Various Artists - Now Thats What I Call The 70s (5CD) [CD]

It’s time to celebrate an incredible decade in pop music – and with so many huge hits to choose from we had to make this a 100 track selection across 5 CDs – including more than 40 #1 singles… immerse yourself in rock, glam, disco, punk, new wave, soul, easy listening and pure pop gold … ‘NOW That’s What I Call The 70s’! Kicking off with one of Queen’s best loved anthems, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ ahead of the timeless ‘Mr Blue Sky’ from Electric Light Orchestra, and the brilliant ‘Baker Street’ from Gerry Rafferty. Four of 1979’s #1s are next from The Police, Blondie, Gary Numan and The Buggles – with the latter two pointing the way toward the next decade with their synth led sound. A run of punk and new wave classics from The Boomtown Rats, The Clash, Pretenders, The Undertones and Siouxsie And The Banshees feature ahead of the 1975 chart topper ‘Make Me Smile…’ from Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, and iconic hits ‘American Pie’, and ‘Maggie May’ from Don McLean and Rod Stewart respectively. The first CD closes with ‘Mississippi’ - a pop-country #1 from Pussycat, Dolly Parton with the unforgettable ‘Jolene’, and Neil Diamond with the enduringly popular ‘Sweet Caroline’. Rock in the ‘70s is represented on Disc 2 by Bruce Springsteen with his signature ‘Born To Run’, Meat Loaf with the epic drama of ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, Status Quo with ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’ – their Top 3 smash from 1977, that nearly 8 years later would open ‘Live Aid’, and Thin Lizzy with ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’. R&B legends Ike & Tina Turner hit with ‘Nutbush City Limits’, and Joan Armatrading made her debut with the beautiful ‘Love And Affection’. Legendary soul follows from Marvin Gaye with ‘What’s Going On’ and The Stylistics with ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ – and staying with huge ballads, Harry Nilsson and Chicago both hit #1 with their masterful love songs. Justin Hayward had a massive hit with ‘Forever Autumn’, and Billy Joel had his second UK hit with ‘My Life’. In the wake of his death, ‘Way Down’ hit #1 for Elvis Presley, while rock & roll revivalists’ close the second disc – Showaddywaddy with their chart topper ‘Under The Moon Of Love’, and Darts with their debut hit ‘Daddy Cool / The Girl Can’t Help It’. Disco was a massive genre with some of the greatest stars and biggest hits of the decade featured - Donna Summer opens with her version of ‘MacArthur Park’ ahead of a trio of #1s from Gloria Gaynor with ‘I Will Survive’, ‘YMCA’ from Village People, and Baccara with ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’. Chic, Sister Sledge and Earth, Wind & Fire all enjoyed massive hits along with Barry White who hit the top spot in 1974 with ‘You’re The First, The Last, My Everything’. More dance-floor-filling #1s are up next from The Four Seasons, George McCrae and Tina Charles plus more disco smashes from Heatwave and Odyssey before slowing for soul infused ballads from Rose Royce with ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’, and Commodores with their 1978 #1 ‘Three Times A Lady’. The CD winds down with essential easy-listening-pop from Dean Friedman w/ Denise Marsa, Kiki Dee, Shirley Bassey and #1s from Demis Roussos and Manhattan Transfer with ‘Chanson D’Amour’. Stars don’t come much bigger than Elton John, and Disc Four opens with his timeless classic ‘Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long Long Time)’ before huge pop #1s from David Essex and Gilbert O’Sullivan. Glam rock & pop ruled the charts from 1972 to 1974 and from those years, Mott The Hoople, Roxy Music, Sparks and Alvin Stardust are featured alongside #1s from Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Wizzard and 1974’s biggest seller ‘Tiger Feet’ from Mud. Also #1 in the same year were The Rubettes with ‘Sugar Baby Love’, and unforgettable pop gems from Pilot with ‘Magic’ and Bay City Rollers with ‘Shang-A-Lang’ are included. The disc moves towards its close with some of the decade’s biggest soul hits; The Three Degrees and Freda Payne topped the charts with ‘When Will I See You Again’ and ‘Band Of Gold’ – and Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross reinforced their superstar status. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon & Garfunkel has become one of the most loved songs of all time – and this 1970 #1 starts off our final disc, ahead of 10cc’s classic ‘I’m Not In Love’. The run of stunning ballads continues with Bread, Roberta Flack and ‘When I Need You’, #1 in 1977 from Leo Sayer. Hot Chocolate hit the top with ‘So You Win Again’ – and Boney M. not only hit #1 in 1978 with ‘Rivers Of Babylon’, but it became the year’s best seller and sold over 2 million copies. Althea & Donna and Carl Douglas achieved truly original #1s with ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ and ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ whilst Jackson 5, Billy Ocean, and The Wombles also enjoyed massive pop success. 1976’s biggest seller was the UK’s entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest – the winning song ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’ from Brotherhood Of Man, and it opens a trio of pure pop classics that also feature Dawn feat. Tony Orlando and The New Seekers. Our final five selections from this amazing decade include #1s from Terry Jacks and David Soul, ‘Devil Woman’ from Cliff Richard which went on to become one of his most popular songs, Olivia Newton-John with the anthemic karaoke favourite ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’ from the ‘Grease’ soundtrack – and coming to an end with ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ – a gigantic record breaking hit for Paul McCartney & Wings, which spent 9 weeks at #1, and became the first single to sell over two million copies in the UK! Celebrate the diversity and creativity of an amazing time in pop music with 100 fabulous tracks from this incredible decade… NOW That’s What I Call The 70s