Classic Rock Gems from the ‘70s: An In-Depth Analysis

1. 50’s The Coasters - Framed

2. 60’s An interview with Eric Burdon revealed that he first heard the song in a club in Newcastle, England, where it was sung by the Northumbrian folk singer Johnny Handle. The Animals were on tour with Chuck Berry and chose it because they wanted something distinctive to sing.[14] The Animals' version transposes the narrative of the song from the point of view of a woman led into a life of degradation to that of a man whose father was now a gambler and drunkard, rather than the sweetheart in earlier versions. The Animals had begun featuring their arrangement of "House of the Rising Sun" during a joint concert tour with Chuck Berry, using it as their closing number to differentiate themselves from acts that always closed with straight rockers.[15] It got a tremendous reaction from the audience, convincing initially reluctant producerMickie Most that it had hit potential,[15] and between tour stops the group went to a small recording studio on Kingsway in London[15] to capture it. -Wikipedia

3. The members of Toto were or are: Steve Lukather, David Paich, Steve Porcaro, Joseph Williams, Shannon Forrest, Keith Carlock, Leland Sklar, Jeff Porcaro, Bobby Kimball, Mike Porcaro, Simon Phillips, David Hungate, Fergie Frederikson, Jean-Michel Byron, Greg Phillinganes and Nathan East. Their influences include Bob Marley, Steely Dan, George Harrison and Elton John. In this track there is a good piano piece in it, especially at the beginning where it feels like the notes are going to be held but they change to another chord, and the Guitar is very nice and fluctuates in how difficult they play, the vocals are also great, especially when everyone sings at once. I chose this track because it’s one of my favourites from the 70’s, the Guitar line to this song is easy in some parts but then can be hard at others, the piano is very nice to listen to, and it was inserted well for being in a Rock song, and when the band members all sing at once you feel like they really had emotion whilst making and performing this song. –(Wikipedia a, 2018) 70’s "Hold the Line" is a song by the American rock band Toto. The song was written by the band's keyboardist David Paich, and the lead vocals were performed by Bobby Kimball. The song was released as the band's debut single, and was featured on their debut 1978 eponymous album. The song was a huge success in the U.S.; it reached Number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[3] during the winter of 1978–79, and Number 14 on the official UK chart. –(Wikipedia b, 2018)

4. The band consists of Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Joe Bouchard and Allen Lanier Other members that were or are in the band are Richie Castellano, Kasim Sulton, Jules Radino, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Miranda, Bobby Rondinelli, Les Braunstein, Chuck Burgi, Greg Smith, Rick Downey, Jon Rogers, Jon Miceli, Ron Riddle, John O’Reilly, Tommy Zvoncheck, Jimmy Wilcox and Andrew Winters. One of their main inspirations was from the early rock magazine ”Crawdaddy” What I like about this song is its distinctive lyrics and the Guitar throughout the whole song, it gives off a calm feeling, because of the drums, guitar and vocals not being too heavy despite it being a Rock song, and being considered a Heavy Rock song as well. Why I chose this track over others is that I feel like this song is distinctive in a few ways, the arpeggio guitar riff gives off the calm feeling of the song before all the other instruments come in, and as the drums come in you can tell it’s not going to be a heavy and sad song about death, but more of a calm and light song. –(Wikipedia c, 2018) 70’s (P2) (Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by the American rock band Blue Öyster Cult from their 1976 album, Agents of Fortune. The song, written and sung by the band's lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, deals with eternal love and the inevitability of death. Dharma wrote the song while picturing an early death for himself. Released as an edited single, the song was Blue Öyster Cult's biggest chart success, reaching #7 in Cash Box and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1976. Additionally, critical reception was mainly positive and, in 2004, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was listed at number 405 on the Rolling Stone list of the top 500 songs of all time. –(Wikipedia d, 2018)

5. 80’s "The Final Countdown" is a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. Written by Joey Tempest, it was based on a keyboard riff he made from the early '80s and inspired by David Bowie's "Space Oddity". Originally made to just be a concert opener, it is the first single from the band's third studio album, also named The Final Countdown. The song reached number one in 25 countries,[4] including the United Kingdom, and was certified gold in that country in 1986.[5] In the United States, the song peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 18 on the Billboard Album Rock Trackschart. A music video by Nick Morris was made to promote the single that features footage from the band's two concerts at the Solnahallen in Solna, as well as extra footage of the sound checks at said concerts. -Wikipedia

6. 90’s "No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young)" is a song recorded by the remaining three members of the British rock band Queen in 1997 following the death of the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991. GuitaristBrian May – the writer of the song – and drummerRoger Taylor share lead vocals. The song was released on the album Queen Rocks and it was also released as a double a-side single with "Tie Your Mother Down". The impetus for the song came after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in August 1997, but is largely a eulogy to Freddie Mercury. It was dedicated to Mercury and all those who die too soon.[1] It was originally written for a potential Brian May solo project, which eventually evolved into the album Another World. He sent the demo of the song to Roger Taylor, who by his own account put it in a drawer and forgot about it.[2] After eventually hearing it, Taylor suggested that it could be turned into a Queen song. Roger Taylor's contribution was to change the tempo and make the lyrics less specific to Mercury. The song featured only the remaining three members of Queen, the final new recording to be released under the Queen name alone. This was also the last new recording to feature bass guitarist John Deacon, who subsequently retired from public life. This was the last original Queen release until the 2014 release Queen Forever. -Wikipedia

7. 00’s "Clint Eastwood" is a song by British virtual bandGorillaz, released as the first single from their self-titled debut album in March 2001. The song is named after the actor of the same name due to its similarity to the theme music of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.[5] The song is a mix of electronic music, dub, hip hop and rock. The verses are rapped by Del the Funky Homosapien, portrayed as a blue phantom in the video, while the chorus is sung by Damon Albarn (2D in the video). It peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart and number 57 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single has sold 480,000 copies in the UK according to the Official Charts Company. Rolling Stone ranked it number 38 on its 100 best songs of the 2000s.[6] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 141 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".[7]The magazine also ranked it at number 347 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[8]-Wikipedia

8. 10’s "Monster" is a song recorded by American rock band Imagine Dragons for the soundtrack to the 2013 Chair Entertainment and Epic Gamesaction role-playing gameInfinity Blade III.[1] It is the band's fifth appearance on a soundtrack after appearing on Answers to Nothing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack),[2]Frankenweenie Unleashed!: Music Inspired by the Motion Picture,[3] and Iron Man 3: Heroes Fall[4] and performing "Warriors" at the 2014 League of Legends World Championship in September 2014. The song was released as a single on September 19, 2013,[5] and later appeared on the "super deluxe" edition of the band's second album Smoke + Mirrors (2015). The cover art for this song is of two Infinity Blades, in a reference to the game, Infinity Blade III, that this song was featured in. -Wikipedia

9. References • Wikipedia a, (2018),Toto (band), Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_(band)/, Accessed: 05/02/18 • Wikipedia b, (2018),Hold the Line, Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hold_the_Line/, Accessed: 05/02/18 • Wikipedia c, (2018),Blue Oyster Cult, Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_%C3%96yster_Cult/, Accessed: 05/02/18 • Wikipedia d, (2018),(Don’t Fear) The Reaper, Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(Don%27t_Fear)_The_Reaper/, Accessed: 05/02/18