Category: Singles

Byrds – You Ain’t Going Nowhere

A great song by The Byrds that was written by Bob Dylan. The Byrds released this song in 1968 and it was on their classic album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Their version was released 3 years before Dylan commercially released a version of the song on his Greatest Hits Vol 2 album in 1971.

You Ain’t Going Nowhere peaked at #74 on the Billboard 100 in 1968. This country-rock song has been covered many times by different artists.

Dylan’s original Basement Tapes demo of this song contained the lyric “Pick up your money, pack up your tent”, which was mistakenly altered by McGuinn in the Byrds’ version to “Pack up your money, pick up your tent.” Dylan took note of this lyric change in his 1971 recording of the song, singing “Pack up your money, put up your tent McGuinn. You ain’t goin’ nowhere.” McGuinn said: “It was an honor to be in a Bob Dylan song! I got the words wrong and he changed all the words for his version of it. He and I have always been kind of like that. He likes to poke fun at me.”

From Songfacts

The likely influence on this song was Dylan’s 1967 motorcycle accident, which severely limited his mobility. The song was recorded in the basement of a house where members of The Band lived, and played with Dylan while he experimented with new sounds. The Basement Tapes album was not officially released until 1975, but the songs were circulated and this one drew the attention of The Byrds, who released it on their 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. 

The Byrds released “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” as the first single off the album peaking at #45 in the US and #74 in the UK. Guitarist and singer Roger McGuinn recalled to Uncut that their record label, Columbia Records (which was also Dylan’s record label), sent their producer Gary Usher some demos from Dylan’s Woodstock sessions. Among them were “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” and “Nothing Was Delivered” (which the Byrds also recorded), 

Roger McGuinn said “I thought they sounded really good,” he said. “You didn’t know what Bob was up to; and far as I knew, he was just laid up from a motorcycle accident. But I think it was probably a reaction to the psychedelic thing. It just got to be too much and everybody wanted to back off.”

You Ain’t Going Nowhere

Clouds so swift
Rain won’t lift
Gate won’t close
Railings froze
Get your mind off wintertime
You ain’t goin nowhere
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, Oh are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chairI don’t care
How many letters they send
Morning came and morning went
Pack up your money
Pick up your tent
You ain’t goin nowhere
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, Oh are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chairBuy me a flute
And a gun that shoots
Tailgates and substitutes
Strap yourself
To a tree with roots
You ain’t goin nowhere
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, Oh are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair

Now Genghis Kahn
He could not keep
All his kings
Supplied with sleep
We’ll climb that hill no matter how steep
When we get up to it
Whoo-ee ride me high
Tomorrow’s the day
My bride’s gonna come
Oh, Oh are we gonna fly
Down in the easy chair

 

The Beths – Happy Unhappy —Powerpop Friday

On my quest to find more powerpop music…this band was recommended to me and I’ve been listening to them for a week or so. The Beths are a band out of New Zealand and they formed in 2015. The songs are full of good guitar hooks and with Elizabeth Stokes clever writing and voice… make them fun to listen to. They have some 90s indie sound with a little of the 60s thrown in.

Happy Unhappy is off of their debut album…Future Me Hates Me released in 2018. The members are Elizabeth Stokes(vocals, guitar)  Jonathan Pearce(guitar), Benjamin Sinclair (bass) and Ivan Luketina-Johnston (drums).

A good write up on their debut album in Rolling Stone. 

From Allmusic by Marcy Donelson

Their main songwriter, Elizabeth Stokes, also fronts the Beths, a New Zealand group that combines energized guitar riffs, melodic hooks, and harmonized backing vocals in their impulsive indie rock. Having already won fans as a live act, the band released its first album, Future Me Hates Me, in 2018.

 

Happy Unhappy

I was higher than a biplane
Then you hit me like a hurricane
I bailed out, hit the ground
Washed up in a storm drainStumbled up the driveway
With a handshake and a slow wave
Now I’m crashed out on the couch
Wondering if you feel the same‘Cause you’re in my brain taking up space
I need for remembering pins and to take out the bins
And that one particular film that that actor was in
I see your face superimposed over everything
It ain’t right
(It ain’t right, it ain’t right)‘Cause I was fine on my own
Tolling steady like a dial tone
Couldn’t you leave me I was happy unhappy
But now I’m overthrown
Wish my heart were really made of stone
And I could forget you
Like I really want to

I was living with your spare change
In the pocket of your cutaways
And I get so spent waiting on your lunch break
Broke every window pane
So I can feel the cold rain
When I lie in bed catching death trying to wash it all away‘Cause you’re in my brain taking up space
I need for delivering lies and suppressing the sighs
And for navigating the escape when I get lost in your eyes
It’s taking up all of my time just to keep it in line
It ain’t right
(It ain’t right, it ain’t right)‘Cause I was fine on my own
Tolling steady like a dial tone
Couldn’t you leave me, I was happy unhappy
But now I’m overthrown
Wish my heart were really made of stone
And I could forget you
Like I really want toI was fine on my own
Tolling steady like a dial tone
Couldn’t you leave me, I was happy unhappy
But now I’m overthrown
Wish my heart were really made of stone
And I could forget you
Like I really want toI could forget you
I could forget you
I could forget you

Marshall Crenshaw – Someday, Someway —Powerpop Friday

I’ve said this before about other artists but I thought Marshall would have had more hits when I first heard his music in the early 80s. This is his only top forty hit…incredibly it was the only song Crenshaw had in the top 100. The song peaked at #32 in the Billboard 100 in 1982. Someday, Someway was on his self-titled debut album Marshall Crenshaw that peaked at #50 on the Billboard album charts in 1982.

This is a review of the Crenshaw’s debut album at Aphoristic Album Reviews…he has a very good album review and music site.

Marshall Crenshaw on the song: “I was taking basic rhythmic grooves from some of my favorite old rock ‘n’ roll records,” “There was a record that I really loved by Gene Vincent called ‘Lotta Lovin” that had a particular kind of beat to it. It just really did a thing to my nervous system.”

From Songfacts

Marshall Crenshaw is an American singer-songwriter who got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway touring company of the musical Beatlemania. While in New York, he recorded this song for Alan Betrock’s Shake Records, after which he was signed to Warner Bros. Records. “While I was there, I wrote ‘Someday, Someway’ and five or six of the other tunes on my first album,” he recalled to Spinner UK. “I wrote those in my hotel room. That was my next move in life, to be a recording artist. I actually had a sense of artistic direction and off I went.”

Retro rocker Robert Gordon was the first to record this tune, taking the song to #76 in 1981, then Crenshaw’s own version made #36 the next year. Though his self-titled debut album was acclaimed as a pop masterpiece upon release, this song was to be his only Billboard Top 40 hit. However he has continued to record over the next few decades and has also had some success in Hollywood, appearing in the film Peggy Sue Got Married as well as portraying Buddy Holly in La Bamba.

Speaking to American Songwriter magazine, Crenshaw described the writing of this song as an ‘Eureka’ moment. He said: “By this time I’d already written ‘(You’re My) Favorite Waste of Time’ and some other good ones, but I really thought that “Someday” was a breakthrough. I liked that it had this hypnotic riff-type basis; I’d used the basic groove to ‘Lotta Lovin’ by Gene Vincent as a starting point, thought that that was cool. And I liked the lyrics, they were nice and spare but had some depth, lots of possible meanings and implications, etc. There was something kind of mysterious about it and I liked that. It was one of those ones that came out in a rush.”

Some Day, Some Way

I can’t stand to see you sad
I can’t bear to hear you cry
If you can’t tell me what you need
All I can do is wonder why

Someday, someway aw
Someday, someway, yeah now
Someday, someway
Maybe I’ll understand you

After all you’ve done for me
All I really want to do
Is take the love you brought my way
And give it all right back to you

Someday, someway
Someday, someway yeah yeah
Someday, someway
Maybe you’ll understand me
You’ve taken everything from me
I’ve taken everything from you

I’ll love you for my whole life through
Now after all you’ve done for me
All I really want to do
Is take the love you brought my way
And give it all right back to you

Someday, someway aw
Someday, someway, yeah now
Someday, someway maybe you’ll understand me
You’ve taken everything from me
I’ve taken everything from you

I’ll love you for my whole life through
I can’t stand to see you sad
I can’t bear to hear you cry
If you can’t tell me what you need
All I can do is wonder why

Someday, someway aw
Someday, someway, yeah yeah
Someday, someway
Maybe I’ll understand you

Someday, someway aw
Someday, someway, yeah yeah
Someday, someway
Maybe you’ll understand me

Someday, someway oh!
Someday, someway, yeah now
Someday, someway
Maybe I’ll understand you

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Bootleg

This was a song on their second album Bayou Country which peaked at #7 in 1969. Cool song and cool guitar lick by John Fogerty. The song is about things that are forbidden…only makes you want them more. Fogerty said: “Why is it that those things that are really bad for you – candy, ice cream, alcohol – taste so good? Why is it that the things that we can’t have we want even more?”

This song was not one of their big hits but a great song all the same. The band made a video for the song with them playing on a yacht and fans coming aboard.

From Songfacts

A bootleg is an example of an item made more appealing because it is illicit. In the ’60s, a bootleg was an illegal recording of a concert. These were often very low quality but still coveted, as they were rare and unauthorized.

Tom Fogerty played the acoustic guitar on this track.

Bootleg

Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.
Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.

Take you a glass of water
Make it against the law.
See how good the water tastes
When you can’t have any at all.

Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.
Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.

Findin’ a natural woman,
Like honey to a bee.

But you don’t buzz the flower.
When you know the honey’s free.

Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.
Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.

Suzy maybe give you some cherry pie,
But lord, that ain’t no fun.
Better you grab it when she ain’t lookin’
‘Cause you know you’d rather have it on the run.

Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.
Bootleg, bootleg,
Bootleg, howl.

The Babys – Isn’t It Time

The Babys were a British rock band that was active from 1975-1981. The band had 8 songs in the Billboard top 100. This song peaked at #13 in the Billboard 100, #8 in Canada, #1 in Australia, and #45 in the UK in 1977.

What I liked about The Baby’s was the voice of John Waite. He would later turn solo after the Babys broke up to have a few hits of his own. I never got to see them live but friends told me they were better live than on their records.

From Songfacts

This was the breakout hit for The Babys, a British rock group fronted by John Waite, which also includes Wally Stocker, Tony Brock, and Mike Corby. The song is about a man torn between the possibility of experiencing his great love and the fear of the consequences of its failure. It is known for its strong backup vocals performed by The Babettes, who are Lisa Freeman Roberts, Pat Henderson, Myrna Matthews, and Marti McCall

Isn’t It Time

Falling in love was the last thing I had on my mind
Holding you is a warmth that I thought I could never find
(Sitting here all alone)
Just trying to decide
(Whether to go all alone)
Or stay by your side
(Then I stop myself because)
I know I could cry
I just can’t find the answers
To the questions that keep going through my mind
Hey babe
Isn’t it time
(Isn’t it time it took time to wait)
(Falling in love could be your mistake)
Isn’t it time
(Isn’t it time you took time to wait)
(Falling in love could be your mistake)
I’ve seen visions of someone like you in my life
A love that’s strong reaching out
Holding me through the darkest night
(Sitting here all alone)
Just trying to decide
(Whether to go all alone)
Or stay by your side
(Then I stop myself because)
I don’t want to cry
I just can’t find the answers
To the questions that keep going through my mind
Hey babe
Isn’t it time
(Isn’t it time it took time to wait)
(Falling in love could be your mistake)
Isn’t it time
(Isn’t it time you took time to wait)
(Falling in love could be your mistake)
I feel a warmth in my heart
And my soul that I never knew
This love affair gives me strength
That I need just to get me through
(Sitting here all alone)
Just wondering why
(Then I stop myself because)
I know I could cry
(Then I think of you)
And everything seems alright
I’ve finally found the answers
To the questions that keep going through my mind
Hey babe
Isn’t it time
(Isn’t it time you don’t have to wait)
(Don’t have to wait)
I know it’s time
(Losing this love could be your mistake)
Ooh yeah
(Isn’t it time)
I know it’s time
(Isn’t it time you don’t have to wait)
It must be time
(Don’t have to wait)
(Losing this love could be your mistake)
(Isn’t it time)
It must be time
(Isn’t time you don’t have to wait)
(Don’t have to wait)
It oughta be time
(Losing this love could be your mistake)
(Isn’t it time)
(Isn’t it time you don’t have to wait)
(Don’t have to wait)
It must be time
(Losing this love could be your mistake)
(Isn’t it time)
(Repeat and fade)

Joe Cocker – Delta Lady

Leon Russell wrote this song. The “Delta Lady” is Rita Coolidge, who was born in Tennessee and moved to Memphis in 1967, where she met Russell. They started dating, and in 1969 Russell wrote this song about her. He was working on Joe Cocker’s second album at the time, so he contributed this song, which Cocker released as the first single from the set. Russell included the song on his first solo album the following year.

The song peaked at #69 in the Billboard 100 in 1969. The song was off the album Joe Cocker!  that peaked at #11 in 1970. Leon and Rita Coolidge would tour with Cocker and appear on the live Mad Dogs and Englishmen album…Cocker’s highest-charting LP.

It’s always been one of my favorites from Joe…I still can’t help but think of John Belushi when Joe Cocker’s name comes up.

 

From Songfacts

This song’s muse Rita Coolidge is one of the backing vocalists on the track. In her autobiography, she recalls Cocker recording the song at Russell’s studio on Skyhill Drive in Los Angeles, where she served tea to the musicians and crew. She didn’t know at the time that the song would become her calling card: she named that autobiography Delta Lady.

The song is very sensual, with Cocker singing about finding the Delta Lady “wet and naked in the garden,” and how he thinks about those times when he’s away from her and longs for her touch. No matter where he goes, he thinks of her.

Leon Russell and Rita Coolidge joined Joe Cocker on his Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, where she would sing “Superstar,” a song written by Russell and Bonnie Bramlett. “Here she is, our own Delta Lady,” Cocker would announce when introducing her, imprinting that appellation.

Russell wrote another song about Rita Coolidge, “A Song For You,” which also appeared on his debut album. The couple split soon after, just as their careers started taking off. Coolidge issued her first album in 1971 and had her first big hit in 1977 with a cover of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher.”

Delta Lady

Woman of the country now I’ve found you
Longing in your soft and fertile delta
And I whisper sighs to satisfy your longing
For the warmth and tender shelter of my body
Oh you’re my, yes you’re my Delta Lady
Yes, you’re my, me oh my, Delta Lady

Please don’t ask how many times I found you
Standing wet and naked in the garden
And I think of days and different ways I held you
Held you closely to me, yes our heart was beating
Oh you’re my

Oh, and I’m over here in England
But I think of you, think about you
Because I love you

There are concrete mountains in the city
And pretty city women live inside them
And yet it seems the city scene is lacking
I’m so glad you’re waiting for me in the country
Oh you’re my

Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream

This is a gorgeous song. The harmonies that the brothers had were close to perfect.

The song was written by Boudleaux Bryant and released by the Brothers in 1958. This song predates the Hot 100 launch but it was #1 in the Country and R&B Charts.

I checked the Billboard Charts and found this note… Note that because their career predates the Hot 100’s 1958 launch, some of their best-known earlier hits aren’t on the list, including 1957’s “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Susie” and 1958’s “All I Have to Do Is Dream.”)

Phil Everly: “I remember hearing ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ on acetate with Boudleaux’s version on it, and I said, at the time, they could have put Boudleaux’s out and it would have been a hit. It’s just a great, great song. It’s beautiful. Boudleaux was the main man who wrote all the great songs for us, and we love him.”

Boudleaux wrote sometimes by himself but other times he wrote with his wife Felice Bryant…they formed a very successful songwriting team. They wrote successful songs for the Everly Brothers and other artists, including “Bye, Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bird Dog,” “Devoted to You,” and many more…

 

 

From Songfacts

This song, which sold over a million copies, was written by Boudleaux Bryant, who was half of the world famous husband-and-wife songwriting team, Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. Together, this talented couple penned many huge hits for the Everly Brothers and other artists, including “Bye, Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “Bird Dog,” “Devoted to You,” “Hey Joe,” “Love Hurts,” “Raining In My Heart,” and “Rocky Top.”

Chet Atkins played tremolo-style guitar chords on the song, providing an interesting musical backing to the Everly Brothers’ unique vocal harmonies.

Boudleaux Bryant said regarding the phrase “Only trouble is, gee whiz”: “I can’t explain why I put that in there. It was just a lucky rhyme fall.”

The song reached the US charts in four straight decades: 
The Everly Brothers took it to #1 in 1958.
Richard Chamberlain’s version went to #4 in 1963.
Glen Campbell and Bobby Gentry reached #27 with it in 1970 and The Nitty Gritty Band landed at #66 in 1975.
Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal peaked at #51 in 1981.

According to Billboard magazine, the song took just 15 minutes to write.

Boudleaux was literally the man of Felice’s dreams. When she first met him, Boudleaux was playing a gig with his jazz band at the Sherwood Hotel in Milwaukee, where Felice was working as an elevator operator. But she saw him years earlier – in a dream when she was 8 years old. She told Country Music People in 1981: “When I was eight years old, I dreamt of this man. He and I were dancing to ‘our song,’ and I remembered this man’s face. So when I saw Boudleaux I recognized him! I don’t know if you can call it love at first sight or ‘My god, you friend, I was wondering when you’d come along.’ But I just clung on to him. He didn’t know who the hell I was, but somehow I knew who he was.”

All I Have To Do Is Dream

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
When I want you in my arms
When I want you and all your charms
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

When I feel blue in the night
And I need you to hold me tight
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine
Anytime night or day
Only trouble is, gee whiz
I’m dreamin’ my life away

I need you so that I could die
I love you so and that is why
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream
Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

Drea-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream

The Zombies – Imagine The Swan

I had a Zombies Greatest Hits CD in the 80s that had their popular songs and also a few more. This song was never a big hit but it caught my attention. Imagine The Swan was recorded after the classic Oracle and Odessy LP. Time of the Season was a big hit in 1969 but the band had already broken up.

The record company then wanted the Zombies to reform to cash in but that wasn’t going to happen. Rod Argent, the keyboard player did a couple of tracks under The Zombies name…he sang this one, not lead singer Colin Blunstone…Zombie member Chris White wrote the song.

It blended in well with the rest of their songs. Rod Argent would go on to form the band, Argent.

It was released as a single and wasn’t on an album until a late seventies compilation. The song made it to #109 on Billboard and #77 in Cash Box in America in 1969.

Rod Argent and Colin Blunstone talking about this song.

 

 

Imagine The Swan

Well I have a picture in color of you
And it’s there in my room to remind me of you
So it was with surprise that I saw you today
And I did not recognize you, girl, what more can I say?

For the colors are gone
You’ve become kind of gray
And you’re not like the swan
That I knew yesterday…

Now the pictures are wrong
You’ve become kind of gray
I imagine the swan
That you were yesterday…

The sadness that I felt was hard on my eyes
And the truth on my face was hard to disguse
So I let you walk by
I turned out of your way
And I tried to close my eyes
And let the sadness fall away…

For the colors are gone
You’ve become kind of gray
And you’re not like the swan
That I knew yesterday…

Now the pictures are wrong
You’ve become kind of gray
I imagine the swan
That you were yesterday…

 

 

 

 

Blondie – Call Me

Blondie only had 10 songs in the top 100 but they made the best of it. Out of those 10 songs were four number one hits. This song was made for the American Gigolo movie.

Call Me was written for Stevie Nicks to sing, I just can’t see Stevie pulling this off with the force that Debbie did. This was the most successful of all Blondie singles in the US, where it was the best-selling single of 1980.

European disco producer Giorgio Moroder wrote this with Blondie lead singer Debbie Harry, who became the first woman in British chart history to write three #1 hits. However, she wasn’t Moroder’s first choice. Moroder had originally wanted Stevie Nicks to provide vocals on the track but the Fleetwood Mac vocalist declined the offer. Debbie wrote most of the lyrics with Moroder.

Chris Stein, Blondie’s guitarist said that some of Moroder’s lyrics were sexually blatant and when Debbie started to rewrite it…she was much more subtle. The song was released on the American Gigolo soundtrack. In 2001 the song was included as a bonus track on the Autoamerican release.

Chris Stein: Debbie’s lyrics are much more subtle than the ones he wrote. His thing was very direct like saying I am a man and I go out and I f*** all the girls. Debbie’s lyrics are a lot more subtle and the movie in a way is not that blatant, it is sort of subtle.

From Songfacts

This song is about a prostitute. It was written for the film American Gigolo, where it plays in a scene where the lead character is “working.”

In 2002, The Box Tops recorded this for the compilation album When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You’d Hear. Cevin Soling, who was executive producer on the album, explains: “I got the Box Tops back together again, and that was a blast. That was so much fun working with the Box Tops. Especially with Alex Chilton there singing. I didn’t produce that. I was in the studio, but the producer on that one was a buy named Benji King, who was the keyboard player for the band Scandal. That studio experience was pretty funny, because he’s so full of energy. He’s always excited and always really into things. The Box Tops are each one degree more laid back to the next. Coming from the South, they’re all kind of very chill. Until you get to Alex Chilton, who’s practically catatonic. And so you have that contrast.” 

In 2009, Franz Ferdinand covered this song for the War Child Presents Heroes charity album.

This song was covered by the heavy metal band In This Moment on their 2008 album, The Dream.

Giorgio Moroder told Billboard magazine that his difficult experience of recording this song with Blondie taught him not to work with rock bands. “There were always fights,” he recalled. “I was supposed to do an album with them after that. We went to the studio, and the guitarist was fighting with the keyboard player. I called their manager and quit.”

Call Me

Color me your color, baby
Color me your car
Color me your color, darling
I know who you are
Come up off your color chart
I know where you’re comin’ from

Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, anytime
Call me (call me) my love
You can call me any day or night
Call me

Cover me with kisses, baby
Cover me with love
Roll me in designer sheets
I’ll never get enough
Emotions come, I don’t know why
Cover up love’s alibi

Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, anytime
Call me (call me) oh love
When you’re ready we can share the wine
Call me

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, he speaks the languages of love
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, amore, chiamami, chiamami
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, appelle-moi mon cherie, appelle-moi
Anytime, anyplace, anywhere, any way
Anytime, anyplace, anywhere, any day-ay

Call me (call me) my love
Call me, call me any, anytime
Call me (call me) for a ride
Call me, call me for some overtime
Call me (call me) my love
Call me, call me in a sweet design
Call me (call me), call me for your lover’s lover’s alibi
Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, anytime
Call me (call me)
Oh, call me, oh, oh, ah
Call me (call me) my love
Call me, call me any, anytime

Lone Justice – I Found Love

This is a band I had a lot of hope for in the eighties. After Ways To Be Wicked I thought they would be more successful than they ended up being. This song didn’t chart in the US but did make it to #45 in the UK.

It was off of their second album Shelter released in 1986. The album peaked at #62 in the Billboard Album Charts. They started off as a country-rock band in the early eighties. At the urging of Linda Ronstadt, who was impressed by their live shows, they were awarded a contract with Geffen Records…their self-titled debut appeared in 1985, followed by a tour in support of U2. Still, despite good press and media hype, Lone Justice failed to sell…produced by Jimmy Iovine, it failed to connect with either country or rock audiences.

 

I Found Love

I was minding my business like a good girl should
Maybe a little too cautious for my own good
It was just like living life in the dark
Til something jumped up and it grabbed my heart

I found love
I found real love

The beginning and end of every wish
Is balanced in the center of a vision like this
Maybe my emotions are inclined
To surrender to the notion of a glorious end

I found love
I found real love

One touch souls speak
The power’s got me and it won’t let me be
It’s too much this heat
I want to laugh cry jump for joy scream and shout
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

At the end of every tunnel there’s a shining light
At the end of every storm there’s a quiet night
My joy was hidden in a big old dream
I didn’t know it was there until you set me free

I found love
I found real love

The Equals – Baby Come Back

If you were wondering what Eddy Grant did before Electric Avenue…wonder no more. He was writing this song for the band he was in called The Equals.

The Equals were a pop/reggae/rock group that formed in North London, England in 1965. Eddy Grant, founded the group. Also in the original line-up were the twin brothers Derv and Lincoln Gordon, as well as John Hall and Pat Lloyd. They were noted as being the first major interracial rock group in the UK and one of the few racially mixed bands of the era.

This song was originally released in 1966 as a B side. Throughout Europe DJ’s started to play this song and it charted in Germany. It was re-released in 1968 in the UK and it peaked at #1 and in the US it made it to #32.

In 1980, The Clash recorded a cover version of the Equals’ song “Police on My Back”. Willie Nelson also covered the song in 2006.

Baby Come Back would be their only charting song in America but in the UK they found success.

  • “I Get So Excited” / “The Skies Above” – (1968) (UK #44)
  • “Baby Come Back” / “Hold Me Closer” – (1968) (UK #1, IRL #2, NOR #4, U.S. #32)
  • “Laurel And Hardy” / “The Guy Who Made Her a Star” – (1968) (UK #35)
  • “Softly Softly” / “Lonely Rita” – (1968) (UK #48)
  • “Michael and The Slipper Tree” / “Honey Gum” – (1969) (UK #24)
  • “Viva Bobby Joe” / “I Can’t Let You Go” – (1969) (UK #6, IRL #3)
  • “Rub A Dub Dub” / “After the Lights Go Down Low” – (1969) (UK #34)
  • “Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys” / “Ain’t Got Nothing to Give You” – (1970) (UK #9)

 

 

From Songfacts

Originally, this was the B-side of The Equals’ “Hold Me Closer” single. That record did not capture much attention, but in early 1968 this was released as a single in Germany, where it rose to #1. After it subsequently topped the charts in Belgium and Holland the song was finally reissued in the UK, where it soared to #1.

The Equals were a pop group formed in England in 1965 by Derv Gordan (vocals), his twin brother Lincoln (guitar), Grant (guitar), John Hall (drums) and Pat Lloyd (guitar). They went on to have 12 more hits in Germany and two other UK Top 10 hits (“Viva Bobby Joe” and “Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys”) before legal problems with the record company made it impossible to release any more records.

Baby Come Back

Come back 
Baby, come back 
Baby, come back 
Baby, come back 

This is the first time [unintelligible] today 
That you have run away 
I’m asking you for the first time 
Love me [unintelligible] stay (all right) 

Hey (all right) 
Hey (all right!) 
Hey, yeah 
Come back 

Baby, come back 
Baby, come back 
Baby, come back 

There ain’t no use in you crying 
‘Cause I’m more hurt than you 
I shoulda not been out flirting 
But now my love is true 

Ooh (all right) 
Ooh (OK!) 
Ooh, yeah 
Come back 

Baby, come back 
Baby, come back 
Baby, come back 
Come back, baby, don’t you leave me 

Baby, baby, please don’t go 
Oh, won’t you give me a second chance 
Baby, I love you so (all right) 
Oh (oh, yeah) 

Oh (unintelligible) 
Oh, yeah 
Come back 
I said baby, come back 

I said baby, come back 
Oh won’t you please come back 
Oh won’t you please come back [Repeat until fade]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Equals

 

Adam Schmitt – Garden of Love —Powerpop Friday

Thanks for the suggestions on new artists to cover…I’ve started to listen to more powerpop artists that I knew existed. In the next few weeks, I’ll feature more.

This one is by Adam Schmitt released in 1991. He is a singer/songwriter from Urbana, Illinois. There is not much on this guy except that his debut album was hailed as brilliant by the critics. There are no lyrics anywhere for his songs.

I started to listen to his debut album World So Bright and the songs are indeed very good powerpop. I’m also posting the album’s title track World So Bright.

This bio is by Heather Phares from Allmusic

Singer/songwriter Adam Schmitt first won acclaim in the early ’90s when his 1991 debut album, World So Bright, and 1993 follow-up, Illiterature, had critics hailing him as a young pop genius. However, when his label Reprise didn’t want to release a third album from him, Schmitt decided to record other artists instead, engineering, producing and mastering music for Tommy Keene, Hum, Beezus, Robynn Ragland, and others in his home studio. By 1998, Schmitt was ready to concentrate on his own music again, but his perfectionism and production work delayed the release of his third effort until the middle of 2001. That album, Demolition, was issued by Parasol; Schmitt started out as a producer by working with many of the label’s artists.

 

 

Jellyfish – Baby’s Coming Back —Powerpop Friday

This song was released in 1990 off of their debut album Bellybutton. It peaked at #62 in the Billboard 100 and #51 in the UK in 1991. I remember seeing this band open up for someone in the early 90s…I want to say it was Bob Dylan but I could be wrong.

Jellyfish only released two full albums Bellybutton and Spilt Milk. Both albums have tracks that evoke many artists such as The Beatles, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Beach Boys, with their vocal harmonies.

Jellyfish was formed in 1989 in San Francisco, California. The band had several members over the years but the foundation of the band was Andy Sturmer and Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.  Andy was primarily the drummer and Roger played keyboards.

In 1994, Jellyfish contributed a cover of Harry Nilsson’s “Think About Your Troubles” to the tribute album For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson. Jellyfish’s contribution was a personal request from Nilsson, who was a fan of the group. He died a year prior to the album’s release. The band broke up soon afterward.

 

Baby’s Coming  Back

I knew that when I saw her 
That my life would soon move over from the fast lane
Gone would be the days of all by drinkin and my carrying on
But when I settled down
The party king uncrowned
This stubborn memory hadn’t faded
Too many dumb mistakes
And all the grief it makes
Left nothing else to be debated
And if you say that you understand then you’re lyin’
But if you figure that I’m alright now I can’t deny it
Baby’s coming back
Baby’s coming back 
And I’m on my best behavior
I can’t take it anymore 
I just woke up on the floor today
I’ve long run out of my last chances but she’s on her way
If I had a dollar for every single time I fought her 
I’d buy a handgun
But that couldn’t shoot away 
The bull’s eye that she made on my heart
And if I sound like a beaten man well I guess so
But on her way is the sweetest prize and I can’t let go
Baby’s coming back
Baby’s coming back 
And I’m on my best behavior
I can’t take it anymore 
I just woke up on the floor today
I’ve long run out of my last chances but she’s on her way
What I told her on the telephone was that I’d been so bad
I wouldn’t blame her if she mowed down these wild oats I’d sown
But when she said she’d give me one more chance
I said knock three times when you arrive
Baby’s coming back…

Gin Blossoms – Til I Hear It From You —Powerpop Friday

This song was released in 1996 and was part of a double A-side with Follow You Down. The song peaked at #9 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, and #30 in the UK in 1996. Billboard lists the song as Follow You Down/Til I Hear It From You. 

One of my favorite pop songs of the 90s.

Gin Blossoms lead singer Robin Wilson wrote the lyrics to this song. The music was composed by the band’s guitarist Jesse Valenzuela with help from Marshall Crenshaw. Crenshaw said that he and Valenzuela didn’t know each other, but Jesse tracked him down to help finish the song. Crenshaw wrote the verse melody and worked on the ending.

From Songfacts (Til I Hear It From You)

The music industry trade magazine Billboard called this “The closest thing to a perfect pop song to hit radio in recent memory,” a sentiment appreciated by the band’s guitarist. 

“This song reminds me why I work. I can count on hearing it in grocery stores, and I like playing it. It’s really nice pop perfection, and just saccharin enough,” says Gin Blossom Jesse Valenzuela with a chuckle. “As an artist, you have to start realizing what you do carries some value, even monetarily. And this song is a pretty big one for me to help me realize that this is what I’ll do for a living from now on. And how lucky I am – because it’s all I really love doing, and I get to do it all the time.”

The first time Jesse heard this song over the public announcement system at a grocery store, he says he almost wanted to tell somebody, “Hey! That’s my song!” he laughs. But he resisted. He remembers being proud, but being very anonymous at the time. Then there was the trip to Lowe’s (home improvement department store). “One time my wife and I went there for lighting fixtures, and she wanted one. I said, ‘Let’s go for the cheaper one.’ And she wanted one that was just a little more expensive. And I was like hemming and hawing, and all of a sudden one of my songs came on the radio, and she said, ‘It’s not as if you can’t afford to get me the more expensive one.’ I was like, ‘All right.’ She did have a case.” (read the full interview with Jesse Valenzuela)

In early 1997, right as the band was splitting up, the Gin Blossoms accepted an award from ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers) for this song (along with “Follow You Down”) in recognition of having the two most-played songs the previous year.

Til I Hear It From You

I didn’t ask, they shouldn’t have told me
At first I laughed but now
It’s sinking in fast, whatever they sold me
But baby

I don’t want to take advice from fools
I’ll just figure everything is cool
Til I hear it from you

It gets hard, when memory’s faded
And who gets what the say
It’s likely they’re, just jealous and jaded
Or maybe

I don’t want to take advice from fools
I’ll just figure everything is cool
Til I hear it from you

Til I hear it from you

I can’t let it get me off
Break up my train of thought
As far as I know nothing’s wrong
Until I hear it from you

Still thinking about not living without it
Outside looking in, till we’re talking about
Not stepping around it
Maybe

I don’t want to take advice from fools
I’ll just figure everything is cool
Til I hear it from you

Til I hear it from you

Led Zeppelin – The Ocean

“We’ve done four already but now we’re steady and then they went: One, two, three, four”

This song has a great guitar riff that carries the song along with the drums. It’s been said that the Ocean referred to was the fans as they were seen by the band on the stage. In the last line, the Girl who won my heart is Robert Plant’s daughter Carmen, who was 3 years old at the time.

This song was off of the Houses of the Holy album released in 1973. The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Charts, #1 in the UK, and #1 in Canada. The band didn’t release many singles but this one was released and managed to peak at #8 in Germany.

Bonham and Jones make a rare appearance on backing vocals for the outro.

This song was #14 on Rolling Stones 40 greatest Led Zeppelin songs.

From Songfacts

The voice on the intro is drummer John Bonham. When he says, “We’ve done four already, but now we’re steady and then they went, 1… 2… 3… 4…,” he is referring to the takes. They had tried to record it 4 times prior but couldn’t get it right, so as a pep talk he said his famous line. 

This is one of the few Zeppelin songs where all four members shared the writing credit.

Robert Plant used parts of this for his solo song “Tall Cool One.”

The Beastie Boys sampled this on “She’s Crafty.” It wasn’t their first use of Zeppelin – they took some of Bonham’s drums from “When The Levee Breaks” for “Rhymin’ And Stealin’.”

It can barely be heard due to all the guitar overdubs, but during the last minute or so, John Paul Jones and John Bonham sing for one of the only times on a Zeppelin album. They are harmonizing the phrase “Doo wop.” 

If you listen carefully, you can hear a phone ringing in the studio at 1:37-1:38 and again (second ring) around 1:41. 

The lyrics about “The Hellhound” refer to Blues musician Robert Johnson, who according to legend, sold his soul to the devil. On the lyrics sheet that came with the album, the word “hellhound” was replaced with “high hopes hailla.” 

The Ocean

“We’ve done four already but now we’re steady
And then they went: One, two, three, four”

Singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain
Hitting on the moonshine, rocking in the grain
Got no time to pack my bags, my foots outside the door
I got a date, I can’t be late, for the high hopes hailla ball, uh uh, uh uh, yeah

Singing to an ocean, I can hear the ocean’s roar
Play for free, I play for me and play a whole lot more, more!
Singing about the good things and the sun that lights the day
I used to sing on the mountains, has the ocean lost its way

I don’t know, oh oh, yeah’

Ooh, yeah

Sitting round singing songs ’til the night turns into day
Used to sing about the mountains but the mountains washed away
Now I’m singing all my songs to the girl who won my heart
She is only three years old and it’s a real fine way to start

Oh yeah!

It sure is fine!
Ah blow my mind!
When the tears are goin’ down! 
Yeah! Yeah, yeah

Oh so, oh so, oh so good!
Oh so good!