Comments on: CHART ATTACK! #36: 6/14/86

By: Sara

Sara — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:26:20 +0000

I love On My Own! It was Michael McDonald’s only #1
hit (not counting his Doobie Bros. work) They DID
sing it together in 1989 on the Tonight Show and years later on a somewhat ill-concieved McD celebration. If only Michael’s next album Take It to Heart had duets with other singers and less synth
work it would have had more chart hits.

By: JasonHare.com » Blog Archive » CHART ATTACK! #44: 8/16/86

JasonHare.com » Blog Archive » CHART ATTACK! #44: 8/16/86 — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:12:20 +0000

[...] memories surrounding it. I did like the extreme overuse of the TR-808 cowbell (discussed in CHART ATTACK! #36). And how about some of these [...]

By: Elaine

Elaine — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:00:22 +0000

I love Level 42. If anyone is thinking about trying them, I suggest starting with the first album "Level 42." You’ll recognize more of the songs than you thought you would. It’s a collection of eight songs, and each of them is stunning. "Starchild" is my favorite. From there, while "Something About You" is a great song, from the same album (1985’s "World Machine"), I think the title track is even better. The production value of their albums is fantastic. It’s hard to keep in mind that first album is from 1981! If anyone is familiar with the name Wally Badarou, he played on the first record, then did a lot of production work with the band for many years after.

By: Candy

Candy — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:56:19 +0000

I downloaded it from here
http://duranduran.no/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=156&Itemid=34
Enjoy!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:09:47 +0000

Sure, why shouldn’t we all suffer? And I love Shep Pettibone.

By: Candy

Candy — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:37:20 +0000

From "On My Own": "Now we’re talking divorce, and we weren’t even married." Some of the worst lyrics ever!
I just downloaded the Shep Pettibone remix of "Something About You" and I have to agree, that little "rap" in the middle is quite nice. I’ll the post the link if you want it.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:00:58 +0000

There is a live version of "No One Is To Blame" available on last year’s "80’s Hits Stripped" that is similar to the KSCA one, but was recorded in front of a live audience. It’s fun to hear the crowd singing with him. He’s a madman.

By: jb

jb — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:07:48 +0000

I was a Top 40 DJ during the summer of ‘86, and I can say that from the radio point of view, few records ever seemed more pointless than “Crush on You”–when it became apparent that it was going to be a hit and I’d have to play it, I couldn’t figure out anybody heard in it. As for “I Can’t Wait,” the moment I heard that oh-oh-oh hook Jason likes, Ie thought, “Christ that’s annoying, and I’m going to have to play it every three hours all summer.” With you on Patti LaBelle, though—she’s way too screechy for MMcD’s eternal cool. And “No One Is to Blame” is THE record of that summer.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:18:36 +0000

I didn’t know that bit of Richard Lester trivia, Jason. By the way, I will never get around to telling you what I thought of “Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut,” because now I can barely remember what I saw back in early January. It did make me realize, however, that Gene Hackman should send a thank-you note to Lester, because even though Lester didn’t shoot any scenes with Hackman, he edited his performance brilliantly to only contain his funniest lines. Donner adds back in a bunch of crappy dialogue between Hackman and Valerie Perrine that goes nowhere.

Okay, back to songs from the summer of ‘86! I’m surprised how many of these were in the top 10 in mid-June. “All I Need Is a Miracle,” “Crush on You,” and “There’ll Be Sad Songs”? I don’t remember them from that time period at all, but there’s the evidence. Good point about “There’ll Be Sad Songs.” Someone should write a song called “Who’re You (To Call Me That).”

I love “I Can’t Wait” almost as much as I love “Something About You.” And I thought the female half of Nu Shooz was Carrie Fisher-like in 1986, so I had a crush on her (but not on the Jets). Nu Shooz had a follow-up that fall that tanked, I think, and I may have it on a Rhino “Disco Years” compilation, but I can’t remember the name of the song right now.

Jason, I’m sure you’ve heard the song by now, but at work recently I found a Beth Nielsen Chapman CD from 2005 at the bottom of a promo pile, and the second song on the album, “Right Back Into the Feeling,” is a duet with Michael McDonald. I like it.

Patti LaBelle may go a little crazy with her vocals sometimes, but she’s great. Were we talking about the “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtracks here recently? Maybe that was Chartburn over at Jefitoblog. In any case, Patti’s “Stir It Up” was a better song from that movie than “New Attitude,” but the latter got played a lot more. I heard LaBelle’s song (the group, not Patti solo) “What Can I Do for You?” for the first time last year and loved it. I think the Meters play on it and Allen Toussaint produced it during the same sessions that created “Lady Marmalade.”

By: thefax

thefax — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 02:27:08 +0000

Ah, an interesting week–

Level 42: They seem to be remembered most for Mark King’s bass playing–I recall hearing that his thumb was insured for a million quid. I don’t quite get it–I dig L42, but I don’t think his playing stands out compared to, say, Mick Karn, Nick Beggs, or Peter Hook…

Howard Jones: I dislike this song not because it’s bad–it’s quite good, I admit, especially the lyrics and vocal–but because it’s where Jones turns from Synth Hippie to Bland AC star. Human’s Lib is wonderful; a synthpop record for people who don’t like synthpop…

Nu Shooz: It always baffled me that they were considered a “white soul” band, ’cause it sounds like synthpop to me. Somehow I ended up with a comp of their 12″ singles, which isn’t nearly as bad as you’d think it would be.

Madonna: Almost certainly the best vocal in Madonna’s career. It’s to the soundtrack of a forgotten-but-not-bad movie, At Close Range, which may explain the obscure lyrics. Terri Nunn did an excellent cover of this for a Madonna tribute CD; unsurprisingly, her vocal is even better…

LaBelle/McDonald: Hated it! I do remeber being amused that this slow, tedious song had a 12″ dance remix.

Malchus: Frozen Ghost?! Nice. “Should I See” is an awesome song…