MFD Not-So-Random Five #19

In which I select five songs from 1976-1985 based on an arbitrary theme. (Not to be confused with this blog's Random Five feature, a different exercise in arbitrariness). Today's theme: Top 40 tunes with the word "Away" in the title.

---

1. "Breaking Away" by Balance (peaked at #22 in 1981)
   This little taste of melodic rock has just a touch of disco in it - sort of as if Toto had done a cover version of "Heaven on the Seventh Floor" by Paul Nicholas. Singer Peppy Castro has a voice well-suited to the genre. Highly enjoyable, it's a shame the band made our list of MFD One-Hit Wonders.


2. "Slipping Away" by Dave Edmunds (peaked at #39 in 1983)
   Sounds like Dave Edmunds fronting ELO and that's not a coincidence seeing as Jeff Lynne wrote and produced the thing while ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy provided synth work. And I don't intend the comparison as an insult as this thing has hooks a'plenty. It got plenty of playing time in my bedroom in 1983 and I always love it when it comes around on a shuffle. Even so, Edmunds didn't get an invite to be a Wilbury.


3. "Whenever I'm Away From You" by John Travolta (peaked at #38 in 1976)
   This may be too soft to be called pablum; it limped to #26 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Even though Travolta's performance is surprisingly better than it was on "Let Her In," he can't save the bland material and an arrangement that relies far too much on strings and background singers.


4. "You Take My Breath Away" by Rex Smith (peaked at #10 in 1979)
   It's easy to dismiss this single because of Smith's teen idol status at the time.
   
   
   But if you dismiss Rex's ad libs near the end, it's not a bad little tune. In fact, it might be the best cheesy ballad that Barry Manilow didn't record. I had a friend back in '79 that once told me she always pictured Rex singing this song from inside an iron lung. Preteens aren't exactly renown for their tact or compassion.


5. "Swept Away" by Diana Ross (peaked at #19 in 1984)
   If I heard this tune in 1984, it didn't make any impression on me. The production style and LinnDrums scream "mid-'80s!" Co-written and co-produced by Daryl Hall, it sounds to me like Hall & Oates album filler and doesn't do justice to the wonderful pipes of Ross. That haircut tho ↓ - right sexy.