Finishing up.
20 - "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)," Barbra Streisand
19 - "Jeans On," David Dundas
18 - "Fly Like an Eagle," The Steve Miller Band
17 - "Livin' Thing," Electric Light Orchestra
16 - "I Like Dreamin'," Kenny Nolan
We kick off the second half with Babs singing 70s personality Paul Williams' lyrics comparing love to a La-Z-Boy. Well, not in those words, of course. The movie this came from was the third version of A Star is Born to hit cinemas, and there's talk that a fourth one could be imminent, with Beyonce in the female role. Sounds about right.
Singing British Lord David Dundas returns with his song about how happy he is with his dungarees. It's very reminiscent of Glibert O'Sullivan, I'm sad to report.
The Steve Miller Band has another of their party favorites in this week. This one seems to have somewhat of a social conscience, what with lyrics about feeding babies and shoeing children. And it does have kind of a cool, spacey vibe. Seal's cover of it for the movie Space Jam wasn't that good, but that's the least of the atrocities Space Jam is responsible for.
Then ELO show up with "Livin' Thing," Jeff Lynne repeats several times that he's "taking a dive." I don't get that. I don't think he'd be favored in any boxing match, no matter the opponent.
And finally, Kenny Nolan gooily tells us that he enjoys his nocturnal visions, mainly because in them he sees themselve spending his life with an unattainable woman. Wake up and join eHarmony or something, Kenny.
15 - "Enjoy Yourself," The Jacksons
14 - "Lost Without Your Love," Bread
13 - "Somebody to Love," Queen
12 - "Walk this Way," Aerosmith
11 - "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)," Rod Stewart
The Jacksons start things off. They were clearly enjoying themselves without Jermaine and Motown. Fun, frothy disco.
Did Bread really need to come back? Hadn't the world filled up on them already, and just now started to have room in their musical appetites for more flavorful offerings? Apparently not, because people bought this song, even though it was bland even by their standards.
Then it's Queen. Freddie Mercury doesn't just want a lover, he demands that someone find one for him. But like all royalty, we let him get away with that kind of behavior.
Aerosmith make their first BGC appearance with this classic boogie-rocker about learning how to score with high school girls. Later, this song would help change pop music when the band performed it with Run-DMC. And it would help a certain Springfield bartender change his image when they performed it with Moe Syzslak. Currently, Steven Tyler is most certainly not changing pop music, television, or anything else as a judge on American Idol.
Finally, we encounter Rod Stewart's Lothariolicious "Tonight's the Night" for the third time. I have nothing to add, except when I described it the last time, I said "verses" when I meant "choruses." I regret this error. The rest, I've made peace with.
Ten for the road:
10 - "Torn Between Two Lovers," Mary MacGregor
This lady had her one shining moment in the pop sun with this Peter Yarrow-written confession of a woman to her live-in love that she's been getting some on the side, and while she's not willing or able to give the other guy up, she still loves her first man and wants him to stay with her. We never find out his response. I think that's for the best.
9 - "Blinded by the Light," Manfred Mann's Earth Band
A few years after his sixties heyday (highlighted by "Doo Wa Diddy Diddy), Mr. Mann formed a new group and joined the prog-rock movement. Their biggest popular success came with this cover of a cut from Bruce Springsteen's first album, a cryptic jumble of sillicone sisters and go-kart Mozarts. It was catchy, it was unmistakable, and it had millions of kids with burgeoning dirty minds mistakenly singing "Wrapped up like a douche." In short, an extemely important contribution to the decade's musical canon.
8 - "After the Lovin'," Engelbert Humperdinck
Speaking of contributions to the off-color imaginations of youth...heh her, "Humperdinck." Just for a moment, imagine you were a young man on the make around this time, and you've invited a girl over for "drinks." Hours before the big night, you're in the record store looking for mood music, and you're inspired to pick up the two perfect 45s for the occasion: "Tonight's the Night" for before, and "After the Lovin'" for the post-coital period. You're probably thinking, "I am the greatest Casanova ever!" Now imagine you're the lady who takes this man up on his invitation and has to listen to these songs in this context. Yeah, I'm shuddering too. Especially because you know the guy would try to make himself extra irresistible by singing along with the records. Badly. I'll forgive you if you need a shower before continuing.
7 - "New Kid in Town," The Eagles
Like "Go Your Own Way," this was the first single from a monster album, in this case Hotel California. As a kid, I thought this was about high school or something, but of course, it's about Hollywood or something. Live and learn.
6 - "Hot Line," The Sylvers
The family funksters are back looking for love on the phone. Does anybody remember The Jets, who were kind of the 80s version of the Sylvers?
5 - "You Don't Have to Be a Star (To Be in My Show)," Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr.
In its third go-round here, I don't have anything more to say about this. Sorry.
4 - "Dazz," Brick
Okay, I got a better listen to this this time, and it's okay, but if "dazz" is supposed to equal "disco jazz," I don't think this song quite fits that bill. Yes, there's a sax solo, and "Dazz, dazz, disco jazz," is repeated frequently, but still, I think dazz as a genre is better represented by Dr. Buzzard, et al.
3 - "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," Leo Sayer
Oh Leo, how come you never sued Richard Simmons for stealing your look?
2 - "Car Wash," Rose Royce
Of all the places of business that you'd think could inspire a song this fun and awesome, the place where you come to get your Toyota buffed and waxed probably wouldn't have been one of my first choices. But there it is. And apparently, one of the perks of working there is the probability of meeting movie stars and/or Indian chiefs. But they may be exaggerating.
And the song that, as the kids say, pwned all others that week was:
1 - "I Wish," Stevie Wonder
Poor little Stevie. Can't make himself cry to avoid getting spanked, gets caught playing doctor with a girl (presumably before the examination was complete), then gets sent to the principal for smoking and writing obscenities on a wall. And yet, for some reason, the man misses those days. I'd ponder what this means in much more depth, but I'm too busy dancing.
The NotCaseys this week were Thelma Houston's disco plea "Don't Leave Me this Way," 10cc's jaunty celebration of "The Things We Do for Love," and Kansas' classic-rock fist pumper "Carry on Wayward Son."
Back at the appointed time with more.
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