Janis Ian was 14 when she wrote her 1967 hit single “Society’s Child,” a controversial song about how social pressure doomed an interracial romance. “I was sitting on a bus in East Orange, NJ, where I was living with my parents, and I saw it happening around me,” Ian told Songwriter Universe.

“Bad Time” was a №4 hit, certified by BMI as radio’s most-played song of 1975. Written by guitarist Mark Farner, the song was a departure from the trio’s hard rock roots. “It was kind of a different song,” Farner told Songfacts.

“Ariel” was a №26 hit for Dean Friedman in 1977. It opens with the lyric, “Way on the other side of the Hudson / Deep in the bosom of suburbia.”

Keith Carradine wrote and performed “I’m Easy” for the 1975 Robert Altman film Nashville. Carradine, as womanizing musician Tom Frank, performs the song to an audience of past, present, and possibly future lovers.

Bob Seger mixed classic rock with a geography lesson in “Katmandu,” first released on his 1975 LP Beautiful Loser. The single reached №43. The song refers to the capital of Nepal, located in the Himalayan Mountain range. Seger wrote “Katmandu” to poke fun at the music business.

The members of Looking Glass were students at Rutgers University in New Jersey when the band formed in 1969. Singer-guitarist Elliot Lurie told The College Crowd Digs Me how the band got its name.

“Tiny Dancer” was first released on Elton John’s 1971 album Madman Across the Water. When an edited single version was released in 1972, it only reached №41. As more album cuts were played on FM radio in the 1970s, “Tiny Dancer” in its original form became a listener favorite.

Fellow record collectors Al Trommers and Robert Plotnik opened Village Oldies in 1967 at 149 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. It was at the record shop that Trommers, known as Broadway Al, gave Plotnik the nickname Bleecker Bob. The partners moved to MacDougal Street in the 1970s.

“Doctor’s Orders” was recorded on Midland International Records in the US by disco diva Carol Douglas and became a №9 hit on the Hot Soul Singles chart in 1975.

“Disco Inferno” was first recorded as the title track of the Trammps’ 1976 album. Released as a single, “Disco Inferno” only reached №53. When the Philadelphia group’s tune was included in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, “Disco Inferno” was re-released and shot up to №1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart.

Genya Ravan fronted Ten Wheel Drive, the dynamic horn band formed in 1969. On Feb 6–7, 1971, Ten Wheel Drive performed at Fillmore East on a bill that featured bluesman Luther Allison, who opened the show, and headliner Steppenwolf.

“I’ve Seen All Good People” appeared on 1971’s The Yes Album. The song is in two parts. It opens with “Your Move,” released as a single in 1971 that reached №40. It closes with “All Good People.” The combination, “I’ve Seen All Good People,” was written and sung by Jon Anderson.

Supertramp’s 1979 LP Breakfast in America featured its memorable title track and “The Logical Song,” which reached №6 and was the band’s biggest hit. The song, an indictment of the UK’s education system, was primarily written by Roger Hodgson, who told Creating the Classics that he reached back to his childhood for the lyrics.

“Alison” is one of Elvis Costello’s most popular songs but did not chart in 1977 when released as a single from his debut album My Aim Is True. Costello explains the song’s inspiration in his 2015 autobiography Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink.

Steve Martin’s second album, 1978’s A Wild and Crazy Guy, cemented his position as a comedian who had attained rock star status. It reached №2 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, only kept off the top spot by the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It includes the hit novelty single “King Tut” and won the Grammy Award in 1979 for Best Comedy Album.

Bill Graham, founder of the rock palaces Fillmore East and West among many accomplishments, was born January 8, 1931. In this excerpt from New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows & Songs That Make NYC Rock, we look back on Graham’s life.

“Vehicle” was one of the biggest hits in the jazz rock era when horn bands dominated the charts. The Ides of March reached №2 in 1970 with the tune, their only hit. Singer-songwriter Jim Peterik told AXS, “We started as a British Invasion wannabe. We loved the Hollies, the Kinks, the Zombies. Our first single on Parrot, ‘You Wouldn’t Listen,’ echoed that.

Big Bambu is Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong’s 1972 album that features a cover designed to look like a giant rolling paper package. Vinyl copies contained a large rolling paper with the record. Big Bambu was nominated for Best Comedy Recording by the Grammy Awards.

In this excerpt from Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever, drummer Corky Laing of Mountain — the thunderous band with guitarist Leslie West and bassist Felix Pappalardi — recalls meeting Jimi Hendrix at Fillmore East’s 1970 New Year’s Eve show.

Here are the stories behind the songs that describe characteristics - gluttony, greed, etc. - that we should be New Year's resolutions to end but probably won't