Bob Stanley presents 76 In The Shade Various Artists (Saint Etienne)

£11.70

Genre:
Pop
Label:
Ace Records
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDCHD 1580

This product is also available in these versions:
Bob Stanley presents 76 In The Shade, LP (£27.00)

The Summer of 1976 has remained a benchmark for long, hot summers – there may have been scorchers since, but none have seemed quite as relentless. Too hot to move, the country melted into a collective puddle. This album evokes the feel of that summer, the sweet heat and almost narcotic lethargy, the haze above melting tarmac.

The months without rain and airless days and nights might not have been something out of the ordinary in the Algarve or the South of France, but it was without precedent in Britain. There was a Minister for Drought. There were stand pipes. Reservoirs in Wales resembled parched African plains. The country melted into a collective puddle. This compilation probably wasn’t anyone’s soundtrack of the year – that could have included Bowie’s ‘Station To Station’, Peter Tosh’s ‘Legalize It’ and Abba, who dominated the singles and album charts. Instead, this is an attempt to sonically evoke the summer of 1976 itself, its sweet heat and almost narcotic lethargy.

The dream state of 10cc’s ‘I’m Mandy Fly Me’ was perfect for the sun-baked lethargy of 1976. ‘You Are My Love’ by Liverpool Express was drenched in echo and swathed in comatose sadness. There was a take-your-sweet-time sultriness to the supine sound of Lynsey De Paul’s ‘Sugar Shuffle’. Azimuth’s ‘Montreal City’ was a celebration of that summer’s Olympic Games which hardly suggested pace or speed. Fender Rhodes, electric vibes and early synths provided the dominant keyboard instrumentation. Long echoes and reverbs drenched production: check the sparkling sun-ray intro to Steve Miller’s ‘Wild Mountain Honey’. Disco wasn’t yet codified, allowing a window for light soulful dancers such as David Ruffin’s ‘Discover Me’ and the Emotions’ ‘Flowers’. Getting out of the sun, you might have sat inside with the curtains drawn and the telly on – just three channels and, in the daytime, very few programmes. So you would have ended up flopped out in front of the test card. The music libraries that provided the bulk of the test card’s soundtrack were also responsible for Simon Park’s ‘Stoned Out’ and John Cameron’s deeply immersive ‘Liquid Sunshine’.

The eagle-eyed will note that not all of the songs on this collection were released in 1976 – the sensual wooziness of Blue Mink’s ‘Stay With Me’ dates from as far back as 1972 – although all could have been heard that year. A handful were hits, a few weren’t even released to the public and might have just been heard in the background. All of them suggest bright yellow sunshine, hot plastic car seats, cats lolloping on the lawn. A few tracks (Smokey Robinson, Cliff Richard, Carmen McRae) act as necessary splashes of cooling water; most of them sound like it’s just too hot to move. Luckily, you don’t need to.

BOB STANLEY

 

nb. Order from Rough Trade for colured vinyl edition.


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Track listing

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Side 1

  • 01 Preview Walking So Free - Spike Janson

  • 02 Preview Sugar Shuffle - Lynsey De Paul

  • 03 Preview Miracles (Single version) - Jefferson Starship

  • 04 Preview Get Out Of Town - Smokey Robinson

  • 05 Preview I'm Mandy Fly Me (Album version) - 10cc

  • 06 Preview Stoned Out - Simon Park

  • 07 Preview Nothing To Remind Me - Cliff Richard

  • 08 Preview Discover Me - David Ruffin

  • 09 Preview You're The Song (That I Can't Stop Singing) - Hollywood Freeway

  • 10 Preview You Are My Love - Liverpool Express

  • 11 Preview Liquid Sunshine - John Cameron

  • 12 Preview Not On The Outside - Sylvia

  • 13 Preview Stay With Me - Blue Mink

  • 14 Preview Wild Mountain Honey - Steve Miller Band

  • 15 Preview Fallin' In Love - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds

  • 16 Preview Flowers (Album Version) - The Emotions

  • 17 Preview Montreal City - Azimuth

  • 18 Preview Rock'n'Roll Star - Barclay James Harvest

  • 19 Preview Miss My Love today - Gilbert O'Sullivan

  • 20 Preview Music - Carmen McRae

Delivery & Returns

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You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

Press quotes

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“It’s an immaculately constructed anthology that pinpoints a very specific series of moods – sultry, erotic, hypnagogic – and then sustains them for well over an hour of sweltering pleasure.” Shindig ★★★★ 

A Rough Trade Compilation of the Year 2020

A Shindig Various Artists Compilation of the Year 2020

A Record Collector Reissue of the Year 2020

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