I always had a soft spot for"Sentimental Lady" and "Ebony Eyes" the guy had a cocky weird swagger, and incorporated disco and strings but added a rock element through his guitar. I didn't really know a lot about him at the time. I knew he was in Fleetwood Mac, but I didn't know anything by them other than
Rumours so it wasn't really anything that carried any recognition.
Oddly enough it would be Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie who would produce his biggest hit "Sentimental Lady" and they would, along with Mick Fleetwood, play on the track as well. So at time at least it would appear that he left his old band on decent terms.
French Kiss dropped November 1977 and did pretty well, and considering a month later
Saturday Night Fever came out as disco enjoyed it's brief ascent to world dominance through Donna Summer, The Village People and Barry Gibb's tight pants nut-crushed falsetto. It was a terrible time if you had to live through it - those two years felt like an eternity (thankfully 1978 was in the middle of all that nonsense). Yeah, DISCO SUCKED - but then we'd secretly dance to it, when no one was looking. Even though we outwardly shit on KISS for going disco, who didn't love "I Was Made For Lovin' You" it was awesome, and you could dance to it.
Still here was Bob building a bridge between rock and disco and acting as a self appointed ambassador of cool. How many guys can get a wet willy in the ear and look cool? Bob can. Now other than the two songs on the radio, I'd never heard the album until now. My buddy Pete who had decent taste in music (he liked April Wine) had a copy on 8 track in his room. I remember asking him about it, and he sheepishly said something about it being pretty good. Don't ask me how I can remember shit like this. If I leave the room to get something I have no idea why I left the room.
I've played the album through a couple of times, and there are some pretty great songs here. Another track that really stands out is "Danchiva" that starts with lush strings and builds into a killer groove and I found myself bobbing my head and chair strutting.*
The same day I found French Kiss in a clearance bin (in remarkable shape too) in the next cart over there was a copy of The Other One released in November of 1979. Now I was curious as I had no point of reference and was intrigued. I know from reading up on his stuff he'd released an album in February of '79 called Three Hearts so I'm guessing he was feeling pretty creative and working to strike while the iron was hot. French Kiss went platinum, Three Hearts went gold, and The Other One broke the top 100 and this would be the trend for the remainder of his career.
The Other One kicks off with "Rebel Rouser" and is straight ahead power pop with the guitar front and centre. Musically this was more in line with a lot of the new wave rock that was starting to emerge. I'm a couple of tracks in, and this is already starting to push my happy buttons. Yeah, I've given this a spin and I'm going to play it again. This is really good, I can see this getting some decent play in the basement. Still this is a product of the time, and he was hardly two years removed from
French Kiss so it's not like he did a 180 from what people heard before, he just changed it up a little, and overall this was a really strong record. But like the A&R that taunted Tom Petty said, "I don't hear a single" - although that's not true "Don't Let Me Fall" was put out as it was more like his other hits. But it wasn't the strongest song on the album. The album closes with "Old Man of 17" which is a killer track, and closes out a much better than expected album.
Listening to both of these albums in succession you can tell he was a guitar player who sang. That's not a shot against Bob, it's a package deal. He has a swagger in his voice and playing that go together. I am now on the lookout for his Fleetwood Mac era contributions, and any of his other solo work. I may be late to the party, but at least I made it.
From "Old Man of 17"
I can see an angel coming
And he might be dressed in black
'Cause in the vicious month when the tide has turned
It's too late to go back
Ah but soon you got to face the angels
Just as naked as you came
The mystery is simple justice
You're born to reign
Sadly Bob suffered from spinal issues and would likely have ended up an invalid despite trying corrective surgery. I can't imagine the pain and suffering he went through prior to his death. Bob Welch died by suicide in 2012.
*chair strutting. The act of being too lazy to actually strut around the room, so you sit in a chair and try to look cool while bobbing your head and rolling your shoulders in time to the music (think Bert doing "The Pigeon" but sitting).
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