Promo posters as seen on "WKRP in Cincinnati" #32

Albums: Bob Seger - Nine Tonight (Capitol, 1981), Red Rider - As Far as Siam (Capitol, 1981), Irene Cara - Anyone Can See (Network, 1982), The J. Geils Band - Freeze-Frame (EMI, 1981), Little River Band - Time Exposure (EMI, 1981)
Episode:  Season 4, Episode 22, "Up and Down the Dial"
Original air date: Wednesday, April 21, 1982

MFD Not-So-Random Five #2

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: Song titles that begin with the word "heart"

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1. "Heart" by Nick Lowe (1982, Columbia)
   The second track from the stellar, highly recommended Nick the Knife album. A reworking of the Rockpile original, I prefer this light-hearted (pun intended) pseudo-reggae take on the tune. (Don't get me wrong, The Rockpile version is great, too. Just different.) I enjoy the background vocals and organ guitar trade-off.


2. "Heart Attack" by Olivia Newton-John (1982, MCA)
   Even though I was trying to be a New Wave hipster in '82, I couldn't resist this tune (or ONJ, for that matter). Written for a greatest hits album by Steve Kipner, this is catchy as all get-out and I love the combination of synth along with the sax solo. Who is that? Tom Scott? My only complaint is that sometimes she's yelling instead of singing, but a lot of artists suffered from that particular malady in the early '80s. Good song, bad video. On a related note, your humble blogger will be seeing ONJ in concert on March 23. ❤


3. "Heart and Soul" by Huey Lewis and The News (1983, Chrysalis)
   When I first heard this song, I rushed out to buy the 45 even though I had given up on buying 45s several years previously. I'm guessing I had to buy the single because the album wasn't yet released. Anyway, it reminds me of a high school post-football game "victory dance" where I was pursuing a young blond named Melody or Mary or something like that (I'd check my yearbook but I really don't feel like getting up). That relationship didn't work out because she had a crush on a friend of mine (how high school is that?). But the song: this synth hook is relentless but somehow never gets old and the breakdown guitar bit is an earworm. Didn't know until I checked the wiki this was a cover of an quirky Exile song and it was later covered by The BusBoys so I learned something new today.


4. "Heart of Ice" by Joe Jackson (1984, A&M)
   The album closer of Body and Soul, this seems like a leftover song from Jackson's Mike's Murder soundtrack. Mostly instrumental; vocals don't appear until 5 minutes in. One of the background vocalists is Ellen Foley who many of you know from "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" but I'm more familiar with her work on Night Court (side note: how great is the Night Court theme?). This song is good, not great, and I don't understand the ending at all. Not to mention the title probably isn't appropriate for Valentine's Day.


5. "Heart to Heart" by Kenny Loggins (1982, Columbia)
   One of my top 5 Loggins singles. What's not to like? Written by Loggins, Michael McDonald, and David Foster with performances by those three, members of Toto and Pages, and a sweet sax solo by David Sanborn. (Pro tip: you should check out Sanborn's 1982 instrumental pop album, As We Speak.) And oh! that middle eight. The fact that this goodness only reached #15 on the pop charts shows you how good the music was in '82*. Somehow, I came across a High Adventure cassette in 1983 and that thing took up residence in the Markmobile's Pioneer deck for a few weeks.

*Curious, I had to see which 14 songs the American public thought were better than "Heart to Heart." Well, hear ya go:

Lost Adult Contemporary Hits - February 7, 1981

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Below is the Adult Contemporary Chart from the February 7, 1981 issue of Billboard (click image to enlarge). There's lots of good stuff there including a smooth jazz entry from one of my favorite groups, Spyro Gyra. However, I found eleven songs among these 50 with which I either have no memory or I've never heard until now.

Below is a Mixcloud show containing all of those 11 tunes followed by an annotated playlist which includes my initial thoughts on hearing these songs for the first time (that I remember), in countdown order:

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"Fool That I Am" Rita Coolidge From the Coast to Coast soundtrack Written by Bruce Roberts & Carole Bayer Sager Produced by David Anderie

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	15
Hot 100	46
Country	72

I have no memory of the Coast to Coast romcom movie that starred Dyan Cannon and Robert Blake but that's neither here nor there. This song is a decent-enough country crossover and a product of its time, to be sure. The accompaniment reminds me a bit of Juice Newton's "The Sweetest Thing" except it doesn't have the all-out chorus that other one does. It peaked at 15 AC and just missed the Top 40? Sounds about right.

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"Easy Love" Dionne Warwick From the album No Night So Long Written by Steve Dorff, Larry Herbstritt  & Randy Cate Produced by Steve Buckingham

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	12
Hot 100	62

Dionne's voice is easily identifiable,huh? This thing's got a decent mid-tempo adult contemporary groove and a better arrangement than the material deserves. The verse is stronger than the chorus and the verse ain't that great. And just as I was thinking, "A sax solo should go here," one appears. Lemme look up the musician - ah, the dude from Tower of Power. I wouldn't have put Warwick together with ToP, but that's me. Meh.

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"Dare to Dream Again" Phil Everly Single only release Written by Phil Everly Produced by Phil Everly & Joey Paige

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	9
Hot 100	63

An Everly Brothers song in every regard except that it's missing the harmony vocals. It's the most melodic thing I've heard so far; this one's growing on me. The only thing I'd change is a better mix and have some harmony vocals, maybe an understated slide guitar solo.

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"Goodbye Marie" Bobby Goldsboro From the album Bobby Goldsboro Written by Mel McDaniel & Dennis Linde Produced by Larry Butler

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	19
Hot 100	-
Country	17

This ain't no country crossover, this is a straight-up country song (the horse clomping temple blocks are a little much). Not my thing, even when I try my best to separate Goldsboro from his deplorable actions. I'll take the sweet Kenny Rogers version over this.

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"Send a Little Love My Way (Like Always)" Stephen Bishop From the album Red Cab to Manhattan Written by Stephen Bishop Produced by Mike Mainieri & Tommy LiPuma

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	31
Hot 100	-

I'm digging this. If I knew Bishop made a soft rock album with a bunch of jazzers, I'd have picked it up already. As if having LiPuma produce wasn't good enough, we've got a band with Warren Bernhardt, Steve Gadd, Mike Mainieri, and Dean Parks. So now I'm gonna need to hear the whole album.

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"Dreamer" The Association Single only release Written by Moon Martin Produced by Bones Howe

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	9
Hot 100	66

I think of The Association as a '60s group, so I'd like to know the backstory on this release. It tries, but there's just not much to it. We've got the trademark vocal harmonies and whoever is playing electric piano is trying his/best to make the chorus interesting, but by the time we get to the synth-trumpet solo, I'm ready to move on.

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"When" Perry Como From the album Perry Como Written by George Fischoff Produced by Mike Berniker

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	44
Hot 100	-

If my math is correct, Como was 67 when he recorded this and is still in fine voice. Simple arrangement: Como backed by Mantovani strings and female backing singers. Even though the name of the chart had been changed in 1979, this track is much more "easy listening" than "adult contemporary." Even the sax soloist sounds like he's taking it easy. 14 year old Mark would have hated it, 51 year old Mark can tolerate and appreciate it, 82 year old Mark will probably love it.

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"Fly Away" Peter Allen From the album Bi-Coastal Written by Peter Allen, Carol Bayer Sager & David Foster Produced by David Foster

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	45
Hot 100	55

Another winner! This tune was written and produced by Westcoast/AOR royalty and Allen sounds great (his voice reminds me of Marc Jordan). Waitaminute - is that Michael McDonald backing him up? Nope, it's freakin Pages! And there's Jerry Hey laying down some tasty trumpet licks. The sax solo fits perfectly.  Again, I'm gonna need to hear the whole album (wikipedia claims " 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.")

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"I'm Me Again" Connie Francis From the album I'm Me Again (Silver Anniversary Album) Written by Ed Fox & Alan Roy Scott Produced by Vincent Castellano

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	40
Hot 100	-

With all due respect to Connie Francis, this isn't good at all. Marred by an overwrought arrangement while Francis just scoops from note to note without much regard to intonation. Pass.

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"Part of Me, Part of You" England Dan & John Ford Coley From the Just Tell Me You Love Me soundtrack Written by John Ford Coley, Bob Gundry & Dan Seals Produced by Dick Halligan

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	42
Hot 100	-

I have no memory of the Just Tell Me You Love Me romcom movie that starred Lisa Hartman but that's neither here nor there. This is good stuff in the classic ED&JFC style. Can't understand how it didn't chart higher (maybe because the movie flopped?). Despite its brevity, I enjoy this one, but I'm not willing to check out the whole soundtrack album.

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"Perfect Fool" Debby Boone From the album Savin' It Up Written by Diane Pfeifer Produced by Larry Butler

U.S. Billboard charts peaks:
Adult Contemporary	37
Hot 100	-
Country	23

And we end with a country tune. As you know, I'm not much for country music, but Boone's voice is pleasant enough. Produced by Larry Butler, who also produced the above tune by Goldsboro.

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Random album ad #52

The Godz - The Godz (1978)

MFD Random Five #28

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. "Meanwhile" by The Moody Blues (1981, Threshold)
   I came to Long Distance Voyager waaaay late but better late than never. This song opens side two of that album and is filler, but better-than-average filler. Fun chord progressions, lots of electric piano, and a happy bubblegum chorus. It's not in the top half of songs on that album, but enjoyable nonetheless. (That album should be enjoyed as a full album from top-to-bottom, so the designation of tracks as filler is probably a moot point, but I did it anyway.)


2. "Bustin' Loose" by Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers (1979, Source)
   The "Godfather of Go-Go" layin' down the funk! This tune has everything I could want in a funk tune: clavinet, call-and-response, tight horn licks, Hammond organ, percussion breakdown, and Chuck Brown telling me what to do. For the record, I listened to the complete 7:46 version this morning, not the single edit (just when you think it can't get any better, a sax solo by Leroy Fleming kicks in at about the 6:40 mark). So good, I don't want to move on to anything else, but I'll power through to the next tune and circle back around to this one. Wikipedia claims that the Washington Nationals play this tune after every home run in their ball park, so that means it's good enough for my new ring tone, right?


3. "Police and Thieves" by Junior Murvin (1976, Wildflower)
   The segue to this reggae tune wasn't as jolting as you might have expected. I'm more familiar with the cover of this tune by The Clash, but I like this one better. As with many reggae tunes, protest never sounded so good. Sadly, the lyrical themes (police brutality and gang warfare) are as timely today as they were when they were first written.


4. "Don't Walk Away" by Rick Springfield (1984, RCA)
   For reasons now unknown, I was done with Ricky S. by 1984 so I'm not too familiar with this tune, the soundtrack album it came from, and I've never seen said movie. Anyway, this is a fairly pedestrian pop-rock tune with aggressive drum reverb and out-of-tune sax interludes. The synth solo ain't bad, though, so there's that.


5. "Up on the Catwalk" by Simple Minds (1984, A&M)
   The lead track from Sparkle in the Rain and if it's not the best song on the album, only "Waterfront" can best it. Like the previous song, there's plenty of "aggressive drum reverb" but it works here; maybe it's the syncopated, cascading drum part. Lots of Simple Minds-ish piano licks in octaves and synth pads. Then Jim Kerr name-checks the likes of Nastassja Kinski, Deodato, Robert DeNiro, and Martin Luther.  And while I've always enjoyed the metaphoric imagery of Kerr's lyrics, I never have a clue what he's on about.