From voice recording #138, Dec. 5.
Supertramp, "Goodbye Stranger", 1979. 1,800. I think of this as more in the '80s, and I believe it's on the '80s channel.
Eagles, "Hotel California", '77. 200. No, I guess I was on Channel 7 on Dec. 5.
Mouth and McNeil, "How Do You Do", '72. 4,200.
Gary Wright, "Love Is Alive", I think it was '76. 3,950.
Toto, "Hold the Line", '79. 4,400.
Belle and James?, "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)", 1979. 4,600, I think. The recording cut off. Might have been 4,650.
Eddie Money, "Baby Hold On", 1978. 4,450.
Ohio Players, "Love Roller Coaster", '75. 4,400.
Steve Miller Band, "Swingtown", '77. 2,350.
Terry Jacks, "Season in the Sun", '74. 3,850. The line, "The stars we could reach were just starfish on the beach," which reminded me of our trip to South Carolina. I believe the number of starfish washed up on the beach at Isle of Palms had died from a starfish wasting disease wiping out whole populations of the creatures.
Heart, "Barracuda", I think '77. Heart rocks pretty hard. 3,300.
Freda Payne, "Band of Gold", 1970. It needs just a little more variation in the beat, but it's a good song. Kind of a somebody done me something wrong song, and it's 2,050.
Fleetwood Mac, "Rhiannon", '76, I believe. I've said many times that a song wasn't somebody's best effort, but this is one of Fleetwood Mac's better songs. 1,700.
Earth, Wind & Fire, "After the Love Is Gone", 3,750.
Joni Mitchell, "Help Me", I think it's '74. A lot of thoughts went through my head on this one. First, how few folk singers there have been since '74. Not that this is a particularly folky song. I did see Joan Baez in concert in 1984 at the Nazareth Arts Center. She was cool. Someone took a photo. It was all flash photography, especially back then, so you couldn't take a picture in the dark with your cell phone. Joan walked over -- I was sitting in the second row, and whoever was taking the photo was in the first row somewhere in front of me -- and said, "OK. Take a picture now, and then put the camera away." She stood there while he took a picture, he put his phone away. Very well resolved, without having to have campus security come and throw the guy out. Also, there was a Latin-beat feel in part of "Help Me", something you might hear from Sergio Mendes or the Tijuana Brass. 3,900.
Four Seasons, "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)". That would have been about the time the Beatles arrived in America. That was a busy time in my life. I was a high school junior. I didn't actually see the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, and I couldn't see a recording with no VCRs in those days. A senior, Ben Beard, who was 18 or 19, came by and asked a group of us to go with us to Watkins Glen for some ice cream. So we did that, and we were delayed on the way back because the car in front of us had hit a deer and we stopped at a farmhouse to call the police to have them come and make sure the driver was OK. The deer went off the side of the road. I think the animal was wounded. That was what was going on for me in late December back in '63, but I think the Four Seasons were having a better time. This is 350, at least.
Sniff and the Tears, "Driver's Seat", '79. I'm a little leery of having "sniff" and "seat" be so close together, but I don't know if Sniff or his tears had any proclivities that way. 4,400.
Looking Glass, "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)", '72. The story is about a girl who lost the sailor she loved because he loved the sea more than he loved her. I guess she would have been a jinx going on a ship. Sad story. 4,100.
Bob Seger, "Hollywood Nights", '78. Bob Seger music is hard-driving rock, and I love it. 500.
Starland Vocal Band, "Afternoon Delight", '76. It was kind of a surprising song. It was popular for a while, but it was probably better than people realized. I like the ending where they have kind of a choral hallelujah -- ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah -- followed by do-do-do, do-do, do, boink. A lot of good musical stuff. 4,100.
Cheryl Lynn, "Got to Be Real", '78. Notes to Cheryl: 1. You don't scream out the lyrics as well as Steven Tyler does, and 2. Your songs aren't as good as his are. Cheryl gave it a good effort. 4,550.
Little River Band, "Lady", maybe '78, I'm not sure. This reminds me of "The Middle" episode when they went to see the Little River Band cover band. Seems like a limited opportunity for that kind of work. 4,100.
Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., "You Don't Have to Be a Star Baby" (to be in my show). I love Marilyn McCoo. She's a great entertainer. Not a great song, though. 4,500.
Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Up Around the Bend", which is pronounced more like biend in the lyrics, 1970. Creedence had quite a run during the '70s. 3,700.
Wings, "Listen to What the Man Says", 1975. 3,900.
10 cc, "The Things We Do for Love", 1977. 2,450.
Rare Earth, "I Just Want to Celebrate", 1971. Pretty good rock. 3,800.
Bee Gees, "Stayin' Alive", 1978. Maybe the greatest opening scene of any movie was in "Saturday Night Fever" when John Travolta was walking down the street swinging a can of paint to this song. It gets extra points for that, but no higher than 1,550.
Led Zeppelin, "Black Dog", 1972. I have no idea why it's called "Black Dog". I'm not sure what a lot of the lyrics are. But it is rockin', great guitar work and it's Led Zeppelin, for Christ's sake. 1,000.
Firefall, "You Are the Woman", I think it's '76. I think there's a little flute solo in there, but it's not great. 4,600, I think. Again the recording cut off.
Rita Coolidge, "Higher and Higher", '77. 2,400.
Ringo Starr, "Back Off Boogaloo", '72. 4,300.
This will pick up with voice message #156, from the evening of Dec. 6.
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