Posted by wylie715 on 4/29/2019 1:46:00 PM (view original):
Posted by gomiami1972 on 4/27/2019 10:57:00 PM (view original):
To honor the troll, I have come up with a Top 10 1970s soft rock list. I tried to make a distinction between soft rock and the adult contemporary sound so prominent in groups like America, Bread, The Carpenters, Firefall, etc., although the later into the decade you go, the more they start sounding the same.
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On a morning from a Bogart mo-vie, in a country where they turn back time...
10. Rikki Don’t Lose that Number – Steely Dan
9. Love is Alive – Gary Wright
8. Miracles – Jefferson Starship
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You go strolling through the crowd, like...Pe-ter Lor-re, contemplating a crime...
7. Right Down the Line – Gerry Rafferty
6. You Make Loving Fun – Fleetwood Mac
5. Beginnings (album version) – Chicago
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She comes out of the sun in a silk dress run-ning like a watercolor...in the rain...
4. Peg – Steely Dan
3. One of These Nights – The Eagles
2. Night Moves – Bob Seger
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Don’t bother ask-ing for...explanations, she’ll just tell you that she came...in the...
1. Year of the Cat - Al Stewart
just out of curiosity, what is the difference between soft rock and adult contemporary? I have no idea.
When you ask a music major this kind of question, you must expect some sort of technical answer. So, sorry in advance, lol.
OK. My answer is probably a little different than what wikipedia or some other Internet source may say. Popular music is based on a formula. Whether it is 40s standards, 50s easy listening, 60s pop (which is simply short for popular,) 70s adult contemporary, 80s dance, the structure of the music is substantially the same. Rock started off as a type of popular music but began to differentiate in the late 60 from pop until they became opposed to each other for a time. Rock was the 'alternative' to pop music.
Popular music uses a structure that can be oversimplified as follows - opening, verse, chorus (introducing elements of the hook,) verse, chorus, bridge, reprise verse or chorus, looped hook as a closing until fade-out. It sells time and time again and is still used today. Rock started to move away from this. Masters of rock, like The Beatles, laugh at the formula. While their early stuff is clearly popular music, songs like 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' has four distinct, unrelated verses and then finally introduces the chorus, bridge, reprise chorus and a relatively abrupt ending without a hook.
By the time the 70s came around, rock had splintered into those wanting to keep pushing the envelope into progressive, heavy metal, etc. and others who wanted to keep rock melodic but still contrary to the pop music formula, hence the birth of soft rock. Most of the songs on my list are true soft rock. Year of the Cat starts off with an opening, chorus, sung verse, chorus, sung verse, chorus, awesome instrumental variation verse, even more awesome instrumental bridge, another instrumental variation verse, sung verse, reprise chorus and a no-hook closing to fade-out. Incredible.
Most of the others deviate from the formula in some way - Beginnings and Miracles by a lot, Rikki, Peg, Night Moves, Love is Alive and Right Down the Line more subtly. Technically, One of these Nights follows the pop formula but is done so well and the Eagles as a whole are not a formula band, I included it.
I hope that made sense.
4/29/2019 11:09 PM (edited)