Posts Tagged ‘Gary Wright’

Jesus of Cool: We Wuz Robbed! Great #2 Hits of the ’70s

Welcome to the third installment of a continuing series exploring some of the best – and some of the most egregiously wronged – hits of the rock era. A whole lot of hits that only reached pop’s runner-up slot have been largely forgotten; for example, oldies radio seems to have little use for the Poppy Family’s “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?” or BT Express’ “Do It Til You’re Satisfied.” But at least, as I looked back at the 1950s and ’60s, it seemed a healthy proportion of the #2 hits were terrific, or truly important songs that were justifiably blocked by other great singles … or at least got the shaft from idiotic trifles whose momentary appeal was understandable.

But then there was the ’70s – when, as it turned out, most of the hits that broke down during the 199th lap were just as silly and insubstantial as the ones that took the checkered flag. (See how the euphemisms keep on comin’? It remains to be seen whether I can maintain this level of cleverness straight through the Oughts, or whether I’ll pull up lame in the final stretch. See – another one!) Anyway, here we go with 10 good ones from the Me Decade. As always, I’ll list some more #2s at the end, and we can debate their merits in the comments.

10. “YMCA,” the Village People. Be honest: Who would you rather have coming after your children – the innocuous, mustachioed and very gay Village People, or “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”-era Rod Stewart? Well, if you answered Rod, you got your wish in the winter of ’79, as he pulled a Kris Allen on everyone’s favorite bunch of costumed Adam Lamberts and bogarted #1 for four weeks. As for the other 99.9 percent of us, we can take delight in the fact that the last time we heard “Do Ya Think,” we were able to fast-forward through it on the TiVo during the American Idol finale – while you get to dance along to “YMCA” (though not this remix) during every single professional baseball game ever. So there.

9. “Live and Let Die,” Wings. Why did Paul McCartney’s Bond theme fail to reach the pinnacle? Maybe because it’s mostly an instrumental? Nah… (Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein” had topped the chart just a couple months earlier.) Perhaps because nobody cared much about its host film? As if! (Live and Let Die topped the box office through much of June and July 1973, and was the 10th-biggest film of the year.) Perchance were there simply better songs out at the time? Well, the three (three!) songs that leaped over Roger Moore’s speedboat were Maureen McGovern’s “The Morning After,” fresh off its Poseidon Adventure Oscar victory; Diana Ross’ diva anthem “Touch Me in the Morning”; and Stories’ cover of Hot Chocolate’s “Brother Louie.” So I’d argue, no, that wasn’t it either. (Here’s the original version of the last song, which far less obviously references the Kingsmen.) Personally, I’d like to think that radio still had Macca in the penalty box for turning out so much crap over the past two years, up to and including his previous single “My Love” – one of the Worst #1 Songs of the ’70s. (more…)

The Popdose Interview: Gary “Dream Weaver” Wright

Gary Wright, The Dream Weaver, has two new EPs out, Waiting To Catch The Light, a set of new-age compositions, and The Light of a Million Suns, several cuts that harken back to 1980s pop in the new-jack swing vibe as well as Mr. Mister and soul stylings of the era. Our own Mojo Flucke sat down with him to discuss his greatest hits as well as where he’s headed in 2009.

Tell me about the remake of “My Love is Alive” with your son Dorian on The Light of A Million Suns–what inspired that?

I had always liked the song, and there was this producer that I knew …he had done more real pop, kind of hip-hop things, and he was crazy about the song and so he actually put a lot of the track together for me. I thought his take on it was really cool.

My son Dorian’s got a great voice, and I wanted to do something with him, so I decided to do a duet. I think it really turned out good. Eric Clapton did something like that with “Layla” when he did a remix. Sometimes songs are good but they just need a dusting off and they need a new kind of look. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, and people don’t like it, and other times, you know, it’s good. So I just took that chance.

What was the feel you were striving for? A Michael Jackson/Justin Timberlake/new jack swing kind of thing?

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Tell me about your new record, Waiting to Catch The Light. How would you describe the sound and style of music?

That was actually done quite a while back–10 years ago or something. I had always wanted to make a kind of spacey, meditation-inducing kind of an album, and a lot of the New Age stuff I heard was, like, people that weren’t even musicians. They’d buy an instrument and they’d just hold the note down and, you know… And I thought, because my background was really in synthesizers — I was sponsored by Moog and was really the first artist to ever get involved with technically cutting a Mini Moog down and then wearing that thing around my neck when I was performing. (more…)

CHART ATTACK!: 3/27/76

Happy Friday, everybody, and welcome back to another edition of CHART ATTACK! This week’s Top 10 is relatively diverse, with a bunch of artists who stand absolutely no chance of getting anywhere on the charts ever again. There are a few genuinely great songs on this chart, a few I think I’m supposed to hate but don’t, and a few that are seriously terrible. They’re all a part of March 21, 1976!

10.  Money Honey — Bay City Rollers Amazon iTunes
9. Right Back Where We Started From — Maxine Nightingale Amazon iTunes
8. Let Your Love Flow — Bellamy Brothers Amazon iTunes
7. Dream On — Aerosmith Amazon iTunes
6. Sweet Thing — Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan Amazon iTunes
5. Disco Lady — Johnnie Taylor Amazon iTunes
4. All By Myself — Eric Carmen Amazon iTunes
3. Lonely Night (Angel Face) — Captain & Tennille Amazon iTunes
2. Dream Weaver — Gary Wright Amazon iTunes
1. December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) — The Four Seasons Amazon iTunes

10. Money Honey — Bay City Rollers (download)

So here’s one I think I’m supposed to hate. It’s by the Bay City Rollers, right? Why wouldn’t I mock it? Well, honestly, if I didn’t know this song was by the Bay City Rollers, I wouldn’t have any reason to mock it. I’m not offended by it. The song kind of boogies in a rock-ish way, and I think both the music and harmonies are pretty solid.

The Bay City Rollers are often considered one-hit wonders in America because of “Saturday Night” (and okay, that song does kind of suck), but “Money Honey” reached #9, and the band racked up six songs in the Top 40 between ‘75 and ‘77.

I don’t know. Take a listen. What do you think?

9. Right Back Where We Started From — Maxine Nightingale

This song is certainly quite popular — everybody knows it — and has a catchy chorus, but I find it unbelievably annoying. It’s mainly a result of the drums and the handclaps: They continue on and on, never stopping for a second, seemingly determined to drive us nowhere in particular but crazy. The song just goes nowhere. Ugh. And it’s possible Maxine Nightingale felt the same way: according to Wikipedia, when approached to record the song, she agreed to do so only if she could release it under a pseudonym. (It wasn’t released under a pseudonym.) It was her biggest hit, peaking at #2, with “Lead Me On” coming in second in 1979. We’ll be talking about that one in a future Mellow Gold post.

I figured out another reason why this song annoys me: it reminds me of Captain & Tennille. And on another note, can you imagine having to sing backing vocals on this song? I think I’d shoot myself.

8. Let Your Love Flow — Bellamy Brothers

I recently heard someone play a fantastic cover of “Let Your Love Flow,” but I can’t remember who it was or when I heard it. All I remember is that they did a fantastic job on the chorus and “bird on a wing” became much more southern — like “bird on a wang.” Written out, that looks awful, but I think you know what I mean. In any case, I have been all over the Internet for two days trying to track down this cover, and I just can’t do it. I’m pissed that I’m going to lose sleep over a Bellamy Brothers cover.

“Let Your Love Flow” is a really great song, and who do we have to thank for it? Roadies. Not just one roadie, either. David Bellamy’s producer, Phil Gernhard, often hired Neil Diamond’s touring band for studio sessions, and one of Diamond’s roadies, Larry Williams, was also an aspiring singer-songwriter. He presented Gernhard with “Let Your Love Flow,” a song clearly written after one too many spins of “Listen to the Music.” David took a stab at recording it, but the results were unimpressive, and the track was shelved.

That’s roadie #1. Roadie #2 was David’s older brother, Howard, who was working as said roadie for one of the producer’s other acts Jim Stafford (”Spiders and Snakes,” covered in CHART ATTACK! 2/23/74). Gernhard heard Howard’s voice and somehow determined that he was the missing ingredient in “Let Your Love Flow.” (I think this part of the story is bullshit, but that’s just me.) Anyhoo, the Bellamy Brothers re-recorded the song, and the rest is history. The track hit #1 for a week in May, and remains the group’s biggest hit. They cracked the Top 40 with “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me,” and no, I’m not making that up, that’s the full title, no parentheses or nothin’. It even reached the top of the country charts in 1979. Shame on them.

(more…)

Into the Ear of Madness: Week 3

Logo

Over the next year Terje Fjelde has agreed to listen to nothing but David Foster on his iPod. He’s loaded the thing with over 1,200 songs produced, arranged, composed, and/or played by David Foster. A deal with the devil? He keeps wondering.

Are you ready for some Barbra Streisand and Gary Wright? Of course you are.

I think Jeff is waiting for me to crack any moment now. You know, that’s why he wanted me to do this series in the first place. A year with nothing but David Foster? You won’t last three weeks!

Guess what? I’m enjoying myself. I’m digging up information on all these old 1970s acts I never knew the first thing about, and at the same time I’m revisiting my youth listening to his mid-1980s stuff. Good or bad, those songs from the 1980s were such an important part of my life when I was about 15 — and I remember exactly why I thought they were great.

That’s not to say I still think it’s all great music — it isn’t. On the other hand, I don’t think it sucks, either, even though I kinda oughta. But hey, I’m not a professional music critic — I don’t have to conclude either way. As long as the music still matters to me one way or another, it’s good in my book. (more…)