Saturday, May 11, 2013

"Brite Eyes" by the Robbin Thompson Band

Song#:  0367
Date:  10/18/1980
Debut:  95
Peak:  66
Weeks:  6
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Thompson made his recording debut with a self-titled album in 1976 that included his American Song Festival-winning composition, "Boy from Boston." The album had some solid names attached like Timothy B. Schmit (The Eagles/Poco), Melissa Manchester, and Waddy Wachtel, but it didn't generate much attention. However, his 1980 album "Two B's Please," credited to the Robbin Thompson Band, garnered a lot of attention in the Southeast and that helped push this single onto the national chart. Although he would record more albums and also win the American Song Festival again in 1984 (with "You're My Obsession"), this would prove to be his only chart appearance.

ReduxReview:  This kind of AOR song is a bit rare on the chart. It's not necessarily a pop radio hit, but there is something about it that draws you in. At 6+ minutes, it's a mini-epic that has a lot of influences showing up throughout. I can't say that it makes a great single, but I like the song. Pretty great guitar solo too.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Thompson made some good connections early on. In 1970, he would be asked to join a band called Steel Mill and he played with them until they disbanded in 1971. Who were Steel Mill? Mainly it was one of Bruce Springsteen's early bands and it included a few future E-Streeters as well.

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Friday, May 10, 2013

"Never Be the Same" by Christopher Cross

Song#:  0366
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  75
Peak:  15
Weeks:  19
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Cross had just recently hit #1 with "Sailing," the second single from his self-titled debut album. This third single couldn't quite get into the Top 10, but it did become Cross' first AC #1.

ReduxReview:  The mumbler is back! Yeah I know I pick on Cross' diction when there are plenty of other songs that can't be understood at all. But what makes him stand out is that he is singing these hit, AC-lite, Grammy award winning songs where lyrics should really be clearly heard and understood. In this song, it is just one little line, but unfortunately it is in the chorus - so you hear it over and over again. After Cross sings "And I will never be the same without you here," he says something that sounds like French to me.  Kinda like "allez vous lon." What is that? Ends up that the line is "I'll live alone." In the context of the lyrics, the line makes sense. The way he sings it? Not even close. But it is still a solid AC song from Mr. Mumbles.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  As previously mentioned, Cross' self-titled debut album won the Grammy for Album of the Year. What infinitely more famous album did it beat out to win the award? Pink Floyd's "The Wall." The AC upstart also infamously beat out hit albums by Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and Billy Joel.

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"Sometimes a Fantasy" by Billy Joel

Song#:  0365
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  78
Peak:  36
Weeks:  9
Genre:  Rock, New Wave



Pop Bits:  Joel's "Glass Houses" was still doing well when this fourth single was lifted for release. The song, which basically is about the narrator trying to talk his girlfriend into having phone sex, put him back in more of a rock mode after the AC-leaning previous single "Don't Ask Me Why" (#19 pop, #1 AC). Having four Top 40 hits from this one album most likely helped Joel secure a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

ReduxReview:  This song is a bit frustrating for me. I really like this song, but as I've mentioned before I don't think Joel is a rocker and I think he tends to overcompensate. I understand what he is trying to do here, but the way he presents his voice is too over-the-top and annoying. Luckily, the song is strong enough to overcome his fake-rock voice.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  The album version of this song has a fade-out and has been the standard one used for all his compilations. However, the original 45 single version was the complete song that lasts another 40 seconds and ends chaotically with Joel yelling "I've got blisters on my blisters!" That phrase was a nod to The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" where Ringo screams "I've got blisters on my fingers." Joel's extended version still only resides on 45 and has not been issued on any other format. (I've posted a video above that plays the 45 version.)

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

"Love Theme from Shogun (Mariko's Theme)" by Meco

Song#:  0364
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  81
Peak:  70
Weeks:  4
Genre:  Pop, Instrumental, Soundtrack



Pop Bits:  This one-off single has Meco taking a theme from Maurice Jarre's score to the TV mini-series "Shogun" and creating a whole new pop song in his unique style. Although mainly known for his disco takes on sci-fi films like "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters," Meco did his own takes on other films and even had a whole album based on "The Wizard of Oz." But this particular song, with a b-side of "Main Theme from Shogun," was only released as a single and does not seem to appear on any of his album or compilations.

ReduxReview:  In this project thus far, I've had pretty good luck locating all the songs. In a couple of cases I could only post the music for a snippet of a song, but I usually end up hearing the full song somewhere. When I saw Meco, I thought it would be no problem hearing this song....wrong! I searched and searched and could not find even a brief snippet of the song anywhere. It ends up this was only put out on a 45 and it has never made its way onto any album or CD anywhere. Really odd for an artist who was popular at the time. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but then I decided I'd look up the vinyl. I happened to find a person selling one for cheap, so I bought it. I'm kind of glad I did. Based on his other singles, I thought this would be some discofied version of a theme song and I planned on just giving it a low rating. However, when I played it, I was quite surprised. It is a pretty good tune and not the typical Meco-dance arrangement. I decided to transfer the 45 to a video and I posted it on YouTube, which is above. While it is nothing awesome, I think it is a good song and I'm glad I researched further and got the vinyl.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  In addition to his own work, Meco was a producer and worked with many artists in the 70s and 80s. In 1982, he helped to introduce a frizzy-haired soprano sax player to the world when he produced the debut album of Kenny G.

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"A Little Is Enough" by Pete Townshend

Song#:  0363
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  82
Peak:  72
Weeks:  4
Genre:  Rock

A Little Is Enough by Pete Townshend on Grooveshark

Pop Bits:  Townshend followed up the #9 "Let My Love Open the Door" with this second single from his "Empty Glass" LP. Unfortunately, the song could not even come close to repeating the success of the first single and quickly disappeared of the chart.

ReduxReview:  Although not nearly as catchy as the poppy "Let My Love," this is quite a good song. It seems like the song should have done a bit better, but I can hear how folks may not have latched onto this one as easily. I have not listened to a lot of Townshend solo work before, but this song makes me think I should.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Apparently there was a bit of a kerfuffle with Roger Daltrey about some of the songs Townshend used for his solo album. At the time, Townshend was simultaneously writing songs for himself and for the next Who album. Daltrey thought some songs would be great Who tunes and wanted them for the album. But Townshend didn't want to make any potential adjustments on the songs in order to fit Daltrey and The Who and kept the songs for "Empty Glass." Less than a year later, The Who's "Face Dances" came out featuring seven other Townshend compositions. Unfortunately, it ended up getting compared to "Empty Glass" and was considered the weaker album.

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

"Who Were You Thinkin' Of" by The Doolittle Band

Song#:  0362
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  83
Peak:  49
Weeks:  7
Genre:  Country Crossover



Pop Bits:  There was not much information to be had on this group. The only real information I found was the stuff included on the video above and that they were originally called Dandy & the Doolittle Band. It seems this was a studio group that issued this one lone single. I can't find anything that shows they had a follow-up single or even an album. So it seems like this was it for the group. (In the video above, the snippet of the song plays around the 4:30 mark.)

ReduxReview:  From this snippet and from the version done by the Texas Tornadoes (see below), I can pretty much tell this is not up my alley. It's kind of a sluggish tune that seems to fall into that "Urban Cowboy" movement. It's like chili with no spice - bland.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) Group member Jeff Tweel went on to be a successful songwriter/producer in Nashville. Among his credits is co-writing the big country hit "Every Time Two Fools Collide" by Kenny Rogers and Dottie West. Member Jack Grochmal went on to engineer recordings by artist like Johnny Cash and John Prine.  2) The song was co-written by Jim Glaser of Tompall & the Glaser Brothers, who had several country hits in the late-60s through to the early 80s. The song was remade in 1990 by the Tejano supergroup the Texas Tornadoes for their debut LP.

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"Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" by The Korgis

Song#:  0361
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  85
Peak:  18
Weeks:  19
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  This UK band consisted mainly of the duo Andy Davis and James Warren who were previously in the cult prog-rock band Stackridge, who had some success in the 70s. When they disbanded initially in 1976, Davis and Warren moved on to form The Korgis. Their self-titled 1979 debut album yielded a #13 UK hit with "If I Had You," while their sophomore LP "Dumb Waiter" provided this hit - their biggest in the UK (#3) and their only US chart entry. By the time of their third album, the duo was splintered and they were dropped by their label. They reformed for an album in 1990 and re-recorded this song, but the reunion was short-lived and the duo split once again.

ReduxReview:  I think this is one of those unexpected hits. It's a very low-key, quiet, languid ballad which typically does not translate well to radio. However, it found an audience and went Top 20. I'm not sure if I remember this song, but it does sound vaguely familiar. I think I may remember it more from one of the cover versions - I have the album by The Dream Academy where they remade this song. I find it an interesting oddity.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  The song has been covered numerous times by artists like The Dream Academy, Erasure, and Yazz. But cult movie-goers may recognize the version done by Beck. He recorded the song for the 2004 film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

"I Could Be Good for You" by 707

Song#:  0360
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  86
Peak:  52
Weeks:  9
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  This Detroit rock band signed with Casablanca and issued their self-titled debut in 1980. This first single from the album got good airplay at rock radio and made it almost halfway up the chart. It wasn't enough to push the album on the chart, but oddly their second album, appropriately titled "The Second Album," did hit #159 on the album chart even though no singles did. Go figure...

ReduxReview:  This is a nice AOR song even though it seems to go on for a bit - it clocks in at just under five minutes. But it was good enough to make me look further into the group and their debut album has some really good songs on it - particularly the big-ass ballad "One Way Highway" and the album closer "Whole Lot Better," a song that kind of reminds me of Journey. Check 'em out.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) The songwriting credit for this song goes to band members Jim McClarty and Duke McFadden. However, it's been said that the lyrics were actually written by someone else who chose to not get a credit and just took a payout for the lyrics. 2) The song was used in the 2010 Adam Sandler movie "Grown Ups."

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"Midnight Rain" by Poco

Song#:  0359
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  88
Peak: 74
Weeks:  4
Genre:  Country Rock, Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  After the more amped up title track to their album "Under the Gun" failed to make the Top 40, this next release found the group back in more familiar AC-style territory that recalled their previous Top 20 hits "Crazy Love" and "Heart of the Night." But it didn't catch on like those hits and it barely managed to get a quarter of the way up the chart.

ReduxReview:  This song is similar to "Under the Gun" in that it is a good song lacking catchiness (if that is even a word - I think I'll make it one...). But I do like it better. Poco has solid musicians and they can obviously write songs, but for me they just get lost in the crowd. The music is just a bit bland and there is nothing I hear that really defines the band.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Two original members of Poco left the group early-on and achieved even greater success. Jim Messina stayed with the group for their first two albums and then left to work for Columbia Records. He ended up joining forces with Kenny Loggins and the pair released several successful albums and singles including the #4 "Your Mama Don't Dance" (1972). Randy Meisner left Poco on bad terms after the recording of the first album. However, he did quite well when he became a founding member of the Eagles.

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Monday, May 6, 2013

"One Life to Live" by Wayne Massey

Song#:  0358
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  93
Peak:  92
Weeks:  2
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Massey will be well-known to any longtime fan of the daytime soap "One Life to Live." The role of singer Johnny Drummond was created for him after an audition for the show. Massey had a background in music and even had a high school group called The Bompers that released a singled called "Do the Bomp" for the Hanna-Barbara label. Once Massey established his character on the soap in 1980, he found himself in the recording studio making his debut solo album. The album's title track capitalized on the soap's title and sneaked onto the chart for a very brief couple of weeks. Massey left the show in 1984 to pursue country music full-time. He had several singles get on the country chart in the 80s, but none were major hits. However, he did receive an Academy of Country Music nomination for Top New Male Vocalist in 1983. He left the music business behind later in the 90s.

ReduxReview:  Oh hells to the no! This is just awful. Of course, if you are on a show it helps to have a tie in for promotion purposes, but this dreck has to be one of the worst. I don't even think the old Muzak system would even touch this. It is so old-fashioned and treacly that I'm surprised it even made it to the chart. But that was probably due to the soap fans buying it. Certainly couldn't have been from radio support...

ReduxRating:  1/10

Trivia:  Massey toured with country star Charly McClain and the two recorded duets and a full collaboration album. Although Massey didn't have any big solo hits, two of his duets with McClain did reach the country Top 10 in 1985. The two were married in 1984.

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Sunday, May 5, 2013

"I Love Women" by Jim Hurt

Song#:  0357
Date:  10/11/1980
Debut:  99
Peak:  90
Weeks:  4
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Here is a true case of a one-and-out. Songwriter Jim Hurt had worked with several Boston bands before signing on to write with the folks at House of Gold, a Nashville-based publishing house. While there, he would write or co-write songs and also provide vocals for demos. Although primarily a country songwriter, Hurt wrote in other genres and in 1980, Scotti Bros. Records gave him a shot to do his own recording. Although not his own composition, he recorded this song plus a b-side of "Someone to Put Out the Fire." The single barely broke on the chart for a few weeks and that was pretty much it. No album and no follow-up. One and done! Hurt continued on and had success with songwriting and demo work after this minor brush with solo fame. He died in 2004 from liver cancer.

ReduxReview:  This is a smooth blue-eyed soul jam kind of in that Boz Scaggs/Hall & Oates territory. There seemed to be a lot of songs with this sound around the time, so it probably got lost in the shuffle. It's a nice tune with a memorable chorus - one that I'm surprised had not got picked up by a commercial or TV show. He's got a nice voice too.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Hurt ended up having good success as a songwriter. His most well-known hit would probably be Alabama's "Love In the First Degree," which was a #1 country hit and a #15 pop hit in 1981. He has also had songs recorded by Lee Greenwood, Gladys Knight, John Conlee, and a duet by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.

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