In a moment of work-related desperation, I grabbed the K-Tel compilation Emotions - "Today's Love Hits" (if "today" is 1978). Sick!!!! Why do I own this????
What a weird time the late 70s were. These songs do hit some sort of weird nostalgic twinge center of my brain, but I'm mostly struck by how BAD the songs are. In the case of Mary McGregor's "Torn Between Two Lovers," so BAD that it wraps around to being good again. They spell Crystal Gayle's stage surname "Gale." A Seals & Crofts song that is not "Summer Breeze" or "Diamond Girl" is featured. A Player song that is not "Baby Come Back." The album ends with two Brothers Gibb compositions (Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You" and Samantha Sang's "Emotion") that wipe the floor with everything else here. They feel like an apology.
While some K-Tel compilations have their own terrible charm, this one is just P-U city.
Side note: I did not know that K-Tel impresario Philip Kives hailed from Oungre, Saskatchewan, which as of 2021 boasted a population of 11 and which looks pretty bleak on Google Maps, even more bleak than my own boyhood stomping grounds. He made it big in Winnipeg, though.
