Pass It On

I am starting this post early today so that maybe, just maybe, I can get it in before midnight!  Today was another one of those days that I thought I really didn't get much accomplished but as I sit here, excited as a little kid about today's songs, I realize I did indeed get alot done.  Finally got my weight room cleaned out so I can start working out again, got two more days of music edited and posted (1/14 and 1/15 so, go check it out and remember, you have to hit play to get the next song to start, they don't play consecutively), talked to some of my favorite people, Mom and Dad, my best bud Scott as well as my LBFF (Little-est Best Friend Forever) Haylie and the highlight of the day....spending almost an hour and half talking to Steven.  He was catching up on the last three days of posts and called me.  We laughed so hard and just had an amazing time reminiscing.

Music is an incredible sense memory tool, a point I think I have beaten to death already and we are only on our second week of songs.  But it also recalls colors, smells and textures of such specific moments in our lives.  It is truly remarkable.  One of my favorite music memories growing up was sitting with my Dad as we recorded all his and his Dad's 78's onto my, say it with me, Little Panasonic Recorder (here-to-fore referred to as LPR) on the floor of the living room at Battery Avenue.  We bought a bunch of blank TDK tapes (translucent blue bodies with white and blue labels) and we sat and listened to and recorded every one of those incredible, thick, heavy slabs of wax.  I got to hear so many new names like Woody Herman, Les Brown (and his band of renown), Artie Butler as well as some of my Dad's favorite groups like The Hilltoppers.  New names and new music! It was a night I will always remember not just because of the music but because he and I got to bond over it and I realized, even at that very young age, how very much alike we were and still are. I still have those tapes AND I still have all of those 78s.  Maybe when I am done with the 45s and I am going through Post Blogdom Depression (ya know, PGD? hey, it's real, look it up.  shuttup) I will work on those 78s!

Ok, onto tonight's 10 tunes.  Adjust the cushions on your chairs and make sure they are comfy, you are gonna be chair dancing tonight baby!

(Click here to hear clips from these songs)

1. Julie, Do Ya Love Me - Bobby Sherman 2:52 (Metromedia Records) BIG HORNS!! BIG OPENING!!! BIG SCRATCH??? Oh, the record is broken on one side, one half, aw crap, it's broken and somehow Grandma's yellowed cellophane tape is holding it together...STILL!  Bobby Sherman.  Handsome as hell, clean-cut, all American and he actually had a good solid voice.  Yes, he was a teen idol, pooka shell choker and all (oh my God, do you remember when he was on the Partridge Family?  He broke into their garage so he could use their equipment to record his demo songs?  sorry...) but he had the good sense to get out and has done some amazing things with his life.  Back to the song, I apologize. Simple, straight forward....he wants to know but one thing..DOES JULIE LOVE HIM? Well, we never really find out but, how stoopid would she be not to? Right? Right.  He promised to write her everyday until he returns in September.  Awwwww!  This is one of my Mom's favorites and has such indellible memories of summer vacations.

2. Me And Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin 4:09 (Columbia Records) Janis Joplin's most mainstream song and one of the best story songs ever!  "I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana"  What the hell was a harpoon doing in her head gear?  Wouldn't that hurt? I later found out that "harpoon" was a musician's slang for "harmonica". "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"!  Genious, sad and true.WOW  Lovin' her scatt in the middle of the song.  The joy and freedom in this recording is so infectious, just picturing a wild jam session with a big ole bunch of, um, er, how do I put this, organically grown and in some cases distilled "appetizers" and a very worried producer sitting in the booth, pulling his hair out, waiting for that final slide/downbeat,  praying they can actually end this song. Everytime I hear this song I remember an episode of Police Woman. Too long to explain here, but ask me about it sometime.

3. It Don't Matter To Me - Bread 2:46 (Elektra Records) WOW  We really covered all bases during the 70s didn't we?  I forgot how brilliant Bread was.  They were always panned as being to bland, but so were the Carpenters and Barry! Stoopid critics! That voice, the drums, the harmonies and that outrageous vocal arrangement.  The lyrics are very simple and reflected the time perfectly.  It don't matter to him if his love needs to go out and find themselves before returning to him.  He has that empty room waiting.  Oh man, I certainly hope they came back to him.  Poor bastard.  In the meantime I hope he had the good sense to rent out the room.  Ya know, just in case.

4.  You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - Leo Sayer 2:48 (Warner Brothers Records) Oh man, rev up the chair!! (already laughing and I haven't even cued up the record) "Ahhhhhhhh  Ah-haaaaaa Ahhhhhhh
Ah-haaaaa"  That whiny, nerdy little voice that changes for a second or two and gets deep (well, as deep as it can get) SO COOL!  "KWAH-ta to four in the morning" "I feel like (chair) dancing Wooo (chair) dancing Wooo (chair) dance the night away"  Such a happy silly song!!!! Uh oh.  UH OH!!!!  Here comes Doc from the Love Boat again strutting by with his big fro and golfish-inhabiting shoes!! Get down, get funky, Doc!  And the (bubblegum) hits just keep on commmmmmming.....

5. Love Will Keep Us Together - The Captain & Tennille 3:15 (A&M Records) With all of the C&T songs that have come before this one in the blog, did you REALLY think we didn't have this one?  Come on!  "Just stop (schwing) Cause I really love you STOP (schwing) I been thinking of you" Can't........................................type...............................chair.....................................dancing..................
...............................playing air piano........................................doing choreography! KEY CHANGE!!!!! YAY (you know how much I loves me my key changes) What an absolutely happy, silly song with a real message in it, if you want to look that deep!! Daryl Dragon (aka: The Captain) knew how to arrange and produce a song.  He also knew how to work dem keyboards and introduced whole new worlds of synth sounds. We have already established that Toni could sang, okay! (Sedaka is back)

6. King Tut - Steve Martin and the Toot Uncommons 2:10 (Warner Brothers Records) Ok, this one is ALL Steven (my brother not Martin)! This is like the 70s version of Monster Mash, isn't it?  This came out at the height of the King Tut Exhibit World Tour.  Remember that?  It is a damn fun song!! "He's an Egyptian!" "He coulda won a Grammy...buried in his jammies"  We even have the album that this came from.

7. Silly Love Songs - Wings 5:54 (Capitol Records) Wings At The Speed Of Sound.  No real reason for me saying that other than I have always loved the name of the album this song came from.  Their sound was so new and fresh and yet, having Paul McCartney singing made it so familiar and comforting.  At this point in time, I think only Paul McCartney and Elton John could have fought to have a single released that was almost 6 minutes long.  And think about it....this is a silly love song, talkng about the abundence of already existing Silly Love Songs.  Genious. So many "hooks" in this song I don't even know what to talk about.  I think Linda's back-up to Paul's "How can I tell you about my loved one" is my favorite.  Oh wait, maybe it is the horn lines? Funky percussions?  Too much.  TOO MUCH! This is all Steven too (again, my brother not...you got it).  Versatile chap, isn't he? (Man, this is going to be a bitch to edit)

8. Dark Lady - Cher 3:26 (MCA Records) Remember the glasses we were hitting the other night?  Get em out again for this one.  YAY Another audience participation song.  This is a story song that has it all, mystery, intrigue, gypsy music, a fortune teller, a one-eyed Jack, betrayal, murder, A KEY CHANGE and CHER!! What more could you want? Get the glasses ready, "Dark Lady laughed and danced and lit the candles one by one (rap your glass on the desk twice in rapid succession NOW) Dance to her Gypsy music till her brew is done (not yet. Don't worry, alot of people make that mistake) Dark Lady played black magic till the clock struck on the 12 (NOW...THUD THUD)"! Poor Dark Lady.  dead dead dead!  Nobody messes with Cher.  Lesson learned

9.  Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers 2:04 (Sussex Records) This is one of my all-time favorite songs.  It can be redone a million times (and God knows we are getting close to that number of remakes) but nothing can compare to Bill Withers That deep, raspy voice filled with heartbreak! That sad violin....just amazing!  Not much else to say, except.....cue up the next one (get ready folks)

10. The Best Disco In Town - The Ritchie Family 2:39 (Marlin Records) OH YEH!  The party is back.  Quick someone bring Bill Withers on down. We'll get him some sunshine! Early disco, 1976, that actually used pieces of existing classic dance sounds from Motown to TSOP but they did it without sampling!  They actually played it and sang it for themselves, hmmmmmmmmm, imagine that.  Chair dancing "Hey Hey"! The flip side is The Best Disco In Town (Part II), which I am now going to play and do some more chair dancing.  Not ready for the party to end.  Hey Doc, get Bill a drink please, he is bummin' me out!

Well, this may not be a LPR and my hard drive may not be made up of lots of blue TDK cassettes (but don't quote me on that one, not with the way it has been acting up lately) but in a way I feel like I am doing what my Dad did with his records.  I may not have a son or daughter to share it with but I do have 2 beautiful young ladies that I know are reading this and I have the rest of you guys!  For that I am eternally grateful.  I am having THE best time doing this. Gonna go throw down with Part II now. Someone should really feed Doc's goldfish too!  So much to do!  Go hug someone, pull out your old vinyl and I'll see you tomorrow!