'Endless Flight' by Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer.

First reactions might include:

1. 1976 polyester Angel Flight matching suits
2. making out to 'When I Need You'
3. an appearance on The Muppet Show where he seemed strangely at home
4. a head of ridiculously curly hair on a white guy 

Not much after that, I'm guessing.

OK, now put that aside, and let's give this a try.

I have always had a fondness for things orchestral, so any pop song that tried to incorporate a orchestra track in their music got extra attention from me. And so it was with Leo Sayer's version of Andrew Gold's 'Endless Flight'.

Even though the album would produce 3 top ten hits that would be staples in his career for the next 40 years ('You Make Me Feel Like Dancing', 'When I Need You', 'How Much Love'),  his producers felt so strongly about their version of 'Endless Flight' that they used it as the title track of the album, though I doubt many remember it or have heard it. Musicians should check out who played on this album; it reads like the L.A. Hit Machine 'A-List' of studio players.

The guilt? Well, not much to the lyrical weight of things, and by the end of the track you've filled your Leo Sayer quota for the next year, but as we like to say here at Guilty Pleasures, "I like what they were trying to do there!"

Sure, 'Long Tall Glasses' was stupid fun, and Leo turned some of us on to Danny O'Keefe's with a nice version of 'Magdalena', but 'Endless Flight' was a nice attempt to bring a touch of class to a decent tune...that no one ever heard.

4 minutes of Leo per year; is that too much to ask?

Maybe...


-KO

"Beach Blanket Bingo" by Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon

The early 1960s was an amazing moment in time that saw new types of music being created while others enjoyed a resurgence: folk music was finding an audience with both traditional and protest artists that had folks flocking to their nearest department store to buy guitars, banjos, and a big note song book;  album soundtracks for big broadway musicals were the rage for the parents when the children were in the room (and bossa-nova records for when they weren't); rock and roll had five years under its belt and saw The Beatles hitting their stride, while their compatriots The Rolling Stones lead a British Invasion paying tribute to American blues artists that were under-appreciated here; even comedy albums from the popular comedians of the time were big sellers.

None of these new musical waves had more of an instantly recognizable sound as The Surf Music of California that would soon have groups all over the world trying to replicate it. The Beach Boys were the gold standard and would try to (and did!) give The Beatles a run for their money. With the surf music craze developing right there in Los Angeles, it didn't take long for the Hollywood movie studios to cash in on the newest craze of their favorite demographic -  teenagers -  and they wouldn't have to look very far to find their teenage version of Hepburn and Tracy.

Annette Funicello, along side her co-star Frankie Avalon, became the King and Queen of the "Beach Party" movie genre and starred in 6 successful beach movies for American International Pictures. Beach party films featured popular music stars like The Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, Dick Dale, and Little Richard(!). While many artists contributed wonderful songs to the surf music craze, the song that will always represent the beach party movies is "Beach Blanket Bingo" written by Guy Hemmric and Jerry Styner.

The guilt? When you want to use words like "catchy" and "bouncy", you know you're in trouble already, but I'd bet you could play this record in any bar in California (or anywhere?) and have folks singing along with the chorus (whether they wanted to or not).

Thanks Annette, "see you real soon".

-KO

"Without You" by Harry Nillson

After recently watching a documentary on Harry Nillson,  I decided to get his 1971 album  "Nillson Schmillson" as a way to connect with his music. Quite the eclectic assemblage of songs, some original, some covers, all from a great artist, composer, wonderful singer, and, by famous accounts by his famous friends, quite the party animal, but the one that stands out for me is his amazing track "Without You" which won him the Grammy for Best Pop Male Vocal for 1972.

From a beautifully sung opening verse to a chorus that soars to incredible vocals heights, I must admit I have spent time in the car on the way to gigs recently listening to that track repeatedly, and I shake my head in amazement at the end of every listening. Powerful falls short in describing such a performance, and to think this guy rarely performed live; what a shame. The orchestral score is wonderful, and thats Jim Keltner channelling his inner-Ringo on drums. An amazing track.

The guilt? It's in the lyrics, of course, because everyone's been in a love gone bad and thought to themselves "I can't live, if living is without you" (go on, admit it).

Sure, "Coconut" is the best one-chord song ever written, his vocals on "Everybody's Talkin'" are pop-folk at its finest, but the entire production of "Without You" is so steeped in Guilty Pleasure that I just might have to make this the G.P. anthem. So go ahead and give a guilt-free listen, because though we couldn't admit to our friends that we liked this back in 1972, we can now sit back and marvel in its simplicity and greatness.

Cheers, Harry.

"Just When I Needed You Most" by Randy VanWarmer

By popular demand (thanks AKB..!),

Guilty Pleasures: The Music Edition is back.

Lets ease back into this, shall we?

When researching songs for this blog, I usually go to YouTube with a certain song in mind, but it seems that I always find something else that makes me go "Oh yeah, THAT one!' Then I listen to the song, have a few flash backs, sing-along with the great chorus, then immediately start thinking of which one of my musical associates should cover it. This song was no exception.

The Wikipedia page for Randy VanWarmer tells us that sometimes good guys do find success. Though thought of as a one hit wonder because of this song, VanWarmer was an accomplished and successful singer/song writer whose songs were covered by Dolly Parton, Alabama, Smokie Robinson,  The Oak Ridge Boys, and Charley Pride. And if that isn't enough to make you a fan, his last album was a tribute to the great song writer Stephen Foster! When VanWarmer passed at a young age of 48 due to leukemia, he had his ashes sent up in space. I think we would have liked this guy...

There are plenty of wonderfully crafted songs from the 70s that have been lost in the world of Adult Contemporary,  and none are more deserving of a second-chance listen than "Just When I Needed You Most" by Randy VanWarmer.

Regards,

KO

ps: Extremely high honorable mention goes to Dolly Parton for doing this song live on Jay Leno's show with Allison Krauss and band, with Dolly on autoharp!

"Ride Like The Wind" by Christpher Cross

The goal of the Guilty Pleasure: Music Edition exercise is to review music once viewed as inane for some new level of worthiness we may have overlooked and are now able to appreciate. Yet even with an open mind and optimistic view, sometimes it's hard to understand why a certain artist enjoyed the level of the popularity they accomplished.

Two words: Christopher Cross.

As a singer/song writer from San Antonio, Texas, his vocal styling was limited at best, his lyrics were light-weight ("It's not that far to Never-Never Land"..?), and his song (over)-production seemed tailored to the early 80s "light-rock-less-talk" format. Man, did that ever work out nicely.

His debut album won him 5 Grammy Awards including Best New Artist and sold 5 million copies! After some success with singing the theme from the movie "Arthur" (written by Burt Bacharach ), it seemed Christopher Cross would suffer from what I call "Citizen Kane Syndrome", i.e. producing your masterpiece as your first work and never being able to repeat that kind of lightning-in-a-bottle success again.

Sure, "Sailing" is loaded with lots more schmaltzy-guilt, but "Ride Like The Wind" had all the dance band guitar players begging their band mates to cover the tune so they could take that solo at the end of the song.

Get busy with that air-guitar!

-KO

"Loser" by Beck

The things you can learn listening to teen-age radio...

Back in the day when I was driving the kids to high school and would put on their radio station, most of it provided no relief to the rambling discussions coming from the backseat that I couldn't participate in (tried being cool a few times by interjecting some funny quips - insert crickets sound effect here), but there were a few songs songs that stood out for me: "What's My Age Again" by Blink-182, "Man In A Box" by Alice in Chains, and "Loser" by Beck.

Since I am posting a song by an artist I know nothing about, a look at his Wikipedia page was required and proved very interesting; seems "Loser" was his breakout hit that had record companies scrambling to sign him. I can see why: great lyrics just weird enough that your brain can digest them and still not be sure why you liked them, delivered in a rap style that feels more frustrated than angry, over a funk groove with samples. Extremely creative, and very cool.

The guilt is arguable: good music is supposed to span the generations, but is there anyway a 50 year old father can like his teenagers music without being creepy?

Have a great weekend, and don't forget to "get crazy with the cheese-whiz".


-KO

"Can't Get Used To Losing You" by Andy Williams

Andy Williams?  Really?

Yes, really.

In an era of crooners in tuxedos that took their job as entertainers seriously, with a field of stars that included Frank, Dean, Sammy, Bobby Darin, and countless others, this guy held his own and, according to his Wikipedia page, had more nicknames than hits ("The Emperor of Easy" gets my vote!) and that's saying something!

The arrangement on this song is fantastic: the full Capital Records orchestra with those great rhythm pizzicato strings (imagine the song without them and you get a different tune, and hey, isn't that how you'd play it on a rock-and-roll guitar?),  the doubled lead vocal that goes in and out of a blended harmony vocal (thank you, Les Paul),  the rock-and-roll "teen beat" over the chorus, and no wonder you didn't mind hearing this song on your parents radio station (go ahead, admit it).

The guilt? Like I said; Andy Williams ('nuff said).

Sure, "Moon River" is his gold standard, and "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Hawaiian Wedding Song" are great recordings of his wonderful voice, but "Can't Get Used To Losing You" will always be the cross-generational hit that got lost under the radar.

Swoon away.

-KO