70's, 80's 'Feel Good' Music

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"We're All Alone" is a song written by Boz Scaggs, which became a hit for Frankie Valli in 1976. The next year it was a top-ten hit for Rita Coolidge in the US and the UK. Scaggs introduced it on his 1976 album Silk Degrees, and included it as the B-side of two of the four single releases from that LP, including "Lido Shuffle".
Scaggs' own version of "We're All Alone" was the standard B-side of his international single release "Lido Shuffle" including its release in the US and UK where "Lido Shuffle" respectively charted at number 11 and number 13. However, in Australia, Scaggs' "We're All Alone" was issued with "Lowdown" as the flip to become a double A-side chart entry reaching number 54 in the autumn of 1977, the only evident instance of the Scaggs original charting.
Frankie Valli had a single version from his Valli LP which reached number 78 U.S. in August 1976 (number 74 Cash Box, number 27 Adult Contemporary; Canada number 73 Pop, number 36 AC).
The Rita Coolidge version of "We're All Alone" was featured on the album Anytime...Anywhere released in March 1977. Her version had the greatest sales success.

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Boz Scaggs - We're All Alone​

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Frankie Valli - We're all alone​

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Rita Coolidge – We're All Alone​

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"Long Long Time" is a song written by Gary White< which became a hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1970. "Long Long Time" is about a lasting love for someone who did not last as a lover.
In 1970, Linda Ronstadt released the song as a single and on the album Silk Purse. The single spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 25, while reaching No. 15 on Canada's "RPM 100" (her first single there), No. 8 on Canada's CHUM 30 chart, and No. 20 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart.
In 1971, Ronstadt was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Female Vocal Performance for her rendition of "Long Long Time".

Linda Ronstadt - Long Long Time​

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"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, "If" charted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971 and No. 6 in Canada. It also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart, and one week at the top of the Canadian AC chart.
Record World said that the "gentle song by group's own David Gates (he produced and arranged also) will score in short order."
In the U.S., Bread's tune was the shortest song title to become a top ten hit until 1993, when Prince hit No. 7 with "7", later matched by Britney Spears' No. 1 hit "3" in 2009. The song is distinguished by its opening line "If a picture paints a thousand words..."
Olivia Newton-John was one of the first to cover the song, recording a version for her 1971 debut solo album, If Not for You, and performing the song during her first American television performance that year on The Dean Martin Show.

DAVID GATES - (If")​

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Olivia Newton-John - If​

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"Easy" is a song by American funk and soul band Commodores from their fifth studio album, Commodores (1977), released on the Motown label. Group member Lionel Richie wrote "Easy" with the intention of it becoming another crossover hit for the group given the success of a previous single, "Just to Be Close to You", which spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart (now known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart) and peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1977.
Released in March 1977, "Easy" reached number one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart (for a single week, on July 16) and number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of "Easy" paved the way for similar Richie-composed hit ballads such as "Three Times a Lady" and "Still", and also for Richie's later solo hits.
American rock band Faith No More covered the song in 1992 on their album Angel Dust and released it as a single in December of that year. This version became a worldwide hit, reaching number one in Australia and becoming a top-ten hit in eight other countries. On the Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number 58.
Written by Commodores lead singer Lionel Richie, the song is a slow ballad expressing a man's relief as a relationship ends. Rather than being depressed about the break-up, he states that he is instead "easy like Sunday morning"—something that Richie described as evocative of "small Southern towns that die at 11:30pm" on a Saturday night, such as his hometown Tuskegee, Alabama.
n the bridge section, following the opening line: "I wanna be high, so high", there is a distinctive electric guitar glide. An electric guitar solo is heard in the instrumental section of the song.
Richie re-recorded a version of the song for his 2012 studio album Tuskegee which features country singer Willie Nelson.

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The Commodores - "Easy"​

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"Reminiscing" is a song by Australian soft rock music group Little River Band, released in June 1978 as the second single from their fourth studio album Sleeper Catcher. The song was written by the band's rhythm guitarist Graeham Goble, and sung by their lead singer Glenn Shorrock. "Reminiscing" peaked at number 35 on the Australian Kent Music Report and at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was a huge hit in the US, peaking at #3, but did not achieve the same success in the band's home territory, as it only barely made the Australian top 40, peaking at #35. Nevertheless, at the Australian 1978 King of Pop Awards, the song won Australian Record of the Year.
"Reminiscing" was given a BMI Five Million-Air award for five million plays on US radio—the highest achievement ever for any Australian popular song.
According to Albert Goldman's biography, John Lennon named "Reminiscing" as one of his favourite songs. May Pang, erstwhile girlfriend of Lennon, said "Oddly, with all the fantastic music he wrote, "our song" was 'Reminiscing' by the Little River Band."
Besides John Lennon, another famous musician who reportedly loved the song was Frank Sinatra. According to Goble, Sinatra thought that "Reminiscing" was one of the best song's of the 70's.
Australian group Madison Avenue covered the song and released it as a single in March 2001. Their version was certified gold by the ARIA.

Little River Band - Reminiscing​

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