MFD Random Five #42

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.

---

1. "Green Flower Street" by Donald Fagen (1982, Warner Bros.)
   The Nightfly is such a classic album and one of my all-time favorites. So much so that it certainly deserves its own post on this blog. In any case, this is the second tune on said album and has fun groove, great bridge, obscure lyrics, and a fantastic solo turn from Larry Carlton.


2. "One Step Over the Borderline" by Peter Allen (1980, A&M)
   From the wiki:

   Bi-Coastal is the sixth studio album released in 1980 by Australian singer and songwriter Peter Allen. [sic] The album is Allen's most successful and was produced by David Foster who also wrote many of its songs.  The album has become a classic with lovers of west coast pop music not because of the songs but for the use of musicians like Toto, Steve Lukather, Jay Graydon and others.

   I don't think Allen released six studio albums in 1980, but that's beside the point. Foster's hand is all over this song - just check out the bridge about two minutes in. And Graydon is evident from the get-go. I didn't come to this song/album until very recently and I'm not happy about the fact that I didn't find it when it was originally released.


3. "I'm Ready" by Bryan Adams (1983, A&M)
   Not released as a single, this Foreigner knock-off led side two of my Cuts Like a Knife cassette as I drove to and from my job at the local Burger King in 1983. Adams later released an "unplugged" version of this tune - I'm not at all interested in that one, but I dig this one.


4. "8th Avenue Shuffle" by The Doobie Brothers (1976, Warner Bros.)
   Deep cut from Takin' It to the Streets written by Patrick Simmons. Immediately identifiable as a Doobies tune, it's acceptable as far as filler goes, but it isn't a shuffle.


5. "Brass in Pocket" by The Pretenders (1980, Sire)
   A soft rock tune on an otherwise raucous debut album. Chrissy's lyrics show an extreme confidence and so help me I believe every word. Deserved a higher chart peak than #14, but a great way to end a shuffle. And now I'll grab The Nightfly and Pretenders CDs from the shelves for play during the morning commute. I suggest you do the same. 

New Frontier - Donald Fagen (1983)

 New Frontier
b/w Maxine

Released: February 1983 (Warner Bros.) Written by: Donald Fagen Produced by: Gary Katz Album: The Nightfly

U. S. Billboard Charts:
Hot 100	70
Adult Contemporary	34

---

Before New Frontier, I was a casual Steely Dan fan at best. I always enjoyed the songs Peg and Time Out Of Mind when I heard them on the radio, but I didn't own any SD records. So what led me to this little slice of pop/soft rock perfection by SD's Donald Fagen? Marketing, plain and simple. Being a radio and records guy, I was attracted to the cover photo of The Nightfly album and after I saw the video for New Frontier, I was hooked. I soon had The Nightfly LP and anyone who rode with me in my car in 1983 was subjected to this song (it was for their own good, really). Looking back, I can't believe the video for New Frontier was ever played on MTV. Go figure.

Musically, this is a great piece with tight vocal harmonies, exotic chords (B9, F#6, C9+11, etc.), and great solos from Larry Carlton on guitar and Hugh McCracken on harmonica. The album version is 6'22", the single edit clocks in at 3'50" while the video is 4'44". Lyrically, the song takes us back to the Kennedy years and the beginnings of the Cold War. Not political at all, it simply uses that era as a backdrop as the lyrics tell the story of a teenage boy trying to lure his date down into a backyard fallout shelter for a night (or at least a few minutes) of passion. If I'd had a fallout shelter in my backyard in 1983, I'd have tried the same move.

---

---