Tag Archives: Marilyn McCoo

♫ (Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

In a comment yesterday … or was it the day before … Larry (justdrivewillyou) mentioned that this is his favourite song by the 5th Dimension, so since Larry absolutely hated Good Morning Starshine when I played it a couple of days ago, I figured I owed him one!

This song was written by Tony Macaulay and performed by The 5th Dimension with instrumental backing from L.A. session musicians from the Wrecking Crew.  The song appeared on the band’s album Individually & Collectively, produced by Bones Howe and arranged by Bill Holman. The song was a top 10 hit for the group in the U.S., and their sixth and final platinum record.

SongFacts doesn’t even have an entry for this one, so what little background I found came from Wikipedia:

Tony Macaulay began work on the song while in Tokyo for the World Popular Song Festival of 1972. He met fellow attendees the Carpenters and was inspired to write a song emulating their hit “We’ve Only Just Begun” (Macaulay: “I liked the feel of that, the shuffle feel of it”). Macaulay recalls that due to changing time zones “I was awake all night and sleeping all day [in Tokyo]. So I just got up in the night and I wrote it”. Although he was having sleepless nights in Tokyo, it was the melody rather than the lyrics that he wrote there. The lyrics were completed after Macaulay’s return to London “in a taxi stuck in a traffic jam … in about an hour going from one side of London to another”.

Macaulay sent a demo of the song to the Carpenters. “They said they loved it and they’d do it. [Later] I got a phone call about 2 o’clock in the morning that woke me up (they hadn’t figured out the time change between here and America). They said ‘Oh, we can’t record it because it mentions sleeping pills and they are drugs and we don’t mention drugs.’ So I got up in the middle of the night and rewrote the last verse without the sleeping pills.” However, Macaulay was not happy with the change to the lyric, so when Bones Howe contacted him the next week, Macaulay pitched “(Last Night)…” for the 5th Dimension, who recorded it with the sleeping pill reference intact.

The lead vocals on the 5th Dimension’s recording are performed by Marilyn McCoo.

The song charted at #6 in Canada and #8 in the U.S., but did not chart much of anywhere else except Australia (#7).

(Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All

The 5th Dimension

Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all, no, no
I laid, waked and watched until the morning light
Washed away the darkness of the lonely night

Last night I got to think maybe I should call you up
And just forget my foolish pride
I heard your number ringing
I were cold inside
Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all

I know it’s not my fault I did my best
God knows this heart of mine could use a rest

What more and more I find the dreams I left behind
Are somehow too real to replace

Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all
The sleeping pill I took was just a waste of time
I couldn’t close my eyes ’cause you were on my mind

Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all
Didn’t get to sleep, no I didn’t get to sleep at all

What more and more I find the dreams I left behind
Are somehow too real to replace

Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all, no, no
The sleeping pill I took was just a waste of time
I couldn’t close my eyes ’cause you were on my mind

Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all
No I didn’t get to sleep, didn’t get to sleep at all

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Tony Macaulay

(Last Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ Saving All My Love For You ♫

Posted on by under music

I get most of my inspiration for my music posts while either showering or rolling smokes, and tonight the same song came into my head during both of those activities.  It was not the song I’m playing, but rather another by Whitney Houston, One Moment in Time.  But, sadly, I played that already.  Yes, I know, I’ve become the master of reduxes, but that’s just it … I’ve relied too heavily on repeating songs I’ve already played lately, so I felt that I needed to present something different.  But, as Ms. Houston was stuck in my head, I went in search of another … not a difficult task, as I love her voice and much of her music.

This was originally recorded by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., who released it on their 1978 album Marilyn & Billy. Although credited to the pair, McCoo did all the lead vocals. Her performance was pure acting: she and Davis had been married since 1969.

The lyrics were written by Gerry Goffin and the music by Michael Masser, who also produced it. The McCoo/Davis version didn’t get much attention, but when Whitney Houston included it on her 1985 debut album, it found a huge audience. Houston went supernova after Saving All My Love for You was released as a single; it became the first of seven consecutive #1 hits for the Ms. Houston, and also topped the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. It was also her first #1 in the UK.

At the time of release, the adultery theme of the video for Saving All My Love for You generated much media controversy, which led Whitney to insist, “I could never see myself in that position. I wouldn’t just take whatever someone wants to give to me, especially if I am giving a lot to him but not getting that much back. I could never find myself in that situation, but someone else might. The video tells a story but it’s by no means my story.”

I shall withhold the comment that comes to mind about her marriage to Bobby Brown …

Saving All My Love
Whitney Houston

A few stolen moments is all that we share
You’ve got your family and they need you there
Though I’ve tried to resist being last on your list
But no other man’s gonna do
So I’m saving all my love for you

It’s not very easy living all alone
My friends try and tell me find a man of my own
But each time I try I just break down and cry
‘Cause I’d rather be home feeling blue
So I’m saving all my love for you

You used to tell me we’d run away together
Love gives you the right to be free
You said be patient just wait a little longer
But that’s just an old fantasy

I’ve got to get ready just a few minutes more
Gonna get that old feeling when you walk through that door
‘Cause tonight is the night for feeling alright
We’ll be making love the whole night through
So I’m saving all my love for you
Yes, I’m saving all my love
Yes, I’m saving all my love for you

No other woman is gonna love you more
‘Cause tonight is the night that I’m feeling alright
We’ll be making love the whole night through
So I’m saving all my love
Yeah, I’m saving all my lovin’
Yes, I’m saving all my love for you
For you
For you

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Gerry Goffin / Michael Masser
Saving All My Love lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ One Less Bell To Answer ♫

Posted on by under music

This song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  Originally written in 1967 for Keely Smith, she never recorded it, and it was re-discovered two years later by The 5th Dimension.

Hal David on how he came up with the lyrics for this song: “I paid attention to what people said. One time I was at a dinner party when it was announced someone wasn’t turning up, and the hostess said: ‘that’s one less bell to answer’. I went home and wrote ‘One Less Bell To Answer’ – ‘one less spells the answer. One less egg to fry.'”

It’s not exactly a cheerful song, being about a lost love, trying to believe that it’s all for the best, yet failing miserably.  But, I like the tune and lead singer Marilyn McCoo does it well.

One Less Bell to Answer
The 5th Dimension

One less bell to answer
One less egg to fry
One less man to pick up after
I should be happy
But all I do is cry
(Cry, cry, no more laughter) I should be happy
(Oh, why did he go)

Since he left my life’s so empty
Though I try to forget it just can’t be done
Each time the doorbell rings I still run
I don’t know how in the world

To stop thinking of him
‘Cause I still love him so
I spend each day the way I start out
Crying my heart out

One less man to pick up after
No more laughter, no more love
Since he went away (he went away)
(One less bell to answer) Why did he leave me
(Why, why, why did he leave)
(One less bell to answer)
Now I’ve got one less egg to fry
One less egg to fry
(Why, why, why did he leave) And all I do is cry
(One less bell to answer) Because a man told me goodbye
(Why, why, why did he leave)
(One less bell to answer) Somebody tell me please
Where did he go, why did he go
(Why, why, why did he leave) How could he leave me

Songwriters: Burt F. Bacharach / Hal David
One Less Bell to Answer lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc