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Chapter 102: Easy

70s soft rock & pop

It’s been amusing but satisfying to watch the reputation of 70s soft rock, once the squarest thing imaginable, rise precipitously in the last decade. These songs are an absolute mood, ideal for slightly stoned 2010s listening, but also capable of real compositional innovation (like the choir of beatific robots that soundtrack “I’m Not In Love.”) The pleasures aren’t only superficial, either; the feather-light, satin-soft packaging conceals acidic touches, whether it’s the delusion of “Superstar” or the overwhelming self-pity of “All By Myself.”
1. America

A Horse With No Name

2. 10cc

I'm Not in Love

3. Carpenters

Superstar

4. The Commodores

Easy

5. Judy Collins

Send in the Clowns

6. Bread

If

7. Barbra Streisand

The Way We Were

8. Peter Frampton

Baby, I Love Your Way (Live)

9. Carpenters

(They Long to Be) Close to You

10. Eric Carmen

All By Myself