We couldn’t leave it at one show. When friend-of-the-station Jim Bricker first asked how awesome 1971 was, two hours barely scratched it — so we’re back for a second afternoon in the greatest year music ever had. If Part One leaned on the giants — Zeppelin, Bowie, Joni, the Stones — Part Two goes digging deeper into the crates. This is the year told through its singles and its sleepers: the number-one soul 45s, the brass-rock burners, the one-hit wonders and the quiet masterpieces. We’ll tip our hat to David Hepworth’s argument once more (his book 1971 — Never a Dull Moment is still the case for the defence), but mostly we’ll just keep piling up the evidence and let you be the judge.
And what evidence. There are two completely different songs called “Get It On” from 1971, and we play both. There’s Motown growing a conscience, Marvin Gaye and the Temptations and a young Michael Jackson; the sass of Mr. Big Stuff and Want Ads; the hush of Joni, Carly Simon and Neil Young; and a whole run of soft-focus radio gold from the Carpenters to Olivia Newton-John’s very first single. Then we send it out the only way a year this big deserves — Rod Stewart, a bit of Isaac Hayes funk, and eight and a half minutes of “American Pie” with everyone singing. Pour something, turn it up, and settle in. Two shows, one extraordinary year — and still, we’ve barely covered it.
Tracklist
- Chase — Get It On — Chase
- T. Rex — Get It On — Get It On: The Collection
- James Gang — Walk Away — Thirds
- The Who — Behind Blue Eyes — Who's Next (Deluxe Edition)
- THE TEMPTATIONS — Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) — Sky's The Limit
- The Undisputed Truth — Smiling Faces Sometimes — The Undisputed Truth
- The Jackson 5 — Never Can Say Goodbye — Maybe Tomorrow
- Marvin Gaye — What's Going On
- Jean Knight — Mr. Big Stuff
- Honey Cone — Want Ads — Sweet Replies
- The Dramatics — Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get — The Very Best Of The Dramatics
- The Grass Roots — Temptation Eyes — Leaving It All Behind
- Tommy James — Draggin' the Line (Single Version) — Christian Of The World
- Ringo Starr — It Don't Come Easy — Ringo
- Paul Simon — Mother and Child Reunion — Paul Simon
- Three Dog Night — Joy To The World (Single Version) — Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965–1975
- Carly Simon — Anticipation
- Joni Mitchell — A Case of You — Blue
- Neil Young — The Needle and the Damage Done — Harvest (2009 Remaster)
- Cat Stevens — Morning Has Broken — Teaser And The Firecat (Remastered 2021)
- The Carpenters — Superstar — Carpenters
- Bread — Everything I Own — Baby I'm-a Want You
- Barbra Streisand — Stoney End
- Olivia Newton-John — If Not For You (Remastered 2022) — Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits (Deluxe Edition / Remastered 2022)
- Jerry Reed — When You're Hot, You're Hot — The Essential Jerry Reed
- John Denver — Take Me Home, Country Roads — Poems, Prayers and Promises
- Rod Stewart — Maggie May — Every Picture Tells a Story
- Isaac Hayes — Theme From Shaft (Vocal) — Shaft
- Don McLean — American Pie
