An Album/Song A Week: "Anything You Want" - John Valenti

 This is a story about a long-forgotten song that connected two people even if they didn't know it at the time.  John Valenti was a Blue-Eyed Soul singer from Chicago who had one minor Pop hit in the Summer of 1976 called "Anything You Want".  It spent two weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #37.  It did better on the R&B charts, peaking at #10.  It is a completely forgotten song.  Valenti never had another hit. But he has an interesting backstory.  His band, Puzzle, released two albums on Motown in the early 70's. You can find their first album, on YouTube. If you like 70's Chicago (the band), you'll like Puzzle. The only time I've seen "Anything You Want" appear during the CD age was on a Japanese re-release of his 1976 album of the same name.  

  So, how did I hear and become fascinated with it?  Valenti performed the song on American Bandstand.  I remember that performance.  And of course Casey Kasem's AT40 played it twice before it disappeared forever.  When I met my future wife in 1986 we listened to music a lot in our early dating days.  At one point she heard a song that sounded like "Anything You Want" and mentioned the Valenti song in passing.  This fascinated me because I still had the .45 of that song.  When I played it for her, she lit up.  If you've never heard the song it is basically a Stevie Wonder homage.  She also mentioned that she saw him sing it on TV in 1976 and always liked it.  

  This is the power of music.  How songs can come into your life, popular songs or lost in time ones, and later on have an influence on your life.

Here's a YouTube link of "Anything You Want".  The most views I've seen for this song are around 52,000.  So, someone is still interested in it.  And the only way you'll hear it on the radio is if SiriusXM's 70's channel plays the two AT40 episodes in which it appears.  Valenti released another album in 1981.