Living in the 70's

''Living in the 70's'' was recorded by the Melbourne-based rock band Skyhooks in June–July 1974 at the local TCS studios. The group had formed in March 1973 with only Macainsh and Strauks the remaining founders members. Wilson recommended the group to Mushroom Records owner Michael Gudinski. It was released via Mushroom on 28 October 1974. The artwork (external front and back, and internal gatefold) was painted by Niels Hutchison. Two singles were issued from the album. Lead single "Livin' in the 70's" (August 1974), peaked at No. 28 on the Kent Music Report singles chart. "Horror Movie" had been promoted on popular music show Countdown as the first song on its first colour episode on 1 March 1975. The group were "perfect for Countdown, with their colourful costumes and theatrical showmanship" and they "appeared many times to promote" the album. In defiance of this, however, the ABC's new youth radio station in Sydney, 2JJ, played "You Just Like Me 'Cos I'm Good in Bed" as its first ever song when it began broadcasting in January 1975. ==Reception==

The Canberra Times Tony Catterall generally praised ''Living in the 70's'', "it's a concept album that really takes the 70s apart. It opens up a new phase in Australian rock, that of musician as social commentator, but not an impartial observer". However, Catterall was dissatisfied with two tracks, "Hey, What's the Matter?" and "Motorcycle Bitch", which were "album filler" and with Wilson's uneven production. Its authors explained, "[it's] a unique fusion of glam, punk attitude... boogie-based rock and pop married with Macainsh's sharply observed and acerbic or explicit vignettes". In that same year, the album and title track were added to the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA)'s Sounds of Australia registry. Curator, Tamara Osicka explained "[it] broke all previous sales records for an Australian album... [and] stayed in the top 100 for 54 weeks and became the best-selling album of 1975 in Australia". ==Track listing==

1974 vinyl/cassette tape version 1984 CD version ==Personnel==

Skyhooks • Graham "Shirley" Strachan – lead vocals (all but "Smut") • Red Symons – guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals ("Smut"), mandolin • Bob "Bongo" Starkie – guitar, backing vocals • Greg Macainsh – bass guitar, backing vocals • Imants Alfred "Freddie" Strauks – drums, backing vocals, percussion Additional musicians • Liam Bradley – vibraphone, marimba, xylophone • Greg Sneddon – synthesiser • Peter Sullivan – vibraphone, synthesiser • Pat Wilson, Ross Willson – voices Artisans • Adai – photography • John French – engineer • Niels Hutchison – artwork • Andrew Macainsh, Robert Gilbert – crew • Ross Wilson – producer ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==