Search - Various Artists :: Have a Nice Day 21

A treasure trove of memorable late '70's hits

David Hugaert | Honolulu, HI United States | 04/28/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Super Hits of the '70's - Have A Nice Day Vol. 21" contains yet more of those '70's power-pop Top 40 tunes you've come to know and love. This collection focuses on the late '70's - specifically late 1977/early 1978. Ram Jam's "Black Betty" kicks things off into high gear, with an unmistakable Southern-rock, hard-edged flair. As the Autumn months of '77 rolled around, moviegoers hadn't quite gotten their fill of the box-office mega-flick "Star Wars", which was released in theaters earlier that summer, so a discofied rendition of John Williams' original score was released - this version by Meco titled "Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band", which hit the Billboard charts big-time and made it to number one, as well. The Los Angeles-based group Player reaped adequate rewards from their first single titled "Baby Come Back", released during early '78. Player's success was short-lived however, and saw just two more singles enter the charts during the course of the year, and disbanded soon afterward. The absolute worst song of all time appears on this collection - Meri Wilson's "Telephone Man". Whoever had the foresight to include this clutter here had to have been on battery acid, as it is just plain horrible and incredibly insipid - which is why "Have A Nice Day Vol. 21 gets four stars instead of five. Now that we've gotten that senseless, moronic "tune" out of the way, let us continue onward. Ex-Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne member Jay Ferguson, who had a hit with the former group and sang lead on the single "I've Got A Line On You" in the late '60's, contributes here with his only solo chart effort "Thunder Island", released in the Spring of '78. If it's wispy, sentimental ballads that you crave, there's Dan Hill's "Sometimes When We Touch", a major hit in both the U.S. and Canada also during the Spring of '78. For a howlingly good time, ghouls, ghosts and goblins will have a frightfully good time with Warren Zevon's "Werewolves Of London". Moviegoers in the Winter of '77/'78 will recognize ex-Bread frontman David Gates' "Goodbye Girl" from the movie of the same name, which was released in April of '78 after the motion picture's release. Wales's Bonnie Tyler had her first big hit with "It's A Heartache" during the Summer of '78, as well as did Michael Johnson with his hit - the melancholic tear jerker "Bluer Than Blue". Before Exile jumped the pop ship into country music waters, they hit it big with "Kiss You All Over", written by two of the group's members - Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who became songwriters and mega-producers for other artists during the late '70's and early '80's. Finally, to round out this collection of chartbusters, there's Walter Egan's top twenty smash "Magnet And Steel", which also features backing vocals courtesy of Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. As far as "Telephone Man" is concerned, I felt Rhino could have utilized better singles for this collection from that era in its place, such as Dolly Parton's "Here You Come Again", or Firefall's "Just Remember I Love You" (both released in Autumn of '77), to name a few, although there are several other singles from this time period that could have definitely gotten the nod over "Telephone Man". Even though we're stuck with TM, "Have A Nice Day Vol. 21" is still a good arrangement of superbly crafted pop tunes to have in your CD collection at any rate. A must have for completeists of this 25 volume series."

Best volume of the series

John Cushin | Coeymans, NY | 02/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you grew up when FM radio was still new and you were only 10 years old in 1977, you are going to love this CD. I am not a fan of a couple songs (Black Betty and Telephone Man), but all of the other songs are awesome. Brings me back to 1977, back when the world seemed to be a better place."

A blast from the past

David Hugaert | 12/28/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Who can forget all those great one-hit wonders from during and immediately after the Saturday Night Fever/Star Wars era? Now, a whole bunch of them are collected on one disc, including some stuff you have probably forgotten all about but will remember instantly once you hear it.I do have to wonder though why Rhino gave disco music the short end of the stick in the "Have a Nice Day" series. There are a lot of songs that would definitely have fit in this collection that were not included...Foxy's "Get Off", LTD's "Back in Love Again", Odyssey's "Native New Yorker", Peter Brown's "Dance With Me" all come to mind. Still, you can only fit so much on one CD, and this one still rates five stars. Highly recommended."