1976
Out of Frame
Making a Classic
If one word captures 1976 in music, it’s “classic.” Bands like Electric Light Orchestra, Boston, and Thin Lizzy were selling ambitious, album-length visions of rock music; first called album oriented rock (AOR) and later christened “classic rock.” The tail end of soul and funk brought classics of its own, as did the early days of disco. And styles ranging from afrobeat to Cuban jazz to post-samba Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB) sound classic even if you’re barely familiar with the genre.
This is in part due to the music itself and its moment in history. To continue the story of part one of this series, the folk forms entering the recording studio in the mid-60s had now evolved into established new genres of their own, with stylistic and lyrical conventions distinct from those folk origins. And those conventions would be paired with an increasingly perfected approach to the analog recording studio around the globe: multitracked, closely miked, with a warm mid-range emphasis. The mid-70s represents the apotheosis of a certain vision of what music could and should be, before evolutions in digital studio technology and increased market fragmentation would leave this moment in the past.
But its place in the past would be both cemented and exploited by that same, fragmented market. Media entrepreneurs spent the 70s convincing the massive baby boomer demographic that they could continue enjoying—and paying for—the music of their youth by positioning rock music as artistically significant and distinct from mere “pop.” Rather than aging out of the singles-focused, radio-ready music of their teen years and into classical or lounge music, as their parents might have, an emphasis on rock “artists” with album-length musical statements gave the Woodstock generation reason to keep paying attention to new rock releases into their higher-earning years. And by the 1980s, barely a decade after AOR’s peak, the classic rock format would stop marketing new releases at all, instead selling a version of rock’s past alongside a story of the music’s social and cultural significance.
Whether it was true or not, telling the story made it so. Scholars call this “narrativization,” the “transformation of what happened into that which is said to have happened.” So by saying that rock was significant—that its values of freedom, uniqueness, and authenticity changed the world—it became true. The world got a little more rock n’ roll; and rock n’ roll got a lot more like the world.
But once rock became a story of the past told to legitimate the present, a canonized pantheon of classics, a narrative of established facts rather than discontinuous and contingent and ongoing events, it ceased to be an arena in which we staged the future. Instead, its power, and conflict around it, lay in how it was remembered—and what it symbolized.
King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
King Tubby
Dub
🇯🇲
Listen
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One of the most iconic, classic genres of the mid-70s was reggae. And perhaps the most iconic, classic moment in reggae history occurred in December 1976. Two days after an attempt on his life, amidst the swirl of political violence in Kingston, Jamaica, international celebrity Bob Marley performed a concert in front of 80,000 Jamaicans. His performance at the Smile Concert stands as a moment of tremendous symbolic significance to Jamaicans and people around the globe. Though the specifics of that significance depend on which version of Marley you know: The one who sang “until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned / everywhere is war,” or the one who sang “let’s get together and feel alright.”
Because the discontinuous, contingent, and conflict-laden events leading up to the Smile Concert tell a much more complicated story. A story of a predominantly Black, post-slavery society finding identity and pride in its African roots through Rastafari cosmology. A story of a post-colonial Third World nation striving for genuine independence and self-determination despite significant inherited structural disadvantages. A story of a local political model that blended patronage, ideology, and organized crime. And a story of music.
Because in 1970s Kingston, music was interwoven with crime, politics, and identity. Local soundsystems were sites of criminal activity. Politicians used music—and its community and message—part of their campaigns. Rastafari philosophy was spread and shared through reggae music.
The “roots reggae” that would emerge in the 70s embodies that unstable notion of “authenticity” we explored in part one of this season. It sounds like the most authentic, classic version of Jamaican culture, but ten years prior nothing like it existed; its very values were marginalized. And while Marley was exporting this most classic, idealized version of Jamaican culture to the globe, the fast-evolving Jamaican music industry was moving onto something else. A something that has a lot to do with King Tubby.
King Tubby wasn’t a musician in the familiar sense. He wasn’t even a producer. He was an electrician, a soundsystem operator, and a remixer of other people’s music, and each role complemented the others. His electrical know-how allowed him to rig the best-sounding soundsystem in Kingston and develop studio technologies and techniques unavailable elsewhere on the island. His soundsystem operation gave him an audience and DJ collaborators to play his music for. And his work fundamentally changed the sound of music in Jamaica and around the globe.
King Tubby’s music, a style called “dub,” disassembled reggae songs and put them back together in real time, making an entirely new sound out of literal fragments of classic songs. Boosting the low end and cutting out the higher frequencies—where the melody resides—reduces the songs Tubby remixed to hypnotic, nearly-looping grooves, as on “Frozen Dub,” which spends most of its runtime pulsing along. Intermittent reintroduction of melodic lines, distorted with sound effects like delay and reverb, builds anticipation for a melodic release that’s rarely delivered, as on the reformulation of the iconic “Satta Massagana” melody in “Satta Dub.” And when vocals appear, as on dub classic “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown,” the echoing snippets, rarely intelligible, evoke a distant, if not lost, place or time.
Ironically, when dub was exported to foreign markets, it landed despite being removed from its original context. The recordings only occasionally included a DJ toasting on top of the music—a type of proto-rapping that many dub songs were explicitly made to accompany. And as played at Jamaican soundsytems, dub songs were intentionally short-lived; quick-pressed to a type of vinyl record that only lasted for a few plays, they functioned as advertisements for the underlying, remixed song, rather than standalone songs themselves. But the technical and stylistic advancements behind dub resonated through genres like post-punk, trip-hop, and dubstep, and more broadly presaged rap, techno, and remix culture.
So King Tubby’s dub changed the future in ways he couldn’t have predicted or controlled; the spring of his music became a river of sounds taking his innovations in new directions. For the more self-conscious ambassadorship of Marley, he too couldn’t control what future he was ushering in, what kind of symbol he would become, and how that symbol would be understood. Not unlike the story of rock music, becoming a classic, becoming a Legend, comes at a cost to the truth.
The Songs
The Songs
ABBA
Dancing Queen
Included on
Arrival
Genre:
Pop, Disco
🇸🇪
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Dancing Queen
Akiko Yano
クマ
Included on
Japanese Girl
Genre:
Pop, Experimental
🇯🇵
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クマ
Akofa Akoussah
I Tcho Tchass
Included on
Akofa Akoussah
Genre:
Jazz, Fusion
🇹🇬
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I Tcho Tchass
Alfonso Lovo
La Gigantona
Included on
La Gigantona*
Genre:
Latin, Fusion
🇳🇮
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La Gigantona
Ali Farka Toure
Biennale
Included on
Ali Toure Farka
Genre:
Folk, Songhai Music
🇲🇱
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Biennale
Andre Marie Tala
Gotam
Included on
Black Woman
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇨🇲
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Gotam
Andrea True Connection
More, More, More
Included on
More, More, More
Genre:
Pop, Disco
🇺🇸
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More, More, More
Arthur Prysock
When Love Is New
Included on
All My Life
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
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When Love Is New
Asha Puthli
Space Talk
Included on
The Devil Is Loose
Genre:
Pop, Disco
🇮🇳
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Space Talk
Bee Gees
You Should Be Dancing
Included on
You Should Be Dancing
Genre:
Pop, Disco
🇺🇸
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You Should Be Dancing
Blondie
X Offender
Included on
X Offender
Genre:
Rock, Punk
🇺🇸
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X Offender
Bob Marley and The Wailers
War
Included on
Rastaman Vibration
Genre:
Reggae
🇯🇲
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War
Bohannon
Dance Your Ass Off
Included on
Dance Your Ass Off
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
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Dance Your Ass Off"PLAY THIS RECORD LOUD P.S. Dance Your Ass Off is not used in the sense of profanity."
—
Liner Notes
//
Dance Your Ass Off
Bootsy Collins
I'd Rather Be with You
Included on
Stretchin out in Bootsy's Rubber Band
Genre:
R&B, Funk
🇺🇸
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I'd Rather Be with You
Boston
More than a Feeling
Included on
Boston
Genre:
Rock, AOR
🇺🇸
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More than a Feeling
Boz Scaggs
Lowdown
Included on
Silk Degrees
Genre:
Rock, AOR
🇺🇸
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Lowdown
Brothers Johnson
I'll Be Good to You
Included on
Look Out for #1
Genre:
R&B, Funk
🇺🇸
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I'll Be Good to You
Bunny Wailer
Dream Land
Included on
Blackheart Man
Genre:
Reggae
🇯🇲
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Dream Land
Can
I Want More
Included on
Flow Motion
Genre:
Rock, Krautrock
🇩🇪
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I Want More
Candi Staton
Young Hearts Run Free
Included on
Young Hearts Run Free
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
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Young Hearts Run Free
Cerrone
Love in C Minor
Included on
Love in C Minor
Genre:
Pop, Disco
🇫🇷
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Love in C Minor
Christie Azumah and The Uppers International
Aja Wondo
Included on
Din Ya Sugri
Genre:
Highlife
🇬🇭
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Aja Wondo
Cloud One
Atmosphere Strut
Included on
Atmosphere Strut
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
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Atmosphere Strut
The Damned
New Rose
Dariush
Saale Dohezar
Included on
Saale Dohezar
Genre:
Rock, Persian
🇮🇷
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Saale Dohezar
David Allen Coe
Longhaired Redneck
Included on
Longhaired Redneck
Genre:
Country
🇺🇸
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Longhaired Redneck
Debris'
Leisurely Waiting
Included on
Debris'
Genre:
Rock, Garage
🇺🇸
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Leisurely Waiting
Doji Morita
Bokuto Kankou Bus Ni Notte Mimasenka
Included on
Mother Sky
Genre:
Folk
🇯🇵
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Bokuto Kankou Bus Ni Notte Mimasenka![Ten Percent [Walter Gibbons 12 Mix]](https://res.cloudinary.com/dg9tdjajr/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto,w_300,c_fill/f_auto,q_auto,w_300,c_fill/v1786277857/double-exposure_hhd45s.jpg)
Double Exposure
Ten Percent [Walter Gibbons 12" Mix]
Included on
Ten Percent
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
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Ten Percent [Walter Gibbons 12 Mix]
Dr. Alimantado
Poison Flour
Included on
Poison Flour
Genre:
Reggae
🇯🇲
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Poison Flour
Earth, Wind & Fire
Getaway
Included on
Spirit
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
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Getaway
Electric Light Orchestra
So Fine
Included on
A New World Record
Genre:
Rock, AOR
🇬🇧
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So Fine
Fela Kuti
Zombie
Flamin' Groovies
Shake Some Action
Included on
Shake Some Action
Genre:
Rock, Power Pop
🇺🇸
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Shake Some Action
Flash and the Pan
Walking in the Rain
Included on
Hey, St. Peter
Genre:
Rock, Experimental
🇦🇺
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Walking in the Rain
Gal Costa
Vatapá
Included on
Gal Canta Caymmi
Genre:
MPB
🇧🇷
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Vatapá
George Benson
Breezin'
Included on
Breezin'
Genre:
Smooth Jazz
🇺🇸
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Breezin'
George Jones and Tammy Wynette
Golden Ring
Included on
Golden Ring
Genre:
Country
🇺🇸
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Golden Ring
Hall & Oates
Rich Girl
Included on
Bigger Than Both of Us
Genre:
Pop, Soul
🇺🇸
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Rich Girl
Harari
Musikana
Included on
Rufaro Happiness
Genre:
Rock, Fusion
🇿🇦
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Musikana
Harry Mudie
Roman Dub
Included on
In Dub Conference Volume 1
Genre:
Dub
🇯🇲
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Roman Dub
Ifang Bondi
Atis-A-Tis
Included on
Saraba
Genre:
Fusion, Rock
🇬🇲
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Atis-A-Tis
Issam Hajali
Khobs
Included on
Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard
Genre:
Folk
🇱🇧
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Khobs"reminiscent of a John Denver classic . . . backing the words of [poet Samih Al-Qasim] with a pure and pared down composition"
—
Luke Mcmahan
//
Arab America
James Talley
Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again
Included on
Tryin' Like the Devil
Genre:
Country
🇺🇸
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Are They Gonna Make Us Outlaws Again
Joan Armatrading
Love and Affection
Included on
Joan Armatrading
Genre:
Rock
🇬🇧
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Love and Affection
Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Three
One Piece at a Time
Included on
One Piece at a Time
Genre:
Country
🇺🇸
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One Piece at a Time
Johnny Clarke
Ites Green and Gold
Included on
Rockers Time Now
Genre:
Reggae
🇯🇲
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Ites Green and Gold
Jorge Ben Jor
Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)
Included on
África Brasil
Genre:
Samba, Fusion
🇧🇷
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Ponta De Lança Africano (Umbabarauma)
Judas Priest
Victim of Changes
Included on
Sad Wings of Destiny
Genre:
Hard Rock
🇬🇧
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Victim of Changes
Junior Murvin
Police & Thieves
Included on
Police and Thief
Genre:
Reggae
🇯🇲
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Police & Thieves"Junior Murvin’s 'Police and Thieves' became the year’s biggest reggae hit in Britain largely due to the way that the lyrics, responding to the political violence and state repression of the Jamaican State of Emergency, anticipated the police brutality and street violence that marred that year’s Notting Hill Carnival."
—
Debra Rae Cohen and Michael Coyle
//
Police and Thieves: Citation As Struggle in the Punk Cover Song
KC & The Sunshine Band
Keep It Comin' Love
Included on
Part 3
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
Listen to
Keep It Comin' Love
King Short Shirt
Tourist Leggo
Included on
Ghetto Vibes
Genre:
Soca
🇦🇬
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Tourist Leggo
KISS
Detroit Rock City
Included on
Destroyer
Genre:
Hard Rock
🇺🇸
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Detroit Rock City
Laura Nyro
I Am the Blues
Included on
Smile
Genre:
Singer/songwriter, Jazz
🇺🇸
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I Am the Blues
Le Sourouba de Louga
Bour Sine
Included on
Senegal 70: Sonic Gems & Previously Unreleased Recordings From the 70's*
Genre:
Fusion, Mbalax
🇸🇳
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Bour Sine
Led Zeppelin
Nobody's Fault but Mine
Included on
Presence
Genre:
Hard Rock, Blues
🇬🇧
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Nobody's Fault but Mine
Lijadu Sisters
Amebo
Included on
Danger
Genre:
Afrobeat
🇳🇬
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Amebo
Loleatta Holloway
Dreamin'
Included on
Dreamin'
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
Listen to
Dreamin'
Lou Rawls
You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine
Included on
All Things in Time
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
Listen to
You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine
Maestro
Savage
Included on
Savage
Genre:
Soca
🇹🇹
Listen to
Savage
Marijata
I Walk Alone
Included on
This Is Marijata
Genre:
Highlife, Fusion
🇬🇭
Listen to
I Walk Alone
Marvin Gaye
I Want You
Included on
I Want You
Genre:
R&B, Soul
🇺🇸
Listen to
I Want You
Masayoshi Takanaka
トーキョー レギー
Included on
Seychelles
Genre:
Jazz Fusion, City Pop
🇯🇵
Listen to
トーキョー レギー
Max Romeo and The Upsetters
Chase the Devil
Included on
War Ina Babylon
Genre:
Reggae
🇯🇲
Listen to
Chase the Devil
The Modern Lovers
Modern World
Included on
The Modern Lovers
Genre:
Garage Rock, Punk
🇺🇸
Listen to
Modern World
Mongo Santamaria
Sofrito
Included on
Sofrito
Genre:
Latin Jazz
🇨🇺
Listen to
Sofrito
Muyei Power
Ben Ben Bee
Included on
Ben Ben Bee
Genre:
Funk, Fusion
🇸🇱
Listen to
Ben Ben Bee
Natalie Cole
Sophisticated Lady (She’s a Different Lady)
Included on
Natalie
Genre:
R&B, Soul
🇺🇸
Ned Doheny
Get It up for Love
Included on
Hard Candy
Genre:
Rock, Funk
🇺🇸
Listen to
Get It up for Love"a no-brainer for the balearic-minded . . . its PLUR messaging and hippie campfire aura always work"
—
Jonny Coleman
//
LA Weekly
Nel Oliver
The Trip
Included on
Genre:
R&B, Fusion
🇧🇯
Listen to
The Trip
The Nerves
Hanging on the Telephone
Included on
The Nerves
Genre:
Rock, Power Pop
🇺🇸
Listen to
Hanging on the Telephone
Nick Lowe
So It Goes
Included on
So It Goes
Genre:
Rock, Power Pop
🇬🇧
Listen to
So It Goes
Os Muiraquitãns
A Misturada
Included on
No Carimbó
Genre:
Siriá, Carimbó
🇧🇷
Listen to
A Misturada
Os Tubarões
Avenida Marginal
Included on
Tchon Di Morgado
Genre:
Morna
🇨🇻
Listen to
Avenida Marginal
Paco de Lucía
Río Ancho
Patti Smith Group
Ask the Angels
Included on
Radio Ethiopia
Genre:
Rock, Punk
🇺🇸
Listen to
Ask the Angels
Penguin Café Orchestra
Penguin Café Single
Included on
Music from the Penguin Café
Genre:
Chamber Music
🇺🇸
Listen to
Penguin Café Single
Peter King
Omo Lewa
Included on
Genre:
Afrobeat
🇳🇬
Listen to
Omo Lewa
Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocafil Jazz International
Sweet Mother
Included on
Sweet Mother
Genre:
Highlife, Fusion
🇳🇬
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Sweet Mother
Rainbow
Stargazer
Included on
Rising
Genre:
Hard Rock, Metal
🇬🇧
Listen to
Stargazer
Ramones
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
Included on
Ramones
Genre:
Punk, Rock
🇺🇸
Listen to
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
Richard Hell
(I Belong to the) Blank Generation
Included on
Another World
Genre:
Punk, Rock
🇺🇸
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(I Belong to the) Blank Generation
Rino Gaetano
Sfiorivano Le Viole
Included on
Mio Fratello È Figlio Unico
Genre:
Pop, Rock
🇮🇹
Listen to
Sfiorivano Le Viole
Roy Ayers Ubiquity
Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Included on
Everybody Loves the Sunshine
Genre:
Jazz, Funk
🇺🇸
Listen to
Everybody Loves the Sunshine"one of the archetypal summer anthems, its luxuriously slow pace and synth sun-beams evok[e] the hazy pleasure of a July afternoon"
—
Album of the Month
//
Classic Album Sundays
The Runaways
Cherry Bomb
Included on
The Runaways
Genre:
Punk, Hard Rock
🇺🇸
Listen to
Cherry Bomb
Saitana
Baby Don't Go
Included on
Baby Don't Go
Genre:
Rock, R&B
🇿🇦
Listen to
Baby Don't Go
Selda Bağcan
Yaylalar
Included on
Selda
Genre:
Psychedelic Rock
🇹🇷
Listen to
Yaylalar
Sex Pistols
Anarchy in the U.K.
Included on
Anarchy in the U.K.
Genre:
Punk, Rock
🇬🇧
Listen to
Anarchy in the U.K.
Spinners
The Rubberband Man
Included on
Happiness Is Being with the Spinners
Genre:
R&B, Soul
🇺🇸
Listen to
The Rubberband Man
Stevie Wonder
Sir Duke
Included on
Songs in the Key of Life
Genre:
R&B, Soul
🇺🇸
Listen to
Sir Duke
Thin Lizzy
The Boys Are Back in Town
Included on
Jailbreak
Genre:
Hard Rock, AOR
🇮🇪
Listen to
The Boys Are Back in Town
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
American Girl
Included on
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Genre:
Pop, Rock
🇺🇸
Listen to
American Girl
Tom Waits
The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)
Included on
Small Change
Genre:
Singer/songwriter, Blues
🇺🇸
Listen to
The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)
Tom Zé
Dói
Included on
Estudando o Samba
Genre:
MPB, Fusion
🇧🇷
Listen to
Dói
T.P Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou
Gbeto Vivi
Included on
Poly-Rythmo '76 - Vol. 1
Genre:
Afrobeat
🇧🇯
Listen to
Gbeto Vivi"a feel-good cut with a little Cuban son flavour . . .Building upon a core groove of congas, drums and hand claps, the track is brimming with melodic and rhythmic ideas"
—
Band on the Wall
//
43250
The Trammps
Disco Inferno
Included on
Disco Inferno
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
Listen to
Disco Inferno
The Upsetters
Zion's Blood
Included on
Super Ape
Genre:
Reggae, Dub
🇯🇲
Listen to
Zion's Blood
Vicki Sue Robinson
Turn the Beat Around
Included on
Never Gonna Let You Go
Genre:
R&B, Disco
🇺🇸
Listen to
Turn the Beat Around
Vyto B
Electronic Enforcer
Included on
Tricentennial 2076
Genre:
Singer/songwriter, Folk
🇺🇸
Listen to
Electronic Enforcer
The Wild Tchoupitoulas
Brother John
Included on
The Wild Tchoupitoulas
Genre:
R&B, Funk
🇺🇸
Listen to
Brother John
Zia
Helel Yos
Included on
Helel Yos*
Genre:
Funk, Persian
🇮🇷
Listen to
Helel Yos