Old Enough to Forget

Good gravy here were are enjoying the lazy dog days of summer and thankfully the basements is still relatively cool compared to the rest of the house. The tunes are cranked and I'm annoying everyone in the house. Life is good. I suppose the most interesting thing to me in this bunch of records was hearing Leo Sayer's Living in a Fantasy , an album that fits with Cliff Richard's early '80s output produced by Alan Tarney. Man there was some good stuff coming in the early to mid '80s. Leo Sayer - Living in a Fantasy (1980) Christopher Cross -  Every Turn of the World (1985) Chalk Circle - The Great Lake (EP) (1986) Cliff Richard - Wired for Sound (1981) Red Rockers - Schizophrenic Circus (1984) Leo Sayer - Living in a Fantasy (1980) Man, had I known how good this album was I'd have gotten it years ago. I really, really liked the songs Alan Tarney produced with Cliff Richard. Oddly Cliff had a huge hit with "Dreamin'" in 1980, a song produced and ...

Back in '82 Larry Norman was top lining a slew of releases into the North American market with "Larry Norman Presents." At the time I had no idea these were merely repackaged releases. The Gap had come out a couple of years earlier, but in '82 this was the first time I'd seen or heard of Bryn Haworth, and it seemed intriguing. At the time, any association with secular artists was an odd badge of honour and here was Bryn Haworth with the Eric Clapton Band: Dave Markee, Chris Stainton, Henry Pinetti and Bruce Rowland. Well, that must mean something. I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't expecting what I got.  It was different, but man was it ever good.  At this point Toto IV was out, and that was constantly on my turntable, along with their earlier release Turn Back . Resurrection Band had dropped D.M.Z. and "Military Man" was one of my favourite songs. My goodness Stu Hess was near the top of my favourite guitar players ... a list that was cons...

Here we are, five months in and holding steady. I'm not sure this is worth continuing, but for me these little snack size tidbits are perfect when I don't have a lot to say, but there was something worth jotting down. Whether it was worth your time or not is a separate issue, and I make no guarantees this will be a worthwhile. For all you know, this is a cheese shop, or I could just be deliberately wasting your time, and I don't have any cheese. Five for Fighting No.5 Dave Loggins - Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop) (1974) Rick Derringer - Sweet Evil (1977)  Cliff Richard - I'm Nearly Famous (1976) Little River Band - First Under the Wire (1979) Harlequin - Harlequin (1984) Dave Loggins - Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop) (1974) I still find it strange looking at cover pictures from the early '70s, everyone looked so wise and world weary - and old. Looking at the stylized photo of Dave Loggins on the cover you'd think you were looking at an elder statesman...

Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile came out in '79, and I remember the song "Carrie" being played on the radio, and then being somewhat confused when a very similar version by Cano singing with an audible French Canadian accent actually outperformed the original here in Canada. When he released "Devil Woman" in 1976 I was hooked. It was a song I really liked but I never picked up any of his albums. It wasn't until I saw a buddy of mine at the mall holding a copy of Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile in the early '80s and I must have given him a little goofy look (which is honestly just my resting face) and he got all defensive and went on about how good the record was and that I shouldn't be a snob about his choice in records. Well, I liked the aforementioned "Devil Woman" and I did like "Carrie" and I really liked "We Don't Talk Anymore" and had recently gotten into The Tarney/Spencer Band and at the time songs from I'...

The year was 1980, and disco was dead, but there was Xanadu shambling around groaning and looking for brains. The good thing about Xanadu was it was the head shot needed to finally put things right with the universe. The soundtrack was a big hit - and the movie, the swansong for the late Gene Kelly, was a hit spelled with an "S" at the front. I have a copy the movie and I'll likely watch it a month or two after digesting the soundtrack so I can try to emulate the experience of those that first found themselves exposed to the magic of Olivia Newton-John's latest movie. "Why get this if you're just going to dump all over it?" I'll tell you why. Because when I was 13 the cover for her 1976 album Come on Over was enchanting, and the picture from her 1974 release If You Love Me, Let Me Know was enthralling. It's embarrassing to think about now, but at the time I would sing along to the radio belting out "I Honestly Love you" and would wond...