Tag Archives: music charts

♫ I Can See Clearly Now ♫

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

I started out with a plan for tonight’s music post … it was gonna be Sam Cooke!  But, I’ve played all my favourites of his in the last year or two, so that led me off on a different, but similar tangent and I came up with this great one by Johnny Nash!  An oldie, but goodie, as it were.

According to SongFacts …

This is not a song about suicide, as has been hypothesized. It is a song of hope and courage for individuals who have experienced adversity in their lives but have overcome it.

This was the first reggae song to hit #1 on the Hot 100, where it stayed for four weeks late in 1972.  Really???  I had no idea this song was considered reggae!  The next reggae(ish) song to hit the top spot was Eric Clapton’s cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff” in 1974, followed by “The Tide Is High” by Blondie in 1981.

Thanks to this and his other reggae-influenced songs, Johnny Nash is associated with Jamaica, but he was from Texas. Born in Houston in 1940, he sang in church and at 13 got a gig singing on a local TV show called Matinee, becoming one of the few black faces on the screen. At 16, he got a record deal with ABC Paramount and performed regularly on The Arthur Godfrey Show, a national broadcast. During this time, he recorded anodyne songs “A Very Special Love” and “Almost In Your Arms” which were minor hits thanks to his exposure on TV.

After bouncing around to different record companies, he had a breakthrough in 1967 when he went to Jamaica and recorded his song “Hold Me Tight” and a cover of Sam Cooke’s “Cupid” with a local rhythm section. Both songs became hits in Jamaica, and over the next two years also charted in the UK and the United States. By 1972, “Cecilia” and “Mother And Child Reunion” found some success in the States incorporating reggae rhythms, and Nash followed that trend with “I Can See Clearly Now.”

Nash wrote this song himself. He recorded it in London with members of The Average White Band, who in 1974 had a hit of their own with “Pick Up The Pieces.”

A cover version by Jimmy Cliff (for a time, a bigger reggae star than Bob Marley) went to #18 in the US in 1994. His version was used in the John Candy movie Cool Runnings, about the Jamaican bobsled team.

A story floated around that Nash wrote this song while recovering from cataract surgery, but there’s no evidence that this is true. His publicity people would sometimes embellish a bit to create talking points; one press release claimed that when he was a baby, he cried a song in the crib.

The song went to #1 in the U.S., Canada, and South Africa, and #5 in the UK.

I Can See Clearly Now

Johnny Nash

I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day

Oh, yes I can make it now the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is that rainbow I’ve been praying for

It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day

look all around, there’s nothing but blue skies
Look straight ahead, there’s nothing but blue skies

I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Here is that rainbow I’ve been praying for

It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day

Bri-ri-ri-ri’, bright, (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day, yeah, eh
It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day
It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day, yeah, na
It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny day
Bri-ri-ri-ri’, bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshiny…

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Johnny Nash

I Can See Clearly Now lyrics © Cp Masters Bv, Nashco Music Inc, Dovan Music Inc

♫ Total Eclipse Of The Heart ♫

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

I haven’t played this one since March 2019, so when Clive mentioned last night that it is his favourite by Bonnie Tyler and said it was “OTT” (I had to think on that one for a minute to come up with ‘over the top’) I figured that gave me a good excuse to redux it this morning!

This song from 1983, recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, became Tyler’s biggest career hit.  The song peaked at #1 in the United States, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. At its peak, it sold 60,000 copies per day, and approximately 6 million copies in total.  It was written by Jim Steinman, producer for Meat Loaf (the band, not the food), who said …

“With ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, I was trying to come up with a love song and I remembered I actually wrote that to be a vampire love song. Its original title was ‘Vampires in Love’ because I was working on a musical of Nosferatu, the other great vampire story. If anyone listens to the lyrics, they’re really like vampire lines. It’s all about the darkness, the power of darkness and love’s place in the dark…”

Myself being somewhat dimwitted when things are elusive or cryptic, I did not understand this video until I read …

“The music video for “Total Eclipse of the Heart” was directed by Russell Mulcahy and was filmed on location at the Holloway Sanatorium, a large Victorian Gothic hospital near Virginia Water, Surrey, England. The video features Bonnie Tyler clad in white, dreaming or fantasizing about her students in a boys’ boarding school. Young men are seen dancing and participating in various school activities and singing in a choir.”

I love the song, but frankly found the video a bit off-putting.  Incidentally, this was the first record by a Welsh artist to top the US chart.

Total Eclipse of the Heart
Bonnie Tyler

Turn around, every now and then I get a little bit lonely
And you’re never coming ’round
Turn around, every now and then I get a little bit tired
Of listening to the sound of my tears
Turn around, every now and then I get a little bit nervous
That the best of all the years have gone by
Turn around, every now and then I get a little bit terrified
And then I see the look in your eyes
Turn around bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
Turn around bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight
We’ll be holding on forever
And we’ll only be making it right
‘Cause we’ll never be wrong together
Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)
I don’t know what to do and I’m always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I’m only falling apart
There’s nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there’s only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Turn around bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart
Turn around bright eyes, every now and then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight (and I need you now)
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight (if you only)
We’ll be holding on forever
And we’ll only be making it right
‘Cause we’ll never be wrong together (’cause we’ll never be wrong)
Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)
I don’t know what to do, I’m always in the dark
We’re living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight
Forever’s gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I’m only falling apart
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart
A total eclipse of the heart
A total eclipse of the heart
Turn around bright eyes

Songwriters: James Steinman
Total Eclipse of the Heart lyrics © Carlin America Inc

♫ Beautiful ♫

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

I was looking for a Rolling Stones’ song I might not have yet played, but found none that I particularly liked.  So, I switched to Gordon Lightfoot and found this one that I have always loved … don’t know why I haven’t played it before!  But … I found naught more than a brief mention over at SongFacts, my usual ‘go-to’ place for music trivia.  So, I dug a little deeper and found a blog, Poppaculture’s Blog, where there was a post from ten years ago all about Lightfoot in general, and this song in particular …

“Beautiful” is simply that—a gorgeous love song wrapped in the simplicity of an acoustic arrangement and accented by the lush timbre of Lightfoot’s poetic resonance. This has always been a personal favorite.

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1938. Valerie Magee writes on Lightfoot’s website: “His parents recognized and encouraged his interest in music; his first appearance at Massey Hall in Toronto … was just before he turned 13, as the winner of a competition for boys with unchanged voices. After a background in barbershop quartets, and as a member of a duo, Lightfoot struck out on his own in the early 60s.”

Sadly, Poppaculture seems to have quit blogging in 2018, but he did almost exclusively music posts while he did blog.

This song charted at #13 in Canada and #58 in the U.S., but did not make the charts in the UK as far as I can find.  Too bad … I think it’s … Beautiful!

Beautiful
Gordon Lightfoot

At times I just don’t know
How you could be anything but beautiful
I think that I was made for you
And you were made for me

And I know that I won’t ever change
‘Cause we’ve been friends
Through rain or shine
For such a long, long time

Laughing eyes and smiling face
It seems so lucky just to have the right
Of telling you with all my might
You’re beautiful tonight

And I know that you will never stray
‘Cause you’ve been that way
From day to day
For such a long, long time

And when you hold me tight
How could life be anything but beautiful
I think that I was made for you
And you were made for me

And I know that I won’t ever change
‘Cause we’ve been friends
Through rain or shine
For such a long, long time

And I must say it means so much to me
To be the one who’s telling you
I’m telling you
That you’re beautiful

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Gordon Lightfoot

♫ Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Di ♫

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

Our friend Clive mentioned this song the other night when I played another Beatles song, and it is one that I used to love, but had not heard nor thought about in ages!

According to SongFacts …

The title comes from a reggae band called Jimmy Scott and his Obla Di Obla Da Band. Says McCartney, “A fella who used to hang around the clubs used to say in a Jamaican accent, “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on,” and he got annoyed when I did a song of it, ’cause he wanted a cut. I said, ‘Come on, Jimmy, it’s just an expression.”

When Jimmy Scott needed money for bail (he was jailed for missing alimony payments), McCartney had his friend Alistair Taylor put up the money in exchange for Scott dropping rights to the name. Taylor had to get the money from a friend, since no one in the Beatles camp carried much cash.

Paul McCartney wrote this and The Beatles spent a great deal of time recording and overdubbing it. John, George, and Ringo became very annoyed. Harrison hinted at his frustration on “Savoy Truffle,” which was recorded three months later. In the song he wrote:

But what is sweet now, turns so sour

We all know Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

But can you show me, where you are?

John Lennon hated this song. He didn’t like a lot of McCartney’s later songs with The Beatles, feeling they were trite and meaningless. Ringo and George disliked this too and all three of them vetoed Paul’s wish that this be released as a single.

This was a #1 hit in England for Marmalade in 1968. With their cover, Marmalade became the first Scottish group to top the UK charts (leaving little doubt about their origin, they performed the song on Top Of The Pops wearing kilts). It also could be considered the first UK #1 to be done in a reggae style.

As recounted by Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn, after doing a huge number of takes (around 60), Paul continued trying to record this as a slow song. John was in the other room listening while doing drugs. After getting high, he was very frustrated to hear Paul record it slow so many times. He subsequently burst into the recording room, pushed Paul aside and got on the piano playing the song very fast and upbeat. The fast and happy recording on the infamous White Album is the result.

When it was released by the Beatles in 1969, it did not chart in the UK, Canada, or the U.S.  A few years later, 1976-1977, it did chart in Canada and the U.S., but only at #27 and #49, respectively, and not at all in the UK.  Since the Marmalade version did chart in the UK at #1, I thought it only fair to offer both versions … take your pick or listen to both!

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

The Beatles/Marmalade

Desmond has a barrow in the market place
Molly is the singer in a band
Desmond says to Molly, “Girl, I like your face”
And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand

Ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on
Ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on

Desmond takes a trolley to the jeweler’s stores
Buys a twenty carat golden ring (Golden ring?)
Takes it back to Molly waiting at the door
And as he gives it to her she begins to sing (Sing)

Ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on
Ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on, yeah (No)

In a couple of years they have built
A home sweet home
With a couple of kids running in the yard
Of Desmond and Molly Jones
(Ah ha ha ha ha ha)

Happy ever after in the market place
Desmond lets the children lend a hand (Arm! Leg!)
Molly stays at home and does her pretty face
And in the evening she still sings it with the band

Yes, ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on (Ha ha ha)
Hey, ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on

In a couple of years they have built
A home sweet home
With a couple of kids running in the yard
Of Desmond and Molly Jones
(Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)

Yeah, happy ever after in the market place
Molly lets the children lend a hand (Foot!)
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face
And in the evening she’s a singer with the band

Yeah, ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on
Yeah, ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bra
La-la how their life goes on

And if you want some fun
Take ob-la-di ob-la-da

(Thank you, uh, ha ha ha!)

Writer/s: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

♫ Alone Again (Naturally) ♫ (Redux)

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

One of the music puns on my Jolly Monday post brought this one to my mind tonight, and I must admit that it suits my mood of late to a ‘T’.

Tonight’s song has been dubbed “one of the most depressing songs ever written”.  Despite that, it is one of the top five on my playlist for when I am walking … it causes me to pick up my pace, for some reason.  I guess it suits my mood of the moment.  This was Irish singer Gilbert O’Sullivan’s only U.S. #1. It sold 2 million copies, spent six weeks at the summit in the U.S., and earned him three Grammy Award nominations (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year). It was the second best-selling single of the year in America behind Don McLean’s American Pie, which I played not too long ago.  It also charted at #1 in Canada and #3 in the UK.

According to O’Sullivan …

“Everyone wants to know if it’s an autobiographical song, based on my father’s early death. Well, the fact of the matter is, I didn’t know my father very well, and he wasn’t a good father anyway. He didn’t treat my mother very well.”

In the first half of the ’70s O’Sullivan enjoyed a succession of hits in the UK, including two #1s that show his considerable range as a songwriter. The first was “Clair,” inspired by Clair Mills, the 3-year-old daughter of his manager Gordon Mills, whom O’Sullivan baby-sat. The second was “Get Down,” which is a plea to his dog to get down off the furniture. O’Sullivan was the first Irish recording artist with two UK #1 hits.  Perhaps I’ll play one or both of them sometime soon!

At the end of the 1980s this was used as the opening theme song and “Get Down” the closing theme song of Masion Ikkoku, a Japanese animated series. They were used without authorization, which caused some controversy at the time. However the net result was that a new Japanese generation discovered Gilbert’s music and his popularity grew in Japan. Some of his 1990s albums have only been released in Japan, where he has continued to enjoy some success.

In 1982 O’Sullivan took his former manager Gordon Mills to court over his original contract, ultimately winning back the master tapes to his recordings as well as the copyrights to his songs. Nine years later in 1991, O’Sullivan went to court again to sue the rapper Biz Markie, who used an unauthorized sample from this song in his track Alone Again, which appeared on Markie’s third album, I Need A Haircut. The judge made a landmark ruling in O’Sullivan’s favor that the rapper’s unauthorized sample was in fact theft. From this point on, artists had to clear samples or be subject to costly lawsuits.

O’Sullivan talked about the case in 2010 at a screening for the movie Out On His Own: Gilbert O’Sullivan. He said Biz Markie’s record company approached him about sampling the song, and O’Sullivan asked to hear it before granting permission.

“Then we discovered that he was a comic rapper,” said Gilbert. “And the one thing I am very guarded about is protecting songs and in particular I’ll go to my grave in defending the song to make sure it is never used in the comic scenario which is offensive to those people who bought it for the right reasons. And so therefore we refused. But being the kind of people that they were, they decided to use it anyway so we had to go to court.”

Alone Again (Naturally)
Gilbert O’Sullivan

In a little while from now
If I’m not feeling any less sour
I promise myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower
And climbing to the top will throw myself off
In an effort to make it clear to whoever
What it’s like when you’re shattered
Left standing in the lurch at a church
Where people saying: “My God, that’s tough”
“She stood him up”
“No point in us remaining”
“We may as well go home”
As I did on my own
Alone again, naturally

To think that only yesterday
I was cheerful, bright and gay
Looking forward to who wouldn’t do
The role I was about to play?
But as if to knock me down
Reality came around
And without so much as a mere touch
Cut me into little pieces
Leaving me to doubt
Talk about God in His mercy
Who if He really does exist
Why did He desert me?
In my hour of need
I truly am indeed
Alone again, naturally

It seems to me that there are more hearts
Broken in the world that can’t be mended
Left unattended
What do we do? What do we do?

Alone again, naturally

Looking back over the years
And whatever else that appears
I remember I cried when my father died
Never wishing to hide the tears
And at sixty-five years old
My mother, God rest her soul
Couldn’t understand why the only man
She had ever loved had been taken
Leaving her to start with a heart so badly broken
Despite encouragement from me
No words were ever spoken
And when she passed away
I cried and cried all day
Alone again, naturally
Alone again, naturally

Songwriters: O’sullivan
Alone Again (Naturally) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

♫ Angel Of The Morning ♫

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

A week or three ago, Clive mentioned a few artists/groups he is especially fond of, and among them was Juice Newton.  I couldn’t recall … well, frankly, I couldn’t recall if Juice Newton was a band or an individual singer, let alone any songs attributed to them/him/her.  (Hey, I’m old and senile, okay?  Cut me some slack here!)  So, I went in search of, and found that a) Juice Newton is a female recording artist with a fantastic voice, and b) I remembered a couple of her songs, most notably the one I’m playing here today.

This song was written by Chip Taylor in 1967, originally recorded by Evie Sands, but first charting by Merrilee Rush, of whom I am unfamiliar.  The song has been covered by many artists including P. P. Arnold, Connie Eaton, Mary Mason, Guys ‘n’ Dolls, Melba Montgomery, Olivia Newton-John, Bettye Swann and, most recognizably, by Juice Newton.  Angel of the Morning was originally offered to Connie Francis, but she turned it down because she thought that the love affair lyrical message was too risqué for her image.  Oh, what a difference a few decades makes, eh?

According to SongFacts …

Evie Sands originally recorded this song in 1967. Her version was doing well, but two weeks after it was released, her record label, Cameo/Parkway, went bankrupt. Chip Taylor, who wrote the song, was devastated when he found out the label could not promote it or even make more copies of the song. A few months later, Rush’s version became a hit for another label, Bell Records.

It was one of several close calls for Sands, who never hit it big; she also did the original version of “I Can’t Let Go,” which was later a hit for The Hollies.

According to Kent Kotal at Forgotten Hits, Chip Taylor came up with this song in about 20 minutes. Writes Kent: “After strumming any variety of chords for close to two hours and coming up with nothing, he says the complete lyrics ‘There’ll be no strings to bind your hands, not if my love can’t bind your heart’ flowed out of his mouth. His first thought was ‘What is that? That’s beautiful!’ He then thought, ‘Nobody actually TALKS like that!!! Where did those words come from?’ Incredibly, in one sitting, spread out over no more than twenty minutes, he completed the entire song. He says that during the entire process, he never once thought, ‘I’m gonna say this’ or ‘I’m gonna say that.’ In fact, most of the time he was thinking ‘I don’t even know what this means!’ In his own mind, he feels that he didn’t so much as WRITE this song as that he DREAMED it… the way the lyrics flowed out, meshing perfectly with the series of chords he had been strumming – there just had to be some kind of divine intervention. ‘I write melody and words at the same time and I hum nonsense things until something comes out. So I don’t think about what I want to say… I just let the emotion carry me. In this song, the emotion just totally took over and carried me. It was magic.'”

This was a crossover hit for country singer Juice Newton in 1981. Her version hit #4 on the US Hot 100, and a few months later, she had a bigger hit with “Queen Of Hearts,” which went to #2.

In the UK, two competing versions were released in 1968: by Billie Davis and P.P. Arnold. It was Arnold who scored the hit, with her version reaching #29. The previous year, she became the first to record the song “The First Cut Is The Deepest.”

Juice Newton’s version can be heard during Drew Barrymore’s first scene in the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels.

The same version also plays during the violent opening scene of the 2016 superhero film Deadpool, providing an interesting contrast. “It completely made sense to me from the first time I read it [in the script],” the movie’s director Tim Miller told Billboard magazine. “I loved the quirky contrast of having such a sweet and life-affirming song mixed up with all the crazy, abstract violence. I thought it was genius.”

And as per Wikipedia …

The highest-charting and best-selling version in the United States was recorded and released in 1981 by country-rock singer Juice Newton for her album Juice. Newton re-interpreted the song at the suggestion of Steve Meyer, who promoted Capitol Records singles and albums to radio stations and felt a version of “Angel of the Morning” by Newton would be a strong candidate for airplay. Newton would state that she would never have thought of recording “Angel of the Morning,” and even though she immediately recognized the song when Meyer played it for her (quote): “I [hadn’t been] really aware of that song because…when [it] was popular I was listening to folk music and R&B and not pop, and that was a very pop song.”

Juice Newton’s version reached #1 in Canada, #4 in the U.S., and only #43 in the UK.

In the interest of fair play, I am providing both Juice Newton’s and Merrilee Rush’s version … both are well worth the listen!

Angel of the Morning

Juice Newton/Merrilee Rush

There’ll be no strings to bind your hands
Not if my love can’t bind your heart
There’s no need to take a stand
For it was I who chose to start
I see no need to take me home
I’m old enough to face the dawn

Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Then slowly turn away from me

Maybe the sun’s light will be dim
And it won’t matter anyhow
If morning’s echo says we’ve sinned
Well, it was what I wanted now
And if we’re victims of the night
I won’t be blinded by the light

Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Then slowly turn away
I won’t beg you to stay with me

Through the tears
Of the day
Of the years
Baby

Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, darling
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, darling

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Chip Taylor

Angel of the Morning lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ After The Love Has Gone ♫d (Redux)

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

I have good intentions, but … less energy than my intentions require!  And thus, my friends, I am reduxing one yet again, this one I last played in July 2020, but it is one that I really like … it gives me, somehow, that warm, glowy feeling.  I promise that soon I will come up with a few new ones that you guys have requested … honest I will!!!

Released in 1979, this hit #2 in the U.S. and #4 in the UK.  This was written by David Foster, Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin.  Says Graydon …

“David Foster produced an album for Jaye P. Morgan in 1976. It’s a great record. It’s available in Japan, and never did anything here, really. Then he was at Motown playing some songs with Jaye to try to get a deal over there.

He was in the middle of playing a song and he forgot the chorus, and he ad-libbed the chorus to ‘After The Love Has Gone.’ He comes over to my house, and we went into my little dinky studio. He sits down at the piano, and he says, ‘Listen to this chorus.’ He plays it, and I said, ‘Hey, here’s an idea for a verse.’ And I went, ‘da da dom, A major 7, da-D-minor-6, da da A major 7, bom ba da da da F-sharp minor.’ And he just immediately continued on with that, and we had the whole song written in about half an hour/45 minutes.

We called Champlin: ‘Bill, get over here, we need a lyric.’ David was producing Champlin at the time. David recorded it with Champlin, maybe three different versions. He got one that he really liked, though. But then David was also writing with Maurice White for Earth, Wind & Fire for the I Am album. He played the song for Maurice, and Maurice loved it. David called me and says, ‘Hey, man, Earth, Wind & Fire wants to record it, but I don’t want to tell Champlin that it’s gonna have to get pulled off his record. Will you do it?’ I said, ‘I sure will.’ (laughs) I called Bill and I said, ‘Bill, here’s the story.’ And he says, ‘I’m not an idiot, man.’ (laughing) I said, ‘I’m glad you say you’re not an idiot. Because they say this thing’s gonna be a single for sure. And this could be big.’ Needless to say, that song still generates good money. It’s unbelievable.”

The song won two Grammy Awards. Earth, Wind & Fire took the trophy for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance by a Group, an award they won four times in their career.  The track also won for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, which is bestowed on the writers. It was the first win for David Foster, who would go on to win a total of 16 Grammys. In 1993, he was named Billboard’s Top Singles Producer and Top R&B Producer, while receiving the largest number of Grammy nominations and winning Producer of the Year for Whitney Houston’s soundtrack to The Bodyguard. He also co-wrote the #1 single St. Elmo’s Fire with John Parr.

After the Love Has Gone
Earth, Wind & Fire

For a while, to love was all we could do
We were young and we knew, and our eyes were alive
Deep inside we knew our love was true
For a while we paid no mind to the past
We knew love would last
Every night somethin’ right
Would invite us to begin the dance
Somethin’ happened along the way
What used to be happy was sad
Somethin’ happened along the way
And yesterday was all we had

Oh, after the love has gone
How could you lead me one
And not let me stay around?
Oh, after the love has gone
What used to be right is wrong
Can love that’s lost be found?
For a while to love each other
With all we would ever need
Love was strong for so long
Never knew that what was wrong
Baby, wasn’t right
We tried to find what we had
Til sadness was all we shared
We were scared this affair
Would lead our love into
Somethin’ happened along the way
Yesterday was all we had
Somethin’ happened along the way
What used to be happy is sad
Somethin’ happened along the way
What used to be was all we had

Oh, after the love has gone
How could you lead me on
And not let me stay around?
Oh, oh, after the love has gone
What used to be right is wrong
Can love that’s lost be found?

Oh, oh, after the love has gone
What used to be right is wrong
Can love that’s lost be found
Oh, oh, after the love has gone

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: David Foster / Jay Graydon / William B. Champlin
After the Love Has Gone lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management

♫ Walk, Don’t Run ♫

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

Walk, Don’t Run was written and originally recorded by jazz guitarist Johnny Smith in 1954.  Two years later it was adapted and re-recorded by Chet Atkins.  But it was in 1960 that the song received world-wide acclaim when The Ventures released their recording of it.  Ultimately, Rolling Stone magazine would name it #82 of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.

This song was The Ventures’ first national release, became a huge hit and vaulted the group to stardom. The song was recorded before the band officially had a drummer. The Ventures’ website lists the drummer on Walk, Don’t Run as Skip Moore. Moore was not interested in touring and never was a full-time member of the band. As payment for his session work, Moore was given the choice of $25 or 25% of any royalties from sales of the single. He took the $25.  Methinks he probably regretted that choice more than a few times!

Bob Bogle played the lead guitar part on this first Ventures recording of the song. The band later rerecorded the song in 1964 and became the first band to score two top ten hits with two versions of the same tune.

Walk, Don’t Run has been covered by too many artists to even list.  In the UK, it was covered by the John Barry Seven, whose version peaked at #11 … as compared to The Ventures’ version that had peaked at #8 in the UK.  And in the U.S. and elsewhere, it was covered by Count Basie, Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Glen Campbell, and even Led Zeppelin!!!  For today, I shall stick with The Ventures.

This hit #2 in the U.S. and #8 in the UK.

Lyrics?  There are no lyrics … it’s an instrumental!

♫ Walk Like A Man ♫

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

Tuesday night, I couldn’t stay asleep for some reason.  I was trying to think of the name of a particular song to play for a friend, and while I never did come up with that one, this song, Walk Like a Man, popped into my head and refused to leave all day yesterday!  It’s not an all-time favourite, but it has a decent sound to it, so in order to exorcise it from my head, I’m sharing it here with you!  The most interesting bit of trivia is the actual recording of this song back in January, 1963, sixty years ago!

The Four Seasons were recording this at a studio in the Abbey Victoria Hotel in New York, when a fire broke out in the rooms above the studio.  As smoke began to enter the studio, producer Bob Crewe locked the studio door and was determined to get the perfect recording, no matter what!  Soon, water began dripping from the ceiling, but no matter … the recording must go on!  Ultimately, firemen broke into the studio with axes, knocking Bob Crewe to the floor in the process!

This would go on to become the third #1 hit for The Four Seasons, after Sherry and Big Girls Don’t Cry, and also made it to #1 in New Zealand, and #12 in the UK.

Walk Like A Man

The Four Seasons

Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh
Walk like a man

Oh, how you tried to cut me down to size
Tellin’ dirty lies to my friends (ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh)
But my own father said give her up, don’t bother
The world isn’t comin’ to an end
(He said)

Walk like a man, talk like a man
Walk like a man, my son
No woman’s worth crawlin’ on the earth
So walk like a man, my son

Oh wee ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee-ooh
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh

Bye, baby, I don’t-a mean maybe
Gonna get along somehow (ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh-ah, ooh)
Soon you’ll be cryin’ on account of all your lyin’
Oh yeah, just look who’s laughin’ now
(I’m gonna)

Walk like a man, fast as I can
Walk like a man from you
I’ll tell the world, forget about it, girl
And walk like a man from you

Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee-ooh
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Walk, walk, walk, walk
Ooh-wee-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-wee-ooh

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Robert Crewe / Robert Gaudio

Walk Like A Man lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

♫ Never Gonna Give You Up ♫

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

I don’t know why this one was in my head … did someone mention it in a comment and it stuck in my head, or did my head go wandering during my sleep and stumble across it?  Who knows 🤷  At any rate, it’s in my head, and so as I usually do, I’m sharing it in hopes it will hop into one of your heads now!

Released in 1987, this is among British singer/songwriter Rick Astley’s most popular songs, going to the top of the charts in the UK and staying there for five weeks, but also peaking in the #1 spot in many other nations, including Canada, the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Zimbabwe.  Not many can claim so many #1 spots!

This song was written by the British production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. It was inspired by a woman Pete Waterman had been seeing for three years. Rick Astley was staying with Waterman at the time, and after a three-hour phone call with the woman, Astley said, “You’re never gonna give her up.” Aitken and Waterman then changed the story a bit and made him the one who was vulnerable.

Rick Astley worked in Stock, Aitken and Waterman’s studio for two years, operating tape machines, singing on recordings for other singers, learning the trade and famously making the tea before the production trio wrote and produced this song for him, which became his first hit. It was recorded in October 1986, but wasn’t released until July 1987, as the producers were waiting for the right environment to break a new artist.

The music video, directed by Simon West, finds Astley singing at various West London locales, including an empty club where he gradually inspires a bartender (played by dancer Clive Clarke of the Top of the Pops dance troupe Zoo) to bust a move. Apparently, Clarke had been nursing a serious hangover when his attempt to do a stunt flip went awry and he landed on his head. Luckily, he wasn’t injured and nailed the stunt on another take.

Astley was a very pragmatic pop star who understood that his runaway success came with an expiration date. When the hits dried up after his 1991 album Free, his ego was in check and his finances in order …

“I didn’t leave my career penniless and kind of crazy, on the verge of insanity, which is how an awful lot of people tend to end up in pop music. I got away with it really. I ended up making what I considered to be real money, keeping hold of most of it, and having a very comfortable, relatively sane, great life since. That’s not a normal story for people who got into pop music the way I did.”

Astley kept making music, but with limited release. He stayed out of the spotlight until the Rickrolling trend, when he participated in some well-paid stunts like appearing from a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in 2008, but he didn’t push any product or make any new versions of the song to capitalize on its newfound notoriety. His next album didn’t come out until 2016.

Never Gonna Give You Up

Rick Astley

We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I (do I)
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it (say it)
Inside, we both know what’s been going on (going on)
We know the game and we’re gonna play it

And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We’ve known each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching, but you’re too shy to say it (to say it)
Inside, we both know what’s been going on (going on)
We know the game and we’re gonna play it

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Peter Alan Waterman / Matthew James Aitken / Michael Stock

Never Gonna Give You Up lyrics © All Boys Music Ltd., Sids Songs Ltd., Mike Stock Publishing Limited