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Live For Ireland — 411

ALBUM: Live for Ireland (Recorded 1986)

MVC Rating: 3.0/$$$

It was the Irish version of Live Aid, with U2 kicking it all off with an anguished soul-killing version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Maggie’s Farm.’ I still can’t tell if that’s good or bad. Probably had to be there.

A general statement first. I don’t particularly care for most live records. ‘Most’ I say.”  I like Cheap Trick’ and Dylan’s separate live albums from Budokon.

The Rolling Stones ‘Get your Ya Ya’s Out’ is old school rock concert stuff. I’ve heard cuts off Nirvana Unplugged that are surprisingly  good live acoustic versions.

But it’s likely  it was all probably better live, seeing about a dozen or two dozen Irish acts during a 14-hour marathon.

Some of the acts included: Tua Nua, U2, Chris Rea, Clannad, Van Morrison, The Boomtown Rats, Chris De Burgh, and a new version of Thin Lizzy which months earlier lost their frontman Phil Lynott due to a fatal drug overdose.

De Burgh’s expansive organ and guitar laden, ‘Don’t Pay the Ferryman,’ was a chartmaker in the US. DeBurgh’s MOR/classic rock style served them well in the oudoor venue

Christy  Moore did a nice Irish song called Back in Derry which seemed to resonate.

The Irish concert’s goal was to help  unemployment, which was a major  national problem.

Thin Lizzy without Phil Lynott, lineup used in Self-Aid concert.

The Boomtown Rats — 629

According to its Wikipedia page:  The telethon raised millions of pounds for a job creation trust fund as well as over 1,000 job pledges.[The song chosen for the finale was “Let’s Make it Work”, written by Christy Moore and Dublin songwriter Paul Doran. Tributes were paid to Phil Lynott who had died just 4 months earlier, including a performance by a reformed Thin Lizzywith Gary Moore on lead vocals.[

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Bits and Pieces: I hope Casey Kasem was a jerk on his own

The Dave Clark Band’s ‘Bits and Pieces’ is a bad song made worse by a bad video.  Check it out.

And I generally like DC5 songs, such as  ‘Glad all Over.’ But ‘Bits and Piece’s’ is a good title for a blog post that has, well, bits and pieces.

And that’s what this is.

I ruminate on this as I come out of my recent post on one-hit wonders. I like most of the songs on my personalized wonder list. But I considered and tossed out a couple because they weren’t good.

I was reminded of this when I visited another music blog today, and it was featuring a post about Henry Gross and the love-hate relationship with the song ‘Shannon.’ Oh the memories. See this well-done website called SliceTheLife  

I dislike — but secretly like  –Shannon, kind of like ‘Brandy’ by the Looking Glass.. But seeing this post reminded there was an album by Gross called ‘Plug Me into Something’ that I remember hearing every time  I visited a friend’s house. I have fond memories of that record but never bought it for whatever reason, probably because I heard it so much without paying for it. The friend also had the Brothers Johnson ‘Strawberry Letter 23,” which I did buy (the album,  Right on Time, and is reviewed here.

Anyway the thing that had me laughing today was the Casey Kasem, he of Top 40 fame, go off the rails on Gross’ song, Shannon, about a dead dog. SliceThe Life gives more detail on that. Here’s the video.

Casey Kasem died a few years ago of complications of Lewy body dementia.

That’s of course the disease I have and awareness of the disease is a big part of this blog and my life.

I hope those weren’t early signs of LBD.

I hope Casey was just having a bad day and being a  jerk on his own. But the fact is that this insidious disease can change personalities and behavior.

I am here to tell you readers, you have the right to shut me down if I act like that. I don’t advocate violence (especially against myself) but put a piece of duct tape over my mouth or something. Or just give me some ice cream, Chunky Monkey is fine.

In other bits and pieces. I see that, ironically I guess, the song by Europe called “The Final Countdown” was named one of the top all time one-hit wonders.

My Vinyl Countdown Salutes you. Here’s what VH1 said in this somewhat dated  release:

On VH1’s 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, [Europe’s] Joey Tempest said: “It was quite a surprise that the song ‘The Final Countdown’ became such a big hit because it was written for the band, it was written for our concert, it was written to be the opening song in our concert. It was almost six-minutes long, it was never intended to be a short pop hit or anything, it was very much a surprise and its been used for all kinds of events, anything from Formula 1 to boxing. It’s been used for a lot, sort of like an anthem. I know there’s been some cover versions of it as well and I know when the Berlin Wall (fell), at the same time that all thing happened I know a lot of other people from that area saw the song as an anthem. I get a lot of letters about that. So its been interpreted in many ways.”

And again My Vinyl Countdown salutes you.

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One wonders about these one-hit wonders — 10 best from My Vinyl Countdown

This is an opinion column by Mike Oliver who writes about  his diagnosis of Lewy body dementia and other issues at AL.com and  on his blog myvinylcountdown.com

Isn’t that it? We like to read and listen to one-hit wonders because it makes us wonder. We wonder, well, what happened to him or her or them?

We ask: “They were so good. Why didn’t they have another hit?”

“Did something tragic happen?

Oooh and it makes you wonder. Am I a one-hit wonder — in my life?”

How must the one-hit wonders feel? Working for years without another hit. Having to play that one hit as the last song at every concert gig It’s like George Reeves who played Superman in the TV show not being able toget another good job because he had been typecast.

One wonders and worries, perhaps, but they are fascinating. I’m not going to go into any deep analysis here about the psychology or analyze why some hit big only once.

But I’m going to list the top 10 one-hit wonders from My Vinyl Countdown blog. This comes from a list of my 678 albums, of which about 225 are on this blog

I’ve vowed to finish them all before I die.

I’m pulling my list from the 225 or so that I have already reviewed. We’ll  do another list down the road. Remember, this is my collection, mainly bought in the 1970s and 1980s.

It’s worth pointing out that some very fine artists never make it the Billboard 100.  This is not meant to be a complete list, it’s a list of songs that I  like and that make me wonder why the artist never broke through again. I have a low bar, these aren’t No. 1 Billboard  songs. Could be any on the top 100.

  1. Song: Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me.)  Artist:. Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. This charted (barely) at 96 in the U.S. in 1976 but was No. 1 in England. I had this on a live album called ‘Face to Face’ but never paid much attention — it was the last song on a 2-disc live album I  picked up in Athens, Ga., I then found out the song was on one of my compilations records as well, but I’ve only recently come to appreciate its cool-ness  and catchiness.
  2. Song: Sweet Mary. Artist: Wadsworth Mansion. This catchy tune sounds like it came out of the Beach Boy’s treasure chest or Jan and Deans garage.  The song went to No. 7 on the Billboard 100. Despite releasing other songs, the band never had another track crack the 100. And you wonder how a band  with a name like that could go wrong. (I love the speeded up outro: Chickie-chickie-chick is your heart a-break. Chickie-chickie-chick is your heart a-break
  3. Song: A Good Heart. Artist:  Feargal Sharkey. This song was also catchy as heck and went No. 1 in the UK charts but only saw No. 76 in the U.S in 1985. Despite some great songs, nothing else went Top 100 US for him. Before his solo career, Sharkey was known for fronting the Irish band ‘The Undertones,’ a significant contributor to the power-pop New Wave movement. Its hard to listen to this song and not sing-surf along to Sharkey’s powerful voice on the chorus. My personal favorite, from the same album, is a song called ‘You Little Thief’ which did well overseas but didn’t chart in the U.S.
  4. Song: Money Changes Everything. Artist: The Brains. This song, one of the all time great rock songs, was covered by Cindi Lauper and  became a worldwide hit charting at No. 27  on the U.S. Billboard 100 in 1985. It was an underground hit for The Atlanta, Ga.-based Brains, were fronted by Tom Gray who wrote and recorded the song. Athough the bands work was crtically acclaimed, they never matched the Money success. They have several albums which I review here.
  5. Song: Resurrection Shuffle. Artist: Ashton Gardner & Dyke. This song is one  of two songs I know of that have your backbone slipping in the lyrics. The other is Land of a 1,000 Dances, which is as danceable as this one, which is pretty high praise because they are high on the danceability scale. The group had several albums and released several singles but nothing that made the charts. Resurrection Shuffle however hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the States in 1971. Tom Jones and Clarence Clemons are among those who  have covered this song.
  6. Song: A Million Miles Away. Artist: The Plimsouls. I’m stretching my own rules here by picking something off of an album I haven’t reviewed yet. I am in the ‘H’s’ as I count these down. However, I have a good explanation. The band has Peter Case in it, whom I have already reviewed.   This is a great song, and I’m sure they would have had more had they stayed together. One might remember this song (and the Plimsouls playing it), from the 80’s movie ‘Valley Girl.’
  7. Song: Slow Dancing. Artist: The Funky Kings. Most have never heard of the Funky Kings. I reviewed them recently on this  blog here. They were a pleasant laid back southern California band that left little lasting impression. Slow Dancing however became a hit on the Easy Listening charts and a Johnny Rivers cover did even better. It’s nice.  It’s a high school slow dance song. It’s the kind of song that becomes a memory touchstone if you happened to be exposed to it at the right age.
  8. Song: Sunshine. Artist: Jonathan Edwards. When you hear this song it sounds like you’ve heard it all your life, even if it’s the first time. That’s the sign of a timeless song and this is a good one. The question is (and I wonder) what happened to Edwards. He did other records,  two other songs nearly cracked the top 100. He did some acting. But he never came close to matching the power and popularity of ‘Sunshine.’
  9. Song: Telstar. Artist: The Tornadoes. This instrumental sounds like a classic, like you heard it somewhere before. The band was comprised of successful backing  musicians and had numerous hits in the UK. Telstar, however, was their only US  hit as far as I  can tell. But it did well: No. 1. Not bad for a  pop song with no words.
  10. Song: Driver’s Seat. Artist: Sniff ‘n’ the Tears. Okay I’m cheating. I haven’t reviewed this one yet but I wanted to close strong. This is just a great piece of driving, rocking pop fluff. A little bit like ‘Radar Love’ in that it is a  good driving song. But this band was truly a one-hit wonder. One and done.
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John Hurley — 412

NOTE: This was updated July, 2020, to reflect that when I did the original post I did not know about his other two albums. I began to do a litte research on this native of Pittsburgh and session musician in Nashville, and some in Muscle Shoals as well. Since I wrote the original column, I launched an unsuccessful search for a friend or relative. He died too early in his 1950s  (It appears that he also had a Birmingham link in that he did some recording here as well.) I’ve not found family or friends but I quit pursuing because I felt like I would leave them alone and if they wanted to talk, they would contact me). Any way bottom line. I liked the other two albums better than One More Hallelujah. I have upgraded Hallelujah from 3.5 to 4.0; and the other two I’m grading to 4.5’s each. He was not only a great songwriter but also a great country-blues singer. I mean great.

ALBUM: John Hurley Delivers One More Hallelujah (1971)

MVC Rating: 3.5/$$

Not exactly a household name, John Hurley finishes up my “H’s” as I countdown my collection of 678 records.’

This gospel-soul singer is probably best known for co-writing the classic ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ with the famous line: ‘The only man who could ever reach me was the son of a preacher man.’

The song was originally written for Aretha Franklin but when there were some delays in getting the Aretha version done and published,  Wikipedia says the song was considered too gospel for the particular album Aretha was working on.

Dusty Springfield recorded it, and it became a massive hit.

Hurley was a fine singer as well as a songwriter but he only put out three albums. He died at 45 from liver failure and cerebral hemorrhage, according to his Wikipedia page.

He wrote songs with Ronnie Wilkins, for a while in Nashville. Some who have covered his songs include The Everly Brothers, Waylon Jennings and Wayne Newton.

The much-covered “Song of the Common People” was written by the two (see video below, a poignant tribute put together by his family).

The title song on the album  I have is a full-throated gospel number that almost crosses over the gospel- secular divide with its chorus-backed soul belting of Hurley.

If you like soul or gospel, this is a  strong consistent album, top to bottom by an artist who deserves a little more recognition. As oneYouTuber put it: “Another buried treasure. What an amazing, unjustly forgotten career.”

Footnote: I picked this from a used record bin thinking I was buying something from Michael Hurley and  the Holy Modal  Rounders which I had read about and was looking for the name ‘Hurley’ and just snagged it without remembering that it was the wrong first name.  Glad I did snag it.

But still looking for that Michael Hurley record.

PPS: Larry Carlton plays guitar on this  Hurley record.

A tidbit came to me before I could close out: In the 90’s, the reggae-American group Cypress Hill, sampled “Son of a Preacher Man,’ put it in a song called “Hits from the Bong.”

That  added even more to a growing audience for that song, contributing royalties for the songwriters.

Click for story I did about Love of the Common People.

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Buddy Holly and the Crickets — 413

ALBUMS: Buddy Holly Lives  — 20 Golden Greats (1978 compilation)

MVC Rating: 5.0/$$$$$

I used this formula in a previous review and it is simplistic. Great artists are more than the sum total of who they listened to. But my lttle equation is: Chuck Berry + Buddy Holly = Beatles. It’s not an equation of who is best, it’s an equation of influences.

I tried to mess around with the Rolling Stones which might be Chuck Berry + Howlin’ Wolf = Stones? Didn’t work for me really. The Beatles clearly were taking in everything Holly was doing. “True Love Ways,” sounds like the Fab Four.

Listen to  ‘Rave On‘ with your eyes closed and you can practically see the Beatles up on stage singing that song.  Same with ‘Words of Love.’

The Beatles named themselves in homage to the Crickets.

Of course most are familiar with the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens. It was the Day the Music Died as proclaimed by  one of rock’s great songs, ‘American Pie.’

You can get a modern version of Holly in Marshall Crenshaw — who seemed to channel Holly on some very good records in the 1980s. But had Holly lived, he would have probably been pioneering  in a way beyond Crenshaw — like the Beatles were. Though intriguing, we’ll obviously never know what kind of music Holly would have brought us.

And with all due respect to Don McLean, musicians die, but the music, when it’s really really good, lives on.

Rave on, Buddy Holly.