What with the pandemic and all, the 2020s, as decades go, have been one hell of a long century. One of the things I’ve sought refuge in has been music. Soundtracks, of course, but also rolling back the clock and reacquainting myself with old favorites like Parliament (of which more later), and somehow, an Amazon search brought me to this compilation, curated by Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne. It’s not the only such compilation that’s been assembled by one or more members of Saint Etienne, but if they’re all as good as this one, that’s a collection I need to expand upon, because ’76 In The Shade is nothing short of amazing.
As the well-written liner notes point out, Stanley is trying to recreate what was being heard in England’s sweltering summer of 1976. But that doesn’t mean just what was on the radio. It means what random instrumentals were being played under the BBC’s pre-sign-on TV test cards in the morning. It means what pieces of production music were heard under other things, be they commercials or radio interstitials. And then, yes, there’s also what was on the radio, but even here, Stanley reaches deep into the playlists he remembers and rescues some true gems from undeserved obscurity, so while there are a few well-worn radio staples here – 10cc’s “I’m Mandy, Fly Me”, Jefferson Starship’s “Miracles”, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds’ “Fallin In’ Love” – there is much here that has either been forgotten, or just seemed new to my ears on this side of the Atlantic.
The most obvious quality of all of it, aside from being really good music, is that it’s so mellow. This compilation is so laid-back that the hardest-rocking thing to be found is a Cliff Richard song (!), but even that selection is so sweetened by its production that it fits alongside the rest of the album without seeming jarring.
Some of the real gems are the instrumental tracks, many of them from production music library LPs that would’ve been in circulation at radio and television stations at the time. On the non-instrumental side, there are gems like the Motown-style “You’re The Song (That I Can’t Stop singing)”, credited to Hollywood Freeway although it was basically the songwriter’s demo of his new song. It was later covered by Frankie Valli, though I find myself preferring what turns out to be the original version of the song with its lush instrumentation and falsetto vocals. Other tracks by Liverpool Express, Sylvia, and Blue Mink make it seem like their producers had only just discovered reverb and were determined to drench these entire songs in reverb. It’s not unpleasant, but boy, are the results sometimes a bit on the trippy side.
Some of the songs here I remember from my childhood, and the rest I’m delighted to make their acquaintance here. Various artist collections are sometimes a bit of a crap shoot, engaged in a tug-of-war between what the issuing label can afford to license from other labels, or for that matter what’s even available at the time the compilation is assembled. But ’76 In The Shade is remarkably well-curated, and since I discovered it in 2021, it has gotten a lot of repeat listening time over these past couple of sweltering 21st century summers. It’s a nicely selected, relaxing album that, even though it contains only a handful of songs I recognized from my childhood, managed to take me back to that time.
- Walking So Free – Spike Janson (3:33)
- Sugar Shuffle – Lynsey De Paul (4:00)
- Miracles (Single Version) – Jefferson Starship (3:29)
- Get Out Of Town – Smokey Robinson (4:49)
- I’m Mandy, Fly Me (Album Version) – 10cc (5:20)
- Stoned Out – Simon Park (2:17)
- Nothing To Remind Me – Cliff Richard (2:59)
- Discover Me – David Ruffin (4:12)
- You’re The Song (That I Can’t Stop Singing) – Hollywood Freeway (3:10)
- You Are My Love – Liverpool Express (3:15)
- Liquid Sunshine – John Cameron (3:00)
- Not On The Outside – Sylvia (3:03)
- Stay With Me – Blue Mink (3:17)
- Wild Mountain Honey – Steve Miller Band (4:50)
- Fallin’ In Love – Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (3:12)
- Flowers – The Emotions (4:28)
- Montreal City – Azimuth (3:18)
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Star – Barclay James Harvest (5:18)
- Miss My Love Today – Gilbert O’Sullivan (3:46)
- Music – Carmen McRae (3:29)
Released by: Ace Records
Release date: August 11, 2020
Total running time: 74:45