'Cuz I Got Nothin' Else...

This one's not too bad, unless you turned 18 in the mid-70s. Deep in the early days of disco. Good God, music sucked in the day... A disclaimer here--the 70s were a decade of great flux in music. The end of "good" rock, the beginnings of disco, modern soul, and the introduction of the synthesizer, which revolutionized the sounds of music, giving us, among other things, the new-wave music of the 80s. There was not a definitive "sound" of the 70s. This may be the reason I'm screwed up...

1. Go to the Billboard #1 Hits listings (go here, scroll down, and you’ll see them separated by decades/years on the left in the sidebar)
2. Pick the year you turned 18 (1975, for me)
3. Get yourself nostalgic over the songs of the year
4. Pick 5 songs and write something about how these songs affected you
5. Pass it on to 5 more friends

"Black Water" - The Doobie Brothers - This was the Doobie Brothers' biggest hit of their career. The wonderful a capella section towards the end of the song was a rare thing to hear from a rock song in those days. These guys were sort of the end of the pre-disco era. As a young bass player in a rock band trying to figure out what was going on with the music of the day, the DBs were a nice anchor to what eventually was the tail end of good rock music.
"Lovin' You" - Minnie Riperton - Ms. Riperton possessed one of the most pure soprano voices ever. Think Mariah Carey before she went nuts, and without all the vocal acrobatics. She possessed five-octave vocal range and had the ability to actually enunciate words in her highest range, as opposed to just indiscriminate sounds. She died at the age of 32 from cancer. On a side note, her daughter, Maya Rudolph, is a cast member of SNL.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" - Captain & Tennille - OK, I'll admit it. I liked these guys when growing up. I was a big fan of any group that used a synthesizer, which was still quite a novelty at this time. Sure, the song was heavy on the pop side, but that single voice synthesizer pulled me in, every time! Another side note--Captain's father was the legendary Los Angeles Symphony conductor Carmen Dragon (who happened to write the definitive orchestral arrangement of "America, the Beautiful).
"The Hustle" - Van McCoy/The Soul City Symphony - This song, more than any other, was responsible for the brief acceptance of disco music in my younger life. Imagine, if you will, a gawky 18 y.o. college freshman, desperate to find a social life at the big state college, going to the bar just 2 blocks off campus, complete with the Saturday Night Fever colored disco floor. That was me. And this is the song that played at least once an hour. I seem to remember getting lucky once or twice, but I don't remember names...
"Jive Talkin'" - Bee Gees - From the kings of the disco sound... Again, the use of the synthesizer in this really sold it for me. And frankly, really got me turned on to the Bee Gees.

So that's my musical world from 1975. Sort of embarrassing. I have far more memories of the songs from my early high school days, but alas, that's not how this meme works. Should I tag anyone? Naw... I'm a rebel from the 70s. In polyester.