The Music of My Life – 1990

Welcome back to The Music of My Life, where I feature ten songs from each year of my life. In most cases, the ten songs I choose will be ones I like personally (unless I explain otherwise). The songs will be selected from Billboard’s Year-end Hot 100 Chart, Acclaimed Music, and will all be released in the featured year.

A brand new decade has dawned and I will turn 20 in 1990. It was a time of change for me, as well. I had been working at WKSG for a little over 2 years. I truly believed that I’d have that job for years, but had yet to learn how unstable radio jobs were. When I was fired, I called my old boss (now at another station in Detroit) and cried like a baby. He brought me in part time at WMXD.

As I looked through the music from 1990 and 1991, there were many songs that I played while at WMXD. When I started there, the music was a mix of Adult Contemporary and Urban songs. Eventually, they would go all Urban Contemporary and I was let go again.

One of the songs I played, I wrote about recently, but it still makes my list here. If you want to know more about Elton John’s Club at the End of the Street, you can read the earlier post here:

Throwback Thursday Tune

Club At The End of the Street

Next on the list is a song that was released on my 20th birthday, May 15, 1990. “Vision Of Love” was Mariah Carey’s first single. The song debuted at #73 in America, but two months later, in August, spent four weeks at the #1 spot. I remember playing this one on WMXD, as well. It was a song that really showcased her outrageous vocal range! The first time I heard her belt out that high note, I couldn’t believe it!

The original demo of the song was described as a 1950’s shuffle, but that didn’t matter. The song was good enough. Songfacts says, The original version was included on Mariah’s demo tape for Columbia. It was one of the songs that caught the ear of Tommy Mottola, her future husband and, more importantly, the head of the label’s parent company, CBS Records. At the time, Mariah was working as a backup singer for Brenda K. Starr, who invited her to a label party in Manhattan where the demo tape made its way into Mottola’s hands. After listening to the tape in his limo on the way home, he went back to the party to track down the singer. Mariah had already left and no one knew who she was. Days later, she found a message on her answering machine inviting her to sign with the label. Mottola then sent her to Los Angeles to re-record “Vision Of Love.”

Let me be honest right here. After her second album, there were not too many songs by Mariah that I cared for. I don’t know this for sure, but I feel the “business” changed her. There were a couple of songs later that were good. I felt, however, her strongest stuff was on those first two albums.

Vision of Love

The Godfather trilogy will always be my number one, but my second favorite trilogy would be Back to the Future. In 1990, Back to the Future Part III was released in theaters. I couldn’t wait to see how it all wrapped up.

ZZ Top released their Recycler album in 1990. The lead single from the album was a song from Back to the Future Part III called Doubleback. The group made a cameo appearance in the movie playing an acoustic version. That version is on the soundtrack of the movie.

Doubleback

But wait, there’s more! Consider this a Double Shot of ZZ Top. From the same album, My Head’s In Mississippi sounded like classic ZZ Top to me. I just loved the shuffle and the vocals. Billy Gibbons said:

“My buddy Walter Baldwin spoke in the most poetic way. Every sentence was a visual awakening. His dad was the editor of the Houston Post. We grew up in a neighborhood where the last thing you would say is, ‘These teenagers know what blues is.’ But our appreciation dragged us in. Years later, we were sitting in a tavern in Memphis called Sleep Out Louie’s — you could see the Mississippi River. Walter said, ‘We didn’t grow up pickin’ cotton. We weren’t field hands in Mississippi. But my head’s there.’ Our platform, in ZZ Top, was we’d be the Salvador Dalí of the Delta. It was a surrealist take. This song was not a big radio hit. But we still play it live, even if it’s just the opening bit.”

In 2008, Gibbons stated, “‘My Head’s in Mississippi,’ which was one of the first completed tracks on the album, is a great example of how we mixed the new with the old. Initially, it was a straight-ahead boogie-woogie. Then Frank stepped in and threw in those highly gated electronic drum fills, which modernized the track.”

My Head’s in Mississippi

I have never owned a pair of parachute pants. They do look comfortable, however, and it looks like you have a lot of freedom in them.

As much as I didn’t really want to include this one, I did play it a lot while DJing. It always got folks out dancing, then again, so did Super Freak by Rick James. Believe it or not, James did NOT give Hammer permission to use the song.

Songfacts explains: Rick James tried to keep rappers from sampling his music, turning down any requests. According to James, his lawyers authorized the “Super Freak” sample without his permission. He heard about it when a friend told him about “U Can’t Touch This” and the song came on the radio they were listening to in the car. James said he was irate, but somewhat appeased when he found out how much money it was making for him. Still, he claimed he wouldn’t have done the deal if he was asked.

James had another beef as well: he wanted to be listed as a songwriter on “U Can’t Touch This.” He sued MC Hammer for credit. The case was settled out of court, with James getting listed as a co-writer on the track along with Hammer and Alonzo Miller. Miller was a disc jockey who wrote some lyrics on “Super Freak.”

He recorded the song at Capitol Records, where Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Dean Martin recorded, The label ran an innovative marketing campaign to promote this song. They mailed out free cassette singles of the track to 100,000 kids. The cassettes came with a letter from Hammer asking them to call MTV and request the video. The ploy worked, and the video became the most-played of 1990 on the network.

U Can’t Touch This

I don’t remember when my ex-girlfriend had sent this song to me. It was probably after we broke up the first time. I say that because I believe that this song is what led us to getting back together eventually. I remember being pretty messed up after the break up. I did end up dating someone else.

I don’t recall how my ex and I began chatting again, but it led to her giving me this song. I really loved and cared about my ex. I broke it off with the gal I had been dating to get back together with my ex. It was really unfair to her, but I was 20, almost 21, and didn’t really know any better.

While we enjoyed some very good times the second time around, it didn’t last. She broke up with me again, which led to me always wondering what I did to cause he to leave. Anyway, I tell you all that to play Cuts Both Ways.

Cuts Both Ways

In 1967, Otis Redding wrote and recorded his version of Hard to Handle. He wrote it with Allen Jones and Al Bell and the track was produced by the legendary Steve Cropper. It was released in 1968 (after his death) as the B-side to his song “Amen.”

The song was first covered in 1968 by Patti Drew. The Black Crowes covered the song on their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker. Two versions of the song exist. First, the original album version and the hit single remixed with an overdubbed brass section. The latter is available on the 30th Anniversary edition of Shake Your Money Maker.

Songfacts says: This was The Black Crowes’ third single, following “Twice As Hard” and “Jealous Again.” It made #45 in the US in December 1990, as the group was rapidly gaining momentum. After “She Talks To Angels” hit #30 in May 1991 – over a year after the album was released – “Hard To Handle” was reissued, this time going to #26 and becoming the highest-charting single for the band on the Hot 100.

This has always been a song that I love to crank up. It’s funky and fun!

Hard To Handle

My next song is another one that I played while at WMXD. I was familiar with James Ingram before I worked there and always liked his voice. I Don’t Have The Heart was his only solo number one song. The song won him a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1991.

The song was written by the duo of Allan Rich and Jud Friedman. It was the first song they wrote together. Speaking about Rich’s lyrics, Friedman told Songwriting Magazine, “Allan says he’s not a poetic lyricist, and he’s not a flowery lyricist. He is very conversational, but in a good way, and that has its own poetry. It’s the poetry of reality and the poetry of life and interactions. And the thing about I Don’t Have The Heart, among many brilliant things about Allan’s idea for the song, is it’s an example of taking a phrase that’s very well known, ‘I don’t have the heart,’ and flipping it. ‘I don’t have the heart to hurt you but I don’t have the heart to love you.’ He used it in two different ways, and that was poetic. We’ve all been there, sometimes wearing one of the shoes and sometimes wearing the other.”

That was the thing that caught me, too. The flip. I love when a lyric does that.

I Don’t Have the Heart

Whitney Houston hadn’t been on the radio since 1988. While she had her fair share of uptempo songs, but I feel like radio played more of her ballads. So the first time I played I’m Your Baby Tonight, I was wowed by it.

According to Songfacts:

By the time Houston released her third album, I’m Your Baby Tonight, she was coming off of a three-year hiatus. Prior to this, she had a record-breaking string of seven consecutive #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The problem was, her record label felt she was losing touch with her black audience. Houston balked at the claim, telling USA Today, “I don’t sing music thinking this is black, or this is white… I sing songs that everybody’s going to like.”

But producers L.A. Reid and Babyface agreed with the assertion. Reid told Billboard: “We wanted to come up with something that was different than anything Whitney had sung. So we approached it from that angle. We wanted to give her a new direction, and pick up where we felt she was lacking. We felt like she needed more of a black base.”

It definitely was a fresh sound for her, but I don’t know hear it as “more black” or “more white.” To me, it is just a great song!

The Julien Temple-directed music video shows Houston in the guise of different pop culture figures. They include silver screen siren Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, and all three of The Supremes.

I’m Your Baby Tonight

Allow me just one more song from my WMXD days. Let me set this up for you. When I was at WKSG, these two sweet old ladies always called to request songs. They were sisters named Virginia and Dorothy. They always seemed to call toward the end of my overnight shift.

Virginia suffered with respiratory issues, so it took her a bit to say what she wanted. She would get a couple words out and have to take a breath. She had emphysema and really struggled to breathe.

Dorothy, on the other hand, was always on the go. She was always talking about where she was over the weekend. She was always at a party or something, even though she didn’t drive. She took a bus or Your Ride where she needed to go.

When I told them that I was leaving the station, Dorothy gave me her address to keep in touch. When I moved to Ludington, she and Virginia wrote me often. Eventually, communication was over the phone. When I moved back home, we actually ran into each other at a Weight Watchers. meeting.

I was closer to Dorothy, and she would invite me to stop by for coffee. She always had some sort of baked good ready. She was born the same day as Frank Sinatra. She was such a sweet friend. I am sure that I lost touch with her after I married my ex, and was sad to hear that she (and her sister) had passed away.

She once told me that she didn’t like all of the music we played at WMXD. One song she loved was The First Time by Surface. This song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Whenever I hear it, I think about my friend and am grateful to have known her.

The First Time

Robert Palmer’s Don’t Explain album was very different. It contains 18 tracks and a variety of styles. There is R&B, Rock, Jazz, and more. It also includes some cover songs. I love the track “Top 40” because it swings a bit with a great sax line. It, however, wasn’t released as a single.

The song that is closest to what he had success with in the 80’s is You’re Amazing. I love the guitar line in the song. Billboard said, “Palmer’s reliably strong soul stylings added to headbanger guitar riffs and sweet background harmonies proves to be a quirky, but potent, combination.”

I don’t know that I would call the guitars “headbangers,” but I suppose they are a bit harder than Palmer usually presents. Now, the background harmonies – yeah, I dig those!

You’re Amazing

1990 Bonus Song

I just can’t pass up one song. It is a song that my best friend, Jeff, and I still laugh about. I can’t be sure who heard this first, but I know we laughed about it for years. The idea of taking the voice from a 1970’s instructional dance record and incorporating it into this is brilliant. The Bingo Boys did just that!

It is this vocal part from that record that makes us laugh so much. I cannot even being to picture a couple in their living room trying to learn a dance to that guy! It is so absurd that after a few of his lines, Princessa jumps in to shut him up. “Act like the end of a record and fade out …” is the lyric. I think that’s an awesome line.

The Bingo Boys were a trio from Austria. The song was actually released in the US first. It was released in the UK in 1991. It went to number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and reached number 25 on the Hot 100.

The song borrows heavily from a number of earlier recordings, including “Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah)” by Chic, “Dance (Disco Heat) by Sylvester, “Kiss” by the Art of Noise and Tom Jones, the popular James Brown “Yeah! Woo!” sample loop, the bassline motif from Mantronix’s single “Got to Have Your Love”, and a synth motif from The Whispers’ “And The Beat Goes On”. See if you can catch them all ….

How To Dance

That’s a wrap on 1990. Next week, we’ll check out 1991. That was the year I turned 21 and moved out for the first time. What kind of surprises will pop up?

Did I miss any big 1990 songs from your list?? Drop them in the comments!

Tune Tuesday – International Coffee Day

Welcome to October! Every First of October the world celebrates International Coffee Day.

As a life long coffee drinker, this is the perfect day to offer up a tune or two about my blessed “bean water!”. There are a lot of songs about coffee, but today I will share my top 3.

Frank Sinatra was not known for his novelty songs, but he did record one or two. The Coffee Song pokes fun at they drink a lot in Brazil because no other drink is available.

Many covers of the song are out there, too. Louis Prima, Rosemary Clooney and even the Muppets covered that song.

—

Black Coffee is another song that has many covers. It was first recorded in 1949 by Sarah Vaughn. Peggy Lee was next to cover it as well as Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, Julie London and kd Lang.

The most popular version of the song is probably by Ella Fitzgerald. She really can sing this one

The Java Jive was done by the ink Spots. It was first written in 1940. It was first recorded by the Ink Spots, and The Manhattan Transfer did a great cover. I am partial to the Ink Spots, but the Transfer:a version is better sound quality

Whether you percolate your coffee, use a Keurig, or simply use a drip coffee machine, grab a hot cup of Joe today and celebrate with the world?!

Movie Music Monday – The Big Chill

The Big Chill was released to movie theaters this week back in 1983. The Lawrence Kasdan film featured an amazing ensemble cast that included Kevin Kline, Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum, Mary Kay Place, JoBeth Williams and Meg Tilly. he plot focuses on a group of Baby Boomers who attended the University of Michigan, who reunite after 15 years when their friend Alex dies by suicide.

The soundtrack for the film featured some fantastic soul, R&B, and pop music from the 1960’s and 1970’s. Ten of the songs from the film were released on the soundtrack album; four additional songs not from the film were added to the original CD release as “additional classics from the era.” The rest of the film’s songs, as well as the “additional classics” from the original soundtrack CD were released in 1984 on a second soundtrack album, titled More Songs from the Big Chill.

One of the songs was the first big hit for a group called The Young Rascals. That song was Good Lovin’. Believe it or not, the group weren’t too happy with the song after the recorded it. According to songfacts.com:

Felix Cavaliere of The Young Rascals was listening to a New York soul station when he heard The Olympics’ version (from 1965). The Rascals liked it and played a sped-up version at their live performances with Cavaliere on lead vocals. They recorded the song for Atlantic Records, and although the group did not like the outcome, famed producer Tom Dowd loved the rawness of it and that version was released, becoming a huge hit. It went to #1 in April 1966.

Was it a surprise to the group? You bet! Felix Cavaliere admitted, “We weren’t too pleased with our performance. It was a shock to us when it went to the top of the charts.”

Felix says that the famous “One – Two – Three” countdown was each of the members saying one of the numbers. He told songfacts that the order was: Eddie Brigati (one), Gene Cornish (two), then Felix (three).

The song had a great false ending where there is about 1-2 seconds of nothing. Many DJ’s often played some silly movie drop in that space.

Ok, fellas …. count it off for us …

Book Recommendation – The Last Chance Library

I have always been one of those people who has fought for the local library. I believe that they are extremely important to the community. My brother has worked for a library for almost 30 years. He even wrote a guest blog for me on their importance. You can read that here:

Guest Blog: Libraries Are Important!

I don’t even know how I came upon my latest read. It may have been in a list of books that came up when I searched for a different one. The title, The Last Chance Library, caught my attention. After reading the synopsis, I had to add it to my list.

Here is what Goodreads had to say about it:

June Jones emerges from her shell to fight for her beloved local library. And through the efforts and support of an eclectic group of library patrons, she discovers life-changing friendships along the way.

Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother.

Joining a band of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died. It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town and willing to lend a helping hand. The kindhearted lawyer’s feelings for her are obvious to everyone but June, who won’t believe that anyone could ever care for her in that way.

To save the place and the books that mean so much to her, June must finally make some changes to her life. For once, she’s determined not to go down without a fight. And maybe, in fighting for her cherished library, June can save herself, too.

I could easily see this book being turned into a movie. It had very distinct and likable characters. I found myself relating to many of them on different levels. It’s hard to imagine now, but I was shy and rarely fought for anything when I was young. I was just like the main character, June.

It was also very relatable. In schools, cities, and government in general, they are always worried about the bottom line. In way too many cases, programs, community events, and such are often cut or closed down to “save money.” The decisions to do this never seem to take into account how it will affect the people using them.

That being said, I was rooting for the group of friends as they fought for their little library. It was a heart warming story that I recommend for lovers of libraries and books.

4.5 Stars out of 5

Turntable Talk #30 – The Most Fab of Them All

It’s time again for my contribution to Dave from A Sound Day’s monthly feature Turntable Talk. If you are keeping track, this is round #30! Way back when we started this, he asked us if the Beatles were still relevant. This time we circle back to the Fab Four and Dave wants us to write about our favorite Beatle. He is calling this round The Most Fab of Them All.

I have struggled in the past to narrow down what song or artist I am going to write about, but never like this. It shouldn’t be hard to pick one guy out of four, right? For me it is, believe it or not. Frankly, and I mean no disrespect to Dave, the topic is unfair. To me, a musical group or band is the coming together of people, each contributing something unique. Like a puzzle, when all the pieces come together, you have something amazing. To have to choose one is a daunting task.

Let me start by saying that if you had asked me as a kid, without a pause, I would have chose Ringo. This may be because I was so familiar with the Beatles cartoon and Ringo always made me laugh. I also really enjoyed the almost all of the songs that he sang lead on. He went on to have some solo hits post-Beatles, too.

There are times I might have picked George Harrison, but probably not because of his Beatles stuff. Don’t get me wrong, he wrote the amazing song “Something,” which even Sinatra said was a beautiful love song. I also loved a lot of the early songs he sang on. Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby is one of my favorites. George really gained my respect as a musician and songwriter post-Beatles.

John was a quick wit and always made me laugh when I saw him in those early interviews. You cannot deny the songwriting power that he had both solo and with Paul McCartney. He really wrote some deep songs. To me, it is interesting to look back and see how he put much of his hurt, suffering and confusion into a song.

John was also a guy who wasn’t afraid to take a stand for something. Many of his solo songs are still as relevant today as they were when they were released. If only the people would listen to the lyrics of Imagine, maybe we’d see a change? Every Christmas I hear War is Over, yet every day when I go to MSN, there is some new story about Putin and World War III. Obviously, Give Peace a Chance is not something any of the world powers wants to do.

Then, there is Paul. I don’t have to really say much about his songwriting abilities. As a matter of fact, if you look at the output of the Lennon-McCartney machine, you cannot help but be in awe of the volume of work they put out. As a musician, he really was the greatest talent of the group. Before you get up in arms, let me prove it to you.

We know that he was best known for playing bass guitar for the Beatles. Growing up, his first instrument was the trumpet (given to him by his dad). He also knew how to play the piano, and did so on Beatles songs like Slow Down and Ob La Di Ob La Da. While it is a simple tune, you can hear Paul’s drumming skills on The Ballad of John and Yoko. As a matter of fact, he can play over 40 instruments including mandolin, cello, harmonica, harpsichord, and the ukulele. Watch his video from 2020 for Find My Way and you will see him playing many (FYI – it’s not my favorite McCartney song, but it is a good illustration).

While many songs had both John and Paul listed as writers, many were “all Paul.” Yesterday, Hey Jude, Blackbird, and Here There and Everywhere, just to name a few. Paul said once that the last one was the only one that John had ever complimented him on. John said in an interview that it “was all his” and was “one of my favorite Beatles songs.”

So why am I picking Paul? Honestly, if it wasn’t Paul it would be Ringo for the simple fact that they are still around. Both are still touring and in the public eye. I love watching Paul do interviews. He is fun to watch, tells great stories and isn’t afraid to be a part of something a bit silly.

One of my favorite McCartney moments was when Chris Farley interviewed him on SNL for the Chris Farley Show bit. How Paul kept a straight face through that still amazes me. Farley asks him, “Remember when they said you were dead? That was a hoax, right?” and Paul simply says, “I wasn’t really dead!” That always makes me laugh. How Paul keeps a straight face through the bit is beyond me. I wish there was a better quality clip…

There’s another great SNL bit where he and Martin Short and doing something for a Christmas Pageant. Martin says that he and Paul are a team but he is the only singer because Paul “cannot sing.” Paul plays the triangle in the bit. He misses cues and Martin screams at him through the whole bit. Paul is hilarious. The bit ends with Martin leaving and Paul asking, “Can I sing now?” Walls move and Paul walks onto the stage to sing Wonderful Christmastime, as himself.

Paul was fantastic on the Letterman show reminiscing about being there on the Ed Sullivan show. During the interview Dave says that they have been trying to get him on the show for years. He asks why it took so long to get him there, to which Paul says with a straight face, “I don’t like the show, David.” But THE highlight for me was to watch him do a rooftop performance of Get Back. I want to say that he wound up doing about a 40 minute concert from up there that night.

Another great Paul bit is when he shows up on James Corden’s show and does his Carpool Karaoke. The first song they sing together is Drive My Car and he’s having a blast doing it. The conversation between the two of them as they drive around is moving at times. Paul and James stop at Paul’s boyhood home and shares some great stories. The kicker is that they go to a pub that McCartney used to play at and he and his band surprise the patrons of it with a concert. It is worth a watch on Youtube –

As I write this, I have no idea what Beatle the other contributors have chosen. I am guessing that many of the pieces will be very music related. While I feel mine is also a bit music related, I also feel that what made Paul stand out to me was Paul being Paul. Paul, years away from the Beatles, talking about those days, the music, the memories, and the rest of the band. Paul, looking back at those early days that influenced and brought him to where he is today.

Not too long ago, country singer George Strait said he was done touring. George is 72. Sir Paul is 82 and still out there playing for sold out crowds for hours at a time. He is an artist who is always trying something new, while never forgetting his roots. He has a passion for the music and for his fans. He just seems to be that guy who’d be fun to hang out with.

Thanks to Dave for asking me to be a part of Turntable Talk. Thanks for another great topic. I love writing for it and love to see the responses from the other music lovers. Until next month … Thanks for reading.

Friday Photo Flashback

I have a few bloggers that I follow who always answer the daily writing prompt offered up by WordPress. With the features I am currently running, I don’t have much need for a prompt every day, but do jot down ones that I would like to come back to. This week one of the prompts was: List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

I had to struggle to come up with three, but one of those would definitely be to get back in radio. A joke told by radio people everywhere is that you don’t work in radio for the money. Sadly, this isn’t a joke! The pay for on air personalities is not very substantial. Another joke, that is not a joke, is that a person who works in radio’s wardrobe consists of a pair of jeans and T-shirts from all the radio stations that they have worked at.

There was no money in that job, but I loved doing it. I found a photo that must have been taken by an intern, a visitor to the station, or my now ex-wife. This photo had to be taken right about the year 2000. I am wearing a full beard, so it must have been taken in the fall. I am still wearing glasses, so I hadn’t had my Lasik surgery yet.

I was probably doing the Mid-day shift at the time. The clock on the wall is at 10:30 in the uncropped picture read 10:30 (most likely AM). I have me feet propped up on the counter, so I am probably playing a nice 4-5 minute set of commercials.

I loved this studio. There was one thing that I hated, and they eventually fixed. Under the microphone you see a cabinet with some knobs on the right. You can’t see it, but inside there was our main computer that ran all the music. It was a touch screen. On that screen, you would see the songs coming up, commercials and a set of “hot keys” on the right for things you use on a regular basis. It sort of looked like:

The problem was that the screen sat inside that cabinet on an angel. With the microphone right above it, all it took was a small bit of spittle from your mouth to land somewhere on that screen and it would (1) start playing something that shouldn’t be playing, (2) fire song after song after song after song in rapid succession, (3) turn your microphone on (when it was supposed to be off), or (4) stop something that is playing on the air. It was an awful set up. One sneeze and you could burn through three hours of music in 25 seconds.

Eventually, they brought the screen up and put in a mixer board, which worked much better. It looked like this:

Back to my picture. Directly above that cabinet was a shelf where the liner book sat. It was full of the station information that we read throughout the show. If we were going to be out doing an appearance, the info for it was in there. Various scripts for weather forecasts, artist and concert information, and sponsorship information was all found in that book.

I won’t lie, I laughed out loud when I saw that big honking computer monitor that is behind me. That was the computer that we used to record phone calls. There was a digital editor on it so we could cut out stuff that we didn’t want in a hurry. Digital editing was so much faster than when we had to edit on reel to reel tape.

On the left side of the picture and behind me (to my right) you can sort of see a few CDs in a rack. Those were there in case something ever happened to the automation system. If it had to be rebooted, we’d have a few songs that we could play from CD. In some cases, we had burned CDs with an hour of music on it in case the computer needed to be down longer. Worse case scenario, we could go next door to the news room and do a very limited version of the show from in there, but that took some shuffling around.

In the bottom right corner of my photo, you can see the phone bank next to the cabinet. We had three lines that were request lines. We also could answer the business phone after hours and there was a hotline that the boss could call us on during the show. Prior to contests, we could “block” the lines so people couldn’t start calling in before we asked them too. (And yes, if we asked for caller number 95, we actually answered and counted. “B-95, You’re caller 1, B-95. You’re caller 2 ….”)

The final thing that sticks out to me in this photo is in front of the phone bank. My Sony headphones. I loved those headphones. I had quite a few pairs of “cans” throughout my career, but those Sony’s were my favorite. I beat the snot out of those things and they always worked. I can’t tell you how many times I dropped those thing, but they always kept working. If I remember correctly, I ran over the cord with the chair wheel and it sliced the cord. I wound up buying another (cheaper) pair, which sounded good, but it had a thinner cord and it shorted out after a few months.

Eventually, I bit the bullet and bought another pair of them. They now sit in a box with my DJ equipment gathering dust.

Sigh. I miss radio….

Life’s Little Moments

You may remember that last year we redid all the boards on our side porch. I never did get the chance to stain it because of the weather. It took me a week or two, but on days when I had time and the weather was right, I got out and did it.

Here you see the first coat and the original wood. The boards really soaked up the stain, so I put a second coat on and it looks great!

Now I have to get out and stain the columns. I have a white stain that should really make them look good.

This weekend, after a slight bout with vertigo, I was able to head to the Homecoming parade and football game. The kids love the parade (because they get candy!) It was a good parade with a lot of floats, kids from the schools, and of course, my favorite – the band.

This year, the weather was great, so they were actually playing songs. Last year, the band walked and did some chants or something.

The team looked great and would go on to have a homecoming win. This is Sam’s brother’s senior year, so it extra special to see them play.

When the halftime show happened, I was a little baffled. When I was in band, the halftime show consisted of four or five songs. The band played two songs and (as I have complained about before) there were times where the xylophones had the melody and no one in the stands could hear it. I will never understand why those things are on a marching band field. When the rest of the band played, they sounded good.

It was a bit bizarre, though, as their show was about outer space or the planets or something. On the field, they had these four big “planets” on some sort of “planet holder” on wheels. There were people whose job was to move these planets around on the field. It was … strange. It’s hard to tell in the picture, so I circled the planets for you. All in all, I wanted to hear more music.

I was thrilled to see many parents there with shirts that read “I’m with the band.” I had forgotten how many people in the stands just blow the band off. That makes me so mad. Those kids work hard to put on that show and you’ve got people standing in the bleachers, blocking the view of the field, or just talking loudly while you are trying to listen. Sigh. I wish more people had some respect for the band.

Now that I work Fridays, I rarely get to see events like this, unless it falls on Saturday, and so it all worked out this weekend.

I love time with the family!

Lots to tackle over the next few days – praying I have the strength.

The Music of My Life – 1989

Before we get into the music, I have to take a moment to mark a blogging milestone. This blog will be the 1400th blog I have written since the Nostalgic Italian site went live.

1400 posts and here you are still reading. For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am glad that you are here. Now, let’s celebrate by going back to 1989…. when I turned 19.

As I sorted through the singles from 1989, I noticed that there were a lot of duets recorded that year. After All from Peter Cetera and Cher, Don’t Know Much and All My Life from Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville, were just a few of them. No duets made my list, however, as I just didn’t feel any of them connected with me enough to bump the ten songs I picked.

I grew up listening to Roy Orbison. He was a favorite for a long time. I used to ask my dad to play his songs on the stereo all the time as a kid. In 1988, Roy saw his career take on new life. He recorded with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan as part of the group The Traveling Wilburys (More on them in a moment) and had recorded a brand new album (Mystery Girl) in November of 1988.

On December 6, 1988, I was at the radio station when an “Urgent” Bulletin came across the AP Newswire stating that Roy had died after having a heart attack. I had never met Roy, but his music was such a big part of my life that seeing the story upset me quite a bit.

You Got It was the first single released from the Mystery Girl album in January of 1989. Orbison wrote the song with his Wilbury friends, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. Lynne produced the track and also played guitar, keyboards and bass; Petty played acoustic guitar and sang backup. It would reach #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #9 on the Top 40 chart.

Orbison performed this song just once: at the Diamond Awards Festival in Antwerp, Belgium on November 19, 1988. This performance was used as the song’s music video.

You Got It

Every interview I have seen with the guys from the Traveling Wilburys always has them saying how wowed they were by having Roy in their group. When Jeff Lynne was asked about the recording sessions, he said, “Everybody just sat there going, ‘Wow, it’s Roy Orbison!’ … Even though he’s become your pal and you’re hanging out and having a laugh and going to dinner, as soon as he gets behind that [microphone] and he’s doing his business, suddenly it’s shudder time.”

Roy was in the group’s first video (for Handle With Care), and was set to travel to London a couple days after he passed away. One of those videos was for The End of the Line. One of the reasons that I love this video is that the group gives a heartfelt tribute to their friend. When Roy’s vocal happens, we see Roy’s guitar in a rocking chair next to a framed photo of Roy.

The End of the Line

I have never seen the movie Road House. My mom liked it a lot, because she liked Patrick Swayze. Jeff Healey and his band were shooting scenes for the movie (and Jeff had many scenes with Swayze) and recording his See The Light album simultaneously. One of the cuts from this album was Angel Eyes.

I had never heard of Healey before this song. I had no idea that he was blind and marveled at the way he played his guitar (on his lap, like a piano). I was really blown away by his vocals and his guitar playing. He was discovered by two blues legends – Stevie Ray Vaughn and Albert Collins.

He toured and sat in with some fantastic people over the years including Buddy Guy, BB King, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, The Allman Brothers and Bonnie Raitt (just to mention a few.) While he is mainly known for his bluesy style, by the year 2000 he actually was releasing many jazz albums.

He loved music and he was an avid record collector. He amassed a collection of well over 30,000 old 78 rpm records. Starting in 1990 he hosted a radio program of very early jazz on CIUT at the University of Toronto with Colin Bray. Later he went national on CBC Radio’s program entitled My Kind of Jazz, in which he played records from his vast vintage jazz collection.

Too many people write him off as a “One hit wonder” act. His music is fantastic and this song is so soulful … he was a talent taken too soon.

Angel Eyes

“Hey, man! Have you heard that new song by Marvin Young?” I can’t even imagine what type of music someone called Marvin Young would be singing! However, Young MC just screams rap music, right?! I’ve never been a big rap fan, but there was just something about the baseline and the catchy lyrics that made this a favorite for me.

Bust a Move was a song that whenever I played it, the crowd always new the words and sang along. The verse that every one knows is “Your best friend, Harry, has a brother Larry, in five days from now he’s gonna marry…” The whole rhythm of that verse and the baseline fit so well together. I also like the fact that while there is some sexual innuendo, there is no profanity in the song.

Interesting story from songfacts.com: Flea from The Red hot Chili Peppers played bass on this song and appears in the video, but he didn’t reap the rewards. He explained to Bass Player magazine: “I have a bitter taste in my mouth about that, because I feel as though I got ripped off. The bass line I wrote ended up being a major melody of the tune, and I felt I deserved songwriting credit and money because it was a #1 hit. They sold millions of records, and I got $200! Afterwards, my lawyer told them, ‘You should throw down Flea some cash,’ but the record company said, ‘We told him exactly what to play.’ No one was even in the room at the time but me and the engineer! It was ridiculous, but I learned from it.”

It was one of the first rap records to cross over to the mainstream charts. It went to #7! Young MC recalled to Rolling Stone: “People looked at rap and hard rock as the type of music that you slam your door after you argue with your parents, and bang your head in defiance. My record wasn’t necessarily rebellious, but it was clever enough to grab in a decent segment of people that didn’t listen to rap music.”

Bust a Move

The next song is one that I used to play for my prom date, Karen, after we started dating. This and Just You and I from Eddie Rabbit and Crystal Gayle were “our songs.” I remember the first time I heard Luther Vandross sing Here and Now. I remember how powerful the lyric was and just how perfect his voice was for the song.

Karen and I dated for a bit and broke up around 1990, only to get back together a year or so later before breaking up after another year or so. Somewhere during that time I had made her a mix tape of love songs. This was just one of many that made it to that tape.

It was hard for me after we broke up because I was DJing a lot of weddings and this was a very popular Bride and Groom song. I almost always had to put headphones on and listen to something else while it played. Today, I can listen to it and it doesn’t bother me, but at the time, it brought about a lot of pain.

Here and Now

My next tune is one that I have featured before and I wrote about how it was helpful to me post-divorce. You can read about it here:

Tune Tuesday – I’m On My Way

I’m On My Way

I have said many times that Willie Nelson always seemed to have one song on each album that I connected with personally. Many times it was more than that. In 1989, he released a fantastic album entitled “A Horse Called Music.” On the album is a cut that was co-written by Mike Reid (who played five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and had a brief country singing career) called There You Are.

I had heard the song many times when listening to the album, but it wasn’t until after the final break up with Karen (see above) that the song really hit me hard. At the time, I was still wrapped up in feelings and hated that we were not together. I found myself thinking about her more than I should have been, especially since she had moved on with her life. Then I heard this song…

I could have written this song! It literally was exactly what was happening to me. For no reason, she’d pop into my head. It was never bad things, it was always some good memory of when we were together. The string arrangement and Willie’s vocal convey those feelings in such a magnificent way. It is beautifully sad …

I had never seen the video for this song until I searched for it today. Willie cleans up pretty good…

There You Are

When you make a list of great songwriters – Leiber and Stoller always are on that list. The next song was written by Oliver Leiber, the son of Jerry Leiber of that aforementioned team. Oliver had already written a couple songs for Paula Abdul (Forever Your Girl and The Way That You Love Me) when he got a call saying that the label needed one more song for her album. That song would be Opposite Attract.

From songfacts: This song evolved into a duet with a cartoon cat named MC Skat Kat, who was actually the duo The Wild Pair. Oliver Leiber explains: “I wrote it all from the perspective of one person singing it. It wasn’t initially a duet. It was saying, ‘I like this and you like that.’ It was basically: I like potatoes, and you like po-tah-toes, all from one singer’s perspective. But I had these two singers I had been working with – Marvin Gunn and Tony Christian. They’re the guys that sang on Prince’s “Kiss” and they were incredibly soulful funky singers that I had been using as part of my sound on the first two tracks I did with Paula, helping to preserve the Minneapolis sound, because they sounded very Prince-y and it really added something to Paula’s vocals.

Basically, he had the Wild Pair sing the entire song and then got Paula to cut her lines later. He wasn’t happy with the original mix, which is why the album and the single versions sound so different.

In the video, the real Paula interacted with the animated MC Skat Kat. The concept of Paula dueting with a cat came from Anchors Aweigh, a movie where Gene Kelly dances with the mouse from Tom & Jerry. The video was directed by Michael Patterson and his wife Candace Reckinger, who also created the MC Skat Kat character and animation. Patterson said: “Gene Kelly loved it; he was a friend of Paula’s. Gene was also an inspiration to Candace and I.”

Fun Fact: Patterson and Reckinger got their start in music videos when they created the iconic clip for a-ha’s Take On Me

I loved the Gene Kelly and Jerry Mouse dance, so naturally, I loved this video (and Paula) too!

Opposites Attract

Before I knew the song was about Elvis, I really loved the sound of Black Velvet by Alannah Miles. It was considered a power ballad, but to me it sounded more like a good blues song. Miles’ voice had that bluesy and sultry voice that fit with the groove of the song perfectly.

The story of how the song came to be is a good one. Co-writer Christopher Ward, who was Myles’ then-boyfriend, was inspired on a bus full of Elvis fans riding to Memphis attending the 10th Anniversary Vigil at Graceland, in 1987. Upon his return to Canada, he brought his idea to Myles and producer David Tyson, who wrote the chords for the bridge. The song was one of three in a demo Myles presented to Atlantic Records, which eventually got her signed to the label.

Songfacts provides a bit of lyric analysis:

“Black velvet and that little boy’s smile” – You can buy a black velvet Elvis painting at any respectable yard sale. Early female fans were drawn to his “Little boy smile.”

“Black velvet with that slow southern style” – Elvis delivered some of his songs with slow, undulating hips. Check out “Steamroller Blues” live.

“Up in Memphis the music’s like a heatwave” – Sun Studios. The epicenter of early rock music and where Elvis recorded.

“Love Me Tender leaves ’em cryin’ in the aisle” – Love Me Tender was a huge hit for Elvis in 1956.

“The way he moved, it was a sin, so sweet and true” – Elvis’ legendary hips swivel, the Pelvis.

“Every word of every song that he sang was for you. In a flash he was gone, it happened so soon, what could you do?” – Elvis died suddenly in 1977.

Black Velvet

For me, the last song for this week is something that I continue to work on in my personal life. In my first marriage and throughout that period of my life, I just found it easier to back down and make everyone happy. I did this even if it made me unhappy. It is challenging to stand your ground and not back down from what you believe in or what you feel is right.

Tom Petty’s song was helpful to him as well. Before recording his Full Moon Fever album, an arsonist burned down his house while he was in it with his family and their housekeeper. They escaped, but Petty was badly shaken and spent much of the next few months driving between hotel rooms and a rented house.

Songfacts says that: It was on these drives that he came up with many of the songs for the album; the fire was a huge influence, especially on this song. Petty felt grateful to be alive, but also traumatized – understandable considering someone had tried to kill him. “I Won’t Back Down” was his way of reclaiming his life and getting past the torment – he said that writing and recording the song had a calming effect on him.

The song was used as a patriotic anthem after the September 11th terrorist attacks. Regarding that, Tom said: “The song has also been adopted by nice people for good things, too. I just write them, I can’t control where it ends up.”

The song has a Wilburys connection. The video features Ringo Starr on drums, with Wilburys’ George Harrison and Jeff Lynne on guitar. Harrison did play on the track and contributed backing vocals, but Ringo had nothing to do with the song itself.

I Won’t Back Down

That’s it for the 1980’s! We’ll dive into a brand new decade next week. 1990 was a good year for music. Starting in the 1990’s my music choices tended to lean a bit more country as far as new stuff. In 1990 alone, I could have picked 10 country songs for the list. I didn’t, but I could have.

Next week’s list will feature and interesting mix of music, largely due to the radio station where I was working at the time … some classic rock, some soulful songs, and big pants ….

Did I miss a favorite of yours from 1989? Tell me all about it in the comments. See you next week.

Tune Tuesday – September Song

43 years ago today, I experienced the loss of a loved one for the first time. I was 11 years old when my maternal grandfather passed away after having a heart attack while on a business trip.

My grandparents had a trailer that they purchased up in Caseville, Michigan and we spent a lot of time up there in the summer. In September, we’d go up and they’d get ready to lock it up for the winter. I remember those days as being very chilly. When I would come back inside, my glasses would fog up.

At the trailer the first year they had it, they didn’t have a TV right away. So we had a radio to listen to. I don’t remember there being many stations, and that was probably the reason they had many albums on cassette.

The two that seemed to get the most play were Johnny Paycheck’s Greatest Hits Volume 2 and Willie Nelson’s Stardust. My grandpa loved that Willie album and once said that September Song was his favorite on the album.

When he passed away in September, the song and the album began to mean a whole lot more to me. I’d like to think that him and my grandma share heavenly dances to September Song today. I sure do miss them both.

Dancing in our basement at my first communion party.

The Stardust album is in my top five albums of all time. In honor of my Grandpa, here is Willie Nelson’s version …

Movie Music Monday – Planes, Trains and Automobiles

One of the great holiday films is Planes, Trains and Automobiles with John Candy and Steve Martin. It’s a John Hughes classic. It can have you laughing one minute and crying the next.

Martin and Candy are brilliant together. They play so well off of each other and the adventure to get home is full of bumps along the way.

In one of my favorite scenes, John Candy is driving while Steve Martin is sleeping. Ray Charles comes on the radio and Candy begins playing air piano.

In honor of the legendary Ray Charles’ birthday today (he was born on this day in 1930), here is the song and the movie scene (with edited version of the song).

Happy birthday, Ray Charles!