In a delightful happenstance – we are listening to August, 1971 this week – while it in fact August of 2025, and today (the 22nd) is Sadie’s 5th birthday! Happy birthday my darling girl.
And happy anniversary to this project I guess! And thanks for those of you who have stuck along with it. Only 49 years till Sadie is born in our timeline… (or 12 years in real time!)
On that, let’s hear what this month sounds like…
Songs of the month
- [new] “Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers
- “Beginnings / Colour My World” – Chicago
- “Bring The Boys Home” – Freda Payne
- “Don’t Pull Your Love” – “Hamilton Joe Frank And Reynolds”
- “Double Barrel” – Dave And Ansil Collins
- “Draggin’ The Line” – Tommy James
- “Get It On” – Chase
- [new] “Go Away Little Girl” – Donny Osmond
- “Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again” – Fortunes
- “Hot Pants” – James Brown
- “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” – Bee Gees
- “I Don’t Want To Do Wrong” – Gladys Knight And The Pips
- [new] “I Just Want To Celebrate” – Rare Earth
- [new] “I Woke Up In Love This Morning” – Partridge Family
- [new] “If Not For You” – Olivia Newton-John
- “Indian Reservation” – Raiders
- “It’s Too Late / I Feel The Earth Move” – Carole King
- “Liar” – Three Dog Night
- “Love The One You’re With” – Isley Brothers
- “Maybe Tomorrow” – Jackson 5
- “Mercy Mercy Me” – Marvin Gaye
- [new] “Moon Shadow” – Cat Stevens
- “Mr. Big Stuff” – Jean Knight
- “Never Ending Song Of Love” – Delaney And Bonnie And Friends
- [new] “Riders On The Storm” – Doors
- “Rings” – Cymarron
- “Signs” – Five Man Electrical Band
- [new] “Smiling Faces Sometimes” – Undisputed Truth
- “Sooner Or Later” – Grass Roots
- [new] “Spanish Harlem” – Aretha Franklin
- [new] “Stick Up” – Honey Cone
- “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- “Take Me Home Country Roads” – John Denver
- “Treat Her Like A Lady” – Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose
- [new] “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” – Paul And Linda Mccartney
- “What The World Needs Now” – Tom Clay
- [new] “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get” – Dramatics
- [new] “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – Who
- “You’ve Got A Friend” – James Taylor
- [new] “You’ve Got A Friend” – Roberta Flack And Donny Hathaway
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On the 6th Chay Blyth, a Scottish yachtsman who was nicknamed “Wrong Way Chay” by the British press, completed his trip around the world, becoming the first person to make a “solo nonstop sea voyage in a westerly direction”, sailing against, rather than in the same direction as, the wind and prevailing sea currents.
And on the 8th the Russian KGB attempted to poison dissident Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn by putting an unidentified chemical agent on candy that Solzhenitsyn was purchasing at a department store in Novocherkassk. Solzhenitsyn was ill for several months but survived the poisoning attempt
Then on the 14th the “Stanford prison experiment”, led by Stanford University psychology professor Philip Zimbardo, began in Palo Alto, California, using college student volunteers to play the roles of guards or prisoners, starting with simulated arrests being made by the Palo Alto Police Department. Over a period of seven days, the “guards” with unrestricted authority became more abusive, and the study ended ahead of schedule when Professor Zimbardo’s colleagues, notably psychologist Christina Maslach, confronted him over the morality of the experiment.
What’d Sadie think?
It’s a full month at the top for”How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” by the Bee Gees. A band who are the perfect example of the context this journey is adding for me when it comes to music. I’ve never vibed with the Bee Gees at all – they were the old-fashioned sound of drunken adults dancing when I was a young person. But hearing their sound/songs in the context of what came before, and what else we’re listening to in 1971, and I understand their appeal and even feel a bit of it myself.
But while I am liking the Bee Gees a little more, we’re really loving these three songs and artists this week…
Loved ’em
- “Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers
- “Moon Shadow” – Cat Stevens
- “Riders On The Storm” – Doors
Sadly Jim Morrison from The Doors had passed away the previous month.
Liked ’em
- “Go Away Little Girl” – Donny Osmond
- “I Just Want To Celebrate” – Rare Earth
- “I Woke Up In Love This Morning” – Partridge Family
- “If Not For You” – Olivia Newton-John
- “Smiling Faces Sometimes” – Undisputed Truth
- “Spanish Harlem” – Aretha Franklin
- “Stick Up” – Honey Cone
- “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” – Paul And Linda Mccartney
- “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get” – Dramatics
- “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – Who
- “You’ve Got A Friend” – Roberta Flack And Donny Hathaway
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
p.s. We missed a post last week so you can find July, 1971 here.