Chuck Mangione - Tarantella (1981)

Released: 1981 (A&M) Produced by: Chuck Mangione Peak on the US Billboard 200: 55

Side One	Side Two
Tarantellas The XIth Commandment Suite	Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor Bellavia Hill Where the Lord Hides

Side Three	Side Four
Lake Placid Fanfare Things to Come 'Round Midnight Manteca	My One and Only Love All Blues

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In 1977, Mangione hit it big with his Feels So Good album and single then he followed it up in 1978 with a live album - most likely a calculated effort to introduce his new fans to his older material. It worked. Also in 1978, he soundtracked The Children of Sanchez motion picture. His true follow-up to Feels So Good didn't come until 1979, when he released the single "Give It All You Got" from the Fun and Games album. This double LP live album, Tarantella, was released in 1981 and quickly disappeared. Maybe only three years between live albums containing much of the same music was too much to ask of record buyers? It has never been officially released in any digital format that I can find, I'm guessing due to licensing fees and general record label nonsense. I've got a vinyl copy. I listened to the heck out of this release when it first came out. The concert featured several guest stars, most notably Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie. But it was great group of musicians he put together for the show:

Recorded live at The Americana Hotel Ballroom, Rochester, New York, on December 27, 1980, the concert benefited victims of a recent, massive Italian earthquake. The Americana became a Holiday Inn in 2015.

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Cash Box, May 5, 1981, p. 19

Billboard, May 5, 1981, p. 66

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• Tarantellas (3:55) - Actually two traditional tarantellas arranged by Chuck's brother, pianist Gap Mangione.
• The XIth Commandment Suite (12:39) - a shorter version of this Mangione original was included on his 1977 Feels So Good album. In the intro to this suite, Mangione introduces über-drummer Steve Gadd and states that he wrote this suite for Gadd's recital back in 1968 at the prestigious Eastman School of Music.

• Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor (7:47) - All songs on side two are Mangione originals, slightly rearranged for this particular ensemble. This tune originally appeared on Mangione's 1973 Land of Make Believe album.
• Bellavia (7:03) - A ballad that carries Chuck's mother's maiden name. Originally the title track of a 1975 album.
• Hill Where The Lord Hides (6:20) - Originally on a 1970 Mercury album titled Friends and Love, it was released as a single and peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early '71.

• Lake Placid Fanfare (:17) - a brass fanfare written by Mangione for ABC's coverage of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Used here as walk-on music for Dizzy Gillespie.
• Things to Come (5:38) - a screaming, blazing bop showcase Gillespie wrote in the 1940's and used with big bands for the remainder of his career.
• 'Round Midnight (8:26) - Thelonious Monk's 1944 standard ballad is given the big band treatment.
• Manteca (11:05) - one of Gillespie's most famous compositions, this 1947 tune is considered one of the foundational pieces in the Afro-Cuban jazz genre. Gillespie not only features on trumpet, he also plays the mouth harp here.

• My One and Only (11:59) - Mangione and Chick Corea share an intimate duet on this 1952 standard by Guy Wood and Robert Mellin.
• All Blues (8:30) - the entire ensemble ends the album with a jam cover this Miles Davis' tune which originally appeared on the legendary Kind of Blue album in 1959. 

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Marilyn Scott - Without Warning (1983)

Released: 1983 (Mercury) Produced by: Michael Sembello Peak on the US Billboard 200: Did not chart

Side One	Side Two
Only You First Time Where Is The Key You Can Do It Say Goodbye	10 x 10 If You Let Me Love You This Side of the Rainbow Hold On I'll Be Lovin' You

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A few weeks back, a friend hipped me to this album because of its connection with Michael Sembello. I liked what I heard and thought it sounded a lot like Bossa Nova Hotel but also another group - I just couldn't place the sound. A quick trip to the discogs site to check out the writing and playing credits revealed familiar names: Ricky Lawson, Jimmy Haslip, and Russell Ferrante, who, at the time, were recording together as Yellowjackets and had recently released Mirage à Trois, a personal favorite of 17 year old me. Turns out Scott did some vocal work on the Mirage album while Yellowjackets wrote 7 of the 10 songs here, so these guys helped each other quite a bit. It should go without saying that you'll dig Without Warning if you like Mirage à Trois. And vice versa.

The Without Warning album is a delightful mix of familiar sounds and artists. For a while, I listened the album daily on YouTube, then eventually headed over to eBay and yada, yada, yada, I'm now spinning the vinyl on my Technics. I wish I had found it in 1983.

Billboard, August 27, 1983, p. 48

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• Only You:  Written by Scott, Michael Sembello, and his younger brother Dan. This song wouldn't have been out of place on the 1983 Sergio Mendes self-titled album (another favorite with which the Sembello brothers played a large role).
• First Time: I was already familiar with this track because it's also the second track on Bossa Nova Hotel. The Sembello version is in a lower key, slightly slower, and uses synth drums. If I had to choose between the two, I'd pick this Scott version, but they're both good.
• Where Is The Key: The shift from Sembello to Yellowjackets is immediately noticeable as the album moves to this cut. Jazzier with a slight gospel vibe (an early Yellowjackets trope) and a nice guitar solo from Robben Ford.
• You Can Do It: A breezy bit of filler with an uplifting lyric and keyboard solos from songwriter Russell Ferrante.
• Say Goodbye: Midtempo ballad with plenty of synthesized electric piano (Yamaha DX7?). I'm getting a Brenda Russell vibe on this one. And that's a good thing. Maybe it's the tight background vocals 

• 10 x 10: The obvious attempt at a pop single because it sticks out like a sore thumb on this album. That doesn't mean it's a bad tune; just oddly out of place. We go from smooth soft rock with understated production to an aggressive dance tune with clipped vocals. Even with a breakdancing promotional video and a 12" remix release, I can't see that this made any chart appearance. That's a shame because I really dig the chorus harmonies. Of course said chorus has been a steady earworm for more than a week now. Ignore the "exponential exploration" bridge.
• If You Let Me Love You: sounds much like the tune "Goin' Home" from the aforementioned Mirage à Trois, but I'll let it slide because Lord knows I've subconsciously plagiarized from myself. Still, there's not much going on with this one except an overly busy synth solo.
• This Side of the Rainbow: starts off by quoting the 1933 standard "Stormy Weather" but quickly turns into a blues-based slow funk-lite tune. Sounds like something Natalie Cole might have recorded. Robben Ford tears off the best solo on the album.
• Hold On: the Tower of Power horns bring their 'A' game to this otherwise lackluster tune. 
• I'll Be Lovin' You: Scott and Ferrante slow things down to end the album with a chorus so smooth they start the song with it.

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First Time Only You 10 x 10 This Side of the Rainbow I'll Be Lovin' You Where Is The Key Say Goodbye You Can Do It If You Let Me Love You Hold On

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Junior - Mama Used to Say (1982)

Mama Used to Say
b/w Mama Used to Say (Instrumental)

Released: April, 1982 (Mercury) Written by: Junior Giscombe, Bob Carter Produced by: Bob Carter Album: Ji

U. S. Billboard Charts:
Hot 100	30
Dance	4
R&B	2

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Wow, what a fantastically funky bass line. This overlooked gem from British R&B singer Junior (Norman Washington Giscombe) is ripe for a revisit. This song was a bigger hit in Junior's native UK than here in the US and really can't figure out why. Following an introduction that reminds me of "Groovin'" by The Young Rascals, this thing is completely danceable, has a huge growly hook on the chorus, great rhythm guitar riff on the verse, someone is pounding the keys off the piano in the background of the chorus, and then there's that bass line. What's not to like? Well, I'm not wild about the synth horns, but those would become ubiquitous on R&B hits a few years later. In fact, this whole thing has a 1986 sound to it. I guess Junior was ahead of his time. Sadly, this would be his only Top 40 pop hit, although he did place 3 more songs on the dance charts in 1982-84. Speaking of dancing, click the YouTube clip below and join me.

Cash Box, March 6, 1982, p. 9

Update, August 17, 2017: Just picked up a copy of the 12" single (Netherlands import), which includes the following:

(for reference, the single edit clocks in at 3:35). The "Club Mix" takes a good thing and makes it even better with an extended intro and outro. The "Party Mix" changes up the percussion and pushes that bass line back in the mix while bringing up the synth horns and guitar, much to my displeasure. I'll stick with the former. Nothing special about the instrumental cut but possibly useful for drunken karaoke (I plead the fifth).

Bonus useless trivia: I put this thing on the turntable with the speed set to 33⅓ because of the sleeve:

but, as you probably guessed, it's actually a 45 rpm 12".

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originally posted May 7, 2014

Terry Williams - Blame It on the Night (1980)

 Blame It on the Night
b/w Blame It on the Night (stereo)

Released: never released? (International Artists) Written by: Robert Byrne & Tom Brasfield Produced by: Ian Gardiner Album: none

U. S. Billboard Charts:
Adult Contemporary	30

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I was looking at Adult Contemporary charts for the summer of 1980 in preparation for a blog post and came across a listing for this song. I couldn't find a copy anywhere save for a YouTube video that seems to have been recorded from a radio broadcast. Nonetheless, I was immediately hooked by the tune and here we are. (For the record, the aforementioned blog post never materialized as I got sidetracked by this tune.)

The artist that recorded this single isn't Terry Williams the British drummer or Terry Williams the trombonist, but Terry Williams the founding member of First Edition.

Williams worked in the country and Christian realms of the music industry, so this sweet soft rocker is an odd outlier. The writers, Byrne and Brasfield, are better known for writing country songs while the producer, Ian Gardiner, is a Canadian bass player who played with Burton Cummings of The Guess Who. So while this is indeed a strange mix of folks, it somehow works. This soft rock single wouldn't be out of place in Rhino's Radio Daze series (real or imagined) or one of Professor Eddy's mixes.

I can't find a record of the musicians on this song, but we're treated to the unusual combination of both harmonica and tenor sax solo lines. All the familiar soft rock tropes are present as well: female background vocals, electric piano, and string pads. Williams' voice reminds me a (very little) bit of Johnny Mathis, but he has some problems with enunciation; first lines: "If God let rum dry, now that your heart's so lair." (Actual lyrics: "You probably learned by now that your heart's a liar.")

I can't find any record (no pun intended) of this thing ever receiving an an official release because all I've ever seen are promotional copies. Even the discogs website currently only lists a promo copy.  I recently found a (relatively) cheap copy of the promo single on eBay, bought it, ripped it, and uploaded it to YouTube. Enjoy below.

So how can a promo single reach the Billboard charts without ever selling any copies? Well, the charts were subject to the whims of editors back then, but it appears that the Adult Contemporary charts in 1980 were based solely on airplay. At least that's my interpretation of the following explanation from Billboard:

Sales based on airplay? Is it just me or does that sentence make no sense? Please advise.

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Other versions. First, a tasty Muscle Shoals take from the songwriter himself (which is likely to send me down another rabbit hole), followed by a cover by the Hawaiian group Fabulous Krush.

The Dishes - Hot Diggety Dog (1985)

Released: 1985 (Underwhere Records) Produced by: Steve Ames

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The Dishes were a short-lived power-pop/garage/party band from Houston. They are practically absent from the Internet, so if anybody has additional info on the band's history, please contact me or leave a message in the comment section. Now to the music:

Texas Monthly, December 1985, p. 192

The Rice Thresher (Rice Univ), January 23, 1987, p. 10

Sadly, I never got see the band live. However, I found a copy of the cassette and I'm glad I did because it contains two additional tracks, covers of surf rock classics "Pipeline" and "Walk Don't Run." As an added bonus, the band autographed the j-card:

I'm guessing the tape was originally purchased at one of the group's live shows. I bought it on the eBay.

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• Girls with Glasses: This was recorded in Houston?  It sounds more like the retro SoCal pop of the early '80s (Go-Go's, Josie Cotton, Bonnie Hayes) with a bouncy bass line underneath the Farfisa organ.
• Alright: I'm not much of a fan of the verse, but dadgummit that's a catchy hook in the chorus. Earworm for days.
• No Matter What I Do:  The band does its best Nick Lowe imitation and I have to say they do a heckuva job with it.
• Beep Beep!: They pseudo-car horn noises get annoying quickly in this one.  At least the lyrics are funny.

• Around You: Fantastic power pop song with vocals from Barbara.
• World Goes On:  Like "Alright" on side one, this doesn't have a good verse but hella chorus.
• Things Are Stressful: A pseudo-reggae pop song with hilarious lyrics.
• Pipeline:  Fairly straight ahead cover of the surf rock classic. Probably a favorite at live shows.
• Walk Don't Run: See above.

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Girls with Glasses Around You No Matter What I Do Things are Stressful Alright World Goes On Pipeline Walk Don't Run Beep Beep!

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