Elizabeth Daily's "Love in the Shadows." Here's the re-recorded version, from her 1986 debut album Wild Child.
Annabella's "Passion Play"
The 1984 film Thief of Hearts was obviously supposed to be a re-do of the previous year's Flashdance. Same film producer (Jerry Bruckheimer), same musical composer (Giorgio Moroder), and even the Flashdance font (Mistral, if you care) was evoked in the movie's title. But it didn't work. The film, which I've never seen, was about a stalker/robber, not dancing. It bombed, making $10 million for a #79 rank for the year, just below Rick Springfield's Hard To Hold and above Streets of Fire. At least those two films generated Top 10 hits. The best this could muster was the title track performed by Melissa Manchester, which stole off the charts after 6 weeks with only a peak of #86. The album itself didn't do much better, making only #179. How is the music? Well, the only thing Moroder contributed was Manchester's song, easily the highlight. The rest was handed off to, help us all, Harold Faltermeyer. His instrumental tracks that artists added vocals and lyrics too aren't too bad, the best being "Love in the Shadows" by Elizabeth Daily (later "Dottie" in Pee Wee's Big Adventure and the voice of Buttercup on The Powerpuff Girls long after that), and Annabella adds some tribal whooping reminiscent of her old band Bow Wow Wow to her track "Passion Play." Faltermeyer's instrumental score, with the exception of "Collage," is uninteresting, with the film's love theme sounding like a direct copy of Moroder's piano recital romantic interlude from Flashdance. Evidently, lessons were learned and the whole team of Bruckheimer, Moroder and Faltermeyer got back together in 1986 and had a sky-high mega-hit with the Top Gun soundtrack, which was probably more successful because Moroder created compositions this time. Grade: B- Highlights: Melissa Manchester's "Thief of Hearts"
Elizabeth Daily's "Love in the Shadows." Here's the re-recorded version, from her 1986 debut album Wild Child. Annabella's "Passion Play"
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As all music fans and pop culture junkies like myself celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper and the "Summer of Love" and all that trippy stuff, I would just like to remind you of what passed for hippieness for the "squares" in corporate America. Jefferson Airplane this ain't. By the way, this cover of a 1934 Cole Porter tune made #43 in September 1967. The blond dude on the left is Ted Templeman, who would discover the Doobie Brothers and produce many hits for them and Van Halen in the 1970s and '80s.
Gregg Allman died Saturday at 69. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Allman Brothers Band - my parents took me to see them in concert the mid-1990s in Memphis and I was more impressed with the Allman-offshoot group Government Mule that opened for them - but they were extremely talented musically and "Jessica" (which I loved in concert) and "Melissa" certainly deserve note for being better than the overplayed "Ramblin' Man." Gregg was a survivor and his song "These Days" illustrates that with the closing line "Please don't confront me with my failures/ I'm aware of it." Here he is performing it with Graham Nash.
Roger Moore died today of cancer at 89. He was my favorite James Bond because he was the one I grew up with, and anyone's cool who can make fun of themselves like this. If only all our lives could work out so awesomely...
Gerry Rafferty would've been 70 today if he hadn't died in 2011, so in memory I thought I'd post links to some of his lesser-known, but still high-caliber, recordings... Rafferty first recorded in the late '60s as part of the folk duo The Humblebums. Here's "Keep It To Yourself" from that era.
He recorded his first solo album in 1971, and here's the title track (and what a great title) "Can I Have My Money Back?" Finally, here's the demo version of his biggest hit "Baker Street," with Rafferty playing the sax parts on guitar. The background percussion arrangement is interestingly reminiscent of the follow-up single (and his second-biggest hit) "Right Down the Line." J. Geils, guitarist for J. Geils Band (that's him above on the right in the cool black jacket with red zipper) was found dead Tuesday in his home in MA. He was 71. J. Geils Band is one of my all-time favorite groups, both in their R&B incarnation in the early and mid-'70s and their MTV-friendly pop/rock of the late '70s and early 1980s. I even defend their 1984 album without Peter Wolf. Classic, classic stuff. Here's some tunes: Here's "Come Back," my favorite Geils song. Unfortunately, it's the edited single version, but you get the video in all its low-budget 1980 glory, and there's even a Geils guitar solo.
Here's the band live at Boston Garden in 1979. Part 2 should segue into Part 3. Chuck Berry died Saturday at age 90. Berry is, for me, the first 1950s rock star I can really appreciate, probably because of his "influence on" (or being ripped off by) the Beach Boys and the Beatles, two of my all-time favorite groups. Plus, it was fun being nicknamed "Johnny B. Goode" for a brief time in school when the movie Johnny Be Good came out in '88. I mean, the guy's an icon, let's just get to the music already... Here's a performance of "Maybellene" with Gerry and the Pacemakers and some go-go dancers dead set on re-enacting Shermy's dancing from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Here's "Johnny B. Goode" with Berry's trademark stage moves... and more go-go dancing. Welcome to February 28, 1987! In the news this week: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored his 36.000th NBA point, Jody Watley's debut album was released, and the first batch of Beatles CDs encompassing their first four releases have just been issued... ...and on the Billboard Top 100 singles, the #1 song is by Bon Jovi, who has held the place for the last 3 weeks with this song. (The band has also been #1 on the album chart for 8 weeks.) Other noteworthy tunes hitting their peak positions this week... #14 - Journey's "I'll Be Alright Without You" - This is the special "hot mix" that was a hit single, not the album version or the live version from the video. One of my favorite songs of theirs. #35 - Stacey Q's "We Connect" - Stacey's other Top 40 hit, and it's a great song even if it does sound more than a little like her 1986 smash "Two of Hearts." (In fact, I prefer it.) As for the video, not only do you get a keytar, you get a keytar/bass COMBO!!! #59 - 'Til Tuesday's "Coming Up Close" - No comments, just enjoy.
Dennis DeYoung of Styx turns 70 today, so Happy Birthday! He's best known for writing and singing the band's hits "Babe," "Come Sail Away," "The Best of Times," "Don't Let It End," and can't forget "Mr. Roboto." He was also a one-hit-wonder on his own with "Desert Moon." Here's a clip of Styx performing on the 1996 reunion tour Return To Paradise, which is when I saw them. They were excellent, and it will probably be the last time the classic DeYoung/ Tommy Shaw/James Young lineup performs together, unless they really get mellow with old age. Doubtful. Here's "Lorelei"/"The Grand Illusion."
As I was listening to Phil Collins' 2002 CD Testify for the first time yesterday, hoping it wouldn't suck like everything else he released since 1989, really being impressed with the Genesis-like keyb intro to the first track "Wake Up Call"... and then realizing it would be almost as dreadful as everything else he'd released since 1989 (except maybe Dance Into the Light, which I only played once and never wanted to again). So when I found this clip on YouTube this morning I thought we could go back 40 years to when Phil was still pretty dandy... Here's Genesis on The Mike Douglas Show from almost 40 years ago - March 29, 1977 - performing what would be their first US hit single: "Your Own Special Way," which would hit #62 on April 2. We all should be glad Phil Collins later removed all the Joe Cockerisms from his stage performance, and I was unaware that they had Chester Thompson on drums that early on. Anyway, it's a pleasant little tune, even if Phil looks a bit too Charles Manson/Dennis Wilson-y.
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Walburgh's BlogMostly retro, mainly music, but generally whatever's on my mind. Archives
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