Ready For the Weekend!

Clockwise: Album covers from Love & Kisses; Chicago; Blondie; and Bay City Rollers.

To kick off the first weekend of August, I thought I would reach back a few decades, and jam to a very special theme. So I went back not one, not two, and not even three decades. I went back four, to the 1970s, and looked to share some songs that captures the feeling of the weekend. I start with the year 1978, the year I graduated from Smyrna High School, and prepared for my freshman year of college. About the time I was preparing for graduation, a movie hits the streets that had a great influence on the songs of summer. This was perhaps the time when Disco was most popular, having put into overdrive with the release of 'Saturday Night Fever' the year before. 'Thank God It's Friday' gave Donna Summer the song that played at almost every dance I went to that year, "Last Dance". The soundtrack also included a the group Love & Kisses, put together by European producer Alec Costandinos. In fact, Costandinos also wrote their hit song "Thank God It's Friday", which also served as the title track from the film. This is Love & Kisses singing "Thank God It's Friday".

Now, there has been nothing I have enjoyed more than a wonderful weekend afternoon I could spend with friends or family, and that is the feeling the next song give me. Before Disco could take over the airwaves, bands scored pretty well with the public. As the 1970 began, the band Chicago was starting to build a great following, with the bold sound that combined the elements of Rock with the bold horns. They made it to the charts time and time again, and in 1972, they had their biggest hit to date when "Saturday in the Park" went to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It speaks to a wonderful afternoon, enjoying the summer weather, spent with people you care for. This song just makes me feel good. From 1972, this is Chicago singing "Saturday in the Park".

Great afternoons like that often led to fun times later that evening. And if you were listening to the Bay City Rollers in 1975, you know that the best night of the week was "Saturday Night". Five Scottish boys were just starting to take over the world with their music. Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Stuart Woody Wood, Eric Faulkner and Les McKeown were compared to the Beatles as their record sales soared all across the globe. Late in 1975, with the release of an anthemic song, The Bay City Rollers scored their first #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, adding the girls of another continent to their screaming fans. This is The Bay City Rollers with their huge hit, "Saturday Night".

As we started, so shall we end. Once again, I will return to 1978 for the final stop on the weekend tour. For a very long time, there was not a better part of the weekend than the time spent on Sunday morning and afternoon doing the Sunday Times crossword puzzle. But in the fall of that year, a Punk band from New York City released an album that had the public sitting up and listening. With the release of 'Parallel Lines', Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Clem Burke, Jimmy Destri, Nigel Harrison, and Frank Infante began a ride that changed the face of music. To bring the weekend to a close, I offer you "Sunday Girl", off the great album, featuring the perfect vocals of Debbie Harry.

Have a great weekend!

Dark Monday - Red Hot + Blue

Twenty years ago, the album Red Hot + Blue was released. It featured the music of American musical theater legend Cole Porter and some of the top acts of the day, all to raise money and awareness for AIDS research. The album contained 20 cuts, and I found 17 videos for those cuts, and for the next several weeks, will be running them in this Monday night spot. The album was thought of as a fundraising tool, it also allowed the artists involved great freedom with their interpretation of Porter's music, making for a wide variety of styles on the album. We shall go through the album in the order that is on my CD, which I did purchase at the time.



Porter was an amazing talent, and some consider him one of the best LGBT songwriters, if not THE best. He started his Broadway career in 1915, when one of his songs appeared in a Broadway Revue. He was just 24 years old. He went on to write songs for the theater like Lets Do It, Let's Fall In Love, What Is This Thing Called Love, and Anything Goes. Despite having a whife of 35 years, most believed him to be gay, and the marriage one between two dear friends who gave one another space and freedom, while gaining both wider acceptance in the greater world at large.

I've Got You Under My Skin was written in 1936 for the MGM musical Born To Dance. Frank Sinatra had a hit with his version, as did the Four Seasons, better known today from Broadway's Jersey Boys. On the album, it was performed by the incredible Nenah Cherry, who retitled it Under My Skin. I loved her take on it, which was very new and fresh [at the time], and oh-so-appropriate for the song.



In The Still Of The Night was written for another MGM musical, this one named Rosalie. Originally published in 1937, the song was covered by countless artists, but the most well-known would be the Doo-Wop group Dion & the Belmonts. On the album, it was covered by The Neville Brothers, featuring the incredible voice of Aaron Neville.



You Do Something To Me was written in 1929 for the show Fifty Million Frenchmen, although more people know it from the cover versions. Everyone from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald had sung the song, and on this album, it was the Irish singer Sinead O'Connor who did the duties, and her version is pretty amazing!



The next track was Begin The Beguine, covered by Salif Keita. While a video was made, I was unable to find it. The song was written in 1935, and appeared in the Broadway show Jubilee. Keita is an Afro-Pop singer/songwriter from Mali, and definitely put his own spin on the song. Love For Sale followed, a song that first appeared on the Broadway stage in 1930 in a show called The New Yorkers. It was covered by Billie Holiday in 1945, and Harvey Fierstein in the movie version of Torch Song Trilogy. Here it was covered by Fine Young Cannibals with a rather sultry version. Unfortunately, this is one of two songs that did not have a video.

Written in 1939 for the musical Du Barry Was A Lady and sung by pin-up girl Betty Grable, and later added to the 1956 film High Society, sung by Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, Well, Have You Evah was classic Porter. On the album, it is performed to perfection by Debbie Harry & Iggy Pop.



Hope you enjoyed this, and I look forward to bringing you more in the coming weeks!

Christmas Music - Blondie

The seminal punk band of the late 70s and 80s, Blondie, seemed to be perched on the edge of a comeback. The band, featuring lead singer and tour de force Debbie Harry, broke on to the national scene in 1978 with the release of Parallel Lines. Yes, that was 31 years ago, and I know I wore out my copy of the record, and replaced it with a CD! From Heart of Glass to Hanging On The Telephone to One Way Or Another, this album was complete magic.



Anyway, the band released their version of We Three Kings recently, in preparation of a new release with new music due out in 2010! I can't wait. By the way, in the new video, Debbie looks great for a 64-year-old sex kitten!!



According to reports, Harry will be teaming up with original bandmates Chris Stein, Clem Burke and Jimmy Destri, as well as new members guitarist Paul Carbonara and bassist Leigh Foxx [both around since 1997], and Matt Katz-Bohen [who tours in place of Jimmy Destri]. In case you don't know why I am so excited, here are a couple of videos, for One Way Or Another (Live in 1979) and the original music video for Hanging On The Telephone.





You can visit their official website here, sign up for the mailing list, and get a free download of We Three Kings. Punk lives on!