Category Archives: music

♫ I Got You Babe ♫

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Yesterday, our friend Ellen said she was surprised that I hadn’t played a Sonny and Cher song, for it was the 21st birthday of Sonny’s (Salvatore Phillip Bono) death.  Unlike Ellen, who is truly a walking encyclopedia when it comes to music, I don’t carry these details about in my head, so I didn’t know.  But, I promised to play one tonight.

I Got You Babe was written by Sonny Bono and at first Cher did not like it …

“Sonny woke me up in the middle of the night to come in where the piano was, in the living room, and sing it. And I didn’t like it and just said, ‘OK, I’ll sing it and then I’m going back to bed.'”

Depending on what side of the fence you stand, this is either a beautiful love song or pure schmaltz. To Sonny Bono, it was sincere – an earnest declaration of commitment and support …

“The lyrics of my songs are very important to me. I never write anything until that very moment when I feel the emotion conveyed in the words I write. I know what it is like to be kicked around because you dress differently. I know what it is like to see the girl you love hurt because a hotel refuses you admission because of your dress. I know what it is like to have that one person stand by you. There are a lot of other people who have experienced these things and I’m trying to put our feelings into words for everyone.”

Sonny went on to enter politics and served as the Mayor of Palm Springs, California, from 1988 – 1992.  He then made a bid for the U.S. Senate in 1992, but failed to win the Republican nomination and the seat ended up going to Democrat Barbara Boxer.  However two years later, in 1994, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives where he served until his death due to a collision with a tree in a skiing accident on January 5th, 1998.

Bono remains the only member of Congress to have scored a number-one pop single on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

I Got You Babe
Sonny & Cher

They say we’re young and we don’t know
We won’t find out until we grow
Well I don’t know if all that’s true
‘Cause you got me, and baby I got you

Babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

They say our love won’t pay the rent
Before it’s earned, our money’s all been spent
I guess that’s so, we don’t have a plot
But at least I’m sure of all the things we got

Babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

I got flowers in the spring
I got you to wear my ring
And when I’m sad, you’re a clown
And if I get scared, you’re always around

Don’t let them say your hair’s too long
‘Cause I don’t care, with you I can’t go wrong
Then put your little hand in mine
There ain’t no hill or mountain we can’t climb

Babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

I got you to hold my hand
I got you to understand
I got you to walk with me
I got you to talk with me
I got you to kiss goodnight
I got you to hold me tight
I got you, I won’t let go
I got you to love me so

I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe
I got you babe

Songwriters: Sonny Bono
I Got You Babe lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

♫ Smooth Operator ♫

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One of the many things I love about these music posts is that I learn something new with almost every one.  Tonight I learned that Sade is not a person, but is actually a band.  An English band, at that!  Who knew?  I honestly thought it was the female singer of this song!  Well … it is the singer of the song as well as the band.  Too confusing for my mind, especially tonight.

This song was Sade’s first Top Ten hit in the US, peaking at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks in May 1985. The song was written by lead singer Sade Adu and Ray Saint John, who was a member of Sade’s previous band Pride. The song is about a fashionable man who lives a jet-set lifestyle. He’s very popular with the ladies, and breaks a lot of hearts in his travels. With the lyrics, “Across the north and south, to Key Largo, love for sale,” it’s implied that the women he uses also supply his wealth. It’s also clear that he does not return the affections of these women, as Sade sings near the end, “His heart is cold.”  Nice guy, huh?

Smooth Operator
Sade

Diamond life, lover boy
He move in space with minimum waste and maximum joy
City lights and business nights
When you require streetcar desire for higher heights

No place for beginners or sensitive hearts
When sentiment is left to chance
No place to be ending but somewhere to start

No need to ask, he’s a smooth operator
Smooth operator, smooth operator
Smooth operator

Coast to coast, LA to Chicago, western male
Across the north and south, to Key Largo, love for sale

Face to face, each classic case
We shadow box and double cross
Yet need the chase

A license to love, insurance to hold
Melts all your memories and change into gold
His eyes are like angels but his heart is cold

No need to ask, he’s a smooth operator
Smooth operator, smooth operator
Smooth operator

Coast to coast, LA to Chicago, western male
Across the north and south, to Key Largo, love for sale

Smooth operator, smooth operator
Smooth operator, smooth operator
Smooth operator, smooth operator
Smooth operator, smooth operator
Smooth operator, smooth operator

Songwriters: Clyde Lovern Otis / Murray Stein
Smooth Operator lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Do That To Me One More Time ♫

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Every now and then a reader mentions a certain song that he or she really likes, and if it is one that I also like, I may try to play it on a music post, but I don’t officially ‘take requests’, for I generally play whatever I am in the mood for.  Tonight, however, I had a special request from a good friend and due to the circumstances, I am honouring that request.

Yesterday, it was announced that Daryl Dragon, the ‘Captain’ of duo Captain and Tennille, had died of renal failure.  Daryl and Toni Tennille got together in 1972, when Tennille was co-writing a musical, Mother Earth, and Dragon was working as a keyboardist for the Beach Boys.  Dragon, was in between tours when the theater company Tennille was with put out a call for a keyboardist.  He got the job, and later, when the Beach Boys needed an additional keyboardist, he recommended Tennille, who became known as the Beach Boys’ one and only ‘Beach Girl’.

Anyway, the two found a bond in more ways than one, going on to have both a successful music career and a marriage that would last for 39 years, until 2014 when Tennille divorced Dragon, but the two remained close friends and she was with him at the time of his death.

This song, Do That To Me One More Time, was their second #1 hit, after Love Will Keep Us Together. Released in 1979, the song was written by Toni Tennille herself, though much of their music was written by the team of Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield.  It is said that she didn’t much like the song after she wrote it, but when Neil Bogart (no relation to Humphrey), head of their new recording company Casablanca, heard it, he insisted they record it, and the rest is history.

And so, in honour of Daryl Dragon, aka the Captain …

Do That to Me One More Time
Captain & Tennille

Do that to me one more time
Once is never enough with a man like you
Do that to me one more time
I can never get enough of a man like you
Whoa-oh-oh, kiss me like you just did
Oh, baby, do that to me once again

Pass that by me one more time
Once is never enough for my heart to hear
Whoa-oh-oh, tell it to me one more time
I can never hear enough while I got you near
Whoa-oh-oh, say those words again like you just did
Oh, baby, tell it to me once again

Do that to me one more time
Once is never enough with a man like you
Whoa-oh-oh, do that to me one more time
I can never get enough of a man like you
Whoa-oh-oh, kiss me like you just did
Oh, baby, do that to me once again
Whoa-oh-oh, baby, do that to me once again

Whoa-oh-ho-oh-oh-oh, baby, do that to me one more time
(Do it again)
One more time
(Do it again)
One more time
(Do it again)
One more time
(Do it again)
One more time
(Do it again)
One more time
(Do it again)
One more time

Songwriters: Toni Tennille
Do That to Me One More Time lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Downtown Music Publishing

♫ Piano Man ♫

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Our friend Scottie mentioned this song in passing a few days ago, and ever since then I have had it weaving in and out of my head.  So, exorcism time again … time for me to transfer the earworm from my head to yours.  No no … no need to thank me … it’s my pleasure!  😄

In 1972-1973, Billy Joel worked at the Executive Room bar in Los Angeles as a piano player using the name “Bill Martin”.  He was in dispute with his then-recording company and took the job to pay the bills while waiting for his lawyers to straighten things out back in New York.  The song Piano Man tells of a number of different characters that were based on real people Joel met while playing in the lounge.

“It was a gig I did for about six months just to pay rent. I was living in LA and trying to get out of a bad record contract I’d signed. I worked under an assumed name, the Piano Stylings of Bill Martin, and just bulls–ted my way through it. I have no idea why that song became so popular. It’s like a karaoke favorite. The melody is not very good and very repetitious, while the lyrics are like limericks. I was shocked and embarrassed when it became a hit. But my songs are like my kids and I look at that song and think: ‘My kid did pretty well.'”

His ‘kid’ did pretty well indeed!  Piano Man peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 1974. Following Joel’s breakthrough as a popular musician with the release of The Stranger, it became one of his most well-known songs. It is now a highlight of Joel’s live shows, where he usually allows the audience to sing the chorus in place of him. In 2016, the Library of Congress selected Piano Man for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its “cultural, historic, or artistic significance.”

Piano Man
Billy Joel

It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There’s an old man sitting next to me
Makin’ love to his tonic and gin

He says, “Son, can you play me a memory
I’m not really sure how it goes
But it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man’s clothes”

La la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you’ve got us feelin’ alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there’s someplace that he’d rather be
He says, “Bill, I believe this is killing me”
As the smile ran away from his face
“Well I’m sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place”

Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he’s talkin’ with Davy, who’s still in the Navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it’s better than drinkin’ alone

Sing us a song you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you got us feeling alright

It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
‘Cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been comin’ to see
To forget about life for a while
And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, “Man, what are you doin’ here?”

Oh, la la la, di da da
La la, di da da da dum

Sing us a song you’re the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well we’re all in the mood for a melody
And you got us feeling alright

Songwriters: Billy Joel
Piano Man lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Will You Love Me Tomorrow ♫

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We’re going waaaaay back tonight … almost 60 years … some of you weren’t even born when this song was first recorded by The Shirelles!  Written by the husband & wife songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King, the song hit #1 in the U.S., the first ever to reach that milestone by a black, all-girl group.  It has since been recorded by many artists over the years, including a 1971 version by co-writer Carole King.

When first presented with the song, lead singer Shirley Owens (later known as Shirley Alston-Reeves) did not want to record it, because she thought it was “too country.” She relented after a string arrangement was added. However, Owens later recalled that some radio stations had banned the record because they had felt the lyrics were too sexually charged.  My how times have changed!!!

Goffin and King were proud of their breakthrough hit and had their New Jersey home’s doorbell “pretentiously and expensively” modified to play it.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow
The Shirelles

Tonight you’re mine, completely
You give your love so sweetly
Tonight the light of love is in your eyes
But will you love me tomorrow

Is this a lasting treasure
Or just a moment’s pleasure
Can I believe the magic in your sighs
Will you still love me tomorrow

Tonight with words unspoken
You say that I’m the only one
But will my heart be broken
When the night meets the morning sun

I’d like to know that your love
Is a love I can be sure of
So tell me now and I won’t ask again
Will you still love me tomorrow

So tell me now and I won’t ask again
Will you still love me tomorrow
Will you still love me tomorrow
Will you still love me tomorrow

Songwriters: Carole King / Gerry Goffin
Will Love You Tomorrow lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Imagine ♫ – Redux to Ring In a New Year

Posted on by under music, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I have played this song twice in the past year, and it is not my goal to keep repeating the same song over and over.  But, it is New Year’s Eve, and we all, I think, have some hopes and aspirations for the world in the coming year.  As such, I thought there was no better song around to start us off on the right foot than John Lennon’s Imagine.  Listen to the words, if you will … let the music engulf and embrace you.  ‘Imagine there’s no countries … nothing to kill or die for’.  That is my hope … that is my dream.  Happy New Year, friends.

Imagine
John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Songwriters: John Winston Lennon
Imagine lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

♫ What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John ♫

Posted on by under Global Issues, music, Racism & Bigotry

I started looking for the right song for tonight … for once there was none stuck in my head … and happened across Jackie Deshannon’s 1965 hit, What the World Needs Now is Love.  I thought perhaps, in these times of troubles all over the world, in the Middle-East, the UK, the United States, and many more places, this might be an appropriate song to play.

As I looked for a bit of information, a bit of trivia about the song, I was led to another song and it is this that I play for you tonight.  I don’t intend these music posts to be in the least bit political, and my apologies, for this one is, in a sense.  But it is also … it speaks to us today, I think, just as it did in 1971.  Today, some of the issues are different … Vietnam has ended, but Syria and Yemen have not.  And some of the issues are yet the same … racism, prejudice, bigotry.

This is a remix of two songs, the aforementioned What the World Needs Now is Love combined with Abraham, Martin and John, first recorded by Dion in 1968 as a response to the assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy earlier that year.

Tom-Clay.jpgTom Clay was a disc jockey in 1971, working for radio station KGBS in Los Angeles, California when he created this remix.  The narrative includes sound bites from speeches of John and Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., and makes a heartfelt social/political comment.

Again, I apologize for bringing a socio-political statement into my music posts, but when I heard this song … it just … did something to me and I wanted to share it.  I promise a more uplifting music selection tomorrow, but I do hope you will take just a few minutes to listen to this one.  I have included the lyrics to both of the original songs.

What the World Needs Now
Jackie DeShannon

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don’t need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don’t need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.
No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone.

Songwriters: Burt F. Bacharach / Hal David
What the World Needs Now lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

Abraham, Martin And John
Dion DiMucci

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Has anybody here seen my old friend John,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?

He freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
But I just looked around and he’s gone.
Didn’t you love the things they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free,
Someday soon it’s gonna be one day.
Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby,
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill
With Abraham, Martin and John.

Songwriters: Richard Holler
Abraham, Martin And John lyrics © Stonehenge Music

♫ Working My Way Back To You ♫

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Working My Way Back to You is a song made popular by The Four Seasons in 1966 and again by The Spinners in 1980.

Written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, the song was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in 1966, reaching number nine on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In the UK Top 50 chart it spent three weeks – all at No. 50. It is the only hit to feature the group’s arranger Charles Calello in the temporary role of bassist/bass vocalist, having replaced original member Nick Massi.

Another story-telling song, like Lying Eyes, the song is about a man who cheated on his girlfriend and also emotionally abused her. When she leaves, he realizes that he did love her and is very remorseful about his past actions. He vows to win her love back.  Why do all the ‘story-telling’ songs have to be about cheating?

My preference by far is The Spinner’s version, but I tender both here, in the interest of fairness, and you can choose your own fave.  The video quality on The Spinner’s version is poor, for which I apologize, but this one had the best sound quality of the 3-4 I listened to, so I went with it.

Working My Way Back to You
The Four Seasons/The Spinners

I’ll be working my way back to you, babe, with a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe, and the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been payin’ ev’ry day)

When you were so in love with me, I played around like I was free
Thought I could have my cake and eat it too, but how I cried over losin’ you
See me down and out, but I ain’t about to go living my life without you
For every day I made you cry
I’ll pay and girl, till the day that I die

I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe, with a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe, and the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been payin’ ev’ry day)

Oh, I used to love to make you cry
It made me feel like a man inside
If I’d been a man in reality, you’d be here, babe, lovin’ me
Now my nights are long and lonely, and I ain’t too strong, babe
I just miss you so
Girl, but you’re too proud, and you won’t give in
But when I think about all I could win

I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe, with a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe, and the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been payin’ ev’ry day)

My road is kind alone
I just gotta get back home
I’m really sorry for acting that way
I’m really sorry
Oh little girl I’m really sorry
For telling you lies for so long
Oh please forgive girl
Come on (give me a chance)
Won’t you forgive me, girl
Hey (let’s have romance)
Ooh, forgive me, girl (let’s try again)
Come on, forgive me, girl
I want you over and over
And over and over again

I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe
With a burning love inside
Yeah, I’m working my way back to you, babe
And the happiness that died
I let it get away
(Been paying every day)
I’ll keep working my way back to you, babe

Songwriters: Denny Randell / Sandy Linzer
Working My Way Back to You lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Lyin’ Eyes ♫

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Lyin’ Eyes is a song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey and recorded in 1975 by the American rock band the Eagles, with Frey singing lead vocals.

According to the Eagles on their DVD Hell Freezes Over, when they were a struggling band in Los Angeles, they saw a lot of beautiful women around Hollywood who were married to wealthy, successful men, and wondered if they were unhappy. One night they were drinking in a bar (their favorite watering hole: Dan Tana’s) when they spotted this stunning young woman; two steps behind her was a much older, fat, rich guy. As they were half laughing at them, Glenn Frey commented, “Look at her, she can’t even hide those lyin eyes!”

Realizing they had a song title, the band members began grabbing for cocktail napkins to write down lyrics to go with that great observation.

In the History of the Eagles documentary, Don Henley offered a slightly different interpretation: “It was about all these girls that would come down to Dan Tana’s looking beautiful. They’d be there from 8 O’clock until midnight having drinks with all of us rockers, then they’d go home because they were kept women.”

A bit of interesting trivia:

In 2008, an Irish prosecutor quoted the words to this song (“You can’t hide those lyin’ eyes…”) in her closing statement at a trial involving the email lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie. The Dublin jury convicted Sharon Collins of conspiring to have her older partner and his two sons killed. Using the lyingeyes98 email, she contacted a hit man at hire_hitman@yahoo.com to do the deed, apparently unaware that emails can be traced.

And now, I will hush and let you enjoy the song …

Lyin’ Eyes
Eagles

City girls just seem to find out early
How to open doors with just a smile
A rich old man
And she won’t have to worry
She’ll dress up all in lace and go in style

Late at night a big old house gets lonely
I guess every form of refuge has its price
And it breaks her heart to think her love is only
Given to a man with hands as cold as ice

So she tells him she must go out for the evening
To comfort an old friend who’s feelin’ down
But he knows where she’s goin’ as she’s leavin’
She is headed for the cheatin’ side of town

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes

On the other side of town a boy is waiting
With fiery eyes and dreams no one could steal
She drives on through the night anticipating
‘Cause he makes her feel the way she used to feel

She rushes to his arms, they fall together
She whispers that it’s only for awhile
She swears that soon she’ll be comin’ back forever
She pulls away and leaves him with a smile

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t now way to hide your lyin’ eyes

She gets up and pours herself a strong one
And stares out at the stars up in the sky
Another night, it’s gonna be a long one
She draws the shade and hangs her head to cry

She wonders how it ever got this crazy
She thinks about a boy she knew in school
Did she get tired or did she just get lazy?
She’s so far gone she feels just like a fool

My oh my, you sure know how to arrange things
You set it up so well, so carefully
Ain’t it funny how your new life didn’t change things?
You’re still the same old girl you used to be

You can’t hide your lyin’ eyes
And your smile is a thin disguise
I thought by now you’d realize
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
There ain’t no way to hide your lyin’ eyes
Honey, you can’t hide your lyin’ eyes

Songwriters: Glenn Frey / Don Henley
Lyin’ Eyes lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Lucy ♫

Posted on by under music

I have no background, no trivia about tonight’s song, for I can find none.  Tonight’s song, Lucy by Lionel Richie and the Commodores is for a special friend … a Boxing Day gift.

Lucy
Commodores

Hey Lucy why don’t you come and settle down
I hear you’re the baddest girl this side of town
Got a little money that I wanna spend
If you’ll be my friend
For just a little while

First summer you sailed on down to New Orleans
I was a victor, you were a Cajun queen
You had many fellas with lots of style
And you drove them wild
Oh little Lucy I had to be with you

Traveled around the country
Oh and I made my way
I never once forgot what I felt that day
Now I think I’m ready to play my hand
I wanna be your man which is hard to do
Oh Lucy I’m so in love with you

I’ve been a wandering man for such a long time
Now I know just where I’m going
Oh how I need you to stand by my side
Don’t you go away
Cause I’m so in love with you

I’ve been searchin’ for you Lucy for such a long time
Now I wanna let you know what I have on my mind
You’ve been around a lonely man
A lonely man
I’ve been a lonely man
Lucy
I don’t want to live my life without you
There were times when I tried to get you off my mind girl
You’re the girl of my dreams
Oh you’re the girl of my dreams
Lucy
(Ahh my Lucy)
So many lonely nights I need you girl
(Ahh my Lucy)

Songwriters: Lionel Richie
Lucy lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC