Song#: 0344
Date: 09/27/1980
Debut: 92
Peak: 24
Weeks: 20
Genre: Country
Pop Bits: Williams' solo career began in 1971 and since that time he has amassed seventeen #1 country hits. In addition, the vast majority of all his singles released reached the Top 10. But not all country superstars can crossover to pop and that was the case with Williams. This was his lone pop chart entry and this title-track success gave him is only gold studio album. In 2006, Williams retired from music and did a farewell tour, but like a lot of musicians who "retire," they end up coming back and he returned with a new album and tour in 2012. His last country Top 10 was in 1991.
ReduxReview: I imagine that this song might have been caught up in the Urban Cowboy craze, even though it was not on the soundtrack. The song is quite country for a pop chart entry and it did very well going Top 25. I've always thought this old-style country tune was very sweet and Williams' voice is so comforting. You don't hear songs like this on the radio any longer - worse yet, you don't really hear it on country radio. Kind of sad.
ReduxRating: 6/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) His soft baritone and demeanor combined with an imposing presence garnered him the nickname "gentle giant." 2) Williams' first group was a duo with Lofton Kline called The Strangers Two. Later, they added Susan Taylor and became the Pozo-Seco Singers. This folk-pop group went on to have six chart songs between 1966-67 with their best showing being two songs that peaked at #32 in 1966 - "I Can Make It with You" and "Look What You've Done." (Extra! Pozo-Seco is a geological term that translated means "dry well." Why they called themselves a dry well, I can't say.)
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Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
"The Wanderer" by Donna Summer
Top 10 Alert!
Gold Record Alert!
Song#: 0343 Date: 09/20/1980
Debut: 43
Peak: 3
Weeks: 20
Genre: Pop, New Wave
Pop Bits: Feeling creatively and professionally stifled by her label, Casablanca, she left during her peak power years and moved over to the newly established Geffen label. With more control over her music, Summer wanted to move away from disco and into the newer rock/new wave movement. With her previous producers/co-writers on-board (Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte), Summer released the album "The Wanderer" and this title track (not to be confused with Dion's 1961 #2 hit of the same name) became another sizable hit in her catalog. However, it would be the only Top 10 hit from the album and that, along with Summer still being recognized as the "queen of disco," likely contributed to the album only reaching #13 and stopping her platinum streak by only going gold.
ReduxReview: This was never one of my favorite Summer tracks. It was good that she was leaving disco behind, but I just wasn't thrilled with this quirky song. Even back in the day I thought the keyboard line was pure cheese in a can. You know, this keyboard sound was used in a very similar line later in Olivia Newton-John's "Make a Move on Me," and it sounds right for that sophisticated pop song. I think "The Wanderer" is just an odd transition tune between Summer's disco days and her solid pop 80s songs.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: Having more artistic control allowed Summer to bring her newly rediscovered faith to her music. She wrote "I Believe in Jesus" and it was the last track on the album. This resulted in a Grammy nomination for Best Inspirational Performance.
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"Dreamer" by Supertramp
Song#: 0342
Date: 09/20/1980
Debut: 67
Peak: 15
Weeks: 14
Genre: Prog Rock
Pop Bits: Supertramp's album "Breakfast in America" was a #1 smash and their biggest selling album. Featuring the Top 10 hits "The Logical Song" (#6) and "Take the Long Way Home" (#10), the LP found the group moving towards a slicker pop sound than their more prog rock/art rock roots. But like many groups that would hit it big, during their peak period there would be inner turmoil. The relationship of the group's two main members/songwriters, Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, grew cold and their creative partnership had pretty much dissolved. But they soldiered on through a massive tour and while the band took a break, the live album "Paris" was released. This first single from the album was the live version of the 1974 song from their "Crime of the Century" album. The original 1974 single didn't reach the chart in the US, but it was a #13 hit in the UK.
Weird Connection Alert! A vocalist that I knew back in my Branson theater days is currently a background vocalist for Supertramp when they go on tour.
ReduxReview: Another lackluster live version of a terrific song. Yeah, as I've mentioned previously I'm not a big fan of live recordings. Unless the artist highlights the song in a new way or adds something interesting like a terrific solo, they just end up being remakes of the studio versions. And as much as I like this song, this live version on record is just bland. Could be different if you were actually there...and therein lies the problem with most live recording. I'd just rather be there than pretending I was.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: The group's original name was Daddy. But to avoid confusion with another band, they became Supertramp, a nod to the book "The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp" by William Henry Davies. The book was the author's autobiography that focuses on his days of living as a tramp in the UK and US. It was published in 1908. For the title of their first greatest hits LP, the group used the title "The Autobiography of Supertramp" (1986).
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Date: 09/20/1980
Debut: 67
Peak: 15
Weeks: 14
Genre: Prog Rock
Pop Bits: Supertramp's album "Breakfast in America" was a #1 smash and their biggest selling album. Featuring the Top 10 hits "The Logical Song" (#6) and "Take the Long Way Home" (#10), the LP found the group moving towards a slicker pop sound than their more prog rock/art rock roots. But like many groups that would hit it big, during their peak period there would be inner turmoil. The relationship of the group's two main members/songwriters, Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, grew cold and their creative partnership had pretty much dissolved. But they soldiered on through a massive tour and while the band took a break, the live album "Paris" was released. This first single from the album was the live version of the 1974 song from their "Crime of the Century" album. The original 1974 single didn't reach the chart in the US, but it was a #13 hit in the UK.
Weird Connection Alert! A vocalist that I knew back in my Branson theater days is currently a background vocalist for Supertramp when they go on tour.
ReduxReview: Another lackluster live version of a terrific song. Yeah, as I've mentioned previously I'm not a big fan of live recordings. Unless the artist highlights the song in a new way or adds something interesting like a terrific solo, they just end up being remakes of the studio versions. And as much as I like this song, this live version on record is just bland. Could be different if you were actually there...and therein lies the problem with most live recording. I'd just rather be there than pretending I was.
ReduxRating: 5/10
Trivia: The group's original name was Daddy. But to avoid confusion with another band, they became Supertramp, a nod to the book "The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp" by William Henry Davies. The book was the author's autobiography that focuses on his days of living as a tramp in the UK and US. It was published in 1908. For the title of their first greatest hits LP, the group used the title "The Autobiography of Supertramp" (1986).
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
"Let Me Talk" by Earth, Wind & Fire
Song#: 0341
Date: 09/20/1980
Debut: 75
Peak: 44
Weeks: 9
Genre: R&B
Pop Bits: EWF were tremendously successful in the 70s with eight platinum (or multi-platinum) albums and six Top 10 pop hits, including 1975's #1 "Shining Star." Their first album of the 80s, "Faces," managed to hit #10 and go gold, but it wouldn't come close to their mega-selling previous albums. Signs of decline were apparent when this first single couldn't get inside the Top 40. Although the group was R&B, they were kind of in the same boat as Chicago at the time - a successful 70s band whose sound was getting dated when the 80s rolled in. EWF would make changes, but it would only result in a slight resurgence as their last Top 40 hit would come in 1983.
ReduxReview: The song kind of starts out like a Quincy Jones/Michael Jackson-type jam that really doesn't go anywhere. Then there is a shift that goes into a kind of smooth-jazz section. I also had to listen to this three times before actually finding a melody line and some type of chorus. For me, this song is a mess.
ReduxRating: 3/10
Trivia: Group founder Maurice White originally called his Chicago-based band Salty Peppers when they got their first contract with Capital Records in 1969. After a move to the West Coast and a new contract with Warner, White changed the band name to Earth, Wind & Fire. The name comes from the four classical elements (earth, air, fire, water). White's astrological sign is Sagittarius, which is devoid of the water element. Therefore, White turned the other three elements into the group's name.
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Date: 09/20/1980
Debut: 75
Peak: 44
Weeks: 9
Genre: R&B
Pop Bits: EWF were tremendously successful in the 70s with eight platinum (or multi-platinum) albums and six Top 10 pop hits, including 1975's #1 "Shining Star." Their first album of the 80s, "Faces," managed to hit #10 and go gold, but it wouldn't come close to their mega-selling previous albums. Signs of decline were apparent when this first single couldn't get inside the Top 40. Although the group was R&B, they were kind of in the same boat as Chicago at the time - a successful 70s band whose sound was getting dated when the 80s rolled in. EWF would make changes, but it would only result in a slight resurgence as their last Top 40 hit would come in 1983.
ReduxReview: The song kind of starts out like a Quincy Jones/Michael Jackson-type jam that really doesn't go anywhere. Then there is a shift that goes into a kind of smooth-jazz section. I also had to listen to this three times before actually finding a melody line and some type of chorus. For me, this song is a mess.
ReduxRating: 3/10
Trivia: Group founder Maurice White originally called his Chicago-based band Salty Peppers when they got their first contract with Capital Records in 1969. After a move to the West Coast and a new contract with Warner, White changed the band name to Earth, Wind & Fire. The name comes from the four classical elements (earth, air, fire, water). White's astrological sign is Sagittarius, which is devoid of the water element. Therefore, White turned the other three elements into the group's name.
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"Master Blaster (Jammin')" by Stevie Wonder
Top 10 Alert!
Song#: 0340 Date: 09/20/1980
Debut: 78
Peak: 5
Weeks: 23
Genre: R&B, Reggae
Pop Bits: After the diminished returns and confused reception of Wonder's soundtrack to "Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants," he returned to form with this single from his first certified platinum album, "Hotter Than July." Inspired by his love of reggae music and meeting Bob Marley, Wonder wrote this tune as an ode to Marley. It also got Wonder another Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male.
ReduxReview: Ah, yes. Much better! After a couple years of blah stuff from Wonder, this sounded refreshing. I wouldn't say this is one of my all-time faves of his, but it is hard to not groove to this. Looking back, I'd probably say that this may have been the first reggae-style song that I heard. Reggae and artist like Bob Marley were not on anyone's radar in my small Michigan hometown, so it wasn't until years later that I discovered the music. It's not one of my favorite genres, but I do appreciate many of the great songs.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: Another track on the album, "Happy Birthday," was instrumental in the quest to have Martin Luther King's birthday recognized as a national holiday. The song was released as a single, but it failed to make the pop chart. It did, however, reach #17 R&B and was a surprise #2 hit in the UK.
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