Saturday, Saturday, Ever-Lovin' Saturday

Having been in the world of retail for about a bagillion years and now being unemployed, days tend to run into one another with no separation, no punctuation not even a different inflection in the way one would pronounce the individual day of the week.  One big mass of time strung together with, if one is lucky, periods of sleep as the only way to tell one from the next. My point here is, weekeneds usually don't mean anything special to me anymore.

Not this weekend! I have really been looking forward to this weekend all week, something I rarely let myself do.  Tomorrow, I get to spend the day with my best bud Scott during the day and his family in the evening. YAY!  (Yes, he is taking me to my SECOND gun show.  shuttup) Today, I have an unexpected treat!  I get to spend the day with THE Lori Rome. Quite simply, Lori Rome is one of the most incredible people I have ever met and she should be running her own country!  We are going to eat (I am making a pot roast, something I have been craving for a while now, with oven baked mashed potatoes, fresh green beans with bacon, onions, garlic and bread crumbs and Yorkshire Pudding!  That is something I have not had in a million years that my Mom used to make us when she would make pot roast.  Steven reminded me of this yesterday and, well, now it is a'happenin'), drink and flesh out a concept idea for a movie that I am hoping to pitch this week!  Keep your fingers crossed kids!

So, whilst the roast is a'pottin'(?) and the potatoes are a'baking, I figured I would start today's music fest. Now, without further delay, here they are folks...Today's 10 Tunes.

(Click here to listen to clips of these songs)

1.  Pilot Of The Airwaves - Charlie Dore 3:15 (Island Records) Oh that sweet, tight, four part harmony that opens this gem is so happy and fits the mood of the day perfectly! "Don't waste my time chasing sleep"  Amen sistah!  Boy o boy, there was so much good music in 1979. Alot of the songs from yesterday were also from 1979!  In 1979 my Dad gave me a DC Comics Superhero Collector's Stamp Book.  Each new stamp was released over a period of time and I would collect them, put them in protective plastic sleeves and adhere them to the corresponding hero in the book!  I always associate that book with going to Nan's in Toms River.  We would get there, have lunch and I would patiently await the words, "Well, there are a couple of things I need from the store!"  That meant going to Caldor and THAT meant, NEW STAMPS!  Everytime I hear this song, I think of Nan and that stamp book, which my Dad has kept safe for me all these years! This song is just so magical to me!

2.  Go All The Way - Raspberries 3:10 (Capitol Records) Isn't childhood innocence a wonderful thing?  Imagine being a little kid, loving a song so much that you would sing along to it at the top of your lungs, play air-guitar to it only to find out, 20 some odd years later, that it is a song about, again, editting for the chillruns, "getting lucky"!  Basically, when the lead singer has actually spit the marbles out of his mouth so we can understand him, he is telling us that this girl he is with is begging him to Go All The Way!  Dirty, dirty stuff folks.  That said, they did have a great rocking sound and I love those guitars!!!  So, cover the kids ears and rock out to this one!

3.  That's The Way Love Goes - Janet Jackson 4:25 (Virgin Records) More colored vinyl folks!!!  This time it is translucent red!!!  That alone is enough to make me chair dance (which I am. shuttup) This is one of my all-time favorite Janet songs. "like a moth to a flame burned by the fire/my love is blind can't you see my desire" Oh, maybe this is what the girl from the previous song was actually saying to him!  Good line!  Oh so many outrageously GREAT memories associated with this song! Annette, Harold, dancing all night long, playing this whenever I DJed, a slow funky groove that got people grinding!  Soooo hot! This whole album is Janet at her very best!  Just thinking this one over....this song is dirty as was the previous song.  Only difference is, this one was not pretending to be anything but dirty!  hee hee It's playing again and I am dancing again.  See you in a few minutes.

4.  Downtown - Dolly Parton 3:19 (RCA Records) From Janet to Dolly...it's a natural progression! Here's another record I haven't played in forever.  I forgot what a fun remake this is.  Well, it's Dolly so, "how can you loose?" It has such a great beat to it and her voice is so fun and flirty!  I think I even a 12" remix single of this!  I remember it being played alot in the clubs!  I love the trademark Dolly at the end, "Git-on, git-on, git-on downtown!"  Only real difference here for me is, in my head, she is referring to Downtown Nashville and Petula was talking about Brooklyn. (seriously, everytime I heard Petula's version I thought about A&S in downtown Brooklyn)

5.  Holiday - Madonna 3:50 (Sire Records)  Ahhhh Madonna from when we all thought she was a black chic singer! (I know that was not politically correct.  Send all of your emails and comments to ithoughmaddonawasblacktoo.com) This is, was and always will be one of my favorite party songs! You can't help but move to it. A tight simple production and she sounds great....raw, rough and slightly off-key!  Who cared?  We were dancing our asses off!  I remember this song from before the whole Madonna look exploded and it was just a great song. GREAT piano improv at the end!

6.  Vacation - Go-Gos's 2:59 (I.R.S. Records) WOW This is really turning out to be a party Saturday, isn't it?  You HAVE to bop and dance when you hear the Go-Go's, you just have to!  Such amazingly fun girl-power, guitar driven fun!!! Chair dancing and pretending to be surfing!  Oh crap!  glug glug glug

7.  Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham! 3:51 (Columbia Records) Trust me kids, this was not planned.  But it is kinda funny.  Get it?  Go-Go following the Go-Go's?  No?  Ok.  (shuttup) Long before George Michael was caught loitering in bathroom stalls, he really knew how to put out...great pop songs that is!  The combination of his amazing voice and slick, bouncy production really sold this song and man did it explode when it came out! (Wait, I guess I shouldn't have mentioned the bathroom stalls thing cause now everything I am saying sounds dirty.  Sorry.) Another great, silly party song!!  Doing my 80s dance out of the room to go check on the pot roast.

8.  The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats 2:44 (Backstreet Records) What a great, goofy song!  Do you remember the episode of Friends where Monica and Ross do "The Routine"?  That's what I think of everytime I hear this song!  Mechanical, robotic moves. "Everybody look at your hands"????  Huh?  Ok.  This is not a shallow man here folks, if your friends don't dance, well then they are no friends of his! Again, this brings back such cool memories of being way too young to be going out in NY!  (I am so sure my brohter cringes everytime he reads that!  Sorry Steve, just part of the magic!)

9.  Is This Love? - Alison Moyet 3:59 (Columbia Records) I told you not to forget her name, didn't I?  This is one of my favorites of Alison's. I love her voice. It is soothing, comforting and exciting all at the same time.  I think I said this last time but it bares repeating, she writes almost all of her music and always seems to stay interesting, relevent and, well, exciting!  I love the keyboards and violins in this song!

10.  Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder 3:53 (Tamia Records) Horns blowing, party continuing!  Nothing to say. this is a perfect song.  "You can feel it all o-o-over/you can feel it all o-o-over people!" Quite possibly my favorite Stevie Wonder song and a great way to end this party!

Well, dinner is done and my day with THE Lori Rome has come to an end.  Got some work done, ate way too much and had a fantastic time with the Rome-i-licious one! I hope you all had a great Saturday (weekend by the time this gets posted) and that listening to the clips of these songs will bring back some fun memories of staying out dancing all night with someone special.  I would love to find a club that plays this kind of music, we could all meet there and dance the night away. Go tell someone that you love them and then grb em and dance with em!  Not sure if there will be a Sunday post yet or not, all depends on the weather (snow = no Sunday with Scott = blog post.  you dig?)!

MMMMMMM Pop Music

Ahhh, pop music!  If it wasn't for pop music you and I wouldn't be here would we (I don't mean here on the planet, I mean here in blogworld)?  We wouldn't get to spend some time together every day and what kind of people would we have turned out to be if we didn't have our daily dose of coma-inducing aural injections of bubblegum coming out of our radios and record players?  {{{shudder}}}

The goal today is to try and make up for the missing Wednesday post. So go get some snacks, make sure the cushion on your chair is comfy (ya know, for chair dancing, if you feel so inclined) and get ready for.....

Today's 15 Tunes!!

(Click here to listen to clips of these songs)

1.  This Is It - Kenny Loggins 3:35 (Columbia Records) "chhickitchapah - chhickitchapah" I just don't know!  I don't know what to say here and I don't know how I feel about the whole beginning of this song.  I hate the weird, breathy thing he is doing with his voice, but I love the arrangement going on in the background.  Then the music kicks in on the chorus (finally) and Kenny goes full throttle and sounds great!  Ok, so we have bad, we have good, then we have good again...until I remembered Michael McDonald's breathy voice is doing the back-ups for him, which in my book makes it bad again.  OYE! The other problem I have with many of Kenny Loggins' songs, I can't understand what he is saying.  I can make out every thrid word and then he loses me.  But the song brings back great memories of going to Nan's for some reason.  "The waiting is over/You're going no further"  now, see, if I could understand the rest of the lyrics, this wouldn't scare me so much!

2.  Modern Love - David Bowie 3:56 (EMI Records) OH MAN!!!  That funky guitar slide in the opening of this song just makes me so happy! Doing my best 80s chair dancing here!! "I know when to go out/I know when to stay in"  This is such a great party song! Love the horns and pounding piano in here! And then of course, there is Bowie's voice!!  Absolute original, one-of-a-kind!  Not a technically great singer but what a great sound, you can understand every word he sings and 9 out of 10 times there was some deeper meaning to what he was singing.  Take a lesson Kenny, that's how you sell a song!  David Bowie is one of the rare few that you can refer to as an artist (with a good dance beat!)

3.  Stairway To Heaven - Far Corporation 5:45 (ATCO Records) Now, I know, some of you are going to think this is blasphemous, but I had heard this version of Stairway in a bar in the Village in 1985 and loved it. It is very respectful of the original yet updated (80s style) in such cool ways.  Just the right combination of real instruments and very limited synths but it is the driving drums that make it for me! I even bought the album so that I could have the full 9:45 version!  Nobody can touch Zeppelin but this and Dolly Parton's version offer a new look at the song. (If you have never heard Dolly's version....look it up and listen.  It is outstanding!)

4.  Chuck E.'s In Love - Rickie Lee Jones 3:29 (Warner Brothers Records) If there was a list of the Top 100 coolest songs ever, this one would be in the Top 25.  "Is he here? I look in da pool hall. Is he heya? I look in the drugstowe. Well, is he heya? No, he don't come around heya no mowe!"  "Oh Christ, I think he even combed his hair!" I remember listening to this on my Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Sal's ultra-cool new stereo system when they first got it all set up and was blown away by the way the music was coming at you from the speakers and how you could hear the finger snap so clearly throughout the song.

Time for some chair dancing.

5. Trouble - Nia Peeples 4:15 (Mercury Records) This is one of those songs that I remember absolutely loving when it came out.  I haven't heard it in a hundred years, so, I hope I have the same reaction to it now. Cueing it up and.......go.  (WOW  there is a really good cue burn in the beginning of this one.  Think I played it too much?)   Oh yeh!  Oh YEH!  Still loving it!  It is very much like Janet's Pleasure Principle, which is what I always mixed it with, which is perfectly fine with me!  Although I have always really liked Paula Abdul, I used to think that Nia Peeples should have been Paula.  She could dance just as well AND she could really sing!! (Do you remember Nia on Fame - The Series? Loved it - loved her and Jesse)  There was a really hot video for this too!

Worked up a sweat there.  Time to slow it down a little.

6.  Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye - Neal McCoy 3:17 (Atlantic Records) This is an outstanding, slightly countrified remake.  I first heard this version when I was working at Low Places.  In between line dance sets the DJ would play "belt-buckle polishers" (songs to slow dance with your best girl to) and I would always go over to my Mom and ask her to dance with me to this one, which she did!  I used to love when this came on!  Nothing cooler than getting to dance with my Mom! Good times.  Neal McCoy's voice is soooooo great!  He has an amazing range and such control.

7.  I Know There's Something Going On - Frida 4:06 (Atlantic Records) Ahhh, finally, the other "A" from AbbA, Annafrid aka Frida.  This song was produced by Phil Collins, who also, very obviously, plays drums on the track. There is such a menacing sound to this song.  Frida's voice, well, what is there to say?  She is incredible and I love hearing all the backing she did in the choruses.  So many, many, many memories with this one.  Hanging out with Brian Guiney, going to the dances at NYU, meeting Jamie Champa (a student at F.I.T. who is now a very success country song writer) and, for some reason, hot summers in NY!  Gotta love pop music!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEeerch.  Gear shift.

8.  The Battle Of New Orleans - Johnny Horton 2:28 (Columbia Records) This is one I bought for my Dad because he really loves this song. It was released in 1959 and is a bare-bones recording...a bass, a banjo and some drums, but man, what a cool sound.  I am smilling like a fool cause as I am listening to it, I can hear my Dad singing along with it. I am going to put the whole song on the music page so he can enjoy it again. Nothing like a little Civil War ditty to make ya smile.

9.  If - Bread 2:33 (Elektra Records) {{{happy sigh}}} This is one of the most beautiful love songs ever. There is nothing for me to say here. "If the world should stop revolving/spinning slowly down to die/I'd spend the end with you/and when the world was through/then one by one/the stars would all go out/then you and I would simply fly away" If I didn't know my parents, I would ask, do people really find that kind of love in their lifetime?  But I already know the answer.

10.  A Cowboys Work Is Never Done - Sonny & Cher 3:14 (Kapp Records) Here's one from the spindles that Steven promoted to a green paper sleeve.  Lots of scratches and LOTS of great memories.  Get your harmonica out (ok, S&C used a vocorder but it is supposed to be a harmonica)! Hold it firmly in your left hand and put your right hand over the front and blow...... WWWAAAAA-wwwwa-a-waaaa-waaa-waaaaaaa  "RIDE I used to jump my horse and RIDE"" Oh boy, the horns, the banjo, the mandolin and the spread on the drums...such a great arrangement. We used to watch the Sonny & Cher Show every week.  It was so well done and they were so great together.  Classic!!

Ok, going to go eat something and watch a movie.  I'll be back.                                     Miss me? I made Penne A La Vodka with pork medallions and watched Lords Of Dogtown, a movie that my beautiful niece Melissa gave me for Christmas (it is one of her favorites)!  Thanks Mel! By the way, if you haven't seen the movie, go out and rent it.  It is really good!

Ok, fat and happy and ready to go on.  Wow these last 5 are an eclectic bunch.  Chair dancin' first thankfully.  I can work off some of that pasta!

11.  Diamonds - Herb Alpert (Lead Vocals - Janet Jackson) 4:53 (A&M Records) Love this song! Herb and Janet.  Who woulda thunk it, right?  Well, it is his label and this is such a fun song, why not!  I forgot just what a well-produced dance jam this song is. It has that distinct Janet/Jimmy Jam sound and with Herb's trumpet....excellent. "You gave me some candy. It melted! Nice try." "I just want a token that can't go to waste.  Diamonds!"

12.  High Hopes - Frank Sinatra "and a bunch of kids" 2:42 (Capitol Records) Another one I bought for my Dad, also released in 1959, from the movie "A Hole In The Head".  Such a happy opening!  "Just what makes that lil ole ant think he'll move that rubber tree plant"  Well, he had High Hopes of course. This is a very cute song, but the message is so true. Now if we could only live our lives with High Hopes that we can do anything we set out to do and never give up....

13.  The Unicorn - The Irish Rovers 3:18 (MCA Records) I bought this one when I was DJing at The Happy Hour in Toms River.  One of the bar tenders, Carol,  who turned out to be a great friend, asked me to pick this one up for her.  I had never heard it before and thought, ok, but no one else is going to know it either.  Boy was I wrong.  EVERYONE knew it!  (I felt a little silly and greatly humbled) I'd play it and Carol would get up, take my microphone and lead everyone in a sing along. It was so much fun and I really miss her!!

14.  Me And You And A Dog Named Boo - Lobo 2:52 (Big Tree Records) Another one I have not heard in a million years.  First notes and I am, once again, sucked back in time.  Summer family vacations and 77 WABC.  This is also another great car song. Never really realized just how laid back and mellow this song is.  I am listening and just gently swaying from side to side. Remember when life was this sinple?

Here it is folks...the moment you've been waiting for.  Did you think this song would not be here with a title like today's post title....

15.  Pop Muzik - M 3:20 (Sire Records) Get up!  Get Down!  can't          type        dancing   Man o man, you would have to be dead to not move or bop to this song.  Sadly, I know every word to it.  "All around the world/whereever you are/dance in the street/do anything you like/do it in your car/in the middle of the night/lalalalala"! Such a brilliantly goofy song and the perfect way to end today's post.

WOW We were all over the place today, weren't we? So much fun music from so many different eras. I hope you all have a great weekend.  Go out and do something fun.  Call an old friend and go out for drinks.  Personally, I am going to another gun show this weekend!!  WOO HOOO! See you tomorrow.  Crank up that pop music kids.

Coming Around Again - Happy Thursday

Sorry I missed posting yesterday but the universe just seemed to be against me.  I was having major computer issues and couldn't get the damn thing to do anything I wanted it to.  My apologees!  But I am back and the computer seems to be coming around again, so keep your fingers crossed. 

I chose today's title because when I picked up Barry's new album I also picked up Carly Simon's latest release.  It is called, Never Been Gone and it is Carly's re-imagening and re-working of some of her biggest hits and favorite songs.  I was nervous about this album because, quite frankly, why mess with perfection right?  Well, she and her son Ben Taylor, sat down, planned things out and created an amazing album. I never thought You're So Vain or That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be could be better than the originals but man, she comes damn close to topping herself.  The album is fresh and quirky and as original as she is.  Do yourselves a favor and pick this one up!

As for yesterday's missing 10 Tunes, I will make that up as the week goes on so we can stay on track here but for now, it is Thursday and we do have that Bonus song thing going on!

So, here are Today's 11 Tunes....Another great mixed bag with one song I am not sure that I even remember! Here they are folks.

(click here to listen to clips of these songs)

1.  Kyrie - Mr. Mister 4:10 (RCA Records) Purple translucent vinyl folks!!  Woohoo!  Geek Alert!  Geek Alert! Gary O. Geek?  Party of one? Yes Sir, that would be me!  This song means absolutely nothing but who cares.  They even printed out the lyrics to this song on the back of the sleeve. "My body burns a gem-like flame/somewhere between the soul and soft machine" HUH?  WHA?  It still means nothing. Well, I am sure it has great meanig to the writers, but its meaning is lost on me.  But man oh man, what a great sound!  The lead singer has such a great and interesting voice and the pounding drums and synths.... perfect, especially when one would possibly mix this with the translucent blue single of Starship's Sara, just sayin'!

2.  Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees 3:29 (RSO Records) Ahh The Bee Gees!  Saturday Night Fever being filmed in our old hood, Bay Ridge, brings back such amazing memories.  I can remember seeing a film crew outside of Fisherman's Corner on 4th Ave and being fascinated!! The Bee Gees truly created a sensation with this new sound.  I hate the expression "It took the world by storm" but it really did.  They were everywhere and the whole SNF look was everywhere!  Listening to it again now, it really was a great sound, but not one I would want to hear over and over again.  I think this is part nostalgia making me enjoy this so much right now! (the pressing of this single is weird and has a fuzz sound going through it.  Maybe his voice was too high to capture on vinyl?)

3.  I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love - Rita Coolidge 3:28 (A&M Records) Oh such a beautiful song! Heartbreaking but beautiful. It was written by Carole Bayer-Sager and Peter Allen, which would account for much of the greatness of the song but it is Rita Coolidge's simple, almost conversational approach that really hit home for me.  "I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love/while I still believe/the meaning of the word"  Get out before it gets ugly Rita!!  Schmart lady!

4.  Bang The Drum All Day - Todd Rundgren 3:32 (Bearsville Records) Sorry, Rita, I needs to do me some chair dancin'!  You should too sweety, you'll feel better. Oh yeh!!!!!  Another song that just hits you in the face with happy as soon as it starts!  The combination of Todd Rundgren's rough, rockin' voice against the Jamaican sounds and back-up singers is amazing!  LOVE that bass line in the break! "I can bang that suckah" And let's be honest, who hasn't wanted to bang their bosses head like a drum?  Such a good happy song!!!

I hate to do this to you but you may want to get some Kleenex ready for the next 2 songs!  Just sayin'.

5.  Rocky - Austin Roberts 3:34 (Private Stock Records) Here is another tragic story song folks and another one that was on a K-Tel Album. Crap!  I remember every word of this song! Basically, here is a young couple that "got it on together in such a super way" and she is unsure of everything.  Rocky, I've never been in love before! Rocky, I've never had a baby before! And ultimately, Rocky, I've never had to die before (duh)! The music to this song is ironically very happy, bouncy and has great guitar work going on with a minimal amount of tragic violin work (and thankfully, no choir of angels)! I love this song and I love the way the lyric turns around to her guiding him when he is unsure.  NEXT......

6. Cat's In The Cradle - Harry Chapin 3:29 (Elektra Records) Absolutely timeless song that always gets me choked up! Harry Chapin was one of the greatest story-tellers of all time, whose time was also cut way too short. I really don't know what to say about this song.  It is perfect and Harry really encapsulated a sad but true "circle of life" story here.

7.  Gold - Spandau Ballet 3:54 (Chrysalis Records) Boy this song starts off kinda creepy! Listen to the synth line behind these GOLDen lines..."Thank you for coming home/I'm sorry the chairs are all worn/I left them there I could have sworn/These are my salad days" Thank gawd he mentioned his salad days cause now it all makes sense! (Dave is here with me for these last few songs.  Everybody say "HI DAAAVE!"  He says, "Hi and save your strength"!) We love this guys voice, right?  D: Oh yeh! Dave wants to know if he is still talking about the chairs being "indestructable".  G: Um, I believe he said "Indestructabow"!  Dave?  Dave? Get off the floor! (He is laughing really hard, I didn't push him if that's what you're thinking!) So, does "soul" really rhyme with "Gold"?  Just curious?  It is a great sounding song, non-the-less!  Moving on.....

8.  The Politics Of Dancing - Re-Flex 3:55 (Capitol Records) G: I love the sound of this song!!! D:  Me too but it is sooo stupid! G: Um, was "Gold" Mensa worthy? Ok, we are trying desperately to figure out what this song means.  We have politicians on the airwaves, "station to station", spreading their message to the dance floors.  You can't stop it when it starts to play. D: I'm sure it has some deep meaning. G: And you can dance to it!  We both agree that there is some great drum programming going on in this song!

9.  The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em) - Greg Kihn Band 2:50 (Beserkley Records) Tandom Chair Dancing!!!  (Jealous?) G: I love, love, love this song! D: They just don't write em like that anymore?  Amen.  Look at the titles above!  How long do you think it took them to write the "unnn-uh-unnn-un-un-un-unnn-un"s?  G: Who do you think signed off on that?  D: the whole Greg Rockihnroll Band, of course.  G: Ok, the best hook in the song is the "No they don't.  No no!" at the fade! 

Ok, folks, you really should be here.  Somehow we just broke out in the Libbys jingle.  Remember that?  "If you have Libbys Libbys Libbys on the label label label, you will like it like it like it on your......"  Ok, now that we have lodged that song in your heads....we will move on!  Here is the song that I am not sure I even remember. 

10.  You Can't Change That - Raydio 3:17 (Arista Records) Oh OF COURSE I remember this song! (NOW I hit Dave off the chair) D: Good Lawd.  Is that a long chorus or is it just me? G: No, it's not just you.  It is way too long.  And I remember now why I have forgotten this song!  Now, how many people can say they remembered why they forgot something! (singing softly to myself - Libbys Libbys Libbys on the label label label)  Sorry, that was more interesting than this song!  D: This song is not even good bubblegum.  It is like "The New Bubblegum", you know like "The New Coke"? Horrible.  I mean, gleen from my comment what I said. G: "you will like it like it like it on your table table table"  Oh, I'm sorry.  Were you talking, Dave?

Here's the bonus song!!!  Drum roll.  Dave?  Dave?  You can stop now.  STOP! thank you

11.  Does Your Mother Know - AbbA 3:13 (Atlantic Records) Man, I love the beginning of this song!!!  I love all the stuff that is going on in the background of this song, too! D: I know! That is true of alot of their songs. Especially at the time, when people were not going that far.  It was amazing!  G: I also love that this is one of the only hits singles that the guys sang the lead! I think AbbA was so far ahead of their time! D: Yes they were!

Well, that went by way too fast!!!  I had such a fun day today.  Got to see some of my favorite people and spend some quality time with them.  Dave, naturally, Scott came over for a little while and then Dave and I went out to eat and surprised Mom at line dancing!  A very fun day! Dave would like to have the last word?  (Like I don't already knowthe answer to that question.  Ha) D: Word!

Release Day

It is finally here folks...the release date for Barry Manilow's new album, The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time (click the title to order your copy from Barry's website. I get nothing from you clicking the link, just trying to make it easier for you to get your own copy.  I have ordered from them many times and have never had a problem).

Ok, so you would think that just because I love Barry I would in turn love everything he has done.  That is not the case.  Take for example his 1982 release, Here Comes The Night (very bad) or last year's Greatest Hits Of The Eighties (not really good). While there were elements on each album that were ok, they just generally stunk.  Thankfully, that is not the case today!  "Love Songs" is one of THE best albums Mr. Manilow has ever done!  He sings these songs as if he has written each and every one of them.  He makes some of the most tired songs (meaning everyone has recorded them before him) and breathes new life into them.  In fact, Where Do I Begin? (Theme From "Love Story") has never sounded so amazing.  Barry really flexes his arranger muscles on this album and has come up with some of the most interesting string and horn arrangements I have ever heard. He crawled deep into each one of these songs, mined them for their gold and made them his own!

The album was recorded on a soundstage with a full orchestra and it has an almost live feel to it, like he is making it up as he goes and it is spot on perfect.  He goes from quiet intimate numbers like We've Only Just Begun (which I give him my stamp of approval on, unlike his awful treatment of Close To You but that's another story) to a BRILLIANT Mills Brothers inspired Nevertheless, wherein Barry sings with his favorite back-up group...himself, lots and lots of hims!  Outstanding. His big band sound on You Made Me Love You and It Could Happen To You is impeccable and it sounds like we are back in the 40s.  He ends the album with one of Nan's favorite songs, When You Were Sweet Sixteen, and it actually made me tear up a bit.  In fact, I think Nan would have loved this entire album.  Buy it, listen to it, you will love it.  I guarantee it.

Oh, so much music today!!!  From Barry to a brief Idol break to some REALLY great singles  Here they are folks, Tuesday's 10 Tunes.....

(Click here to listen to clips of these songs)

1.  The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of - Carly Simon 3:58 (Arista Records) This is such a completely brilliant song from one of Carly's best albums, "Coming Around Again".  This one has deeply personal memories for me.  Let's just say that it was the first and only time that someone gave me a song because of what it said and how it related to us. It is a moment that I will never forget for as long as I live. For anyone that is bored with their relationship or their own life, listen to this song.  Carly is telling us to take a new look at what we have and who we are, stop looking for something more because it is already right in front of us. It is a joyous song (and trust me, I don't use that word very often)!

2.  Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations 2:57 (Eric Records) "WHYYYYYY Do you build me (build me) buttercup baby just to let me down..." I love the vocal arrangement on this song.  The way the back-ups keep popping up and echoing the lead, so cool!  "oooooooooowoooo (ooooooowoooo)" the horns and the constant tamborine and this guy's voice all makes me so happy!!!  I played this song at every gig I ever had and you can hear the cue burn in the beginning of the song!  "Hey hey HEY" The one thing that has plagued me for years is why they did a key change (yay) at the end of the song and then fade out right away?  Very frustrating.  I wanted it to go on, only higher!!

3.  Right Back To Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale 3:16 (United Artists Records) WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO  I love this song!  It just starts off being happy!!! No slow build to the happiness, it just smacks you in the face right from jump! "Do you remember that day? (that sunny day) When you first came my way!"  I am actually typing to the beat of this song.  LOL STOP!  Maxine Nightingale's voice is so cool.  Bright, clear, soulful with just enough sass.  And you can just hear the joy in her voice!  Interesting to note that this song is not only similar in theme to Carly's song but both end in prepositions!  (Where the hell did that come from?  Oh this tired ole random brain of mine.  Better to just go with it folks, otherwise you'll get a headache) CHAIR DANCING and playing that one again.  BRB

4.  Ready To Take A Chance Again - Barry Manilow 3:01 (Arista Records) Did you really think I would let "release day" go by without hearing some Barry?  Come on people, I thought you knew me better than that by now!  This was the main title theme for the movie "Foul Play" with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn.  I love the message in this song...bored with your life - do something about it.  Scared (or scarred) from a past relationship - get over it and take a chance.  You never know unless you try, right?  This, like many early Manilow hits, just keeps building and building but the man always knew when to stop.  He never went overboard...just high enough (granted, sometimes it was nose-bleed high).  Genious!  Have I mentioned that....oh, yeh, well, I guess I have. (Oh Gawd, I can almost hear you all yelling at your computer screens! Relax!  Shhhhhhh.  Think calming thoughts.  See? I didn't say that I love this man!  DOH!)

5.  Livin' In Desperate Times - Olivia Newton-John 3:57 (MCA Records) Now, I know I have not had the chance to mention this yet (but most of you already know this) I ADORE OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN!  This song is from the soundtrack of "Two Of A Kind" with John Travolta and it got me through some really tough times. It was 1984, I was 20, living in NY, I had no friends (yet) and I had a chip on my shoulder the size of Nebraska. I thought the whole world was against me. I would just play this song over and over again and it gave me the balls to get up and keep fighting and not give into what I perceived was the bullshit out there. To this day when things get really tough I pull this one out!  It is one of Olivia's best!  Hard-hitting, brilliantly produced by David Foster with a GREAT video!  It also really showed off Olivia's vocal ability.  She uses that Olivia growl (which I love but Jeffrey hates) and her sweet, higher voice as well!  Ok, I am ready to take on the world.....BRING IT ON!

6.  Mellow Yellow - Donovan 3:42 (Epic Records)  Um, ok.  I guess I'll take on the world later.  Gonna Mellow out with muh boi Donovan first!  This is another one of my Mom's favorites! Another very happy song. Amazing brass throughout and ya just gotta love Donovan's voice. So cool so layed back and so in control at the same time.  Now, since this is one of my Mom's favorite songs and she hates when I tell her what these songs are REALLY about, we will let it go.  But let's just say that if this were a movie, it would have a triple X rating.  (I just read a very lengthy interview with Donovan and he confirms that statement!)

7.  Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted - The Partridge Family 2:43 (Bell Records) This is my number one favorite Partridge Family song! Somehow, even as a kid, I could relate to his feeling of being alone and wanting to be wanted.  Funny what a little kid can relate to without really understanding it.  Thing is, sometimes, I still feel that way.  Although David Cassidy hated having to record the spoken part of this song and he put up quite a fight over it, that is my favorite part of the song (sorry David).

8.  Sunglasses At Night - Corey Hart 3:54 (EMI Records) Such a cool begininng...those bouncing synths.  I love Corey Hart's voice.  It is pouting, gravely and strong when it's needed.  This is a totally non-sensical song but man, what great memories....going to dances at NYU, going to Danceteria, making friends with some very cool DJs who would always play Olivia for me and going to Studio 54 with my friend Therry Delfino from Brooklyn College.  Good times that I was entirely too young for but hell, the soundtrack to the times was great!

9.  Sara (edited) - Starship 4:18 (Grunt Records) This one is on translucent blue vinyl folks.  So cool!!!  (See? I am still a geek, I told you!) WOW I forgot how great this song is.  It has so much going on in it and it all works...the bouncing drums, the synths, the "harmonica" and Grace Slick's backing vocals in the bridge are insane!! I also love that only Starship could get away with adding a whole other syllable to the word "happiness"!

10.  Energy Crisis '74 - Dickie Goodman 2:20 (Rainy Wednesday Records) I can not tell you how much I love Dickie Goodman "songs"!  For those of you who don't know who he was (he passed away in 1989) or what he did, here's a little history lesson for ya.  Simply put, he would take a hot political topic or a hot movie plot or whatever really was holding the public's attention at the time and, by using snippets of hit songs, he would create a commentary of the situation.  He was the first person to "sample" other artists work.  In most of his records there would be a reporter, hot on the trail of a breaking story and the people he would interview would answer with the sampled song.  Brilliantly funny and brings back soooo many summer memories from Battery Avenue.  Energy Crisis '74 is probably my favorite as it samples the Carpenters. Did Mr. Jaws?  I can't remember.  I've included the whole song on the music page. 

What a great day filled with friends, food and music, just the way I like my day to be filled. Got to spend some fun time with Dave today, went to Outback and had a great dinner, listened to Barry and spent this time with you guys!  Enjoy the music and the memories and I will see you back here tomorrow!  Gonna go listen to Barry again!

Left In The Dark

I suffer from insomnia.  I am not ashamed to admit it folks.  Hello, my name is Gary and I am an insomniac. (hold your applause and save your strength) It figures that after getting a half-way decent night of sleep last night, I would wake up this morning filled with energy and ready to tackle anything and the power goes out....FOR TWO FREAKIN' HOURS!!!!  I, of course, immediately called the electric company and varified that it was because of the weather and not my being late with my bill, which naturally I am.  Oh the joys of being unemployed.  Well, I can't even begin to tell how much this stresses me out! (the lack of electricity, not the being unemployed) I do have a big ole camping lantern that I bought the last time my electricity was out and I have an incredible tube shaped speaker/amplifier thingy about the size of a toilet paper roll that I can plug my flash drive loaded with music into, so I got through it.  Trust me, I cleaned everything in site and got a good work-out in. This is the one and only time you will see me extole the virtues of having a cell phone.  Having the ability to text my best bud Scott this morning kept me calm, so thank you Scott for being there.  WOW  I admitted a fear and said something good about cell phones all in one, very long paragraph. A sign of the apocolypse? Perhaps.

On to the music!!  I must admit one more thing (good lawd, somebody stop me) I did change out the 10th song in the line-up today.  You'll understand when you see what it is!  Anywho, here they are folks, Today's 10 Tunes......

(Click here to listen to clips of these songs)

1. Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant 3:47 (Portrait records) Blazin' synths!    "DOYEEE!" "We gonna rock down to....Electric Aven-you"   I love this song. Chair dancin' and groovin' here. My nieces love this song too.  In fact, last year, they sat on the floor of my living room and went through all of these singles with me until we finally found it.  They looked at every title and even helped me organize the cabinet that these records live in.  My nieces, Amanda and Melissa, are THE best!  I love them very much and I love being around them.  They always make me laugh and feel so good!  Anyway, where were we?  Oh yeh,we were rockin' down to Electric Avenue, sorry. What made this song so unique was the combination of Reggae and electronica. I am pretty sure there was not one real instrument used in the creation of this song.  It is such a boppy fun song and Eddy Grant's voice is so cool.

2.  Take It Easy - Eagles 3:21 (Asylum Records) This is a perfect "driving" song.  Yes it has a driving beat to it but it is the kind of song you want playing during a long road trip.  In my head I am seeing wide open deserts whizzing by on either side of me.  It just has such a relaxed free-spirit feel to it.  It must be the combination of guitars, banjos and those vocals.  It has nothing to do with the lyric, trust me.  This is a song about a guy that can't commit to anyone or anything and is looking for a girl to save him, not exactly a song about being out on the open road.   LOVE that drumbeat at the end before the wooo-ooooo's!

3.  I Got You Babe - UB40 with Chrissie Hynde 3:09 (A&M Records) Ok, Sonny & Cher they ain't, but this is a very cool re-invention of a song we all grew up with. The combination of Chrissie Hynde's gravely, deep voice and UB40's smooth, cool Reggae sound make this one of better cover songs I have ever heard.  Perfect summer-time song to be listening to on this cold, miserable, rainy day!  I want an adult frothy beverage with an umbrella in it now!  Damn!

4.  Lead Me On - Maxine Nightingale 2:50 (Windsong Records) Oh wow!!!  I forgot about this song and how much I love it!  Talk amongst yourselves for a minute, gotta sing along (the fat man downstairs is at work, so I can be loud!) "I'd rather be a fool with a broken heart, than someone who never had a part of you" FINALLY!  We have a song about wanting love but from an adult perspective!!!  Not a stalker, not a sulker nor some creep sitting in a bar!  This woman knows that nothing can really develop from a relationship with this man but she doesn't care.  She wants him!  She told him right up front what she wants and he, apparently, is too much of schmuck to realize what he has in her but she is going to be contenet with what she can get from him and accept the consequences of her actions!  LOVE IT!  And I love the insanely high back-up vocals she is doing at the end of this song! Brilliant.  Playing it again, forgive me!

5.  (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone - The Monkees 2:25 (Bell Records) Mickey Dolenz shoved Davey Jones out of the way and took the lead vocal on this very cool, male emancipation song! Such a great, funky 60's sound. Not your typical Monkees bubble gum song.  Trust me, he ain't takin' no crap from no woman!  I love the thumping bass line in this song!!  Soooooo good! Doing the frugue here.

6.  Disco Lucy (I Love Lucy Theme) - Wilton Place Street Band 3:35 (Island Records) Blaring horns, tom-toms, bongos and lotsa tsst-tsst's coming out of my speakers.  I LOVE THIS SONG! Not alot of people know this song, well this version of it I mean, but I remember seeing it on the chart at the Little Record Store and snatched it up!  I have never regretted it and at any place I have ever DJed, I work it in.  In case you haven't guessed, it is the I Love Lucy Theme re-imagined to a disco-funk beat with the only vocal being, "Let's Dance" and  "Dance Dance Disco Lucy".  Goofy?  Absolutely!  Fun as hell?  You know it! Chair dancing and finger pointing here!

7.  Candida - Dawn 3:02 (Bell Records) I have now let this song play through twice and totally forgot to type a thing!  I keep singing along and doing a little cha-cha dance.  I really don't know what to say....this is a perfect 3 minute pop song.  Amazing hook, outstanding vocals and a brilliant arrangement.  My only question is, "The further from here girl the better"  Where is here?  And where does he think he can take the girl of his dreams to start this great life together?  I guess we'll never know.

8.  (Keep Feeling) Fascination - The Human League 3:43 (A&M Records) What a fun 80s song! Between the funky bass line and that guy with the deep voice "narrating" to off-set the typical 80s lead vocals, this is a great piece-of-fluff song.  The Human League knew how to write a good pop song of the day, and I know I have said this before, but if anyone wanted to know what the 80s were like, just play them this song and show them the picture sleeve!

9.  Delirious - Prince 3:56 (Warner Brothers Records) Prince at his best!  He truly is a master at his craft! Not only is the music to this song a perfect hook that you can't help but mimic, so is what he does with his voice!  Man, this brings me right back to the days of hanging out with John Vargas in the apartment on 89th St.  I know this song predates that, but he loved Prince and we would both dance around the room like fools whenever I would play this!!  Good times.

10.  Left In The Dark - Barbra Streisand  (CBS/Sony Records - Japanese Import) Ok, ok, so I put this one in the mix for today, shoot me.  I just thought it was the right thing to do.  This is a Jim Steinman song (think Meatloaf and Bonnie Tyler drama-fests) and it gave Barbra a chance to really show off!  It had an amazing video too!  I love the spoken intro!  She asks the man that she loves, who is cheating on her by the way, all of the questions I think everyone dreams of asking their partner when they find out they have been unfaithful!  A brilliantly written song!  I love the different ways they used the title throughout the song! They used to show this video in the bars all the time back in 1984-85 and I never got tired of seeing it!  I still don't!

Uh oh!  I finished this one WAY too early!  It is not even 2:30 and I am done.  By the time I get the music edited and posted it will be about 4:30.  Not really sure what to do with the rest of my day! I know, I will take my own advice and call some friends and have them over and play some of this music for them.  Have a great day!  Oh look....the sun is actually coming out!!!!  YAY! (Happy Birthday Grandma, I didn't forget)   See you guys tomorrow!

Super Song Sunday

Happy Sunday folks!  Dinner last night was a whopping success.  My Dad even cleaned his plate bare, TWICE!  In fact, the dishes looked as clean at the end of the meal as they did before I served the food!  I consider that quite an honor! Got everything cleaned up, put out some new "picky" food and then my best bud Scott came over. I have not laughed so much in such a long time. (Oh that poor Sierra Mist bottle.  A moment of silence for our fallen brother) You have no idea how lucky I am that I have such great friends.  We can laugh and cry together, they listen as much as they talk and everytime they leave I feel like the luckiest guy in the world!  Thank you!

We are heading right into the music today!! The song I am most excited about is, aptly, the last one (completely by chance) but they are all great songs.  Here they are, Today's 10 Tunes......

(Click here to listen to clips from these songs)

1. The Never Ending Story - Limahl 3:32 (EMI America) Limahl!  Limahl, Limahl, Limahl.....I wonder if his hair is still those colors!  Anyway, he was the front-man for the group Kajagoogoo and broke away to record this GREAT Giorgio Moroder song for the movie of the same name!  Cueing it up folks....here it comes............I've never quite understood the long slow fade in on this song. It's almost like we walked in on the middle of the song.   "turn around/look at what you seeeee-hee-eee-eee-yeee-eee"  "The Never Ending Storeee-hee-eeee-eeee-yeee-eeeee"  While that is a great hook for an already great song, it just makes me think that the lyricist couldn't come up with more words and just told them to drag out the ends of the last word in each phrase!  Giorogio Moroder in the sound booth to Limahl and the chic singing with him, "No, No. NO!  Longer.  More eeeeeees! Damnit!"      Love that song!

2.  That's What I Think - Cyndi Lauper 4:17 (Epic Records) I know we have covered this already but....I just love Cyndi.  Such a fun, funky song!  (The scratches that you hear in this are courtesy of Cyndi, not me) Excuse me, must chair dance and sing (oh that poor fat guy downstairs)! This may well be my favorite Cyndi Cyngle.  She manages to combine a strong social message into a song about a loving relationship while keeping the party going. "Sometimes I think, things are overwhelming, sometimes I think, I don't know what I'd do, But I forget the world and everything around me, That's What I Think When I Think About You!" I love that throughout the song there is a Recorder Flute line. Remember having to learn how to play the Recorder in grammar school.  Aldo Bruschi, accordion in hand, taught me how to play mine. Steven just recently brought me a gift.  It was Aldo Bruschi's 4th allbum!  Yes, that's right folks, I said FOURTH album entitled "Requestfully Yours"! Oh, one last thought about this song, I love the way it ends. Cyndi sings "That's What I Think when I think about" then the music stops and she sings the last word, "You!"  Very cool.

3.  What Have They Done To My Song Ma - Melanie 4:02 (Buddah Records) Yes folks, she's baaaaack.  Nary a rollerskate in sight this time.  Just one of my all-time favorite songs in tow.  Speaking of the accordion....I wonder if that is Aldo playing.  Ok, so this time around, Mel is pissed.  Well, not so much pissed as disheartened because someone done something to one of her songs that, best I can tell, they used it like a piece of chicken in a bag full of Shake-N-Bake!  She is so disheartened in fact, that she, as one does in such situations, breaks out with a whole verse in French.  Come on, tell me you've never done THAT!  Oh wait, she is now thoroughly pissed by the end of the song.  (Stepping away, talking about summen else cause I'm ascared of her right now)  Favorite line in this song?  "Look what they done to my brain, Ma/look what they done to my brain/well they picked it like a chicken bone and I think I'm half insane, Ma" Her poor mother.  I mean, I am sure she wants to help her daughter, but there is only so much a parent can do, right?  I know it sounds like I am making fun of this song, but I REALLY love it and I love her voice as well as the lyrics!

4.  Teach Me Tonight - DeCastro Sisters 2:55 (Collectables Records) Here's one I bought for my Mom and Dad.  My Dad has it on 78 but, now I was able to play it when I DJed and I could use it on mixed tapes.  When my Mom and Dad were courting, they danced to this song.  In fact, they would dance to this in the basment of Nan's house when they had some of the neighborhood kids over.  I love this song, not just because it is a darn good song but because of the memories it invokes when my parents listen to it. I close my eyes and I can seem them as teenagers dancing much as I have had the pleasure of seeing them do today!

(click to enbiggen)

5.  Montego Bay - Bobby Bloom 2:53 (L&R Records/MGM Records) Oh I love that whistle in the beginng of this song!  I was so upset and jealous and angry about that when I was kid. Why, you ask?  Because I coud not whistle.  I would try and try and I would get so mad.  Then Aunt Bobbie busted out this single and taught me, patiently, how to whistle.  The irony here was that I don't think she could whistle either. (Have I mentioned that she is my favorite person on the planet?) Still not the best whistler, but man, do I love hearing this song and remembering that! (I believe this was her single) This is such a cool, happy, fun song. I am chair dancing and trying to whistle.  Bobby Bloom has a GREAT soulful voice.  "Come sing me Montego Bay!" "...like how cool the rum is from the silver tray, I thirst to be thirsty in Montego Bay!"  Who knew he sang about rum in there? "Dance in the streets!"  Love that in the fade, so cool!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrccccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  Gear shift.

6.  She Blinded Me With Science - Thomas Dolby 5:09 (Capitol Records) This song is all synths and drum machines and it is so freakin' good!  You KNOW I am chair dancing to this one! Thomas Dolby is a genious.  Loving his voice..."Scie-eye-eye-eye-ence" "She blinded MEE with Sciyunce" "There she goes again! she's tidying up and I can't find anything!  All my tubes and wires and careful notes!" There are so many incredibly fun things going on in this song, I just don't know where to start! Aw hell, go hit the play button!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrcccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Gear shift, again.

7.  Boot Scootin' Boogie - Brooks & Dunn 3:16 (Arista Records) Here's one I bought for my Mom for line dancing practice.  Truth be told, I loved these songs too.  I was a bartender at a club called Low Places where my Mom dances every Thursday. She is quite the little dancer, although she will tell you she is not good. She is amazing! For awhile there, my Dad was going with her and they would do most of the couples dances together.  (Even I learned a few so I could dance with her) Oh man, this is such a fun song! Love their voices and hearing real instruments and amazing musicians jamming and having a blast was the best part of that job.  I had some really fun times there!  (Nice the way time erases the bad memories, isn't it!)

Last gear shift, I promise.  Everybody's necks ok out there?

8.  Ewok Celebration - Meco 3:23 (Arista Records) Annette, this one is for you! ROFLMAO  Oh man, this is too funny!  Raggae Ewoks!  "manamanamana" This is too funny!  I forgot about the rap in the middle!!  "Daboo-daboo Darth Vader" I got nothin'!  Can't stop laughing.  Make it stop.  My stomach hurts. Tears rolling down my face.  I am sorry, but ya know when something just hits you "funny" and you can't stop laughing?  Me!  Right Now!  Nnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexxxxxxxxxxxxxxttttttttttttttt......

9.  Don't Bring Me Down - Electric Light Orchestra 4:08 (Jet Records) Ahhhh!  Ok, breathing again! Steven?  Are you listening?  This is one of his favorites! That smashing, crashing beginning!!!!!  Love it! "Don't Bring Me Down Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuce!"  Their harmonies were always flawless!  The combination of Jeff Lynne's vocals, the synths and the hand claps!!  Perfect! It is just a fun hard hitting song that brings back soooo many memories.  This was the year before Xanadu, the movie that THEY claim ruined their career.  This song has a lot of the same elements they used in their songs for the movie.  Um, fellas, maybe you just ran out of steam?  Blaming Xanadu!  Really!   (shaking my head in disapproval)  Tsk tsk tsk. By the way, this song always reminds me of Bill McFarland, a good friend of Steven's (and mine a little bit) and a GREAT DJ! I think about him alot while I am doing this. He taught me how to cue up a record.

here it is folks....one of my all-time favorites!

10.  Last Song - Edward Bear 3:15 (Capitol Records) First of all, being the huge fan of W-T-P that I am, I loved this song first because of his name, "which was the name that hung above the door to the house in which he lived"...Edward Bear (in which Pooh, the bear, lived.  Don't know if  Edward Bear, the singer, had a plaque with his name on it over his door or not) I love this song.  It just makes me so happy! This is another song that got the LPR treatment, many, many times.   "Did you know I'd go to sleep and leave the lights on? Hoping you'd come by and know that I was home, still awake. But two years go by..." Oh man, gotta step back and analyze this! Eddie!  Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!  Sit down, dude, we gotta talk.  First of all, I think it is great that you loved this chic so much that you left your lights on, every freakin' night, HOPING that she might possibly happen to walk by to see if you were still awake.  But, man, what did that do to your electric bill?  (Not to mention your self-esteem) And did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe she did come by on the night that you had fallen asleep from the vodka induced coma you put yourself in?  Eddie?  EDDIE?  Where ya going bud?  Oh well, ya try to help some people.  Meh...Moving on.....This poor bastard is almost threatening this woman, who has obviously moved WAY on, with one more song about his undying devotion. I think we can all figure out where he went wrong, can't we? (And you know that she did everything she could to avoid walking down his block, right?)  If only he had met Melanie and her rollerskates. Bygones! I still love this song. (on second thought, maybe he did have a plaque with his name on it over his door.  Not so much for himself but, again, just in case his lady-love walked by, so she would know he still lived there?)

WOW  Another really fun night and another 3 hours that went by in the blink of an eye.  Such a diverse group of songs but they all have one magical thing in common, the memories of the places and faces that go with them.  Well, I am going to go and heat up the leftovers from yesterday.  Go call or text someone and make plans to get together with them. Go make some new memories and make sure you have the music playing!  Have a great night.  See ya tomorrow!

The Little Record Store

Having my parents over for dinner today (wait!  That looks like I am going to be eating my parents for dinner.  That's not right.  What I mean is, I am going to cook, they are going to come over to eat and watch Friends of course, and well, you know what I mean. shuttup) so I thought I would start bloggin early today in the hopes of having it done before I start to cook (again, the food, not my parents)!

My mom just had some dental work done and has to eat soft foods for a few days.  I am making her Tilapia (gonna bake it in the oven with butter, 4C Bread Crumbs, lemon, finely sliced onions and a splash of white wine) and for my Dad, cause he just doesn't like the taste of the Tilapia, I am making Chicken Piccatta (pounded thin chicken breast, dredged through flour with a little bit of black pepper, browned in a skillet with butter. Once the chicken is lightly browned, remove it from the skillet and throw some finely chopped garlic in and white wine to deglaze the pan.  Once that has cooked down squeeze in some lemon juice and little bit of chicken stock then sprinkle in some flour to thicken it a little.  Put the chicken back in and let it simmer for a few minutes so the chicken absorbs the flavors). 

I got some really nice fresh asparagus. So, now wish me luck with this one cause I am making it up as I go, I thought I would steam them and when they are tender, put them in the food processor with some lemon juice, garlic powder and a little bit of grated Parmesian Cheese and yes, 4C Bread Crumbs and just puree the crap out of it.  Then I was thinking, I have Pillsbury Biscuits, and what I will do is take one of the biscuits and roll it flat and lay it in a small baking dish and scoop the asparagus mixture onto it and let it bake.  Does that sound good or what? Oh yeh, I am also making oven baked mashed potatoes, which is just baked potatoes, scooped out of the skins and mashed. And thus concludes today's cooking show!  Sorry, I get just as excited about cooking, especially for my Mom and Dad, as I do about the music. Now don't get all pouty, I'll cook for you too (and I probably already have cooked for most of you reading this)!

My friend Theresa, in her comment for yesterday's post, mentioned Record Factory on 86th St in our old neighborhood. (By the way Theresa, I used to work there!) Well, there were actually two record stores on the same block about four doors apart.  The other was always my favorite and predated Record Factory. It  was simply called The Little Record Store.  It was a long narrow shop and I can still recall that happy feeling I would get when I walked into it.  The owners were always so cool and so friendly (probably because they were enjoying "organic" appetizers in the back room) and they always had the latest Billboard Top 100 taped to the counter.  You would read the list, tell them what number you wanted and they would pull it out of the magic wall behind them.  Ahhhhh, that magic wall. It was a series of 10" vertical slots, each numbered from 1 - 100 that those brand spanking new 45s layed in until I took em home.  Man, do I miss those days!  The rest of the store had bins lining the walls with the latest albums and they also sold sheet music but it was that desk in the front of the store that I loved the most. (I just pictured the whole front desk. Going from left to right...there was the register, then the list then the opening that they would use to get back there.  The wall at the left of the desk was diagonal so they had to sorta stoop a little to ring sales up.  Just to show you how truly slow I am or how truly excited I was about buying the 45s, I just realized that must have been the staircase for the apartment above.  DUH!) Steven and I would save our lunch money and hit 86th St before going home.  He would go to Rosen's and buy Matchbox or Corgi cars and I would hit The Little Record Store. (Oh crap, I forgot, my parents read this.  Um, nuthin'.  Talkin' about someone elses memories. Oh look, a bird!)

Ok, enough babbling.  Onto today's 10 Tunes. It is a happy little mix today.  Some 80s, a little 90s, a 70s song, a Star Search Winner and a Broadway number. There is also an "A" from AbbA in there somewhere.

(Click here to listen to clips from these songs)

1. We All Sleep Alone - Cher 3:53 (remix) (Geffen Records) Ahh, 80's Cher!! Each new decade brings us a new Cher.  I would be pretty hard pressed to pick a favorite Cher, so I'll just talk about the song that is starting............NOW!  I love rockin' Cher (no, not rocking chair).  She wails on this song.  Screaming guitars, sexy quiet Cher, big belting Cher, loud 80s back-up singers.  NICE! "Nobody nowhere, holds the key to your heart/When love's a possession, it'll tear you apart"!  So true.  Preach on Cher! Such a great, great song.  Can't wait to see what this decade's Cher is going to be!

2.  You Keep Me Hangin' On - Sam Harris 4:49 (Motown Records) Fresh off his win from Star Search, Sam recorded 2 albums for Motown.  This was his follow-up single to Sugar Don't Bite (which I am sure is in here somewhere). As my buddy Dave says, "Great.  Just what we needed. Another remake of this song. And nobody does anything new with it!" Well, I kinda think Sam brought a little summin-summin' new to this.  First of all there's THAT VOICE.  An incredible instrument, the little white boy that sounds like a big black sounthern woman, that's new! The crazy 80s percussion track is new.  The 80s synthes are new as is the club dance break.  I like it.  So what if every hook that was in the original is here.  I say it is respectful of the original and yet updated.  The irony here is that Dave loves the album that this is from! By the way, for those of you that remember Sam on Star Search, he is still recording and performing and he sounds AMAZING! I just noticed something...this song was produced by the Carpenters former guitarist, Tony "the Bone" Peluso.  Cool.

3. We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome) - Tina Turner 4:15 (Capitol Records) Such a cool smooth sound, those flutes and percussion in the beginning and then Tina's smooth whisper...sweet.  This is of course the theme from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.  I know I saw the movie in the theatres but I don't remember a thing about it except for Tina Turner!  Such a great song.  When that children's chorus comes in quietly in the background it is very haunting! Oh man, I forgot about the screaming saxophone!!!  Remember when he (the saxophone player) was in The Lost Boys?

4.  And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going - Jennifer Holliday 3:38 (Geffen Records) Ahhhhh, the original Effie White!  Jennifer Holliday was 17 years old when she was cast in this role and man, what a voice. I am still not sure why they bothered to release this as a single.  They cut out all of the best parts of the song. Anything for a buck I guess.  I can remember seeing her do this live.  She was incredible.  "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam Telling YOU!" Wow, the edits weren't even smooth and then the song just fades out before her socko-boffo ending.  Next.....

5.  Native New Yorker - Odyssey 3:29 (RCA Records) Ahhhhhhh.  This is one of the greatest songs!!!  That saxophone into the drumbeats and violins.  "You grew up riding the subways.....You're no tramp but you're no lady either"  CHAIR DANCING!!!!! When I would DJ 70s nights I would always put this and Cherchez La Femme together. "When you still believed love could really be like those Broadway shows" "You should know the score by now".  Such a GREAT song.  I don't even know what to say...except this one is going to hard for me to edit down! Still chair dancing and smiling like a fool!

6.  I Wasn't The One (Who Said Goodbye) Agnetha Faltskog & Peter Cetera 4:06 (Atlantic Records) I forgot about this song.  This is from Agnetha's 1987 solo album, I Stand Alone, that is truly wonderful.  She was not only stunningly gogeous (she is the blonde "A". The red-head was Anafrid) but had the most beautiful voice. As far as this song goes, it is a typical Peter Cetera, late 80s Chicago production. The only thing that saves it is Agnetha's performance.  Strong and confident and still sexy.  She released an album a few years back.  While I didn't have the chance to buy it, I did hear it and she still sounds incredible.

7.  Copacabana (At The Copa) The 1993 Remix - (Arista Records British Import) Oh man, I was so freakin' excited when I found this single in a tiny whole-in-the-wall record store in the Village called Record Runner!  Cost me $10 but it was so worth it to have this on vinyl, which was the only way you could get this exact remix. Barry must have re-recorded this song more times than he can count. This was a brand new vocal with such a cool new production, elements of which he still uses in his live shows!  Not gonna talk about the song itself this time around 'cause the original is in here somewhere, along with the Spanish version and the....oh get the idea!!!

8.  Hey Ricky (You're A Low-Down Heel) - Melissa Manchester 4:16 (Arista Records) Oh Sweet Melissa!! This was from Melissa's funky angry-chic phase.  Co-written with Elton John's lyricist Bernie Taupin.  "You call me your latest conquest as you beltch my name to the boys" I wonder if he remembers writing those words down on paper let alone have them be recorded!  This is a very fun song and came after You Should Hear How He Talks About You when Artista told Melissa she needed to keep churning out bouncy songs like this  Ultimately that is what led her to drop out of the business for almost a decade. She did release a new album 3 years ago that is absolutely amazing.  Did you know that she really is THAT sweet Melissa from Barry's Could It Be Magic? She was also an original Harlette (Bette Midler's back-up girls)!

9.  Weak In The Presence Of Beauty - Alison Moyet 3:37 (Columbia Records) I loves me my Alison.  She was the lead singer from the British band Yaz (formerally Yazoo with hits like Situation and Only You)!  She has a most distinct, deep, rich, full voice and is also quite the songwriter.  Her solo albums in the mid to late 80s were like gold to me. My friend John Vargas was mad for her and thanks to him, I know her and am mad for her too!  This song has a great sound to it and while it is not the best example of why I love her, it is a good starting point.  Remember her name because there are more singles coming up from her. There is an amazing trumpet solo in the middle of this song which, set against all of the electronic sounds, stands out so perfectly!  Good chair swayin' song!  I wish I knew where John was these days.  It would be a blast to co-blog with him.

10.  10-9-8 - Face To Face 3:45 (Epic Records) Ok, this is one of those songs that I looked at the title and said, "Huh? Wha?" whilst scratching my head.  Well, it is more than half over and while I do have some dim recollection of it, trust me, I would never have remembered it if not for this blog!  It is a goofy little song that is trying too hard to be Scandal's Warrior. While it does showcase the lead singer's ability to count (backwards, yet), we do hit a snag with this last line......"Isn't it funny, I never get to one" Um, well, based on all the other words you "sang" before that ONE you probably couldn't think of anything to rhyme with it, like, oh I don't know and I am just throwing this out there.....DONE?!?

This was a really fun afternoon and looks to be a great night too!  First dinner with Mom & Dad (I said "with" not "of") and then I get to hang with my best bud Scott!  YAY!  I hope you all have a fantastic Saturday.  Do some chair dancing before you go out tonight, it will warm you up!!  I have to go edit today's songs and get in ta cookin'.  Go tell someone you love them and I will see you back here tomorrow!!

Sleeved Treasures

So, I was going through the wooden crates that are temporarily housing the sleeved singles so that I could pull out the clumps of "like artist" songs and spread them out (oh and I also removed the Christmas singles) so that it wouldn't get monotenous for, say a whole blog of Sheena Easton songs.  While I am doing this I am thinking about the various songs and going, "well, I should really pull this one, no one's going to know it" or "where the HELL did we get THIS from?  I should really pull it"! Then I realized that that would defeat my purpose, now wouldn't it?  I mean, I am, first and foremost doing this to preserve these vinyl gems.  Being able to share the journey with you is the enormously brilliant perk.

I guess what I am trying to say here is.....Strap yourselves in kids, this is one hell of a bizzarre rollercoaster ride.  As we got older and we could afford to buy more singles and we were both buying them independent of each other, the berth of variety widened.  It's kinda like, well, do you remember when a movie house showed one, maybe two movies?  Then it went to a multiplex and showed 53 at the same time?  I think you get what I'm saying here.  Don't worry, the majority of the songs you will all know and there are still tons of songs from the early 70s as well as almost every popular song of the 80s (and weren't there some real winners there?) but now add all the songs I used to buy to DJ with and all the records I bought because I knew they were songs my Mom & Dad liked, as well as country music from the 90s so my Mom could practice her line dancing etc. You get the picture.

Today's 10 Tunes will clearly illustrate what I am saying.  Get ready....here they are. (Oh for those of you who come here to chair dance every day....there are several opportunities, never fear.  Hey, do you think chair dancing has any aerobic or cardio advantages?  I guess it depends on the chair.)

(Click here to listen to clips of these songs)

1. Talkin' Baseball (Baseball & the Mets) - Terry Cashman 3:10 (Lifesong Records) "Amazing Amazing Amazing Amazing!" "then Hodges took the reigns in '68" WOW  I actually sat here swaying and totally forgot to type!  Gotta play it again, hang on.....ok.  So many reasons to love this song. First - my Dad, a die-hard Met fan through it all....good, bad and embarrassing; Second - my Dad, especially when Mr. Cashman mentions one my Dad's heros, Gil Hodges; Third - my Dad for always trying, patiently, to explain what was going on in a game to me (for the 900th time, hey, I am sport-challenged! shuttup) when all he wanted to do was WATCH THE GAME IN PEACE; and Finally, Terry Cashman for writing the original song, "Talking Baseball" and it becoming such a big hit that he did a version for most major league teams (if not all).  "Big Shea Big Shea Big Shea"  Mr. Cashman is a personal hero of mine, as he co-produced all of Jim Croce's recordings.  Speaking of which....

2.  Chain Gang Medley - Jim Croce 3:37 (Lifesong Records) I know I've said this before but I am going to say it again, I LOVE JIM CROCE! He was an Italian-American singer-songwriter from South Philly. He wrote some of the greatest music I have ever heard in my life before dying in a plane crash at the age of 30! THIRTY!!! I still can't wrap my simple little brain around that one.  He signed a 3 record deal with ABC/Dunhill Records and finished recording the second one, I Got A Name, 8 days before he died. This song was released 3 years after his death. It is one from the mysterious "vaults" that all artists seem to have (Where are these vaults located exactly?  Are they all underground?  And if so, since there are so many artists with said vaults, do you think they all connect somewhere in the middle? I guess we'll never know) and it was included on the album "Down The Highway" that Terry Cashman and Jim's widow Ingrid released in an effort to share Jim's legacy with the world. It is a really great song and would have fared better on the charts had it not been for the rising popularity of disco in 1976.

3. I'll Be There For You (theme from "FRIENDS") - The Rembrandts 3:09 (eastwest Records)
This show will always remain one of my all-time favorite shows.  I loved it when it aired. I loved it when I collected all 10 seasons on DVD (and was able to get the special black wood and glass collectors case to house them in).  But I love this show the most because it is something that my parents recently fell in love with.  They never cared for it when it aired but somehow we started watching one of the dvd sets and they got hooked.  In fact, it has become a ritual with us.  Either I have them here for dinner or I go there for dinner and I bring Friends with me.  We watch it at every meal and worked our way through the whole series once and are now on a second go round (currently the middle of season 5, ya know where everyone finds out about Monica and Chandler?  GOOD TIMES!)  Seriously, it has gotten to the point, if I should happen to be flipping channels and it is on, I get hungry! (Don't worry Ma, I don't watch it without you) This is an amazingly fun song that I feel safe in assuming the entire world knows by it now and it never gets old.

4.  What's Going On? - Cyndi Lauper 3:51 (Portrait Records) Not even sure where to start when talking about Cyndi. One of THE most outrageously talented people in the music industry.  Brilliant singer, prolific songwriter and undefineable live performer and an all around beautiful human being (that was not sarcasm folks.  She is an outstanding person).  Her voice is so strong, clear, unique and never seems to age. This is Annette's favorite (partly because they are both from Ozone Park Queens)!  The song, of course, is a cover of Marvin Gayes classic song. Cyndi does it in a way that pays respect to the original and makes it her own, as all remakes should but most don't.  Again, it is sad to say that the theme of this song is still applicable to the world today! (By the way, I was chair dancing and arm waving throughout!)

5.  Mandy - Barry Manilow 3:15 (Bell Records) Borough boy following Borough girl (hee hee just like Annette and me)! Barry!  As he says to his audience, with so much genuine appreciation in his voice, before he sings this one, "This is where we met.  This song brought us together!"  Oh that opening piano line..."I remember all my life...."  Perfect! This song started out life as a boppy little throw away song called "Brandy" and was originally written about the guy's dog!  (Can you imagine?) With Barry's brilliant arrangement and some lyric rewrites (thankfully) it is the timeless masterpiece it is today!  By the way, he still sings this song in the original key 36 years later!  Have I ever told you that I love Barry Manilow?

6.  I Only Want To Be With You - Dusty Springfield 2:32 (Philips Records) Not sure why we have this one or who bought it but MAN! I am sure glad it is here! What a happy song.  Dusty Springfield's voice was one of a kind and instantly identifiable!  One note and you knew it was Dusty!  "As long as we're together, I don't care!" The violins in the break are perfect, straining for that high note.  Sweet.  Happy happy chair swaying!  Get ready for one of those gear shifts I warned you about.....screetching tires on the highway.

7.  I Know Him So Well - Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson 4:09 (RCA Records) This is from the British Concept Album of "Chess" an amazing show written by the boys from AbbA Benny and Bjorn along with Tim Rice.  It comes at an incredible moment in the show. It is sung by the main character's mistress and his wife at the moment where they both realize neither one of them really "have" him in their lives.  They reflect on what they could have done differently and that the final outcome is....they both know him well enough to know they have lost him.  Elaine Paige is Britain's First Lady of the Musical Theatre and has such an incredibly pure, honest voice. Barbara Dickson is a Swedish actress who, I believe, learned to sing this song phonetically, much like the gals from Abba!  Great combination of voices.

8.  From This Moment On (from the mini EP "Frank Sinatra - A Swinging Affair") - Frank Sinatra 3:54 (Capitol Records) Here's one I bought for Dad! Francis Albert singing Cole Porter as only Ole Blue Eyes could...his way! What a voice!!! The combination of Frank's musicality and Nelson Riddle's incomparable arrangement is, well, beyond words.  So freakin' cool! (There I found some words) He stays just off the main downbeat of the song and yet manages to never let the song get away from him.  He was just a genious and again, a one-of-a-kind!

9.  On My Own - Frances Ruffelle 3:35 (RCA Records) Frances Ruffelle starred in the original Broadway Cast of Les Miserables. As a way of getting air-play for the magnificent songs from the musical, RCA had her re-record her song (a song that helped to win her a Tony Award by the way) in a more radio friendly way.  At first I thought, eeek!  Don't mess with it!  But it really almost works.  It has a very popish feel to it and her voice is so well suited to this, however it may be a tad too over produced.  The song itself is outstanding! It is a song of longing and young innocent love that can never be. If you really want to hear this sung RIGHT, I have a recording of Annette singing it! (By the way, my friend Laurie Beechman starred in Les Miz as Fantine singing I Dreamed A Dream the song that made Susan Boyle a household name and breathed new life into the Les Miz franchise!)

Shift them again folks but be careful this time, you may get whiplash!

10.  Sugar Walls - Sheena Easton 3:59 (EMI Records) Oh Sheena!!!  Sheena, Sheena, SHEENA!!!  You started out so sweet and innocent waiting on that morning train to bring your man home and then what happened?  Did Prince get off the train instead?  Did he brain wash you? Did his Revolution do bad things to you? Actually, this is a very fun song and perfectly captured a moment in time. (I am feeling my hair getting bigger, and coated with hairspray are you?)  This song was written for Sheena by Alexander Nevermind (aka Prince) and led to some of her biggest hits. Don't worry folks, we got em all!!  She really has an amazing voice that could do anything! "I can tell you want me! It's impossible to hide. Your body's on fire, admit it!"  I love her accent and those were about the only words I could take out of context and print here. (kidding)

Well, there ya have it folks.  A taste of what the subsequent days and months hold in store for us!  I really had a blast tonight and I hope you did too!  I actually got this post done early enough that I can go do what I am always telling you to do....hug someone you love.  Have a great Friday night. Get out of here and go play!!!  See you tomorrow!

Food, Family and Fun - Happy Thursday

YAY!  It's Thursday again. We are going to make the most boring day of the week fun, damnit! We get to talk food (yes, I cooked a great meal tonight), family (mostly about my Nan and Uncle Bob) and you get a bonus song tonight!  Ok, am I the only one finding this fun?  Anybody?  anybody?  eh....

Advice for the today...NEVER GO GROCERY SHOPPING WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY!! Especially when you have to walk home with the groceries.  AND, when it is really muddy between your house and the store.  AND, well, ok, that was kind of the end of the joke there, but you get the idea, right?  So, I decided I was going to make pan seered, stuffed pork chops in brown gravy over egg noodles with zuccinni in tomato sauce!  I got some fresh thyme and fresh basil, cut it up really fine, added some 4C Bread Crumbs and mozzerella.  Then I tore up some sliced bread and soaked it in milk and mixed the whole thing together and that is what I stuffed the thick cut pork chops with.  Browned em up in the pan, deglazed with some beer and like Nan, I was able to make a brown gravy out of the pan drippings.  Then I let them simmer for an hour or so.  MMMMMMM!  The zuccinni I cut up into nice size chunks (I hate that word when it is involved with food but I didn't know how else to describe it) did the same with an onion and a couple of deep red Roma tomatoes, some fresh garlic and put it all in a hot skillet.  Let it cook down a little and then added some tomato sauce and let it also simmer.  A great meal!  Fat and happy here and ready to talk music.

Here are today's 10 and once again, I am prepared to chair dance my little butt off. (the family part of this will come later)

(Click here to hear clips from these songs)

1. The Things We Do For Love - 10CC 3:32 (Mercury Records) AHHHHHH  I love that big loud burst that opens this song! "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhoooooooh" "Com-une-eeekcayshun is the problem to the answer"  Is that bizarre or profound? I am going to side with profound!  This is such a great pop song.  Smooth as silk production, great lead vocal until you get to about a minute before the fade.  How many FREAKIN' times can you say, "the things we do for love" before someone shuts off the radio or breaks the record in half?  Oh, sorry. It must have just rubbed me the wrong way tonight or else this would have Grandma's cellophane tape on it already.  Um, hey!  Hey! Look over there.....(cue up the next record...QUICK!)

2.  Dream Weaver - Gary Wright 3:15 (Warner Brothers Records) "DWWWWWWEEEEM WEAVER!!!"  I love this song!!!  Man, the way the drums roll underneath his vocal at the chorus!!!  This is such an odd, goofy, great song.  Gary Wright has such an interesting voice (and I mean that in a good way).  My only problem with this song is the whole Elmer Fudd thing he has going on and I don't mean that in a Stevie Nicks kind of way.  I mean, his "Rs" come out like "Ws" when he sings Dream Weaver.  That aside, I love the whole fantasy thing going on in this song and how someone is actually acknowledging the concept that there is something beyond ourselves that may weave our dreams and help us see the morning light.  I mean, dreams are supposed to be our subconscious helping us work through the crap of our everyday lives, right? What if there is some power kind of guiding us through the process? (this is very Native American spiritual in nature)  Ok, enough mystical mumbo-jumbo.  Next.........

3.  Gold - John Stewart 4:21 (RSO Records) (that is John with an H not Jon Stewart) Love that driving beat that hits you right from jump!  I forgot how gravely this guy's voice is.  Gargle with glass much bud?  Oh perfect! Guess who is singing back-up for him!!!!  STEVIE NICKS!  Perfect match.  Ya know, this whole song has a Shoulda-Beena-Fleetwood-Mac-Song sound to it now that I think about it.  Sadly, unless it turns up on a playlist or a blog like this, I think it would mostly be a forgotten gem.  Not being mean, just asking, if someone asked you to name 15 songs from 1979, would this come up on your list?  Ok, thank you!  Now, I am sure this next one will be on everyone's top 5 list of 1977 (can you smell the sarcasm through your screens?)

4.  Whodunit (no!  I am not drunk!  that's how it is spelled on the label.  shuttup) - Tavares 3:35 (Capitol Records) One no. No no no no no................no!  This song goes along with those chaps asking the CIA to secure a phone line so they can talk to their babe.  Oh, so bad.  Ok, they do name every single tv detective of the day in the song and I guess that is cool (and could account for my involuntary...INVOLUNTARY I TELLS YA! chair dancing) and I guess it does have a really slick horn and rhythm arrangement and crap, his voice is kinda cool, but other than that, this song sucks! Sucks (for making me like it)!!!!  You hear me.  (Hee hee He is crying for his mommy at the fade!  wuss!) Ahit but why?  It's a bedside mystery!

5.  Don't Make It My Brown Eyes Blue - Crystal Gayle 2:37 (United Artists Records) Oh boy!  From forgettable to indellible! (Hey, that rhymed sorta enough to qualify for one of these pop songs! shuttup) That bluesy, late night, smokey piano-bar piano that starts this song off......perfect.  Amazing lyric about not realizing what you had until it is gone.  How true is that?  There are times in life where you just don't appreciate what you have until let it walk away.  Then you just cry for three days straight and put your friends through hell while you.....Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot you were still here!  oooops! Seriously, the combination of the arrangement, the lyric and Crystal Gayle's pure voice was a match made in heaven.  I can just see her singing this, gently swaying to and fro and her floor-length hair wafting from side to side.  (Oh, come on!  You know I had to mention her hair in here somewhere!)

From the time that I counted out today's 10 Tunes until this very minute I have been looking forward to and dreading this next song. It is an amazing song and it holds but one importance to me.  When it first came out, a man that I loved very much told a woman that I adored more than most, that this was their song. The man was my Uncle Bob, the only Grandfather I knew, Robert W. Snyder and the woman was my Nan!

This was a big, gruff, surly man that, when he spoke, he would scare the crap out of me.  When I was a kid, I was always afraid to be alone with him because I was SURE I would do something wrong. But from the time I was little I always knew how much he loved Nan (and us)!  As I got older and I got to know him better, he was more like a protector than a disciplinarian.  When we did something wrong (like when I picked up the "gun" lighter that I was warned not to touch, and Pudgy, Nan's dog, softly bit me, he just looked at me and said, "Well, what did you do?" oooooo I was so mad at him for saying that!) he let us know that he KNEW what we did and was keeping track of it all!

         

                   (Ok, no one can be scary when they have Winnie-The-Pooh on their head)

But this was the same man that I would sit outside and feed the ducks with for hours on end and we would plot the demise (without action) of the seagulls, for stealing their food.  This is the same man that loved my Nan above all else in the world. And, oh, did he have a soft-spot for my Mom and vice-versa.  He was a tough, structured man right up to the end with a heart of pure gold.

          

Ahh, my Nan!  I miss her so much!  There will be plenty more stories about her and our music and US in posts to come, but for now, here is his song to her (one I have not listened to since he pased away)!

6. You Needed Me - Anne Murray 3:38 (Capitol Records) Well, they weren't exactly kids when they met, so maybe there is hope for me!  I love you both and always will.  Thank you!

7. You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show) - Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. 3:40 (abc Records)  Same idea as above but with about 10,000% more, um, Bazooka(?) in it!  Ah, those magic voices that made The 5th Dimension so popular, out on their own now.  Can they cut it without the other 3 dimensions?  Meh!  (yes, I said "Meh!")  It's a good song but kinda falls a little flat in my book.  It's a little too 2 dimensional for me. collective groan (Oh yeh right, like you expected more from me there!   shuttup)

8.  I (Who Have Nothing) - Tom Jones 2:55 (Parrot Records) Just look at the title folks!!  "I" parenthetical Who Have Nothing.  Mr. Jones was a little bit full of himself, wouldn't you say?  I think this may have been another record that Uncle Howie gave us (and by US I mean my parents). Oh my dear!!  It starts off like an old western movie song and ends like a really bad pirate movie!  Maybe that's why he was on this label?  There is no questioning this man's talent or his appeal, but come on, this song is no Delilah!  "He buys ya diamonds/bright sparkling diamonds"  Do you care?  One word.............................next.

9. Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got) - Four Tops 2:59 (abc Dunhill Records) One of my all-time favorite singles!!!!! Oh that sound!!!!  So smooth, so classic, so scratchy.  PTD!  They played this ALOT on Kmart Radio and I always stopped what I was doing and smiled and sang along.  Not really sure why I love it so much, especially with a line like, "Cause it's my word/my word she'll obey"  but I just love his voice and that ultra-smoove sound!  "Wooo-hooo"  Not chair dancing....more like chair groovin'!  Try it sometime.....it can change your whole outlook!  yeh...

10. Easy Come, Easy Go - Bobby Sherman 2:43 (Metromedia Records) WoW Both songs, one night after the other!!!  Again, this could be his greatest hits SINGLE!  Refer back to last night's post about Mr. Sherman, who by the way, still looks great whilst hawking those late night 60s/70s "best of" cds!  OH MAN!!!!  Another big start, but not a drop of drama in site this time.  Just bursting with happiness!!! Ironic as this song is about the end of one relationship and him, now single, trying to "dig the show" again!  "Awright!" Very Partridge back-ups here!!!!  Hmmmmmm. Must inspect the label when this is done.  "Hangin' around/Taking it slow"  Nope, no connection to the Partridges other than the sound!  So much fun and sooooooooooo many summer vacation memories.

BONUS SONG - I have been jumping up and down all day waiting for this!!!! (what a geek)

11. Heartbeat - It's A Love Beat - The DeFranco Family featuring Tony DeFranco 2:59 (20th Century Records) As they always said, "The Real Family Of Pop" ladies and gentlemen....The DeFranco Family.  Drama drama drama!  Lots of drums and "tsst"s!  "Oh a Heartbeat, It's a love beat.  Listen to my heart pound, listen to my love sound"! My love sound?  Gonna let that one slide on by, ya know, for the chillrun's sake.  They just don't write em like this anymore folks!!!!! Chair dancing and hair flipping like mad!  In terms of pure unadulterated bubblegum memories, this song is my favorite of the night!

People come and go in our lives all the time and if we are lucky, we get to tell them how we feel about them before they leave us.  Whether they be fare-weather friends or family members (family meaning by blood or by circumstance) that helped make us who we are. I can tell you this right now, I have lived my life without any "what if's" and without having to look back in regret. That is the one area of my life I am most confident in. We will always have the memories of those people, good bad or indifferent (and we all know how much we associate music with people and situations) and trust me, everyone that comes into your life serves a purpose! So, please, make sure you tell the ones you love that you love them.  You never need to say why or how much, just make sure you end a phone call with those words or hug them before they leave you.  It makes a world of difference to you and them!  Goodnight!  See you tomorrow! Oh, by the way, tomorrow we move away from the "loose" singles to the SLEEVED singles.  If you thought this was eclectic and random, just wait.  We got it all coming up....80's, country, pop, more 70s, some 50s, some broadway, hell, EVERYTHING!