Do you ever feel like those standard hits-of-the-70s compilations don’t quite capture the 1970s that you remember? Do you feel like many of your personal favorites, even when they were big hits, are rarely if ever included? That’s why we created Hard To Find 45s On CD, Volume 18: 70s Essentials – to bring back all those seldom-heard classics that other collections seem to have forgotten. And we make them sound better than ever!

It’s been a little while since Eric Records’ acclaimed “Hard-To-Find 45s on CD” series visited the 1970s. And, we’ve never stretched into the ’80s! That makes Hard-To-Find 45s on CD Vol. 14: 70s & 80s Pop Classics a welcome addition to the family, as it celebrates the glittering decades that found popular music getting more popular – and unpredictable – than ever before. Hold on tight – or you might get whiplash as we survey nearly 20 years’ worth of pop rarities!

Remixed and expanded (with two additional tracks recorded but chopped off the vinyl version) for its debut on CD in 1999, this is a sturdy, workmanlike Rory Gallagher release. Reverting back to a trio, Gallagher toughens up his sound and blazes through some robust blues rockers like "Last of the Independents," "Shadow Play," and "Brute Force & Ignorance" (one of his best hard rock riffs) with nervy energy. Gallagher's swampy side emerges on "Cloak & Dagger," another song that explores his fascination with B-movie gumshoes, a common theme for the Irish blues-rocker.

After trying her hand at writing her own vintage-inspired material with 2014's Into Colour, singer Rumer returns to her core inspiration of covering classic '60s and '70s pop with 2016's sophisticated This Girl's in Love (A Bacharach & David Songbook). Produced by her husband and longtime collaborator Rob Shirakbari at Capitol Studios, This Girl's in Love finds Rumer applying her supple vocals and soft-focus aesthetic to songs written by the legendary team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David. While Rumer has most certainly sung many of these songs in live settings, it's surprising, given her association with the time period, that she's never actually recorded any of this material in the past.

In 2011, Mavis Staples stepped into Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York (better known as The Barn) for a Midnight Ramble performance that would end up being her last with Helm, who died the following year. That performance will become public with the release of ‘Carry Me Home,’ a recording of that performance that represents some of Helm’s final recordings before his death.

Originally recorded for the Canadian television program In Session in 1983, this was a historic meeting of two artists that has been proven to be a very special moment This famed live jam session by Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan has proven to be an evening that will never be forgotten. "It was evident from the first choruses," writes liner notes author/musicologist Samuel Charters, "that they were playing for each other. And that was the best audience either of them could ever have. The music never lost its intensity, its quality of something very important being handed back and forth and there was time for Stevie and Albert to see where their ideas took them."

'Too Hot For Words' blends the tight-knit swing of the Metropolitan Jazz Octet with the unerring musicianship of Dee Alexander to mark the 60th anniversary of Billie Holiday's departure from the planet, mixing Holiday classics with some of Lady Day's lesser- known repertoire. The arrangements sparkle, and Alexander shines as bright as ever. But at no point does she attempt to mimic Holiday. (What would be the point of that)? And the arrangements don't try to imitate the little 'orchestras' that accompanied Holiday's greatest recordings. (No point in that either.) These new settings respect the songs, but reframe them for our era. The album becomes a sort of telescoping time capsule: sterling musicians of the 21st century, building upon an octet sound crafted 50 years earlier, revitalizing songs that Holiday began recording in the 1930s.

Two classic easy-listening albums by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, originally released in 1969 on the Philips label, together on one CD and remastered from the original analogue stereo tapes for Vocalion's trademark crystal-clear sound. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."

Cesária Évora was a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without shoes, she was also known as the "Queen of Morna". A native of the island nation of Cape Verde, Cesária Évora was known as the country's foremost practitioner of the morna, which is strongly associated with the islands and combines West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modhinas, and British sea shanties. Évora began singing morna at age 16 after meeting an attractive young guitarist. Her talent soon had her performing all over the islands, and in the late '60s two of her radio tapes were released as albums in the Netherlands and Portugal, respectively.

Awesome Mix Vol. 1 includes a collection of songs featured in the film Guardians of the Galaxy. The album features popular hits such as Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling," Raspberries' "Go All The Way," and Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit In The Sky." Other classic tracks on the album include David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream," Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around And Fell In Love," and The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back." The album is split into Side A and Side B, each offering a unique selection of songs. The album also features an original score by Tyler Bates, with tracks such as "The Final Battle Begins," "Morag," and "Everyone's An Idiot." The score captures the essence of the film and adds depth to the overall listening experience. Tyler Bates's compositions continue on Side D with tracks like "The Klyn Escape," "Groot Spores," and "Guardians United." The album concludes with tracks like "Black Tears" and "A Nova Upgrade," providing a complete musical journey for listeners.