#610: Powered by cashews

Hey, everybody needs SOMETHING, right? The stress of my job has turned me in2 a 2-pack-a-day man. & I'm not talking about cigarettes. I'm talking about an addiction MUCH more insidious, something that will send you to the Emergency Room MUCH faster.
I'm talking about cashews. Nature's perfect food. They're rich & tasty, they're salty, they're crunchy, they're not-too-filling. & there's something I think the weight-loss industry has missed-out on: If you overdo it on cashews, the weight will simply FALL OFF. Trust me on this.
I ought to patent "The Cashew Diet." I'm sure much of the reason 4 my still-fairly-trim figure is largely due 2 cashews. This isn't my 1st food addiction, but it's probly 1 of the longest-lasting. 4 at least the 9 years I've worked at the gas station, I've had 2 have at least 1 3-ounce package of cashews per day just 2 function. & on bad days that number goes up.
I'm not truly settled-in at work until I've started drinking a bottle of pineapple-mango-orange juice & started munching on a pack of cashews. Then I can Get On With It.
But the addiction goes back much farther. I remember discovering giant plastic jars of cashews at WalMart or Costco, taking the discount-priced treasure home, then going thru the whole thing in 2 or 3 days....
No wonder I ended up in the Emergency Room....
Of course, the longest lasting addiction I've had is coffee, with as much sugar & cream in it as I can stand. I don't think I'll ever break away from that 1. I started drinking coffee around age 13, even tho my Mother warned me away from it. In my 20's, my best friend Don Vincent & I could go thru multiple pots of coffee a day between the 2 of us.
Even now, I won't get out of bed if there's no coffee in the house. What's the point? & tho I can't drink much more than 2 big cups now B4 I start jittering 2 pieces, I've GOT 2 have it B4 I can get anywhere NEAR human. I never drive without at least 1 cup of coffee in me. & I can't face The Public without 2....
When I was younger, I had more food addictions, uglier 1's. I was a sucker 4 all kinds of candy & gum when I was a kid -- I'd chew gum til my jaws got tired. & 4 YEARS I was addicted 2 wint-o-green Life Savers, another perfect food. 2 bad you can't live on them....
After highschool, I became so hooked on cheeseburgers & chocolate milkshakes that it was practically a daily obsession. But 2 months of eating most of my meals at McDonald's while settling in2 my 1st newspaper job in Washington state may have ground that longtime addiction out of me. Now I can go MONTHS without a burger. & I can't REMEMBER the last time I had a chocolate shake....
Slightly later, when I was spending lotsa late nites at certain 24-hour cafes around the Boise, Idaho area, my perfect meal was a bacon&cheese omelette with a tossed green salad on the side, & a chocolate shake 2 wash it down. Guess you could say my taste "matured." Rumor had it that I married my X-wife because she made great omelettes. Mmmm, could be....
During my 2 years in Turkey with the Air Force, I lived on chocolate-frosted Pop Tarts -- for lunch, snacks, sometimes dinner -- 2 the point that when I left Turkey, my co-workers gave me a Turkish brass plate engraved with my name, the front of a box of Pop Tarts, & the legend "The Pop Tart Kid." The plate's still hanging on my bedroom wall. & the last time I saw a box of chocolate Pop Tarts, I finished it off in a couple of days....
These junk-food addictions, these guilty pleasures, they apparently run 4 awhile & then I'm cured. I figure I'll never get over my love 4 pizza, tacos, spaghetti, lasagna -- even a good burger. But this other stuff that's probly bad 4 me -- well, that's like listening 2 The Carpenters when you've got Led Zeppelin in the music collection, right?
I'm actually showing SOME signs of growing up, tho -- after years of struggling, a friend FINALLY got me 2 start taking vitamins & try 2 eat better. & it actually seems 2 B WORKING. At least sometimes.
Jeez, they'll expect me 2 start EXERCISING next....

#553: If you wanna please me you're gonna havta cheez me

My buddy Gardenhead over at Asleep on the Compost Heap got a question at his Tumblr site that rang some bells with me: He was asked what's the "cheesiest" song he really likes & actually listens 2? G chose the Hues Corporation's '74 hit "Rock The Boat," which actually was pretty cheezy.
But it started me thinking & looking at the tapes I take 2 work 4 motivation & uplift, & I realized cheez is still a pretty big part of my musical diet.
When I read G's question, the 1st song I thot of was Edison Lighthouse's immortal '70 cheez-pop hit, "Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes" -- it's so lite & fun & silly & catchy. You can't help but sing along with it, & it builds 2 a great joyous finish -- every time I hear it the damn thing puts a huge smile on my face no matter what kinda mood I'm in. I played it at work awhile back -- possibly on a tape where it came right after Mike Oldfield's "Incantations," placed there on purpose by me 2 deflate the seriousness of Mr. Oldfield's opus. But I haven't bn able 2 find it since -- or else I'd play it more often. It ALWAYS works.
I've always bn a sucker 4 guilty pleasures like this, & naturally I Have A List....
* How bout the Bee Gees? Loved "Lonely Days" when I was in gradeschool, & have finally grown 2 accept that "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is a HUGE piece of cheez -- & I love it NEway. Always loved their really melodramatic stuff -- "First of May" is freaking brilliant. "Nights on Broadway" -- great! "Fanny" was always gorgeous. "Tragedy" is awesome, & I always loved "Spirits Having Flown" from the day I 1st heard it on the radio back in '79.
Even their disco-era stuff sounds WAY better now (as do a lotta disco hits -- it helps that it's 35 years later & we're not hearing that stuff 24/7 anymore). Even tho I HATED them at the time -- when I thot they were turning in2 The Disco Chipmunks -- now "Stayin' Alive" & "Night Fever" & "Jive Talkin'" sound pretty great 2 me. Weird, ain't it?
* I think the Stylistics were classic Sweet Soul, but 4 some they were just a little TOO sweet. Still think "You Are Everything" & "Betcha By Golly Wow" R classic early-'70s stuff.
* Olivia Newton-John? Hey, "If Not for You"'s a great song -- course it was written by Bob Dylan. I even like "Have You Never Been Mellow." & summa her other early-'70s hits have a nice nostalgic glow around them now....
* The Carpenters? Well, summa their stuff was pretty great. My all-time fave is "Goodbye to Love" -- great guitar! "Hurting Each Other" & "Rainy Days and Mondays" were both classic melodrama. "For All We Know"'s a real sleeper, written by 2 of the guys from Bread. & then there's "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft"....
* Captain and Tennille? Who can resist "Love Will Keep Us Together"? "Shop Around"? "Come in from the Rain"? Not "Muskrat Love," tho -- America's version is a lot more charming. But if you can track down a little number called "Ladybug," it's freakin gorgeous, the best thing these guys ever did....
* Some might find the Ronettes a little cheezy, but I reject that argument. Songs of theirs like "Baby I Love You" & "I Wonder" (not to mention "Be My Baby") R, 2 quote Lenny Kaye: "The sound of yearning." Gorgeous, timeless stuff.
Here's a few more slices of cheez from my work tapes:
* The Cowsills: "Hair." Of course I think it's perfect. 1 of the high points of my life was hearing my 2 kids sing along with it....
* Mercy: "Love Will Make You Happy." Sorta late-'60s adult-contemporary, but it's freaking gorgeous.
* Association: "Windy" & "Everything That Touches You." Irresistible. Gorgeous harmonies, great production from Bones Howe.
* Does Paula Abdul qualify as cheezy? "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" is gorgeous melodrama, & I resisted "Straight Up" 4 years -- pointlessly.
* Celine Dion: "Nothing's Broken But My Heart." The only song of hers I can stand. Every artist has 1 song they were MEANT 2 sing....
* Vanessa Williams: "Save the Best for Last." Ghod, it's perfect. I'm also a sucker 4 "Love Is."
* Wadsworth Mansion: "Sweet Mary." Heard this on the local oldies station awhile back & was suprised by how well it's held up. Great singalong choruses (including some real nonsense), & the lyrics gently tell of a really strained relationship....
* Bobby Goldsboro: "Pledge of Love." Wasn't much of a hit, but it's SO sweet & innocent, & Bobby's overdubbed vocals R great....
* Vanity Fare: "Hitchin' a Ride." Another 1 of those songs that made me notice what a radio was 4. My 6th-grade class useta play this song on the record player EVERY DAY at lunchtime....
* Glen Campbell: "It's Only Make Believe," "Try a Little Kindness," "Pave Your Way into Tomorrow," etc. ...& almost anything else Glen did with great unheralded producer Al deLory....
* Grass Roots: "Sooner or Later," "Temptation Eyes," "Midnight Confessions," etc. Who can resist those great singalong choruses?
* Gordon Lightfoot: "Beautiful." I love a LOT of his stuff, but as "sensitive" as this is, it really brings back Summer '71 4 me....
* Lobo: Practically everything, but especially "A Simple Man" & "I'd Love You to Want Me." Pure early-'70s nostalgia. Ah, 2 B 13 again....
* Tom Jones: "She's a Lady." Mosta his stuff I avoid at all costs, but this is a powerhouse. Kinda showbizzy, but.... "Resurrection Shuffle" ain't bad, neither. & has NE1 else out there heard his new "duet" with Jack White on "Evil"? Wild!
* Archies: "Sugar Sugar" still sounds awesome. But I always thot "Melody Hill" was even better....
* The Partridge Family? Don't get me started. I got over "I Think I Love You" pretty quick -- but mosta the other songs on their 1st 3 albums still sound like classics 2 me.
So what's your favorite embarrassing cheezy stuff? C'mon, you can admit it -- it's the Internet, no1 will ever know....

Really Gloppy Love Songs!

My X-wife useta give me a tough time about getting all emotional & caught-up in gloppy old "girl group" songs like "Be My Baby" & "Baby I Love You." Obviously she didn't have a romantic bone in her body. Of course, she thot ABBEY ROAD was a comedy album, 2....
I've always bn a sucker 4 a good gloppy lovesong, as long as it's not COMPLETELY over-the-top, as long as it doesn't try 2 bury me in strings & orchestration & melodrama. There's no defense 4 liking some of the songs listed below, but I don't care. Let it roll....

The Playlist:
Ronettes -- Be My Baby, Baby I Love You, The Best Part of Breakin' Up, I Wonder, Do I Love You?
Stylistics -- You Are Everything, Betcha By Golly Wow.
When in Rome -- The Promise.
Celine Dion -- Nothing Broken But My Heart.
Paula Abdul -- Blowing Kisses in the Wind.
Earth, Wind and Fire -- After the Love Has Gone.
Bonnie Raitt -- I Can't Make You Love Me.
Fifth Dimension -- Wedding Bell Blues.
Sting - Fields of Gold.
Mamas and the Papas -- Dedicated to the One I Love, Twelve Thirty.
Lovin' Spoonful -- You Didn't Have to be So Nice.
Pam Tillis -- When You Walk in the Room, I Was Blown Away.
Mary-Chapin Carpenter -- Passionate Kisses.
Bread -- Everything I Own.
Pat Benatar -- We Belong.
Vanessa Williams -- Save the Best for Last.

NOTES: Hey, there's no Abba in this list....
NEway, what can I say about the Ronettes that my (suddenly much more easily workable) CD player didn't say a coupla weeks back? I can again point out that "Baby I Love You" shoulda bn a MUCH bigger hit. #24 just doesn't cut it. "The Best Part of Breakin' Up" sounds kinda like a rewrite of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," only with a great fake ending. "I Wonder" is a classic that shoulda bn a hit & apparently was never even released on a single -- what was Phil Spector THINKING? "Do I Love You?" was kinda disappointing -- the best parts R the instrumental sections.
Did you know the Ronettes' "chart life" only lasted a little over a year & they only had 1 #2 hit? "Baby I Love You" peaked at #24, "Walking in the Rain" at #23. Wonder why? I guess because the Beatles came along & Phil found other things 2 do, other acts 2 produce. 2 bad. NEway, all the Ronettes trax R from BE MY BABY: THE BEST OF.
The Stylistics at their best were SO SMOOTH. Later on they got a little TOO smooth. "You Are Everything" & "Betcha By Golly Wow" R classics that bring back the winter of 1971-72 pretty clearly 4 me -- even if I could never hit the high notes like Russell Tompkins Jr. did.... From THE BEST OF.
"The Promise" is a gorgeous piece of electro-dance stuff that I NEVER would've heard if I hadn't seen NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, still The Ultimate Idaho Movie.... From the ND SOUNDTRACK.
"Nothing Broken" is the only Celine Dion song that's ever grabbed me. If every artist (even Whitney Houston) has 1 song they were MEANT 2 do, that was Celine's. Paula Abdul's was "Blowing Kisses," a gorgeous symphonic # that I thot peaked a pretty useless career. I still think it's breathtaking. My only complaint has always bn that the ending just trails off.... After hearing it, I even started liking her earlier hit "Straight Up"....
EWF's "After the Love Has Gone" I was a sucker 4 back in my record store daze. Great horns, & really nice laid-back group vocals. 1 of my local radio stations plays it almost every nite, & that's overdoing it, but still....
"I Can't Make You Love Me" is the best thing I've ever heard Bonnie Raitt do. & it's gorgeous. But I admit I haven't heard much by her.... & why'd it only peak at #18? Can't people HEAR? (These last 4 trax were from homemade tapes....)
"Wedding Bell Blues" is a giant embarrassing piece of cheez -- which went 2 #1, of course -- but I love it 4 Bones Howe's old-timey production, the backing vocals, & the way Marilyn McCoo emotes all over the place. The late Laura Nyro wrote it, + 4 other hits 4 the 5D's.
...But why R the 5D's so uncool? "Aquarius" is cool, & "If I Could Reach You" is freakin' gorgeous, & I love a couple of the others ("Carpet Man"). But maybe it's cos they sound SO 1970. Not enuf soul? Gorgeous vocal blend tho, really underrated.... From THE GREATEST HITS ON EARTH.
"Fields of Gold" isn't gloppy? I think this nostalgic, vivid, possibly remorseful peek in2 the past is the best thing Sting's done solo. It's gorgeous. & I only just started noticing it a few weeks ago.... From THE VERY BEST OF STING & THE POLICE.
I'm a sucker 4 "Dedicated," a prayer I've loved since highschool. & "Twelve Thirty" has always bn my fave Mamas&Papas song, even more than "California Dreamin'" -- I've adored it ever since it had a little revival in Fall '73 on KFXD in Boise, where it got played a ton 4 all the kids who missed it back in 1967, I guess. Why did this gorgeous hymn only peak at #20? Both from GREATEST HITS.
"Nice" is my fave Spoonful song. I like "Do You Believe in Magic?" & "Darling Be Home Soon" & "Summer in the City," 2. But I can't stand "Nashville Cats." Or "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" Lotsa good-timey stuff there, also underrated.... From GREATEST HITS.
"When You Walk in the Room" is perfect & shoulda bn a HUGE hit. Jackie DeShannon wrote it, the Searchers almost hadda hit with it (#35 in '64), & radio programmers musta bn deaf not 2 play this 1 on pop stations. Great vocals, great guitars, really punchy. "Blown Away" is guaranteed gloppy, but there's some great -- tho brief -- guitar work during the middle break. & there's Pam's sweet vocals. Both from SWEETHEART'S DANCE.
"Passionate Kisses" is just about perfect & still makes me bounce around the room. From COME ON COME ON.
Bread did lotsa great stuff & they're still underrated. "Everything I Own" was my absolute fave back when I was 13 years old, & it still sounds great all these years later. I love the way it builds in drama. From THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION -- which includes a lot of their REALLY GREAT B-sides & album trax, which you really should check-out -- Xcept 4 the absolute classic "Been Too Long on the Road," which some dummy left off the 2-disc set....
"We Belong" is the best thing Benatar ever did, tho I still like hard-hitting "Hard to Believe" & "Precious Time" & her cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" & a coupla others.... From TROPICO.
I always thot "Save the Best for Last" was a lump-in-the-throat masterpiece -- gorgeous piano, the hushed mood, & Vanessa's great vocals. & I like the story the lyrics tell. From THE COMFORT ZONE.

...I probly left some things out. Most pop songs R lovesongs, so there's probly something obvious I listen 2 all the time & just didn't play on Sat. Like Abba. Which means there'll havta B "Even MORE Really Gloppy Love Songs" -- Coming Soon!

All-nite television....

Talk about guilty pleasures....
This post is not about music OR books. It's about an addiction I've developed on Monday nites, the 1 "weekend" nite off I can count on each week. Xcept 4 CNN when I'm waking up, Monday nite is about the only time I DO watch television. & over the last 3 years I've become addicted 2 the WWE's "Monday Night RAW" professional wrestling on the USA Network, & BBC America's hilarious British car show TOP GEAR.
The 2 couldn't B more diffrent. My roommate Jay got me hooked on wrestling. At 1st I thot it was REALLY STUPID, the kind of thing idiots & lowlifes & drunks & violence fans would enjoy. But I put-up with it 2 get 2 the Good Stuff that followed later in the evening.
But then I slowly got addicted 2 the Big Comedy & the Big Drama -- almost Gothic Drama in some cases, the dramatic equivalent of a heavy-metal concert, as funny & doomy & over-the-top as yr fave heavy metal band.
I started 2 look 4ward 2 the latest adventures of the larger-than-life heroes, the evil bad guys, the soap-opera plotting & gossip. I wondered what "living legend" from pro wrestling's past would come out of the woodwork 2 further my education.
I don't even care whether the wrestling action is "real." Doesn't matter 2 me. & such considerations don't detract from the entertainment value. Obviously some1 is scripting & choreographing this stuff. No way could they pull it off without a framework 2 follow. & besides, I know there's no way I could get slammed around (or fly around) the ring the way these folks do without seriously hurting myself, probly permanently.
So I don't care if the punches R pulled or the injuries R faked. Doesn't make NE diffrence 2 the actual spectacle or the effect -- which is gloriously cheap entertainment.
I'm not such a rabid fan that I'm going to the upcoming Wrestlemania -- I won't even be buying the pay-per-view of it. But I love the big laffs & I get sucked in2 the big dramas, & I hava great time week after week.
Bsides, I think the characters R great -- some of them R way larger than life, comparable 2 characters outta the best movie you've ever seen or the best book you've ever read. I'm hooked on the ongoing story. I love the struggles toward greatness & thru adversity, the legends & the history & the mystique around summa these athletes.
I want somebody, ANYBODY, 2 shut The Miz up. I want somebody 2 silence Alberto Del Rio. I want some1 2 put a gag on announcer Michael Cole, & I hope it's Jerry "The King" Lawler. I really do think John Cena's the All-American Guy. I wait 2 C what new outrage Randy Orton pulls off. & I wish somebody would kick CM Punk's ass & make him a little more humble. & I can smell what The Rock is cookin'.
& that's just a few of the stories that R continuing on RAW every week. Yeah, sure, it's pretty fakey & over-the-top at times. But it's not really about NE of that. & the entertainment level is pretty amazing. & these WWE people R on the road around the country (& around the world) 5+ nites a week. I don't know how they do it & keep their energy up....
So now that I've maybe blown my credibility with some of you, let me try 2 get it back....

My son got me hooked on TOP GEAR, which is the best, funniest show on television right now, near as I can tell. It's certainly the cleverest, wittiest show I'm aware of. It's at times beautifully filmed, brilliantly edited, marvelously hosted by the hilarious Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May -- & I don't even think U havta B much of a car fan 2 love it.
I love looking at old "classic" cars, but most newer cars leave me cold. The trio of hosts shows that there's plenty of newer vehicles U can still "wow" at, even if U can't afford them.
& the show goes way beyond its basic format of looking at, test-driving & reviewing cars -- some of their historical pieces (like 1 on the roots & birth of the automobile) R pretty great 4 documentary value, & summa their races & travels around the globe have bn amazing. These guys have shown that there isn't much that cars can't do. They have driven 2 the North Pole in tough, specially-outfitted Toyota pickups, driven across South America & thru part of Africa, crossed the English Channel in self-modified "aqua-cars," & much more.
& some of their nostalgia pieces R also pretty amazing -- including 1 long film they did last season on the demise of the British sports-car industry, something uniquely British from the 1950's, '60s & '70s that is now mostly gone. U might not Xpect something this moving in a car-review show, but there it is. These guys Rn't just a buncha jokers. They've got soul, 2.
They are usually hilarious, & never ever boring. If I have 1 complaint, it's that they don't do ENUF shows -- they make 6 in a "series" & then take a break 4 a few months. & tho I do sometimes get tired of BBC America's endless re-runs during their Monday nite TOP GEAR marathons (tho U might catch something new in an episode you've already seen 2wice), I'm also grateful that recently as the hour gets later they've been pulling-out 5-, 6- & 7-year-old episodes I've never seen B4, including 1 they ran 2nite that featured The Guys as roadies 4 The Who. So I guess this post does have some connection 2 music after all....

Guilty pleasures....

Due 2 Technical Difficulties, there will B no Mostly New Music Friday write-up 2day. But that's OK cos I had Something Else planned NEway.
Can't Blieve I haven't written about this stuff B4 -- mayB I have in other contexts. Ghod knows I've looked.
NEway, mayB it's something about the holidays approaching, but whenever I stop 4 a min 2 think about all the things I have 2 B Thankful 4, that automatically Cms 2 lead 2 Confessing My Sins. So here's a list of my all-time faverite musical Guilty Pleasures, some of which I still slap on the stereo now&then when the moon is full & all the planets R lined-up wrong....
& after I've Mbarrassed myself in public, it'll B YOUR TURN 2 Confess All. Don't B scared....
* The Partridge Family -- Go ahead, laff. I don't care. The Truth is the Partridges' group-chorale vocal style has continued 2 influence pop music up 2 the present day, coming down 2 us thru acts like Fleetwood Mac, Clannad & Enya, among others. Their 1st album (1970) is a solid, consistent set of pop songs including classics like "Singing My Song" & "I'm on the Road." UP TO DATE (1971) was patchy but included the gorgeous "I'll Meet You Halfway" & Keith Partridge's almost-rockin' "Lay it on the Line." SOUND MAGAZINE (1972) rebounded w/ their best work, including 2 side-closing masterpieces, "Love is All I Ever Needed" & "I'm On My Way Back Home." Their producer Wes Farrell really Knew His Stuff. But of course if U can't take Keith's huge ego....
* The Osmonds, 1st album (1971) -- NOT "One Bad Apple" or "Sweet and Innocent," both of which made me gag even back then. But this 1st album includes the startling social-protest song "Think," the dramatic "Catch Me, Baby," a version of "Most of All" that beats B.J. Thomas, & a closing medley of 4 Motown hits ("Motown Special") that definitely MOVES & is almost ... funky. & their group-vocal version of "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" beats the Hollies & Neil Diamond.
* Helen Reddy -- I could go thru life happy if I never hear "Delta Dawn," "Ruby Reddress," "Angie Baby" & "I Am Woman" ever again. But "I Don't Know How to Love Him" has a great vocal that starts out very hesitant & gets stronger & more dramatic as it goes, & "Peaceful" has a breathtaking string arrangement that clearly evokes fresh air & relaxation. Around '72 Helen also did a vicious Carole King-written death-of-a-ladies'-man song whose title escapes me & that I can't find NEwhere. NE ideas?
* Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass -- THE BEAT OF THE BRASS (1969) is an Xcellent late-'60s pop album w/ 3 classic trax: the best-ever version of The Mamas & The Papas' "Monday Monday," with horns & bells & lotsa other stuff, brilliant cos it sounds NOTHING like the original -- they coulda spaced it out 4 20 mins. "A Beautiful Friend" is more like Herb & the TJB -- a mellow, laid-back horn piece w/ a great hook. & then there's Herb's modest vocal debut on "This Guy's in Love With You," which was a #1 hit single....
* Carpenters -- They've gained some dorky-cool over the yrs. "Goodbye to Love" (great guitar!), "Hurting Each Other" & "Rainy Days and Mondays" R all Prime Melodrama, "Solitaire" only slightly less great, & "For All We Know" is a brief but charming wedding song written by 2 of the guys from Bread. I'll even put on "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" 1nce in awhile -- it's really sorta a companion piece 2 Rush's "Mystic Rhythms," ain't it?
* Bread -- Grab their 2 GREATEST HITS albums & count the classics: "Been Too Long on the Road," "Mother Freedom," "Guitar Man," "Let Your Love Go," "Everything I Own," "It Don't Matter to Me" -- & summa their album trax R stunning: "Too Much Love," "Down on My Knees," "Look What You've Done," "Take Comfort," "He's a Good Lad"....
* Neil Diamond -- His mid-'60s stuff ("Kentucky Woman," "Solitary Man," "Cherry Cherry," etc) has gained in cool over the yrs, but his late-'60s/early-'70s stuff is really great & pretty strange -- "Holly Holy," "Soolaimon," "Walk on Water," "Done Too Soon," the goofy "I Am the Lion," "Crunchy Granola Suite," & much more! 4 yrs I thot Neil could do no wrong, then about '76 or so he went 2 Show Biz 4 me. Still, I've worn out a coupla copies of his CLASSICS: THE EARLY YEARS, & I still have a copy of his fairly-wretched JONATHON LIVINGSTON SEAGULL soundtrack in the house -- I'm also 1 of the 12 people in the world who paid $$$ 2 C the movie back at Xmas '73.
* Linda Ronstadt -- MAD LOVE (1979) is about 1/2 of a good New Wave album: Her cover of Elvis Costello's "Party Girl" is intense & dramatic, "How Do I Make You" does the job, & "I Can't Let Go" is gorgeous. & her cover of EC's "Talking in the Dark" is pretty silly. Summa her singles were pretty great 2: "Long Long Time," "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me," "Poor Poor Pitiful Me," etc.
* The Bee Gees -- Speaking of melodrama, these guys always had it. I'm a sucker 4 the crashingly dramatic "First of May," thru classics like "Lonely Days" & "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," 2 later stuff like "Fanny," "Nights on Broadway," & "Tragedy." Not a big fan of the disco stuff. But "Spirits (Having Flown)" is a gorgeous calypso piece that shoulda bn a huge hit....
* Janis Ian -- She's also gained some cool over the yrs. Jeez, a few yrs back there was a science fiction anthology published based on her songs, which I think is a 1st. BETWEEN THE LINES (1974) is about 1/2 brilliant, w/ the gorgeous "When the Party's Over," the brutally honest "From Me to You," & masterpieces like the stark, brief "In the Winter" & "Watercolors." AFTERTONES (1975) isn't as strong, but includes the Xcellent title song & "Love is Blind."
* Lobo -- MayB it was my age, back in '71. Not much I can't listen 2 on his BEST OF, & he did a string of brilliant pop singles. MayB my fave now is "A Simple Man," which was never a hit but shoulda bn. & if U can find a copy of his 1st album, INTRODUCING, it's priceless. Hardly a bad track on the whole thing....
* Nik Kershaw -- HUMAN RACING is a classic, w/ the hit "Wouldn't it be Good" & LOTS of other silly stuff. My absolute fave is the loopy "Gone to Pieces," in which Nik bids goodbye 2 the human race & The Chipmunks chime-in on the choruses. Brilliant & hilarious.
* Tracey Ullman -- YOU BROKE MY HEART IN 17 PLACES shows she coulda had a whole diffrent career. U probly know the hit "They Don't Know," but "Breakaway," "I'm Always Touched by Your Presence, Dear," "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" & others R all great fun, & they're not played 4 laffs, either.
* Weird Al Yankovic -- U know the song satires, but how bout the brilliant "Nature Trail to Hell," "Polkas on 45," "One More Minute," "Christmas at Ground Zero," "Dare to be Stupid"....
* Go-Go's -- Their 1st 3 albums R fulla 4got10 gems: "Can't Stop the World," "Fading Fast," "Lust to Love," "This Town," "Worlds Away," "The Way You Dance," "You Thought," "Capture the Light," "Forget That Day," "I'm With You"....
* Bangles -- Shoulda been bigger. Their 1st album ALL OVER THE PLACE has a 4-star 2nd side & the 1st side ain't no slouch neither. & the overlooked stuff on their later albums still sounds great: "Dover Beach," "Restless," "Silent Treatment," "September Gurls," "Angels Don't Fall in Love," "Following," "Not Like You," "Return Post," "I'll Set You Free," "Glitter Years," "Everything I Wanted," "Where Were You When I Needed You."
Now it's YOUR turn....