VA - Hit List 2: More Hot 100 Chartbusters from the 70s (2016)

A happening helping of American Top 40 hits of the early and mid-1970s, a time when AM Radio was still king and records still broke out regionally.

For the first half of the 1970s, AM radio was the medium by which most Americans received a daily diet of hit records. FM was making great strides, and would assume pole position by the start of the 80s, but kids and grownups alike still bought their favourite new sounds after hearing them first on AM. It was AM that made the hits and steered the chart activity of the records heard on this latest instalment of Ace’s “Hit List” series, which chronicles the early-to-mid 1970s in the same way “Chartbusters USA” tackles the mid-to-late 60s and “Golden Age” does for 1955-1963.

“Hit List 2” follows in the footsteps of its predecessor by bringing you 24 Hot 100 hits that sounded great enough to persuade millions of Americans to part with their hard-earned dollars. Quite a few of them charted in the UK too – such as the Band’s ‘Rag Mama Rag’ and Frijid Pink’s ‘House Of The Rising Sun’, both of which actually did better here than back home. The collection also features tracks by UK bands the Hollies and Ace that were more successful Stateside than on our own charts. There are also several massive US hits that will be all but unknown to many British listeners – for example, Pittsburgh’s Jaggerz whose #2 smash ‘The Rapper’ didn’t get a sniff of UK chart action.

All tracks are featured in their original US single versions, and in stereo wherever possible. The mix of well-known, fairly familiar and forgotten songs should have sufficient appeal for any student of American 1970s pop and rock. Together they offer a truly great representation of their era.