Singles – Page 129 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Sammy Johns – Chevy Van

Sammy Johns released Chevy Van back in 1975 and it peaked at #5 in the Billboard Top 100 and reached #7 in Canada. It is pure AM 70’s pop but it does take me back to that time.

The musicians that back Johns are the famous Wrecking Crew from Los Angeles. The song has been covered by many Country artists and most recently by Eric Church.

Vans were very popular in the 70s…Not family Mini Vans but rolling waterbed and shag carpet teenage machines. They were customized to have everything in them… Some movies were even centered around vans (Vansploitation)…

Chevy Van

I gave a girl a ride in my wagon
She rolled in and took control
She was tired and her mind was a-draggin’
I said get some sleep and dream of rock and roll

‘Cause like a picture she was layin’ there
Moonlight dancin’ off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
She’s gonna love me in my Chevy van
And that’s all right with me

Her young face was like that of an angel
Her long legs were tanned and brown
Better keep your eyes on the road, son
Better slow this vehicle down

‘Cause like a picture she was layin’ there
Moonlight dancin’ off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
She’s gonna love me in my Chevy van
And that’s all right with me

I put her out in a town that was so small
You could throw a rock from end to end
A dirt road Main Street, she walked off in bare feet
It’s a shame I won’t be passin’ through again

‘Cause like a picture she was layin’ there
Moonlight dancin’ off her hair
She woke up and took me by the hand
We made love in my Chevy van
And that’s all right with me

Kim Mitchell – Go For a Soda

I have fond memories of this song in the 80s. Candian Kim Mitchell released this it in 1984 off his Akimbo Alogo album. The song peaked at #86 on the US Billboard 100 but #22 in Canada. I remember it getting plenty of airplay in my region. It did hit #12 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks.

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) used this song as a theme song. The reason the song caught on with me is the bass guitar sound. I was playing bass at the time and loved the huge sound of it when it kicks in.

Kim Mitchell had a very good career in Canada with 7 top twenty singles…Welcome to early eighties videos!

Go For A Soda

Might as well go for a soda…Nobody hurts and nobody cries
Might as well go for a soda…Nobody drowns and nobody dies

So we’re in one of our blue moods
You wanna have it your way and I want it mine
All this debating going ’round in our blue mood
Makes me thirst for love

Chorus:
Might as well go for a soda…Nobody hurts and nobody cries
Might as well go for a soda…Nobody drowns and nobody dies

Life seems to be a bomb inside your head
Well the bomb in my head is love
All this debating going ’round in our blue mood
Makes me thirsty for love

Chorus:
Might as well go for a soda…Nobody hurts and nobody cries
Might as well go for a soda…Nobody drowns and nobody dies
Might as well go for a soda…It’s better than slander
It’s better than lies
Might as well go for a soda…Nobody hurts and nobody cries

Martin Briley – Salt In My Tears

With a line like “You Ain’t Worth The Salt In My Tears” in a song…how could you not listen? This song was released in 1983 and reached #36 on the Billboard Charts. I liked the song because it had a catchy guitar riff which stood out at the time with all the synth music going on.

Martin Briley is a talented musician… below is from Wikipedia

Briley has received orchestral commissions, and has written songs for such artists as Céline Dion, *NSYNC, Dream, Michael Bolton, Mietta, Kenny Loggins, Pat Benatar, Jessica Andrews, Five Star, Jeff Healey, Rebecca St. James, Nana Mouskouri, Willie Nile, Gregg Allman, Night Ranger, David Hasselhoff, Patrick Swayze, Michael Monroe, Chastity Bono, Peter Tork, Nikki Webster, Hope Partlow, Natascha Sohl, Ballas Hough, Phil Stacey, Orianthi, The Maine and Barry Manilow.

Salt In My Tears

I never did it, no, I won’t admit it
Why should I lie for you anymore
You never loved me
You pushed and shoved me
I see the woman I never saw

I saw you laugh when the knife was twisted
It still hurts but the pain has shifted
I’m looking back at the time that drifted by
But I won’t cry for the wasted years
Cause you ain’t worth the salt in my tears

Feeling neglected, used and rejected
You need a shoulder to lean upon
Baby you picked him, found your next victim
Don’t worry, someone will come along

I broke the spell that you kept me under
I had enough of the rain and thunder
I lost track of the time and I wonder why
But I won’t cry for the wasted years
Cause you ain’t worth the salt in my tears

I’ll sit around and drink a few more beers
Until the memory just disappears
Cause you ain’t worth the salt in my tears

Cause you ain’t worth the salt in my tears
Cause you ain’t worth the salt in my tears

The Hollies – The Air That I Breathe

This Hollies song was released in 1974 and it made it to #6 in the US Billboard Charts and #2 in the UK. The band did not write the song. It was written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood.

I was seven when the song came out and it was one song I remember because of that dream-like guitar intro by the underrated lead guitar player for the Hollies…Tony Hicks.

Allan Clarke lead singer of the Hollies.

‘The Air That I Breathe’, another song just like ‘He Ain’t Heavy’. A classic song and again that’s where Phil Everly came back into my life. I went to that same office where I wrote ‘Long Cool Woman’ in one day. The secretary of Ron Richards said that she’d just listened to a Phil Everly album and there was one song on it which was beautiful. She thought that I should do that song, obviously, she meant with The Hollies. I listened to it and obviously felt that I wasn’t going to be able to do it as well as Phil. So they said ‘You gotta try. Do it the way Phil would sing it’. And that’s what I did when we recorded it.’ It’s a beautiful song to sing, ‘Harmony-wise, Terry did a great job on that. To me, that’s again a classic that will go on, and on again.’

“The Air That I Breathe”

If I could make a wish
I think I’d pass
Can’t think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound
Nothing to eat, no books to readMaking love with you
Has left me peaceful, warm, and tired
What more could I ask
There’s nothing left to be desired
Peace came upon me and it leaves me weak
So sleep, silent angel, go to sleepSometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe
And to love you
All I need is the air that I breathe
Yes to love you
All I need is the air that I breathePeace came upon me and it leaves me weak
So sleep, silent angel, go to sleep

Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe
And to love you
All I need is the air that I breathe
Yes to love you
All I need is the air that I breathe

Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe
And to love you
All I need is the air that I breathe
Yes to love you
All I need is the air that I breathe
And to love you
All I need is the air that I breathe
Yes to love you

The La’s – There She Goes

A song by a British band called The La’s. A very good pop song that has no verses…it just repeats the chorus four different ways four different times. The song peaked at #49 on the 1991 Billboard Chart and #13 on the UK charts in 1990.

It was written by the singer Lee Mavers and recorded in 1988 and remixed and released again in 1990.

Many people think the song was about heroin. Paul Hemmings an ex-guitarist for the band denies that rumor. Either way, it is a perfectly constructed pop song.

It’s been covered by a lot of artists but probably most successfully by Sixpence None the Richer. I’ve always liked The La’s version the best.

“There She Goes”

There she goes
There she goes again
Racing through my brain
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remainsThere she blows (there she blows again)
There she blows again (there she blows again)
Pulsing through my vein (there she blows again)
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remainsThere she goes
There she goes again
She calls my name
Pulls my train
No one else could heal my pain
But I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains

There she goes
There she goes again
Chasing down my lane
And I just can’t contain
This feeling that remains

There she goes (there she goes again)
There she goes (there she goes again)
There she goes (there she goes again)