Sounds on Sunday: 50 years ago – 1976-24

FIFTY YEARS AGO we were humming along to the hits of 1976. Some have magnificently stood the test of time; others have not. Join us on Memory Lane as we review them on their golden anniversaries.

Abba are still doing a Manchester City – hogging the top spot and leaving other players languishing in second. So it was with The Real Thing’s Can’t get by without you. This was the follow-up single to You to me are Everything, which reached number one and which you heard earlier this year. And if you listened to that one, you’ll be reminded of it as soon as you hear the opening bars of Can’t, which announce “I am a 70s disco song” very clearly.

It’s a common theme: boy and girl go out, boy takes girl home, boy wishes he could spend the night with girl rather than go to his own home. But it’s expressed well. The lyrics are not contrived (for the most part) and partner well with the music. There’s not much more we can say about it. It does what it says on the tin: listen, enjoy, and keep on humming.

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