Your coverage on so many music artist is always top shelf. Then having so many of them in your personal collection is amazing. Have you ever revealed how many albums you own. Thanks for another enjoyable episode into music history.

Speaking of Heart, I saw them in concert last year with Cheap Trick opening, and I have to say that the live performance of the instrumental opening of Crazy On You sent wonderful chills down my spine. It was like seeing the Who in their prime. Sadly, Ann Wilson had to perform from a wheelchair, but she was in great voice; and Nancy was extremely energetic.

The time between late 1974 and early 1976 seemed to be a truly excellent time for no-filler all killer greatest hits, including the ones you mentioned like Chicago, America and Helen Reddy in late 1975, as well as Elton John's Greatest Hits in late 1974 and the blockbuster Eagles Greatest Hits in February 1976.

Well done one of my favorite years I made the big jump in 1975/76 in buying and becoming a big music fan! “Speed of Sound” still today one of my all time favorite albums .. I know it’s more about the memories but I absolutely love it! “Silk Degrees” became one of the greatest blue eyed soul albums of all time!

Speaking of Dream Weaver, I find it interesting that the original version has Gary Wright singing, "I've just closed my eyes again," while his re-recorded version has him singing, "I have just closed my eyes again." I see that as a sign of integrity, indicating that the re-recording was just that and not misleading anybody.

Excellent episode, Steve. What a great reminder of the variety of memorable music released at this time. And yeah, I'm a Boz Skaggs fan as well. Looking forward to hearing more, and have a GREAT week!😃

Thanks for the shout out regarding the slow version of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. I'm both shocked and not shocked that the single doesn't mention that Richard Carpenter arranged the strings on Sedaka's version. Surprised because that would have been a good selling point for the song, and not surprised because the Carpenters fired Sedaka as their opening act, purportedly because he was introducing celebrity members of the audience, something Richard was supposed to do. Sedaka, IIRC, took his firing as a point of pride, claiming the Carpenters were intimidated by his more energetic performances.

I miss the days of 45 records. Back in the early and mid-70's I used to play disc jockey with a stack of 45s. I used my older sister's portable record player, which allowed you to stack 45s. I had my Dad's cassette tape recorder and would provide the "patter' between the records on my pretend radio stations - usually WHO or WHAT - AM.  "WHO are ya listenin' to tonight? WHO AM, of course. Time for another six pack, POP,  song five!"  I wish I still had some of those recordings. Eventually I actually worked as a DJ at my college radio station and at a Country radio station in my hometown ( I worked holidays and Summer evenings and weekends. It was a sunup to sundown AM station.) The first quarter of 1976 I was a junior in high school and remember all of these records you've mentioned. There was a lot of music during that time period I didn't like very much, but of course I was already a big Beach Boys fan and hoping they'd put out some good new material. More on FIFTEEN BIG ONES when you discuss it. Thanks, as always, Steve!

Steve………Thank you.    This program has brought me many lost memories and much info that I just didn’t know.  I was becoming a true “grown up” in 1975-76, graduating from college, getting married, and starting my career writing software.  As much as music meant to me in the 60’s and early 70’s, I just didn’t pay attention to music during this time.....except for what the Beach Boys were doing.   Even then, I didn’t see a Beach Boys concert from 1974 until 1983, just a month or two before Dennis died.   I have been listening to many of the singles you showed in the top 10 lists of this time.  One that really stands out is Heart’s Dreamboat Annie.  What a beautiful song.  The vocal harmonies remind me of what Brian might have done with that song.
I noticed the “Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl” album in your book case.   I have that record as well.  It’s an interesting album (although it was released in 1977, not 1976…but I wasn’t going to mention that).        I always look forward to your next program.  Thanks for all you do.  Have a great week……Lamont

Great video about a strange time. That Eagles album was a real gem. All the best Ray.

Speaking of LPs that included extras, my father was lucky to have found an abandoned Quadrophenia album by The Who, obviously a 1973 pressing, with the very big photo book included. When I started collecting Who records in the early 1980s, that book was not included on what were obviously later pressings.

Funny the memories that get triggered as you rifle through the releases of the time.  The memory that immediately came to mind occurred as you mentioned the Bay City Rollers.  I remember how the ABC network tried to make Howard Cosell the next / new Ed Sullivan.  He was made the host of a new TV variety show called Saturday Night Live With Howard Cosell.  They kept promoting that they were going to introduce the next huge British phenomenon, heavily implying that these guys were going to be the next Beatles.  Who were these guys?  None other than the Bay City Rollers.  They even (supposedly) had the Rollers perform via satellite from Scotland.  The song “Saturday Night” was catchy but was no “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” or “She Loves You”!

Great episode Steve and I love the shirt. I am ashamed to admit I didn't discover the Ramones till I was in my fifties. I might have mentioned this before that I love all the info you provide. I used to love the Bay City Rollers. That Kodak song reminds me of that Fun, Fun, Fun Kodak jingle on that Teammates album from Dean Torrance, which I got because of your channel. Of course, I love ELO and so does my youngest son. A Night At The Opera is one of those albums that I can play the whole album without skips. Sounds like another great year for music. Anyway, thanks as always.

Glad to see C.W. McCall get a mention! I'm becoming a huge fan of his work and I'm trying to track all of it down. Many of his albums didn't make it past vinyl/8-track so it's a bit trickier than it should be. My brother had the "Outlaws" album, I mostly remember Waylon and Jessie's great duet on "Suspicious Minds." It's often joked that The Who only hired Keith Moon as a temporary drummer and always intended to replace him when the right person came along and while I'm not sure I believe that entirely, some of his antics make me think it crossed their minds more than once LOL Great one as always!

There was some fantastic music around in 1976 and you're spot on about the actual quality of the album sleeves, they were certainly not built to last with "Run with the pack" by Bad Company a prime example. A great time for the "Greatest hits" releases with Chicago, The Eagles. Helen Ready, and America, among those I bought at the time. Queen's "A Night at the Opera" was an album that always brings back some fond memories.

Just like Al Jardine's demo of The Road Not Taken, part of Bob Dylan's Hurricane sounds like Ray Peterson's Tell Laura I Love Her, the part where Dylan sings, "this is the story of the Hurricane." it sounds like "no one knows what happened that day" in the Peterson hit.

I like the Bay City Rollers' Saturday Night, but it drives me up a wall when they sing "gonna keep on dancin' to the rock and roll." That "the" doesn't belong there, but I guess they had to keep it in to sing a certain amount of syllables.

Speaking of Hot Chocolate, their lesser known (in North America at least) song Rumours (with some lyrics that would be quite controversial Stateside) has the most vicious sounding and thus glorious funk guitar I ever heard. Of course, they did the original Brother Louie (made a much bigger hit by the American group Stories) and the original version has even more controversial lyrics and a very ominous sound.

Great deep dive into 1976 Steve. And since you're wearing a Ramones t-shirt, I figure you'll definitely be open to my suggestion. You realize this April was the 50th anniversary of the release of the Ramones first album. While not very successful in terms of chart placement & sales, the album had a profound affect on Rock and Roll. When the Ramones went to England to promote it, playing on the 4th of July bicentennial independence day itself, the aftermath was immediate. Kids in the audience were amazed at how loud energetic and simple the music was. 3 chords, 2 minutes, loud fast, no guitar solo. Hearing the Ramones was a revelation, & the kids went on to form their own bands. That was the actual birth of punk rock, and the Ramones were the pioneers who made it all happen. Recorded in a studio at radio city for just $5000. This album, though sales were modest, gave birth to not only punk, but also inspired hardcore, speed metal, and grunge.over the years blitzkrieg bop has become a staple of stadium rock. I hope you at least mention them when you get to the second quarter of 76 in music. Other albums from that year have become mere relics, but the Ramones has become a milestone in Rock and Roll history...

Disappointed not to hear your Paul Stanley impression again from the last time you mentioned Kiss from the 1975 episodes