An Album/Song A Week: Prince - Purple Rain

How did I listen to music before getting a place of my own.  Like many others, in my room playing one side of an album, and then getting up to turn it over to side B.  That's how it was until CD's came along.  And listen I did.  There are certain albums that I have listened to more than others.  Took up most of my listening time when they came out.  Purple Rain is one of those.  Here's something I'm proud of.  I was a Prince fan from almost the very beginning.  "I Wanna Be Your Lover" from 1979 is forever etched in my High School Memories.  But it was the 1980 album, Dirty Mind, that made me a lifelong fan. This is raw Prince.  New Wave/Soul/Rock.  His most dangerous period.  The two albums that came after were also great.  But one day driving home from work in May 1984, I heard the world premiere of "When Doves Cry" and knew he had a classic on his hands.  This set the stage for the album which came out a month later.  This is his commercial breakthrough.  That's my first thought.  But it was the release of the movie in July 1984 that puts the album over the top.  Prince has to be seen to be believed.  He's electric live (I saw him in 1993).  And the concert footage of him singing the songs from the album are the best part of the movie.  

Oddly enough, besides "When Doves Cry", my favorite song is "Beautiful Ones", which is a high point in the movie and comes off great without the visuals.  Purple Rain would go on to be Prince's commercial breakthrough.  And still my favorite album by him.  He'd go on to make other excellent albums (most love Sign o' The Times).  That he never topped Purple Rain sales-wise is okay.  Most performers only get one mega-seller in their lifetime anyway.  It played a big part in my life.  In 1984 I'm 20 years old still living at home and a year away from getting a job at the USPS.  And 2 years away from getting a place of my own.  Life was full of wonderful possibilities.  One could say the same for Prince after Purple Rain put him over the top.  

Favorite "Lost (Hit) Songs"

"Why do hit songs become “lost" - songs you heard a lot at the time, but songs you don’t hear on broadcast radio now?" That's a question that Sean Ross, publisher of the essential newsletter RossOnRadio has been asking for over a year now.  Some hit songs no longer get played because they sounded bad back when they were hits and still sound bad today: "Billy Don't Be A Hero" and "I've Never Been To Me" are examples. But there are others that don't deserve to die, like Mel & Tim's "Starting All Over Again". Ross came up with a formula to track what songs are truly "Lost" as of 2021.  One note: Ross only tracks the plays from terrestrial radio stations.  So, no SiriusXM or other Internet Radio streams are counted.  If you are an AM/FM oldies station listener, you are most likely not going to hear "Ben" or the "Stars on 45 Medley" anytime soon.

Recently Ross asked his readers to send him 5 "Lost" songs that they like and here were the ones  I picked:

1. Daryl Hall & John Oates - Wait For Me

2. KLF/Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient

3. Joe Tex -I Gotcha

4. Mel & Tim - Starting All Over Again

5.Ray, Goodman & Brown - Special Lady

And here's the results of his survey:

Below are a list of "Lost Songs" that I like, taken from the Lost Songs 70-94 lists. I was surprised by how many of these I really liked, especially from the 70's.  But that's what happens when you grow up listening to AM Top 40 radio.

Alan Parsons Project - Time

Alice Cooper - I Never Cry

Alice Cooper - You and Me

Andy Gibb - Desire

Bangles - In Your Room

Bill Conti - Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky")

Billy Idol - To Be A Lover

Bob Seger - Shame On The Moon

Boz Scaggs - Jojo

Buckner & Garcia - Pac Man Fever

Charlie Dore - Pilot of the Airwaves

Cher - Dark Lady

Clarence Carter - Patches

Dan Fogelberg - Leader of the Band

Daryl Hall - Dreamtime

Daryl Hall & John Oates - Did It In A Minute

Daryl Hall & John Oates - Family Man

Daryl Hall & John Oates - Wait For Me

Dennis Coffey - Scorpio

Dirt Band - An American Dream 

Donny Osmond - Sweet and Innocent

Dr. Hook - Sexy Eyes

Elvis Presley - Way Down

Freda Payne - Bring the Boys Home

Gary U.S. Bonds - This Little Girl

George Michael - Monkey

George Michael - Praying for Time

Helen Reddy - Delta Dawn

Helen Reddy - I Don't Know How To Love Him

Herb Alpert - Diamonds

Hot Butter - Popcorn

Ike & Tina Turner - I Want To Take You Higher

Jackson 5 - Mama's Pearl

Jacksons - State of Shock

Jan Hammer - Miami Vice Theme

Janet Jackson - Because of Love

Janet Jackson - If

Jessi Colter -I'm Not Lisa

Jim Stafford - Spiders and Snakes

Joe Simon - Power of Love

Joe Tex - I Gotcha

Keith Carradine - I'm Easy

Kenny Rogers - I Don't Need You

KLF/Tammy Wynette - Justified & Ancient

Linda Ronstadt - How Do I Make You

Little River Band - Take It Easy On Me

Mariah Carey - Anytime You Need A Friend

Mel & Tim - Starting All Over Again

Melanie - Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) 

Michael Jackson - Ben

Michael Jackson - In The Closet

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

Neil Diamond - Love On The Rocks

O'Jays - Put Your Hands Together

Olivia Newton-John - Make A Move On Me

Osmonds - One Bad Apple

Partridge Family - Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted

Paul McCartney - No More Lonely Nights

Paul McCartney - Take It Away

P.M. Dawn - Looking Through Patient Eyes

Prince - Batdance

Ray, Goodman & Brown - Special Lady

Ray Parker Jr. - The Other Woman

Regina - Baby Love

Rhythm Heritage - Theme from "SWAT"

Rod Stewart - Passion

Roger Voudouris - Get Used To It

Samantha Fox - Naughty Girls

Sammy Davis Jr. - Candy Man

Shakespears Sister - Stay

Shalamar - Dead Giveaway

Shaun Cassidy - Hey Deanie

Stars On 45 - Stars On 45 Medley

Stevie Wonder - I Ain't Gonna Stand For It

Vangelis - Chariots of Fire

Playlist for 7/23

Songbooks - Eric Weisbard (2021 Book)

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything (Apple TV Mini-Series Documentary)

Black Midi - Cavalcade

Blackberry Smoke - You Hear Georgia

Johnny Copeland - Copeland Special

Liz Phair - Soberish

Beat Farmers - Tales of the New West

Fleetwood Mac - Live

Can - Live In Stuttgart 1975

DMX - Exodus

Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

An Album/Song A Week: "Green Tambourine" - Lemon Pipers

 Let us now praise Bubblegum Pop.  I was just about 4 years old when this song peaked at #1 in February 1968.  It's a Bubblegum Pop mixed with the psychedelic sounds of 1967/68.  And it's super simple and super catchy.  Often cited as the moment Bubblegum Pop hit the big time.  In the same year acts like the Ohio Express and 1910 Fruitgum Co., would hit the charts.  And in 1969 the Archies' "Sugar Sugar" would be the peak of the Bubblegum era.  

When I think back at my very, very young listening habits there is definitely a pattern.  Short, catchy songs caught my ear.  "Hello Goodbye", "Judy In Disguise", "Hello, I Love You", "Yummy Yummy Yummy", and of course "Sugar Sugar".  All are a part of my musical DNA that exists today.  No wonder I became a big fan of Power Pop.  

The Lemon Pipers were a one hit wonder.  Even though the follow-up, "Rice is Nice", is a good song it only got to #46.  I still perk up whenever it shows up on a 60's music channel. No more hits, but they managed to place a song in my early music memories.  For that, I thank them.

Playlist for 7/16

Centuries of Sound: 1927 - Various (Mixtape)

Yacht Soul - Cover Versions - Various

Modernity - Various

Chai - Wink

Lone Bellow - Half Moon Light

Blake Shelton - Body Language

Shannon McNally - Waylon Sessions

Billy Preston - Encouraging Words

Billy Preston - That's The Way God Planned It

Ella Fitzgerald: Just One Of Those Things (2019 Documentary)

An Album/Song A Week: John Prine - The Missing Years

The Americana genre that gathered steam in the 90's had been around for decades.  It just needed a label and airplay to reach an audience that never cared for modern era Country music.  The genres biggest names are the Band, Grateful Dead, John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Doug Sahm, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Robert Earl Keen, John Hartford, Byrds.  But it also encompasses any type of music that is organic, soulful, bluesy.  So, it's not just Country Roots oriented music.  

The greatest Americana radio station in the world is located an hour away from me.  It was founded in 1987 as an offshoot of an equally legendary station from Gilroy, California, called KFAT.  One of the first Progressive Country-Rock stations in the U.S., it last until 1983.  Four years later, many of the same people who worked at KFAT founded KPIG.  I always knew KPIG existed.  It was at the top of the FM dial (107.5), but until 1991 my FM dial was mainly set to Top 40, Country, Oldies, Soul, AOR. 

That all changed when I got a job at the USPS in late 1985.  One of the perks of the job was being able to listen to your own music while getting the mail prepared in the morning.  That task usually took 2-3 hours.  So, for the first few years that's what I did.  

If there's an Americana Hall of Fame, John Prine would be one of the first inductees.  From his first album in 1971 until his death in 2020, his music influenced many in that genre.  In 1981 he left the major labels and founded his own called Oh Boy Records.  And he had success, but still not the big breakthrough at first.  That changed in 1991 with The Missing Years. It was his first album in 5 years and Prine was ready with his best songs since the early 70's. Divorce, relationships, nostalgia, humor both sublime and off-the-wall made for a strong album.

And it turned out to be the perfect introduction to not only John Prine, but the whole Americana genre for me.  A friend of mine told me he always listened to KPIG because it sounded unlike anything else on the radio.  So, I got out of my musical comfort zone and took a chance, and he was right.  The timing was perfect in 1991. 

The Missing Years turned out not only to become a big seller, but a massive critical favorite.  And a huge influence in my listening evolution.  John Prine died in 2020 from COVID-19 symptoms.  What a songwriter.

Playlist for 7/9

Black Keys - Delta Kream

Alan Jackson - Where Have You Gone

Carsie Blanton - Love & Rage

Chrissie Hynde - Sings Bob Dylan

Sons of Kemet -Black to the Future

Chills - Scatterbrain

Rockets of Love! Power Pop Gems from the 70's, 80's, 90's - Various (Ace)

Hurdy Gurdy Songs- Words & Music by Donovan 65-71 - Various (Ace)

American Aquarium - Slappers, Bangers & Certified Twangers Vol. 1

Alex Chilton - Boogie Shoes: Live on Beale Street

An Album/Song A Week: "Rapper's Delight" - Sugarhill Gang

In the fall of 1979, I was 15 years old and starting my first year in High School.  Going from middle school to high school was both a step up in many ways.  The first glimpses of being a young adult.  It was also culturally a new world.  The school I went to was a diverse mix of races for 1979.  But one thing I noticed is that there were more African-Americans in this school than in previous years.  The city I lived in didn't have a high school, so for the first year, I would get a ride.  And the city that the school was located had a heavy black population.  

In my music world this meant hearing more R&B songs than I ever heard on the radio.  By late 1979 though, I was expanding my listening habits.  I began to search for stations on the FM dial that specialized in R&B and Country music.  That coupled with my Billboard subscription meant I knew what songs and albums were topping all the charts.  

"Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang was released in the Fall of 1979.  First appearing on the R&B charts than crossing over ot the Hot 100.  It was a phenomenon.  This was a new sound and it took off at our school.  Kids would recite all the verses.  Portable tape decks would play it at lunchtime.  Even to my ears this was something special.  Yes, I've heard R&B songs that had spoken words in them, even rapping.  But nothing like this.  The real appeal to "Rapper's Delight" was how simple it was.  Taking the beat from Chic's "Good Times", which was just ending it's #1 chart run, the beat was familiar to everyone.  

A year later another important Rap single came out, Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks".  Soon Rap began to take off.  But "Rapper's Delight" was the catalyst.  It managed to peak at #36 on the Hot 100 in January 1980.  And while they never had another Pop hit they did have a couple more very good R&B hits, "Apache" and "8th Wonder".  But chart success wasn't the point.  Their legacy is with this one epochal moment.  

50 Years of Philadelphia International Records (My Top 50 P.I.R. Songs)

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the first release by Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records label.  The first album released in 1971 was by Billy Paul called Going East.  Gamble & Huff were around before PIR launched.  They wrote and produced many hits before PIR.  But it is at PIR that they became legends.  Along with many other songwriters, producers, arrangers, PIR became one of the premiere R&B labels of the 70's/80's. The last PIR album came out in 1998.  

So, here's a list of my 50 favorite PIR songs.  As a child of 70's AM Top 40, my picks tend toward the more obvious.  But I've sprinkled in some lost gems and album cuts as well.  

1.  Billy Paul - Me & Mrs. Jones

2.  Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - If You Don't Know Me By Now

3.  O'Jays - Back Stabbers

4.  Three Degrees - When Will I See You Again

5.  McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now

6.  Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Wake Up Everybody

7.  O'Jays - Love Train

8.  Teddy Pendergrass - Close The Door

9.  Lou Rawls - You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine

10. MFSB & Three Degrees - TSOP

11. Patti LaBelle - If Only You Knew

12. Jacksons - Enjoy Yourself

13. Intruders - I'll Always Love My Mama

14. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Love I Lost

15. Teddy Pendergrass - Love T.K.O.

16. O'Jays - For The Love Of Money

17. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Bad Luck

18. Jacksons - Show You The Way To Go

19. Lou Rawls - Lady Love

20. Dexter Wansel & Jean Carn - Sweetest Pain

21. O'Jays - Use Ta Be My Girl

22. Jones Girls - You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else

23. Phyllis Hyman - Old Friend

24. Teddy Pendergrass & Stephanie Mills - Is It Still Good To Ya?

25. O'Jays - I Love Music

26. Jean Carn - Don't Let It Go To Your Head

27. Patti LaBelle - Love, Need and Want You

28. Teddy Pendergrass - Turn Off The Lights

29. O'Jays - Now That We Found Love

30. People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna

31. Billy Paul - Am I Black Enough For You?

32. Phyllis Hyman - Living All Alone

33. Intruders - I Wanna Know Your Name

34. Shirley Jones - Do You Get Enough Love

35. O'Jays - Stairway to Heaven

36. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - I Miss You

37. Jones Girls - Who Can I Run To

38. Philadelphia International All-Stars - Let's Clean Up The Ghetto

39. O'Jays - Sunshine

40. MFSB - K-Jee

41. Dee Dee Sharp - Nobody Could Ever Take Your Place

42. Teddy Pendergrass - When Somebody Loves You Back

43. O'Jays - Lovin' You

44. Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes w/Sharon Paige - Hope That We Can Be Together Soon

45. Ebonys - It's Forever

46. Teddy Pendergrass - I Don't Love You Anymore

47. Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt

48. Jerry Butler - Cooling Out

49. McFadden & Whitehead - Love Song Number 690

50. MFSB & Three Degrees - Love Is The Message

Playlist for 7/2

Peter Stampfel - 20th Century in 100 Songs

Starday & Dixie Records - Various (Spotify Playlist)

Do You Have the Force? - Various (Caroline)

Thomas Rhett- Country Again (Side A)

Travis Tritt - Set It Stone

Amy Speace - There Used To Be Horses Here

Dawn Richard - Second Line

Paul Weller - Fat Pop Vol. 1

Ryley Walker - Course In Fable

Too Much Joy - Mistakes Were Made

Tony Joe White - Smoke From The Chimney

In The Heights (2021 Movie)

H.E.R. - Back of My Mind

2021 BET Awards