. Easy Come, Easy Go, Bobby Sherman
    
56. Express Yourself, Charles Wright and The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
    
57. Still Water (Love), Four Tops
    
58. Make Me Smile, Chicago
    
59. House Of The Rising Sun , Frijid Pink
    
60. 25 Or 6 To 4, Chicago [OK song, if you like Chicago. Played to death.]
    
61. My Baby Loves Lovin’, White Plains
    
62. Love Or Let Me Be Lonely, Friends Of Distinction
    
63. United We Stand, Brotherhood Of Man
    
64. We’ve Only Just Begun, Carpenters
    
65. Arizona, Mark Lindsay
    
66. Fire And Rain, James Taylor
    
67. Groovy Situation, Gene Chandler
    
68. Evil Ways, Santana
    
69. No Time, The Guess Who
    
70. Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time), Delfonics
    
71. The Wonder Of You / Mama Liked The Roses, Elvis Presley
    
72. Up Around The Bend / Run Through The Jungle, Creedence Clearwater Revival
    
73. (If You Let Me Make Love To You Then) Why Can’t I Touch You, Ronnie Dyson
    
74. I Just Can’t Help Believing, B.J. Thomas
    
75. It’s A Shame, Spinners
    
76. For The Love Of Him, Bobbi Martin
    
77. Mississippi Queen, Mountain
    
78. I Want To Take You Higher, Ike and Tina Turner
    
79. The Letter, Joe Cocker
    
80. Ma Belle Amie, Tee Set [Or, as I called it, “Ralph Bellamy.”]
    
81. The Bells, Originals
    
82. Yellow River, Christie [Written by I. P. Daly?]
    
83. Somebody’s Been Sleeping, 100 Proof and Aged In Soul
    
84. Vehicle, Ides Of March
    
85. Gimme Dat Ding, Pipkins
    
86. Lay A Little Lovin’ On Me, Robin McNamara
    
87. Up The Ladder To The Roof, Supremes
    
88. Travelin’ Band / Who’ll Stop The Rain, Creedence Clearwater Revival
    
89. Come Saturday Morning, Sandpipers
    
90. Psychedelic Shack, Temptations
    
91. Without Love (There Is Nothing), Tom Jones
    
92. Are You Ready?, Pacific Gas and Electric
    
93. Woodstock, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
    
94. I’ll Never Fall In Love Again, Dionne Warwick
    
95. Look What They’ve Done To My Song Ma, New Seekers
    
96. Walk A Mile In My Shoes, Joe South
    
97. The Thrill Is Gone, B.B. King
    
98. It’s Only Make Believe, Glen Campbell
    
99. Call Me, Aretha Franklin

Note: If you’re wondering about the relatively small number of songs in boldface, keep in mind that this was what was playing on the Top 40 stations all year. I was not then, nor am I now, a big fan of the kind of Pop Music that got played on the radio. Back then, I was listening to a lot of Procol Harum, Jethro Tull (the good, early stuff), Frank Zappa, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Miles Davis.

And if you’re wondering, “Why only 99 songs?” it’s because the list I got from the Music Outfitters site was missing Number 26. My list has been renumbered, but it’s in the correct order.