Sensational '70's Tune for Wednesday, May 6th, '09

Rivaling Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" in creating a supremely laid-back mood of complete existential anguish -- a combination that pretty much sums up the late '70s -- Al Stewart's "Year of the Cat" is if anything an even prettier song with an even more depressing lyric. One of Alan Parsons' most remarkable productions, "Year of the Cat" is a truly amazing listening experience, just the sort of thing that '70s dudes played for their dates on their wildly expensive new stereo systems just before they broke out the Quaaludes. In all seriousness, the extended solo section, when a succession of different instruments fade twinkling into each other before the final verse, is a marvel of '70s soft rock. "Baker Street" has a much better sax solo, though.