Mission Statement

Guilty Pleasures: The Music Edition is intended as a forum to review songs that were once considered out-of-favor. Readers are asked to rate the songs using a 10 point voting system (10=strong like, 1=strong dislike) and provide their comments.

The objective is to review the songs offered here with a fresh listen for things like intent (objective), structure, influences (to or from), production value, and performances, all within the context of its musical time frame and while trying to forget past reactions. Hopefully we can hear something different in a song we once thought was less-than-pleasing.

So remember, valid reactions include:

1) None of my friends ever liked this song, but I always did.

2) I never liked this song, but listening to it again after all this time now it makes me want to: (a) tap my foot, or (b) shove a pencil in my ear.

All legit.

-Ken

Friday, June 7, 2013

'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
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