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Post by reachinforthestars on Jun 28, 2011 17:16:51 GMT -5
2: WHEN WILL I BE LOVED – LINDA RONSTADT I loved her and bought all of her albums. Now I have no idea why. I don't think she thought about a word she sang. She was just singing. No humanity. I have no idea how you can make those statements. If you have an issue today with her political or personal viewpoints, that's one thing. But to say she had no humanity in her old recordings, that's just cold. Not cool at all.
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Post by bigal on Jun 28, 2011 18:09:44 GMT -5
25: HEY YOU – BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE (31) - Good song, although it sounds just like “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”. Thats because it was his own personal ripoff. Do you know the other of the two songs he ripped off for this hit? There is a riff from YOU AINT SEEN NOTHING YET, especally the end vocals. (which he later completely rehashed in MY SWEET LUI-LOUISE on his new band Ironhorse)
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Post by bigal on Jun 28, 2011 18:12:28 GMT -5
2: WHEN WILL I BE LOVED – LINDA RONSTADT I loved her and bought all of her albums. Now I have no idea why. I don't think she thought about a word she sang. She was just singing. No humanity. I have no idea how you can make those statements. If you have an issue today with her political or personal viewpoints, that's one thing. But to say she had no humanity in her old recordings, that's just cold. Not cool at all. I think he means she just "sings" the tune, like a karaoke style, or just belts out the lyrics? As a fan of her, I can confession she has done that before (listen to her version of I KNEW YOU WHEN, TUMBLING DICE, HEATWAVE for examples, not as emotional as BLUE BAYOU, HURTS SO BAD, I CANT LET GO or POOR POOR PITIFUL ME for example)
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Post by reachinforthestars on Jun 28, 2011 18:51:13 GMT -5
I have no idea how you can make those statements. If you have an issue today with her political or personal viewpoints, that's one thing. But to say she had no humanity in her old recordings, that's just cold. Not cool at all. I think he means she just "sings" the tune, like a karaoke style, or just belts out the lyrics? As a fan of her, I can confession she has done that before (listen to her version of I KNEW YOU WHEN, TUMBLING DICE, HEATWAVE for examples, not as emotional as BLUE BAYOU, HURTS SO BAD, I CANT LET GO or POOR POOR PITIFUL ME for example) Perhaps, but I still don't understand it. I think she delivers the emotional goods in the three examples you mentioned. There are songs I dislike by her, but I can't say that it had anything to do with the lack of emotion in her voice. Have you listened to the ending of "I Knew You When"? One of her best vocal performances. And the original poster referenced ALL of her recordings. Outrageous. That usually signifies an agenda.
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Post by dukelightning on Jun 28, 2011 18:56:22 GMT -5
As far as emotional performances by Linda, what about Someone to Lay Down Beside Me? That is a gripping song if I ever heard one.
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Post by chrislc on Jun 28, 2011 21:21:11 GMT -5
I think he means she just "sings" the tune, like a karaoke style, or just belts out the lyrics? As a fan of her, I can confession she has done that before (listen to her version of I KNEW YOU WHEN, TUMBLING DICE, HEATWAVE for examples, not as emotional as BLUE BAYOU, HURTS SO BAD, I CANT LET GO or POOR POOR PITIFUL ME for example) Perhaps, but I still don't understand it. I think she delivers the emotional goods in the three examples you mentioned. There are songs I dislike by her, but I can't say that it had anything to do with the lack of emotion in her voice. Have you listened to the ending of "I Knew You When"? One of her best vocal performances. And the original poster referenced ALL of her recordings. Outrageous. That usually signifies an agenda. I don't know what her personal views are. Political? She's liberal, I think. Or used to be anyway. I think I like more than I ever did Eagles, Jackson Browne others of that genre - it's just that she was one of my favorites back then and now her songs just leave me cold. It might also be Asher's production. It seems now to me to be very plastic and cookie-cutter - uninspired. This seems to be the thread in which we are expected to say we like or don't like artists and or songs. That's all I am doing. No MSNBC or Fox News here.
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Post by reachinforthestars on Jun 28, 2011 23:15:10 GMT -5
This seems to be the thread in which we are expected to say we like or don't like artists and or songs. That's all I am doing. No MSNBC or Fox News here. Maybe it was your choice of words. I just found it peculiar for someone to make a broad statement about her lack of humanity. Especially if you were once a fan. I don't understand that concept. I cannot grasp completely turning against an artist you once enjoyed, unless something unrelated to music was introduced. Especially when her catalog is so large and offers such a wide variety of music. But maybe that's just me. I had a love/hate relationship with Ronstadt's music. I normally don't like remakes, yet she made a number of remakes I really enjoyed ("You're No Good", "When Will I Be Loved", "I Can't Let Go") and some I wish she wouldn't have recorded ("Tumbling Dice", "Hurts So Bad", "Lies", "Tell Him"). But the one element that made even the worst songs tolerable for me was her voice.
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Post by matt on Jun 29, 2011 11:05:37 GMT -5
I thought Linda Ronstadt was a talented vocalist and performer...and I also thought she was hot...don't care what her agenda was. Like most pop music artists, there were songs of hers that I liked and ones I didn't get into as much.
However, I do understand some people's reservations about her for the fact that she was for the most part, a remakes-only artist.
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Post by bestmusicexpert on Jun 29, 2011 12:00:17 GMT -5
I liked Linda Ronstadt, but I do agree that on some of her songs, she has this "lets get this over with" tone about her. Then on others, she sounds as if she lived the content of the song.
As for BTO, Hey you's intro borrows from Let It Ride and the main riff is You Ain't Seen Nothin Yet. I hated when artists did that (The Outsiders, McCoys, Ventures & Booker T & The MG's have all been guilty as well)
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Post by bestmusicexpert on Jun 29, 2011 12:07:43 GMT -5
BTW, Kudos to Dukedeb for the correct answer. I had forgotten we were talking about this. I'm bored during songs while I record my Elton Countdown and will probably read every thread on here! lol
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Post by Hervard on Jul 2, 2011 10:05:52 GMT -5
American Top 40: The 80s - July 2-3, 2011
This week’s presentation: July 2, 1983 - Top 40 Acts of the 1980s So Far
Cool, the very show that I was hoping for! That’s two years in a row that happened, as far as special shows go. In fact, two years is all it could have been since, for some odd reason, they decided to go with a regular weekly show in 2009, yet they did a special show in the 1970s. Of course, that could be because there were many more specials in the 1970s. Anyway, this will be the first time that I’ve heard this show, since I wasn’t yet listening to American Top 40 at this point. I was still listening to Countdown America, which I had discovered just four months earlier. They didn’t have special shows (which was good, as I didn’t miss out on any charts - since I had no idea how to get R&R charts, I listened to that show religiously). Anyway, I have a few ideas as to who is going to top this chart. Only one way to find out, though - let the countdown began!
40: HOLD ME - FLEETWOOD MAC - Great song! Kinda hard to believe that they’re way down at #40, but I guess they had only had three Top Ten hits at that point. 39: I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL - JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS - Good song, although quite overplayed. This song, of course, was the most instrumental in putting her on the list, since it was #1 for seven weeks in early 1982. 38: ON THE RADIO - DONNA SUMMER - Now if the time frame had been extended by a year, she would have ranked much higher. However, since disco had pretty much wound down by the time 1980 rolled in, so did her big hit streak, although she did manage to have three Top Ten hits by this time (and a fourth in the making). Anyway, this was a great song - my favorite of her Top Ten hits of the 80s up to this point. 37: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE - Aw, come on! This song hadn’t even hit #1 yet! Well, anyway, this is another act that would have ranked higher if they’d done a second Top 40 Acts of the 1980s So Far later in the decade, as the Police had several big hits (and this one would have given them a good boost, as it spent two months at the top). 36: BLUE EYES/LITTLE JEANNIE - ELTON JOHN - Ah, the first medley on the countdown. Yet another act that you’d expect to see a lot higher on the chart. However, Elton’s career was in somewhat in a slump for most of the 1980s, which was said to be due to his leaving MCA to sign with Geffen Records. Perhaps they didn’t promote his singles as well as MCA, or maybe it was just coincidence. Anyway, the second song they played by him was his last Top Ten with MCA, peaking at #3 in the summer of 1980. It was my favorite of the two songs they played by him (of course “Blue Eyes” was pretty good too). 35: WAITING FOR A GIRL LIKE YOU - FOREIGNER - Ah, good ol’ Wf*gLY! The song that spent the longest period of time at #2 without hitting #1. Of course, this did manage to top the R&R chart, for six weeks. Anyway, it’s a good song, although quite overplayed. Kind of surprised that they placed so high, seeing as they only had two Top Ten hits in the 1980s, plus two #26 peakers, at this point. But their Top Tens had lengthy stays in the Top 40, so that probably helped. 34: SLOW HAND - POINTER SISTERS - Great song! My favorite of their hits of the 1980s (although “He’s So Shy” would be a close second). 33: THE NIGHT OWLS - LITTLE RIVER BAND - Australian acts abounded in the early 1980s and this was the first of five acts from the land down under to place on the chart. This was easily the biggest of their three Top 40 hits during the decade and it’s a good song. 32: HEARTBREAKER - PAT BENATAR - Kind of odd that Casey mentioned “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” in the tease, yet went with this one, which didn’t even hit the Top 20. Well, whatever. Anyway, I wasn’t a big fan of this song - one of my least favorites by her. 31: CENTERFOLD - J. GEILS BAND - Another band that might not have made the countdown had they not had such a big number one hit. OPTIONAL EXTRA: WE GOT THE BEAT - THE GO-GOS - I wonder how close they came? They had only three hits by this point, and only two of those were Top Ten. Anyway, as we all know, this was my least favorite of their hits. 30: ROSANNA - TOTO - Great song, despite the overplay. I believe this was their biggest hit overall, although “Africa” did go to #1. This song, however, spent nearly twice as long in the Top Ten. 29: START ME UP/WAITING ON A FRIEND - ROLLING STONES - Another medley. They apparently used these instead of extras. Anyway, I wasn’t much for “Start Me Up”, but I did like “Waiting On A Friend”, since it wasn’t quite as overplayed. 28: WOMAN IN LOVE - BARBRA STREISAND - Great song! Casey mentioned that she had three duets in the 1980s, including her duet with Donna Summer, which charted in 1979. I wonder if they counted its entire chart run or only the portion of the run that occurred after the first of 1980? Well, either way, her biggest hit was one that she did all by herself (although the Bee Gees did provide back-up vocals). It was my favorite of her solo hits. Sort of off-topic, I recently had a dream that I actually met Streisand. Too bad I woke up before it was over - my d**n cats were scuffling! 27: (JUST LIKE) STARTING OVER - JOHN LENNON - Great song! Lennon might have had several more hits in the 1980s (which could have put him higher on the list) if not for his untimely death. But he did have three big hits, which helped to put him on the chart. 26: THE BEST OF TIMES - STYX - Great song! Definitely my favorite of the four Top Ten hits they had in the 1980s up to this point. That was pretty much it for their music career in the 1980s, since they had only one more hit a year later, and it just barely touched the Top 40. They would not chart again until the early 1990s. 25: WHO CAN IT BE NOW/DOWN UNDER - MEN AT WORK - Wow, they hadn’t even been charting for a year by this point! But the three hits they did have during that short period was enough for them to make the chart. Of course, I prefer “Overkill” to the two songs they played. 24: KEEP ON LOVING YOU - REO SPEEDWAGON - Great song, by a great band! I liked all four of their Hi Infidelity singles, and this was possibly my favorite! And, of course, I liked their other 80s singles after that. 23: CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE - QUEEN - Well, I’m glad they didn’t play “Another One Bites The Dust”. This was indeed the better of their two number one hits. An obvious imitation of Elvis Presley, and a good one at that. 22: LONGER - DAN FOGELBERG - Great song, by a great balladeer. Casey did make a slight faux pas when he was talking about Fogelberg’s songs before the 1980s. He said the only one was “Part Of The Plan”. Not so - he had one more in 1978, his collaboration with Tim Weisberg, called “The Power Of Gold”. The song that they played was easily one of my favorites by Fogelberg. 21: TRULY - LIONEL RICHIE - Great song! This was probably my favorite song by him up to this point. “Endless Love”, which Casey mentioned in the intro, was definitely most instrumental in putting Lionel so high on the big list. OPTIONAL EXTRA: YOUNG TURKS - ROD STEWART - Wow! Rod Stewart did not register on the list? Although now that I think on it, I seem to recall Casey mentioning that on a June, 1983 show last year, when he was plugging this show which would be aired the following week. And Stewart had only had two Top Ten hits in the 80s up to now. It’s just that, based on how big he was in the 70s, one would think he was just as big in the early 80s, but not quite. 20: CELEBRATION - KOOL & THE GANG - Great song! They definitely were a hot act in the early-80s and their success continued into the mid and late 1980s, with several more Top Ten hits. After that, however, they never returned to the Top 40. 19: IT'S STILL ROCK AND ROLL TO ME/ALLENTOWN - BILLY JOEL - The fourth medley in the show. The first one was his only #1 so far (although he’d have another one just two months later) and the second was possibly the song that spent the longest time at a peak outside the Top Ten. This song spent six weeks at #17 in early 1983 and spent 16 weeks on the chart, which is an unusually long chart run for a song that didn’t even hit the top 15. That one, of course, was my favorite of the two songs. 18: COMING UP (LIVE AT GLASGOW) - PAUL McCARTNEY & WINGS - Great song! At first, I though they might play “Ebony And Ivory”, but I don’t think they play duets (unless the two artists regularly recorded together, such as Hall & Oates) - and Stevie will obviously have his own placing on the list anyway. As for the song they did use, it was definitely my favorite song by McCartney that charted in the 1980s. 17: HURTS SO GOOD - JOHN COUGAR - Great song! John Cougar was indeed one of the biggest acts of the 1980s, and he possibly would rank higher on a chart with all years of the 80s considered, since his chart success continued right through to the end of the decade. 16: BETTE DAVIS EYES - KIM CARNES - Wow, not an act I’d expect to see on the list, but then again, this song did spend nine weeks at number one, and she did have two other Top Ten hits (including her duet with Kenny Rogers). This, of course, became the #1 song of 1981, and deservedly so! 15: I LOVE A RAINY NIGHT - EDDIE RABBITT - Great song! Though I prefer “Driving My Life Away”, this would be a close second. Rabbitt’s entire chart success in the 1980s came before this show, since, after “You And I”, a Top Ten hit from earlier in the year, he never returned to the Top 40 (though he did have minor success at AC radio - and I’m sure he continued to do well on the country charts). 14: CALL ME/THE TIDE IS HIGH - BLONDIE - Of course, my favorite of those songs is the first one, which was the top song of 1980. The other is just OK. Like Eddie Rabbitt, Blondie didn’t have any chart singles that charted past this one. 13: AGAINST THE WIND - BOB SEGER - I thought Casey was going to say that this was his biggest hit of the 1980s, which isn’t so, as “Shame On The Moon” was a bigger hit. But then I realized he was saying that it was the biggest hit WRITTEN by Seger. That makes sense, as “Shame On The Moon” was, of course, written by Rodney Crowell. Anyway, this was one of his best 1980s songs, IMO. 12: LOVE ON THE ROCKS - NEIL DIAMOND - Great song! My favorite of his 80s songs so far. 11: THAT GIRL - STEVIE WONDER - And what did I tell you? Wonder did manage to place on the list. But did Casey say that he had nine songs so far in the 1980s? They must have considered all of the artists’ chart hits, even the one that didn’t quite hit the Top 40, because up to now, he’d only hit the Top 40 with six songs (although I’m not sure if they counted “Send One Your Love”, since that was a holdover from 1979). Anyway, as for this song, I like it - one of his best solo hits. OPTIONAL EXTRA: EYE OF THE TIGER - SURVIVOR - Well, it’s true that this was a big hit, but I’m not sure how close they came to making it, as they only had two other Top 40 hits besides this, and neither of them hit the Top Ten. Anyway, as overplayed as this song was, I still like it. 10: QUEEN OF HEARTS - JUICE NEWTON - Great song! One of the acts that had chart success in not much more than a year. 9: JESSIE'S GIRL - RICK SPRINGFIELD - Great song! I figured, with all the hits he had, he’d be up in the Top Five, but not quite. I liked Casey’s remark that the subject matter of this song was like a soap opera in itself (since, other than being a singer, Springfield was a regular in the soap opera “General Hospital”). 8: OPEN ARMS/ANY WAY YOU WANT IT - JOURNEY - Of course, my favorite of these two is the second one, as “Open Arms” is quite overplayed, both on 80s stations, as well as AC radio. 7: RIDE LIKE THE WIND - CHRISTOPHER CROSS - Great song! I liked pretty much all of his Top Ten hits (and even a few of his near-misses, such as “All Right”, which was possibly his most recent hit considered in computing this show, since “No Time For Talk” had charted just a month before). 6: BILLIE JEAN/ROCK WITH YOU - MICHAEL JACKSON - Now, if they’d done a second Top 40 Acts of the 80s special, say, in 1988, then I’ll bet Jackson would have come out on top. However, he hadn’t amassed quite as many hits yet at this point in time. Both songs that they used were number one hits, one from each of his two albums that charted during the decade. 5: PHYSICAL - OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN - I knew she’d finish high on the survey, since she had the top hit of the decade, as well as another number one and a few Top Tens. This wasn’t one of my favorite songs from her, but it’s good to hear every now and again. 4: LADY - KENNY ROGERS - Great song, though somewhat cheesy. 3: LOST IN LOVE - AIR SUPPLY - Hmm, I thought that maybe they would come out on top. Well, in several ways they did - they were the top group of the decade, as well as the top foreign act and top newcomer. Anyway, this was definitely one of my favorites by them. OPTIONAL EXTRA: I CAN’T TELL YOU WHY - THE EAGLES - They probably didn’t just miss, as they only had three songs in the 1980s, two of them peaking at #8 in the first half of 1980. Not sure which one I prefer - it may be a toss-up, as both are good. My favorite would be the song that missed the Top Ten, “Seven Bridges Road”. 2: UPSIDE DOWN - DIANA ROSS - Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Casey say that there were only two women in the Top Ten? Well, anyway, I would be surprised if Ross hadn’t ranked in the survey, because she was indeed hot during the 1980s, espeically during the first two years, with her two big #1 hits. This one was good, but not quite my favorite from her. 1: MANEATER - DARYL HALL & JOHN OATES - It only occurred to me that they’d be on top when they revealed the #2 act. And, from what Casey said, they were by far the biggest act of the decade so far, and I believe it, because they had a ton of hits in the three and a half year period that the survey covers, including four number one hits. This was the biggest of them all, spending four weeks on top in 1982/83.
All in all, a great show!
Predictions for next week: I’m thinking that it’s about time for 1980, but they’ve already done the two mid-July 1980 shows, and both within the past two years. They could do a repeat, but I have a feeling that they’re going to hold off on that year until July 26, which is a would-be Flashback show. So instead, my prediction for next week is July 13, 1985 (July 6 is out, because Charlie VanDyke hosted that one), with July 12, 1986 as my back-up prediction.
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Post by reachinforthestars on Jul 2, 2011 11:23:29 GMT -5
36: BLUE EYES/LITTLE JEANNIE - ELTON JOHN - Elton’s career was in somewhat in a slump for most of the 1980s, which was said to be due to his leaving MCA to sign with Geffen Records. Perhaps they didn’t promote his singles as well as MCA, or maybe it was just coincidence. Who said it was due to him leaving MCA? Probably an MCA executive. LOL Elton's slump began in 1977 while he was with MCA. The slump was attributed to his announcement that he was bi-sexual. That's when his streak of 16 consecutive Top 20 songs was broken when his next four releases only peaked at #28, #34, #22, #--- ("Song For Guy" didn't make the Hot 100) . He would only reach the top 20 two more times for the remainder of his initial stint with MCA. So the final four years with MCA (1977 - 1980) yielded two Top 20 singles. His first four years with Geffen (1981 - 1984) yielded six top 20 singles. So he performed better at Geffen.
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Post by Hervard on Jul 2, 2011 13:30:27 GMT -5
^I got that info from the Rock On Almanac by Norm N. Nite. One of the "Music Highlights Of 1980" read: "Elton John leaves MCA Records to sign for Geffen Records. This causes a slump in his career that would last until he returns to MCA in 1988." He seemed to have more success with his second stint with MCA than he did with his first - after the announcement that he was bi-sexual, that is.
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Post by Mike on Jul 2, 2011 13:52:50 GMT -5
22: LONGER - DAN FOGELBERG - Great song, by a great balladeer. Casey did make a slight faux pas when he was talking about Fogelberg’s songs before the 1980s. He said the only one was “Part Of The Plan”. Not so - he had one more in 1978, his collaboration with Tim Weisberg, called “The Power Of Gold”. The song that they played was easily one of my favorites by Fogelberg. Maybe he didn't forget it entirely, but rather he just didn't count "The Power of Gold" as a solo record?
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Post by reachinforthestars on Jul 2, 2011 14:51:34 GMT -5
^I got that info from the Rock On Almanac by Norm N. Nite. One of the "Music Highlights Of 1980" read: "Elton John leaves MCA Records to sign for Geffen Records. This causes a slump in his career that would last until he returns to MCA in 1988." He seemed to have more success with his second stint with MCA than he did with his first - after the announcement that he was bi-sexual, that is. That falls under the "don't believe everything you read" category. The initial backlash of the 1976 announcement, along with Elton's temporary break with Taupin and a reduction in touring/appearances were all contributing factors to his slower chart run during his final years of the first stint at MCA. As we moved further away from that bi-sexuality announcement, society became more accepting. Plus, a man that talented cannot be held down indefinitely. He joined up again with Taupin and released many successful records on the Geffen label. His second stint with MCA was no more successful than his years at Geffen. I recall they promoted the heck out of his MCA signing in the 80's as a "return to his glory days". Of course, forgetting those glory days ended while still on MCA's watch. But using the four year comparison again, when he returned to MCA in 1987, that four year period from 1987 to 1990 garnered five Top 20 singles on the MCA label. One less than the initial four year period with Geffen.
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