Super Hits of the '70s: Have a Nice Day is a series of music compilations containing chiefly one-hit wonders and lesser-known pop and rock music songs from the 1970s. The first fifteen volumes were released on cassette and (with bonus tracks) on CD, in 1990 by Rhino Records, covering the years 1969–1976. Compiled by Gary Stewart, David McLees, and Bill Inglot, each CD comes with an eight-page booklet which includes five pages of liner notes by Paul Grein. Follow-up volumes appeared in 1993 and 1996, extending the time period to 1979 and with additional songs from the 1972-76 period, available on cassette or CD (ALL 25 volumes were issued in both formats). Each volume has twelve songs. Despite the greater capacity of compact discs, the running time of each of the volumes is no longer than the limit of vinyl records in the 1970s, from 38 to 45 minutes long.
Contents
For most cuts, the (45 RPM) single version was included where differing from that found on the artist's original album. Many (not all) tracks were dubbed from the original stereo (or mono) master tapes, and therefore represent the best available version on CD. To avoid using lesser-quality tapes, single versions were recreated through Bill Inglot's digital editing of album-version tapes. The original stereo masters were not available in every case (CBS tracks in particular); Rhino's publicity forthrightly admitted those instances where other compilations' versions were superior.
The songs "Jackie Blue", "Fooled Around And Fell In Love", "Sometimes When We Touch" and "Amie", which appear on volumes 14, 18, 21 and 23 respectively, have the 45 RPM single edits appear on the cassette tape versions, but feature the full-length album versions on the compact disc releases.
Taking its inspiration from, among others, K-Tel Records, the Have a Nice Day series was among the first of many decade- and genre-delimited collections of lower-charting hits to appear with the arrival of the CD age. Some of the songs provided in this series appear on dozens of other compilations. None of them (including this one) are comprehensive, leaving out best-selling artists and songs unavailable for licensing or other reasons. For example, "You Light Up My Life", the song that held the #1 spot on the Billboard Pop Singles chart for the longest continuous stretch during the 1970s, is neither on this series nor any other. Despite the explosive proliferation of 70s collections on compact disc pouring out on other record labels since 1990, this series remains or has remained in print more than a decade after its initial releases in 1990–96.
In a review of the Volume 1 CD for Allmusic, Bruce Eder started out his review as follows: "The inaugural volume of what is now a 30-CD series moves from strength to strength in several different categories, and buying it is not only a no-brainer but also essential to one's education in pop music (assuming one needs it)." In spite of his presumption about 30 volumes being made, only 25 were ever produced.
In 1998, Rhino released Have A Nice Decade: The 70s Pop Culture Box, a seven-disc compilation with 160 songs, many of which could be found on the Have a Nice Day series. Some songs contain sound snippets of the decade at the end of the song. In addition, more soul, rhythm and blues and disco are added. Some well-known artists (for example, David Bowie, Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt and Cat Stevens) have songs on this compilation as well.