Steve Miller Band, "Greatest Hits 1974-1978" Poll

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thirty-somethings, unite! for some reason, this shit had something that just about every high school/college musical clique could love.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Fly Like an Eagle 34
Jet Airliner 25
The Joker 21
Take the Money and Run 16
Wild Mountain Honey12
Jungle Love 12
Rock 'N Me 10
Serenade 6
Swingtown 6
Dance, Dance, Dance 3
The Stake 1
Winter Time 1
True Fine Love 0
Threshold 0


Eisbaer, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 01:42 (eighteen years ago)

Oh my god, this was the only album I had until I was 14 (this on one side of a taspe and the "Return to Snowy river" score on the other). Love.

Abbott, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 01:55 (eighteen years ago)

Christ, this is going to be incredibly hard. If I were a hip-hop guy, Fly Like An Eagle obviously.

Ok, I cannot decide. Will have to wait and think about this. I copied the cover drawing onto my binder in 6th grade or something like that.

dlp9001, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 02:02 (eighteen years ago)

"Take The Money And Run" -- pretty damn easy.

"The Joker" # 2.

Nothing against the rest, though.

xhuxk, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 02:08 (eighteen years ago)

"Take The Money And Run" -- pretty damn easy.

not THAT easy -- i voted for "rock 'n me"!

Eisbaer, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 02:21 (eighteen years ago)

Serenade followed by Swingtown

mizzell, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 02:29 (eighteen years ago)

god i love this record

mizzell, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 02:33 (eighteen years ago)

i voted for "rock 'n me"!

I always thought of "rock ' n me" as "All Right Now" by Free with some of the best parts of the song taken out, and nothing better added. So nope, not a contender.

xhuxk, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 02:52 (eighteen years ago)

This was a massive dorm room favorite in the late 1980s Midwest, seemed to be pouring out of every doorway. I feel stupidly drunk just looking at the track listing. I voted "Jet Airliner".

Mark Rich@rdson, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 03:37 (eighteen years ago)

word, mark. this record was pretty much a constant in every late 80s/early 90s college dorm.

and, if it affects anyone's vote, Steve Miller Band Rock N Me baby LEGS AND CO TOTP 1976.

Eisbaer, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 03:51 (eighteen years ago)

Serenade followed by Swingtown

-- mizzell, Tuesday, October 23, 2007 9:29 PM (Tuesday, October 23, 2007 9:29 PM) Bookmark Link

Seconded.

Pleasant Plains, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 03:56 (eighteen years ago)

I've always liked how the fading-in instrumental into to "Swingtown" starts off the record. It gives that song a slight edge over "Take The Money And Run," even though TTMAR is more fun to sing.

Fitzcarraldo, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 03:59 (eighteen years ago)

You left off "Bingo Jed".

Nubbelverbrennung, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 08:02 (eighteen years ago)

"Jungle Love," his "punk rock" song.

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 08:06 (eighteen years ago)

I'm going to vote for the melancholy "Wintertime", though it has no chance of winning this. Runners-up would be "Swingtown", "Rock 'n Me" and "True Fine Love".

I have to admit it: I love this album.

Joe, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 12:10 (eighteen years ago)

Fly Like an Eagle (drum sound = I will steal at first avail opportunity), then Take the Money and Run

Dominique, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 16:12 (eighteen years ago)

this record was pretty much a constant in every late 80s/early 90s college dorm.

Pretty much my experience too, though where I went to school, you could say the same for "Play Deep" by the Outfield (which I can't explain at all).

drench, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 16:39 (eighteen years ago)

"Fly Like an Eagle" for me. Mainly because--along with Clapton’s “I Shot the Sheriff”--it was one of the first two songs that I fell for on the radio (way back in ’76 or so), and, therefore, it holds a certain sentimental value for me that the other songs on the record (though some may conceivably be better) can’t ever approach.

JN$OT, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 16:48 (eighteen years ago)

Jet Airliner is just a great song. Too bad Steve didn't write it.
Fly like an Eagle is the runner up.

Trip Maker, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 16:52 (eighteen years ago)

along with Clapton’s “I Shot the Sheriff"

see also will steal drum sound

Dominique, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 16:53 (eighteen years ago)

wild mountain honey = trippy psych pop

Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 16:54 (eighteen years ago)

or shall i say "dub-metal"?

Steve Shasta, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 17:07 (eighteen years ago)

DON'T!
(Just jokin':)

Goin' for "Fly Like An Eagle", meself.

t**t, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 17:14 (eighteen years ago)

Can I vote against everything on this?

Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 17:16 (eighteen years ago)

Seriously, if I never hear another one of these songs again, it will be too soon.

Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 17:42 (eighteen years ago)

Oh man I'm gonna be the only "Dance, Dance, Dance" booster. There is a home video of me singing that song like 25 times when I was 5 of years.

Abbott, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 18:36 (eighteen years ago)

Ha ha, Fly Like An Eagle just came on the radio. I forgot about that futuristic beginning bit (which is great).

dlp9001, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 18:58 (eighteen years ago)

in the late 80s i spend many week-ends at the chinese tower, a huge beer garden in the middle of the english garden in munich. one evening i sat with a bunch of americans and one of them had a guitar. and he played all those great steve miller songs like rock'n me, take the money and run, fly like an eagle etc. everybody except me knew the lyrics and was singing them. of course we were all totally drunk. i really envied those americans that evening. in german i wouldn't know one song i would like to sing the lyrics to. not even 100% pissed out of my head. my choice is rock'n me by the way.

alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 19:16 (eighteen years ago)

I never liked Steve Miller, but I'd go with "Fly Like An Eagle," if only for all the trippy effects at the end.

Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 19:18 (eighteen years ago)

even though i didn't vote for it, another personal favorite is "serenade" which, to my ears, is practically a sonic soundalike to david bowie's "stay."

Eisbaer, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 19:20 (eighteen years ago)

haha, xposted with alex -- who will probably smite me for my blasphemous comparison of steve miller to david bowie!!

Eisbaer, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 19:21 (eighteen years ago)

Question: if his mid-80s single "Nobody But You Baby" had been recorded back then and included on this Greatest Hits, would anybody have voted for it?

Joe, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 22:46 (eighteen years ago)

Texas:Taxes=Awesome.

I eat cannibals, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

Serenade
The Stake
Threshold
Dance, Dance, Dance
Winter Time

^^^ these aren't on the cassette version and hence don't count at all for me. It's got to be "Jungle Love." Along with Jimmy Buffett's yellow album, the perfect soundtrack for drinking cream soda and eating hot dogs at the former Lake Lanier.

Doctor Casino, Thursday, 25 October 2007 15:11 (eighteen years ago)

Has any other "greatest hits" album ever been assembled from fewer sources? A token track from The Joker, and the rest from two consecutive albums released less than two years previous. (And largely recorded during the same sessions, I believe.) And half of those tracks weren't even released as singles! The very existence of this album is inexplicable. And I own it, of course. (But I can still empathize with NTI

"Jungle Love" is my choice, altho other tracks are more sample-worthy.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Thursday, 25 October 2007 16:52 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, comparing Miller to Bowie is like comparing Spam to Filet Mignon.

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 25 October 2007 16:54 (eighteen years ago)

bump!!

Eisbaer, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:20 (eighteen years ago)

Dude, 2008? WTF??

JN$OT, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:23 (eighteen years ago)

I think I'll take the next year to explore and reflect on the whole Steve Miller Band catalog before voting on this.

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:24 (eighteen years ago)

Although when I return from my Miller-inspired vision quest on October 26th, 2008 to deliver my final verdict, I'll probably get the "You have already voted in this poll and cannot vote again" error message and realize that I hastily clicked on "Swingtown" when the thread was first posted.

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:28 (eighteen years ago)

the joker - why does everyone in the world (but chuck) hate this??

69, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:32 (eighteen years ago)

made all guys named Maurice really smug.

Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:34 (eighteen years ago)

I voted for teh joker. Maybe those haters just can't bring themselves to speak of the puppetutespompatus of love.

James Redd and the Blecchs, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:39 (eighteen years ago)

I liked the "Joker/Take the Money" mashed-up demo.

Pleasant Plains, Monday, 29 October 2007 15:44 (eighteen years ago)

Wild Mountain Honey!

Marco Damiani, Monday, 29 October 2007 17:13 (eighteen years ago)

Wild Mountain Honey vs Jungle Love
hm...

billstevejim, Monday, 29 October 2007 19:13 (eighteen years ago)

But will you still have the same dilemma come October 28, 2oo8?

t**t, Monday, 29 October 2007 19:17 (eighteen years ago)

no

billstevejim, Monday, 29 October 2007 19:19 (eighteen years ago)

It is ALL about Jet Airliner. Such a fun opening riff to play.

B.L.A.M., Monday, 29 October 2007 19:38 (eighteen years ago)

No doubt 2008 will see the release of the "Special 40th Anniversary Remastered 2-CD" edition of the debut.

Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 29 October 2007 19:56 (eighteen years ago)

I always picture a big violent movie ending with a sudden bloodbath as the climax with the final shot going black and "True Fine Love" beginning as the credits begin to roll.

Pleasant Plains, Tuesday, 10 June 2008 18:54 (eighteen years ago)

two months pass...

pretty pysched that this record is included in the capitol records 180 gram vinyl resissue series with mainly coldplay and radiohead.
also can't wait to see what wins this poll.

mizzell, Monday, 18 August 2008 18:54 (seventeen years ago)

there is a lady inside the horse!!!

one of my favorite records ever.

Mike McGooney-gal, Monday, 18 August 2008 19:16 (seventeen years ago)

Wish "Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash" was on here so i could vote.

myndbloom, Monday, 18 August 2008 20:40 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah, comparing Miller to Bowie is like comparing Spam to Filet Mignon.

-- Alex in NYC, Thursday, October 25, 2007 12:54 PM (10 months ago) Bookmark Link

Eisbaer, Sunday, 31 August 2008 08:17 (seventeen years ago)

Fun: Killing Joke vs. Steve Miller Band on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.

If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Sunday, 31 August 2008 08:42 (seventeen years ago)

word, mark. this record was pretty much a constant in every late 80s/early 90s college dorm.

definitely. at penn state this was one of the things i heard the most, along with legend (nobody ever had any other bob marley albums, of course) and the first violent femmes record.

i got pretty sick of most of these songs, but i still have a soft spot for "swingtown" (which a college-dorm band i was in played, badly).

tipsy mothra, Sunday, 31 August 2008 15:57 (seventeen years ago)

one month passes...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Monday, 27 October 2008 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

The world can wait no longer!

Doctor Casino, Monday, 27 October 2008 02:17 (seventeen years ago)

i can't believe it has been a year

mizzell, Monday, 27 October 2008 03:35 (seventeen years ago)

If I were a hip-hop guy, Fly Like An Eagle obviously.

Take the Money and Run was a bigger break (included on one of the original UB&B comps)

However, Jet Airliner gets my vote.

LIL HOOSANE (PappaWheelie V), Monday, 27 October 2008 03:48 (seventeen years ago)

Guess I'm going to have to make a decision on this one soon. But what to choose....?

Live from the Witch Trials (SeekAltRoute), Monday, 27 October 2008 18:58 (seventeen years ago)

I wonder if I will be the only one to vote for Wild Mountain Honey.

sleeve, Monday, 27 October 2008 19:06 (seventeen years ago)

"The Joker," in honor of the girl from my high school who, on her 18th birthday, went down to the county clerk and changed her name to "Midnight Toker."

Guayaquil (eephus!), Monday, 27 October 2008 20:55 (seventeen years ago)

sleeve, do a ctrl-f

▒▒▓▓████▓▓▒▒▓▓████▓▓▒▒▓▓████▓▓▒▒▓▓████▓▓▒▒▓▓████▓▓▒▒ (Steve Shasta), Monday, 27 October 2008 21:33 (seventeen years ago)

i caught a recent steve miller band show at some outdoor venue (maybe ravinia) broadcast on the local pbs station. the whole band looked like maybe the original dudes except one obviously younger black guy on keyboards. they started with an at least 10 minute version of "fly like an eagle" and at one point the keyboardist came out front and did a really hackneyed rap about togetherness and peace over the instrumental. it was embarrassing.

metametadata (n/a), Monday, 27 October 2008 21:35 (seventeen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Tuesday, 28 October 2008 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

Serenade 6
Swingtown 6

so sad, so wrong

mizzell, Tuesday, 28 October 2008 02:33 (seventeen years ago)

saddest part is that winter time is maybe my third favorite.

mizzell, Tuesday, 28 October 2008 02:34 (seventeen years ago)

I still would have voted for Jungle Love.

The single edit of Fly Like A Eagle represented on this set is disappointing, although the Jet Airliner edit is superior.

billstevejim, Wednesday, 29 October 2008 00:43 (seventeen years ago)

Jungle Love: it rules!!!

The question to everyone's answer
Is usually found from within

Easily one of the 10 greatest lyrics EVER!

goofus vs. gallant (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 01:37 (seventeen years ago)

damn, i shoulda voted Jungle Love instead of jet airliner

woulda made all the difference too

(unregistered) (PappaWheelie V), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 05:42 (seventeen years ago)

http://media.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/content/img/photos/2008/02/12/436069010_t220.jpg

Booker van Permalink (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 29 October 2008 17:05 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

You know that I can surely see that I don't want to get caught up in any of that funky shit goin' down in the city.

i love you but i have chosen snarkness (Steve Shasta), Monday, 25 October 2010 01:43 (fifteen years ago)

nine years pass...

This goddamn album.

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 11 June 2020 02:18 (six years ago)

For better or worse, it's meat and potatoes. Sometimes that's all you need, but it sure as hell ain't the best you've had.

birdistheword, Thursday, 11 June 2020 02:49 (six years ago)

“Wild mountain honey” is so damn sweet, what an atmosphere.

brimstead, Thursday, 11 June 2020 03:24 (six years ago)

Jah bless Steve for giving Paul Pena so much love.

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 11 June 2020 04:19 (six years ago)

Most people don't know it's a cover:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dnGj5YF8F0

Sidran (SMB keyboardist) gave an unreleased copy of New Train to Steve Miller, who recorded "Jet Airliner" with the Steve Miller Band for the 1977 album Book of Dreams. Miller's version of "Jet Airliner" was a hit single, and went to #8 on the charts. Pena's primary source of income in his later years were royalties from that single, which was a song about Pena's airplane trip from Boston to Montreal to play the first-ever date with T-Bone Walker's band.

This doc about his later life is so fantastic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_xlbCq0WTw

Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 11 June 2020 04:23 (six years ago)

prefer steve miller's version, <3 that weightless groove SMB were so great at.
With the synth textures on Fly Like an Eagle (LP) it's a winning combination. Like magic fairy dust lifting it off the ground.

Deflatormouse, Thursday, 11 June 2020 06:34 (six years ago)

i love this edit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsSo0BMLLpI

mark e, Thursday, 11 June 2020 10:29 (six years ago)

Article by a kid Miller mentored for a few years: https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/young-musician-growing-up-with-steve-miller/

I know we're conditioned (with good reason) to expect the worst from stories like these, but that doesn't happen here, and Miller comes off as someone who's figured out how to live (with the help of a fuckton of money).

"...And the Gods Socially Distanced" (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 11 June 2020 13:54 (six years ago)

well, yeah

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 11 June 2020 14:01 (six years ago)

Poignant story. I forge McCartney's known Miller for decades; they even wrote a song for Flaming Pie.

TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 11 June 2020 14:02 (six years ago)

My freshman year in college this one of the few ubiquitous CD's in basically everyone's collection (the other was the Bob Marley Legend comp).
Which has always made SMB seem very lowest-common-denominator.

enochroot, Thursday, 11 June 2020 15:36 (six years ago)

Paul mccartney plays on a song or two on brave new world from ‘69

brimstead, Thursday, 11 June 2020 16:29 (six years ago)

thirty-somethings, unite!

― Eisbaer, Tuesday, October 23, 2007 9:42 PM (twelve years ago)

pomenitul, Thursday, 11 June 2020 16:36 (six years ago)

My freshman year in college this one of the few ubiquitous CD's in basically everyone's collection (the other was the Bob Marley Legend comp).
Which has always made SMB seem very lowest-common-denominator.

― enochroot, Thursday, June 11, 2020 11:36 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I know what you mean, frat bros have got that inverse midas thing down. Good thing i never went to college.

Abracadaba always bored me until Jacques Lu Cont made it fun, now I really like it.

Deflatormouse, Thursday, 11 June 2020 17:05 (six years ago)

Leon and Randy become such friends that when the latter eventually left Quiet Riot, he recommended Leon as his replacement. The grateful Leon repaid the favour by later helping Randy write what would become one of his signature riffs with Ozzy Osbourne: Crazy Train.

“We were hanging out, and I showed him the riff to Steve Miller’s Swingtown,” he says. “I said: ‘Look what happens when you speed this riff up’. We messed around, and the next thing I know he took it to a whole other level and end up writing the Crazy Train riff.”

https://www.loudersound.com/features/randy-rhoads-the-guitarist-who-changed-the-world

Deflatormouse, Saturday, 13 June 2020 01:59 (six years ago)

three years pass...

Do iconic greatest hits albums like this exist anymore?

Indexed, Monday, 21 August 2023 15:50 (two years ago)

I think the advent of the playlist was the nail in the coffin for that kind of release, though I'm struggling to think of one more recent than Madonna's Immaculate Collection. The turn-of-millennium Beatles and Elvis #1 compilations were pretty huge at the time, but that's a different thing

J. Sam, Monday, 21 August 2023 16:29 (two years ago)

Trying to think of a band/artist from the 00s that could really use the Greatest Hits treatment as a way of introducing the next generation to their work. The National?

Indexed, Monday, 21 August 2023 16:41 (two years ago)

Pink's greatest hits was the last one I remember seizing the public's imagination; its new songs were two of her biggest hits.

the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 August 2023 16:56 (two years ago)

I generally find the "This Is..." Spotify playlists to be pretty awful and much too biased toward new releases, so it's a bummer to think these have replaced the well-curated Greatest Hits release. For The National, you've got to get 19 songs in to hear a song from Alligator.

Indexed, Monday, 21 August 2023 17:14 (two years ago)

^^ I also miss well-curated greatest hits, and often opt for compilations on Spotify over This Is playlists. though it was amusing to recently learn of the existence LMC's "Take Me to the Clouds Above" because it was on the This is U2 playlist

Very weird that Steve Miller Greatest Hits 74-78 is so much more iconic than the two albums it pulls from. I've never even bothered to listen to them

Vinnie, Monday, 21 August 2023 17:29 (two years ago)

Max B - wave pack

brimstead, Monday, 21 August 2023 17:31 (two years ago)

This really feels like the one album he should've put out in the early '70s - it covers a mere three albums, and one of them contributes only one song. It's a good listen, as good as meat-and-potatoes rock can get.

I prefer his earlier stuff, particularly the first two albums, but if Anthology (from 1972) had included some stuff from his debut and a few others from Sailor, that would've been an amazing compilation.

birdistheword, Monday, 21 August 2023 19:31 (two years ago)

Very weird that Steve Miller Greatest Hits 74-78 is so much more iconic than the two albums it pulls from. I've never even bothered to listen to them

Three albums, as noted above, and each gets better than the previous one as albums imo. (I've never listened to the hits collection as such.) Book of Dreams is so rooted in my memories of the summer of '77: my first year living away from my parents, my first job, first higher end stereo than the piece of crap I grew up with. Spent a lot of nights with w33d and that record.

Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable POST (Dan Peterson), Monday, 21 August 2023 19:54 (two years ago)

no macho city no credibility

the late great, Monday, 21 August 2023 20:22 (two years ago)

the stake > rocky mountain way

budo jeru, Monday, 21 August 2023 20:49 (two years ago)


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