A Beautiful, Harmonious Love Song - "The Only One" - Re-Post

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Lionel Richie - One Exceptional Song ... "The Only One"

I am not fond (and never was fond) of the all-tooooooo-pop Lionel Richie. His songs were just to commercial...too obvious. There is one very noteworthy exception.

This song, "The Only One" was arranged (and tracked on keyboards) by the amazing David Foster ("Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire"). He brought magic to a beautiful love song, and I believe that he also brought the best out in Lionel Richie. Listen to the lyrics (a bit trite, but heartfelt), listen to the delicate keyboards (even the bass is keyboarded), with their voices, wonderful harmonic intervals and cascading sounds. This song received minimal airplay. You couldn't find it on the radio. It must have been too delicate.

The first time that I heard this song I was a University Professor at Hofstra (in New York), and I remember commenting about it to one of my classes (Finance 101, I think). At the end of one of the classes, a very shy, pretty co-ed came up to my desk, handed me an envelope with a tape cassette inside of it, looked me in the eye for a minute and said "Professor Castle, I made this for you. I hope you'll like it." Before I could comment, she walked away -- late for something more important.

I played that tape, and this song was on it. I played that tape at least four times per day, three days per week for the next two months.

Open your mind. Open your heart. Enjoy this. And yes -- you heard it right...he does sing "you stold it." Then again, Billy Joel sang (at least in one chorus) "Don't aks me why."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA-fNS96dZE





 
 
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Eddy Grant - Walking On Sunshine

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It's Eddy Grant -- that chap from the Caribbean who performed "Electric Avenue". This particular song is all about pulse. It is a hypnotic work song, with a throbbing bass line, only one chord throughout, and some very tasty brass riffs thrown in from time to time...each with its own little unique counterpoint harmony. Eddy also performed "Romancing the Stone," the theme song to a movie of the same name featuring actor Danny DeVito.

Listen, and be hypnotized for a few minutes. Let the bass line into your chest so that it can seize control of your heartbeat for a short while.

I hope that you enjoy this departure from my usual taste and choice in music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laTQHYyuXKc



Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Douglas Castle

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Third World - "Now That We've Found Love"

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Third World - A crossover reggae/ Top 40 band with fabulous rhythm, tight harmony. They are one of my favorite reggae groups, because 1) they are not too hard core; 2) you can't help but sing along to the refrains in their songs; and, 3) it is apparent that there is quite a bit of the Gamble and Huff (writers for the Stylistics and the Spinners) lurking in their material, arrangements, and production. This is a great song: "Now That We've Found Love."

Despite the musical challenges I face being a middle-aged white guy, Third World gets to me. Listen to some of their other songs such as:

Reggae Ambassador
Try Jah Love 
Dancing On the Floor 

For now, enjoy "Now That We've Found Love."

There is a bonus picture at the very end of this post. I don't charge for these. Yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXeY74ttezU





Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Douglas Castle

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Elvis Costello - "Red Shoes" and "Allison"

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The amazing and energetic Elvis Costello singing my two favorite songs in his repetoire. Two different sides -- two different moods -- sensitive, sarcastic lyrics. Pain throughout.  Did someone say "Revenge of the Nerd?" Hmm...

RED SHOES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab_IO-SlK5w




ALLISON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfZ5m-oGmtQ&feature=related





Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Douglas Castle

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Fine Young Cannibals - Johnny Come Home

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"Johnny Come Home," is one of my favorite songs from Fine Young Cannibals. Aside from the compelling desperation and intensity of the message, aside from Gift's empassioned tenor voice, aside from the cup-muted trumpet that cries throughout, aside from the guitar with choked strings, and aside from this frantic hybrid beat --- somewhere between a reggae on amphetamines and a military double-pace march --- the song is utterly memorable and uniquely written, arranged and performed.

It will haunt you.

The song uses a descending minor bassline (with corresponding chord changes) which has been used in various forms by other artists in numerous hits. A few examples of this descending minor riff, in its variations:

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - Beatles
"24 or 6 to 4" - Chicago
"Roxanne" - Police
"Temptation Eyes" - Guess Who
" Walk Don't Run" - The Ventures (or was it the Surfaris?)
"I'll Be Back" - Beatles
"We Can Work It Out" [the bridge] - Beatles
"How Can I Be Sure?" - The Rascals

Enjoy this song, and let it impact you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUBE850kay0





Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Douglas Castle

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Tierra - Together

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TIERRA - TOGETHER

The Intruders, an original soul group, did the original version of this song, "Together." It was not a tremendous hit (like "I'll Always Love My Mama," or "Cowboys and Girls"), but it had something romantic about it.

A Chicano group out of California, Tierra, poured life and a latino lint into their version of the song and made it one of the greatest breakthrough hits of the disco era. It is soft and delicate, yet the harmonies and definitive lyrics give it undeniable power. I remember hanging around (with a glass of Southern Comfort, which, as I recall, tasted like Aqua Velva aftershave) in one of the neighborhood nightclubs, feeling lost and lonely. I could not and still cannot dance.

The DJ cranked up the volume, the room was bathed in blue light with a cosmos of disco ball crystal stars swirling around the room, and this song came on. I absolutely needed to hold someone, to dance with someone. Shy as I was, the loving pulse of this song, performed by Tierra, brought out a passion and a courage in me that I had never before experienced. There was a young woman standing alone not to far from me, and I walked up alongside her (in my best platform shoes), and said (verbatim!) "Excuse me miss. I know we haven't been introduced, but I love this song. Would you please dance with me?"

I reached for her hand (she was a bit bewildered), she took it, and we pushed our way to the middle of the crowded dancefloor. That was one of the bravest moments of my life. I had finally won a victory over myself.

Enjoy this song by either clicking on the hyperlink below, or on the embedded video player, if it actually makes an appearance. Also, as an added bonus, I have added hyperlinks to two other original recorded versions of the song, both by Tierra...the first is the one I danced to on that fateful night, and the second is in Spanish - even more profoundly romantic. Si?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNKJI14acBo&feature=related




Original Recording in English:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y3iVdWjXpk&feature=related
Original Recording in Spanish (this is knockout! and I barely speak the language):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OolMoCV7r7E&feature=related


Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

The Originals - I'll Never Hear The Bells

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I've also heard a version of this 50's/ 60's doo-wop classic performed by Laura Nero, who quite possibly might have written this hypnotic slow dance gem. Her version is pure (voice and piano), but this performance, by the Originals, makes us men of a certain age just want to slow dance close enough to smell perfumed hair and feel warmth all over - contact!

Just click on the hyperlink or on the video player below to enjoy this pure sweetness. My suspicion is that you can netiher be too young nor too old to feel the gentle sway of this magical music...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ5ZWEKiEJk&feature=related









Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Paper Lace - The Night Chicago Died - Nose Kazoo

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What is there to be said? These fellows also did "Billy Don't Be A Hero" They didn't do "Hitchin' A Ride." (that was done by Vanity Fare, but is, for some reason, often attributed to Paper Lace). Laugh all you'd like, but every one of those songs was a memorable, Top-40 single. I truly think so -- I especially cherish the end of "The Night Chicago Died," where you can hear some excellent, shameless "nose kazoo."

Just click on the hyperlink or the video player below and enjoy the music...despite yourself. "The Night Chicago Died". It lives!

Oh - by the way, the songs listed above are hyperlinked too (but you probably had already noticed that), so you may joyfully click on those as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-L0NpaErkk



Note: Rumor has it that Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods actually performed the immortal "Billy, Don't Be A Hero." I am not certain if this is true. Those chaps (Bo and the boys) did perform "Who Do You Think You Are?" and made "OOGA - CHAGA - OOGA - CHAGA" (in an hysterically return-to-native version of "Hooked On A Feeling.") into a world-famous school-lunchroom chant. Please advise.


Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Robbie Dupree - Hot Rod Hearts

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Robbie Dupree had something wonderful with this single. He used every critical ingredient in the pop recipe. It was truly an amalgam of a whole bunch of wonderful sounds popularized by other composer/artists in some of their most successful songs.

Some of the most prevalent influences included Todd Rundgren ("It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference," with its haunting transitional chord change -- you know -- the one where he holds an A note in the bass, and he moves from E to A), Carole King, a touch of Lou Christie, Michael McDonald, Jackson Browne and Chris Cross, to name a few. Some of these classic "moody" harmonies and chord structures were cobbled together with a winningly rhythmic and memorable catch line..."Hot Rod Hearts/Out On The Boulevard Tonight," to hammer this pure pop tune into our hearts.

Enjoy this song. And please accept my apologies for not giving any play to "Steal Away." This latter song was, in my opinion, trite, and best forgotten. Did you know that Robbie changed the spelling of his last name from the original French (e.g., he Americanized it) in order to make it easier for his fans to spell and to recognize. He was hooked on phonics well ahead of his time.

Either click on the hyperlink or on the video player below to immerse yourself in a classic pop single:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-iDhWKduqU





Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

It's Your Thing - The Isleys

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I have always liked the Isleys. My old favorite was, and still is "For the Love of You." Whitney Houston did a fine cover of it.

Most everybody seems to remember "Twist and Shout," "Work to Do," "Between the Sheets," and other Isley Brothers standards. In the 1980's, Ron Isley (the self-proclaimed king of 'baby-makin' music' who is prone to dressing like a pimp, albeit less tastefully) made a brief comeback with cousin Chris Jasper, as "Isley/Jasper/Isley" with the mellow but haunting "Caravan of Love."

My friend and fellow guitar enthusiast, J.R. Longyear, who is far more gifted and soulful than he gives himself credit for being, does an amazing job with "It's Your Thing," another Isleys staple.  The fact is that when J.R. and I play this together we are indeed supremely funkacious for a pair of recovering caucasians. The song has a great catchline riff (in E, of course) that involves [I'll give you the short version] the quick convergence of  of an ascending and a descending melody. It is indeed the type of riff that soul guitar fanatics can jam on 'til mama has to yell "suppertime!" three or four times.

There's also an absolutely soulful sax riff throughout. You might find yourself humming this one throughout the day.

Enjoy this.

As usual, if the video player does not materialize, just click on the hyperlink and savor the soul:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMimqfJVedE  (late-night neon effect)





J.R. - Thanks for helping me to remember who I still am inside.
Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Everything I Own - Bread (Featuring David Gates)

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David Gates and Bread had a first major hit with "I'd Like To Make It With You,". The combination of Gates' sweet, delicate tenor voice inspired romance in young teen hearts. The guitar work was precise, unenhanced and authentic, with some light orchestration in the background (all live, all real, all human). The beat was steady. You could slow dance to it, even if you didn't know anything about dancing (I didn't).

It was another guitar player's dream, in E major, with a signature riff of guitar strings strummed upward in an E Major 7th chord  to an A Major chord with a B in the bass...everybody learned how to play this...two chords and you knew where you were headed. To complement his voice, Gates used a great deal of "mellow" yet twangy guitar (overdubbed) in the upper fretboard, a very subtle wood block (like a heartbeat, clock or metronome in all of his songs), unobtrusive bass, and keyboard - usually with a harpsicord-like setting. Their songs were delicate, moving and romantic, filled with love, loss, pain and regret.

In "Everything I Own," the effect is totally angelic. The guitar, played with a full capo in high register, sounds like a harp gently plucked; the keyboard is classic frill; the dynamics (the way the verses are so soft, and the bridge is so powerful) force you to pay attention, and heighten the intensity of the pain the singer feels at the loss of the Love Of His Life.

I was dating my first "real" girlfriend (it lasted several weeks), who had braces. She sat behind me in English class and it took me three months to work up the courage to ask her to go to a movie with me. I don't remember the movie. I remember this song though. We listened to it together while we held hands. I remember every word of this song so clearly... I don't miss the loss of a young love too much, but I miss my innocence and my amazement that some girl would actually want to kiss me. After I had taken her home, I drove with all of the windows open, parked in my parents' driveway, got out and looked up at the stars.

The braces were not really a problem.

This is my favorite Bread song.

If the video player doesn't appear below, just click on this link to enjoy "Everything I Own":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q1kB0R4Ijs




With your permission, I'd like to dedicate this song to: Vicky, Joyce, Lauren, Diane, Julie, Jan, Ray, Neil, Barry, Jay, the Late Mike DiBari, Stan, the other Stan, Frank, Mitch, Jack, Bennie, Eat The Lizard, Whip The Beanstalk, Captain O'Peelio, D'Antonio's, Merokee Bowling, Jones Beach, Limoli's, Mrs. Morse, Matt. Barbaras (3 of them), Larry, Jimmy, Jimmy's big brother (the Karate Expert), The United Mutations, Arnie, Freedy, Steve, Paul, Sigi, Gidget, Oldsmobile Cutlass, Mercury Cougar, Richie, Bruce!, Damon and Pythias, my cousins Stu, Steve and Sandra, my little sister, JFK (both the highschool and the man), Sandy, August, night-blooming jasmine, Foncy's, Bohack Supermarket, Shore Road School, the new house on Harbor Lane and the smell of the freshly-painted walls.....so many other people and places and things and feelings....Thank you all. I wish that I could have stayed longer. I apologize for growing up - I never meant to. I miss you all.

Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

I Just Don't Want To Be Lonely - The Main Ingredient

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For some reason, "Everybody Plays the Fool" received tremendous airplay on all of the the pop radio stations in the early 1970's. It won tremendous accolades and has since been covered by numerous artists (Aaron Neville actually did a high rock tenor version with a slight reggae lilt to it, and audiences followed him as if he were the the Pied Piper).

The Main Ingredient (with Cuba Gooding, Sr. singing the lead and fronting the band) has since been best known as either 1) that "soul" band that Cuba Gooding, Jr's father sang with 'back in the day,' (in fact, Sr. looks very much like a slimmer, slightly more masculine afro-toting version of his son, who is a terrific actor) or 2) the band that played "Everybody Plays The Fool."

Well, before you do anything rash, dig this - In my opinion, this song, "I Just Don't Want to be Lonely," is even more powerful and more sincerely soulful than the other smash hit, and it truly showcases Gooding Sr.'s voice in clear and classic style. It is not as "pop" or as overproduced (heavy instrumentation in C) as "Everybody Plays...," and it has some fabulous and distinctive effects -- a popping, melodic and memorable bassline (in the key of F) which lays down a great foundation (just listen to the vamp at the beginning, when the changes are F: to D Minor; to G Minor 7th; to C 9th sus 4, over and over), and a resounding, distorted. buzzy and sustained "F' note on the guitar, followed by a counterpoint harmony to the bass. So musical. I even like the lyrics better. Nice vibes (literally) and lush harmony.

Gooding Sr. always had a bit of a dialogue with an unseen third party at the beginning of his songs...in "Everybody Plays the Fool," it was his friend ("Okay...so your heart is broken..."), and in "I Just Don't Want to be Lonely," it's his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend ("Hey....Where you goin' with that suitcase?....").

Let's see what you think of The Main Ingredient and "I Just Don't Want to be Lonely."

If the video player doesn't magically appear below, just click on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFC0GYdg5vI




Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle

Magnet and Steel - Walter Egan

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This Walter Egan song knocked me out. The sweet harmony of the angelic voices in the background. It received a great deal of airplay, but never enough. The song had a "glow" about it. It was somehow regal, yet sensitive. It made a simple, but bold statement about love.

The three voices in the chorus build up a beautiful cascading harmony.  During the instrumental, with each wave, they add a voice (it starts out as a single riff, sung in unison, then breaks into two notes, then three...and each time, a slightly more complex lilt is added to the harmony, and it gets a touch louder). I remember thinking that it was somewhat like early autumn waves at Jones Beach.

Is one of those "girls" in the background a very young Stevie Nicks?

If the YouTube Video Player doesn't miraculously pop up below, just click on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GYyEaQnT60




Radio DAZZ: Produced by Douglas Castle