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.

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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.

Random Album Ad #63 (not-so-random holiday edition)

Soundtrack - Party Party (1982)

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1. Elvis Costello & The Attractions: "Party Party" 
2. Dave Edmunds: "Run Rudolph Run" 
3. Altered Images: "Little Town Flirt" 
4. Bad Manners: "Yakety Yak" 
5. Sting: "Tutti Frutti" 
6. Bananarama: "No Feelings" 
7. Madness: "Driving In My Car"

1. Modern Romance: "Band Of Gold"
2. Bad Manners: "Elizabethan Reggae"
3. Pauline Black: "No Woman, No Cry"
4. Sting: "Need Your Love So Bad"
5. Midge Ure: "The Man Who Sold The World"
6. Chas And Dave: "Auld Lang Syne"

MFD Random Five #31

In which I click the shuffle icon on the iTunes app and listen to the first five songs that pop up from the years 1976-85.

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1. "Oriental Eyes" by Herb Alpert (1983, A&M)
   The title wasn't politically incorrect in '83 because there was no such as "political correctness" back in 1983. This trite tune, however, offends my ears as much today as it did back then. Pass.


2. "Hooked on Classics" by  Louis Clark and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1981, K-Tel/RCA)
   Oh-fer-two. "Classical Disco Medley" is a genre that should never have been conceived; it's embarrassing for our country that this thing charted at #10 pop and #4 AC. Another pass.


3. "Me and The Boys" by Dave Edmunds (1982, Columbia)
   Ah, that's better. A hard-driving NRBQ cover that we've already posted about on this blog and over at The CD Project.


4. "Beyond the Sea (La Mer)" by George Benson (1985, Warner Bros.)
   In the middle of a mid-80's synth-pop album, this big band arrangement of a 1945 standard sticks out like a sore thumb, but it might be the highlight of the album. We're treated to one of those classic, characteristic Benson solos where he sings along with what he's playing on the guitar; a talent that never ceases to amaze me. Bonus points for Joe Sample's piano work.


5. "Take the L" by The Motels (1982, Capitol)
   I think singer Martha Davis has a great voice for pop music, but if Hallmark made a card for breaking up with a significant other, it might use lyrics from the chorus of this song: "Take the L out of lover and it's over." That's a clever sentiment (I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it, though) and it is sung with such earnestness that it makes me chuckle. Not a fan of the minor-key heartbreak, but I dig the part about two and half minutes in with the chunky guitar and piano. If you ever receive a mixtape with this on it, you kinda know where things are headed.

Random album ad #8

  Dave Edmunds - D.E. 7th (1982)