Walter Egan - Not Shy

Walter Egan is probably best known for his 1978 hit "Magnet And Steel" that featured backing vocals by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. It was one of those hits that seemed to be on the radio all the time back in the summer of '78.

One of the weird things about gold-selling singles is how muddy the waters are when you try and double check stuff. In this case I suspect Columbia moved a shitload of plastic 45s and declared it to be gold. I guess the suits figured they could save a buck and not pay to have RIAA certify the record. After all, it was a pretty big hit in the US and was also a decent hit here in Canada.

Not sure what this has to do with anything, other than I found it interesting that nothing showed in the RIAA database. The music business is show business and apparently there's no business like show business. The art of sleight of hand ...

Well, as often happens I've veered off into the weeds and am now trying to decide on calling for a Mulligan or going to the bag and digging out a wedge and trying to hack my way out to the fairway. How am I supposed to learn and get better if I can't make mistakes?

I'll drop the ball and take the penalty, and pick things up after the first paragraph, otherwise I end up deleting everything and you'll never get to see all the wonderfulness I had to abandon. Which, if I'm being honest, isn't a bad thing. Wonderfulness is a bit of an overstatement.

From what I gather Not Shy was released in March of '78 and by the summer "Magnet And Steel" with Stevie Nicks' distinctive backing vocals helped propel the song into the top 10. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours was still a big deal, and the association with Stevie and Lindsey certainly didn't hurt by adding a little name recognition.

The other song I knew here but had forgotten was the album's closer, "Hot Summer Nights," which honestly should have been the bigger single. The groove is infectious and it is frankly my favourite song on the record. I wonder if it went gold too.

If this was all I got for my money I'd have been happy. However, like Billy Mays used to say, "But wait, there's more!" Whoops, that's Ron Popeil ... does it matter? Now I'm thinking about K-Tel records and this is just going to skid into a ditch. Where was I? Right, if this was all I got for my money I'd have been happy.

Not Shy is a really solid record. It came out right on the cusp of new wave, but the music feels more rooted in the past and doesn't seem interested in creating something new. The songs are vintage rock and roll at their core, with just enough of a twist to make them sound fresh. It certainly didn't hurt having Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut as associate producers.

I found myself thinking he was working in parallel to Moon Martin, and in many ways, he was. I mentioned this to my wife as we were listening to Not Shy in the car. I expected her to say "Moon who?" Instead she listens for a bit and then says, "He sounds like Jethro Tull."

This really caught me off guard. I asked her what she meant, and she says it again, "Jethro Tull," and then starts to give me examples. She quickly qualified her stance ... "Not the music, the voice." I was still perplexed, but she doubled down. I knew the era of Tull she was referring to, as the album I made her listen to in the '80s was Crest Of A Knave. So I played it ... and then she said, "See, there. That's what he (Walter) sounds like." I still couldn't hear it, but apparently it was plain as day.

Speaking of the Fleetwood Mac connections, in addition to the production side, Lindsey assisted on guitar and backing vocals. Stevie Nicks sang backing vocals on a couple of songs in addition to "Magnet And Steel," and even Mick Fleetwood sat in on drums on two tracks.

While Stevie's contributions may have been that little sumthin sumthin that helped make "Magnet And Steel" pop, the secret sauce Walter employed throughout the album was Annie McLoone, who added backing and counter vocals to many of the songs. She was so good.

I picked this up initially because it had "Magnet And Steel" and I ended up with a collection of really great rock songs. I never expected this to be so good. Looking at this now, it's too bad Columbia was too cheap to pay RIAA to certify the album. Who knows, maybe an actual gold record would have helped introduce the record to more people. Walter may not have been shy, but perhaps if the label had been a little more outgoing, Walter wouldn't be a footnote.

On the subject of footnotes, and this one is a tad long, which is why it's at the bottom, here's one that bugged me until I could figure it out. The song "The Blonde In The Blue T-Bird" felt really familiar. The song itself is a giant nothing burger with special sauce ... but it was weirdly infectious at the same time. I'd find myself humming the song on occasion and stopping myself. Then it came to me. It wasn't that the song was familiar, it was another song that kept popping into my head. Holy thunderbird nuggets, this sounded like 38 Special. No, sorry - 38 Special's "Caught Up in You" shared some very specific musical DNA with Mister (now I will afford him respect) Egan.

"The Blonde In The Blue T-Bird"
"A moon-light night, the high-way shines ..."

"Caught Up in You"
"I ne-ver thought I'd see the day ..."

The vocal cadence, rhythm and progression are practically the same. Now admittedly, once the songs gain traction, the similarities quickly evaporate, but man, for a moment there it was uncanny. Considering the songs are separated by almost 5 years, who knows if Jim Peterik ever heard Not Shy. It's possible, but who knows. If he did, he was at least inspired by a deeper track and didn't simply default to "Magnet And Steel."