1. "Once In a Lifetime" by Vandenberg
2. "On Top" by Dangerous Toys
3. "Bloodstone" by Jetboy
4. "Just For You" by Bang Tango
5. "L.O.V.E. Machine" by W.A.S.P.
6. "Fool For Your Loving" by Whitesnake
7. "'Til My Heart Beats Down Your Door" by Europe
8. "When the Smoke is Going Down" by Scorpions
9. "Heavy Metal" by Sammy Hagar
10. "Los Locos" by Bonham
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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "Y," and my only non-Neil Young record by a "Y" artists is a little bit of '80s pop culture history. It's Tina Yothers's 1987 EP, Over & Over.
Yothers, of course, was best know as Jennifer Keaton in Family Ties, which was one of my favorite shows as a kid. A few years ago, I had a short but ardent addiction to an online estate auction website called Everything But The House (though it wasn't just for estate sales -- there were also just sales by living people who had a lot to liquidate). I purchased various lots of records from EBTH, as well as some other stuff. My most prized purchase was a lot of memorabilia that, at one time, belonged to Brian Bonsall, who played the adorable Andy, the youngest Keaton, on Family Ties. There was some really cool Family Ties memorabilia in the lot, including several annual cast gifts, like a Family Ties champagne flute and a Family Ties sweatshirt (which was way too small, as it was for Bonsall, who was then somewhere between five and eight years old), as well as a copy of the script from the Family Ties series finale and a Family Ties board game.
Also included was a 12-inch vinyl EP of Over & Over, which contained a personal note from Yothers to Bonsall and his mother (and someone named Jenny), stating, "To Kathy + Jenny [and] Brian, I'm sorry you didn't make it to the concert. Maybe next time by myself!!! You guys are great. Tina OOXOX." As you can see, I have it framed, and it hangs in my Rock and Roll Staircase, alongside some of my other music memorabilia, like a Doors CD autographed by Robbie Krieger, an autographed Black Keys CD, an original KISS comic book, and various other cool shit.
There are only two songs on Over & Over, neither of which is named "Over & Over." Yothers had performed a cover of disco artist The Raes' "Baby I'm Back In Love Again" during an episode of Family Ties in 1987, and that's the song that's on Side 1. It's about exactly the kind of synth pop you'd expect to be sung by a 14-year-old female TV star in 1987. That's not a knock. It's a catchy '80s pop song.
Side 2 is a cover of "Girlie Girlie," a 1985 reggae song originally by Sophia George, who I just learned is the mother of recently retired New England Patriots' safety Patrick Chung.
Since there are only two songs on the EP, I'm just going to embed both of them below. It's safe to assume that each song is my favorite on its respective side.
Today is the 35th anniversary of the release of Swedish rockers' Europe's third album, The Final Countdown. This album and its title track were what broke Europe into mainstream success. The album was a worldwide hit. In the U.S., it went to #8 on the Billboard album chart and eventually went triple platinum. Elsewhere, it went to #1 on the album charts in Finland, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as the Top 10 on the album charts in nine other countries.
The album spawned four songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100. The power ballad "Carrie" went to #3, the title track went to #8, "Rock The Night" went to #30, and "Cherokee" went to #72. While I like all of those four songs, "Rock The Night" is my favorite of the bunch, so I'm going with that video for this week's Retro Video of the Week.
The song was actually originally released the year before and appeared on the soundtrack to a Swedish movie, but then it was re-recorded for The Final Countdown. In addition to reaching #30 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was a big hit in -- wait for it -- Europe, where it went to #12 on the UK pop chart and the Top 10 on the pop charts in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
There were two videos made for the song. The original video was for the 1985 version and it relates to the aforementioned Swedish film in which it appeared, and the more famous MTV version was released for the 1986 version, featuring the band rocking the night in a Hard Rock Cafe, which is just want hair bands did back in the '80s.
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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "W," and I happen to have two Bob Welch albums, so let's go with his 1977 solo debut album, French Kiss.
I acquired this album as part of a larger lot of records I got a few years ago, and admittedly, I had no idea who Bob Welch was. The album cover intrigued me, though.
Turns out, Welch was a guitarist in Fleetwood Mac for several years and five albums in the early '70s -- the so-called "bridge" years between its original Peter Green era incarnation as a blues band and when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band, making it what we most recognize as Fleetwood Mac. Welch and Mick Fleetwood co-managed the band during that time, and it was Welch's idea to have the band relocate from England to LA. Welch resigned from Fleetwood Mac in late 1974, due to some personal issues. Buckingham and Nicks then joined the band, and the rest is history.
Welch maintained a close relationship with Mick Fleetwood and several other members of the band, and Fleetwood actually managed Welch's solo career for about a decade.
I know all about Fleetwood Mac's music pre- and post-Welch, but not really much about their music when he was in the band, so I wasn't sure what to expect with French Kiss. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a good collection of pop rock and power pop songs, with a little tinge of dance rock and disco here and there. For reference, I'd say, depending on the song, it reminds me in various places of Steve Miller Band, J. Geils Band, Neil Young, and Foreigner.
Welch plays guitar and bass on the whole album (in addition to singing), and session drummer Alvin Taylor handled the drumming on all but one song, "Sentimental Lady," on which Mick Fleetwood played drums. On the same song, Buckingham, Welch's replacement in Fleetwood Mac, played guitar and provided backing vocals, and former Fleetwood Mac band mate Christine McVie also provided backing vocals. McVie also sang backing vocals on "Easy to Fall" and "Lose Your Heart," and Juice Newton sang backing vocals on "Ebony Eyes."
It ended up being Welch's best-selling and highest-charting solo album, reaching #12 on the Billboard album chart and going platinum in the U.S. Three songs from the album were Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Sentimental Lady" (a song that was originally recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1972) reaching #8, his highest-charting song ever (and it went to #3 in Canada), "Ebony Eyes" going to #14 (as well as #7 in Canada and #2 in Australia), and "Hot Love, Cold World" hitting #31.
Welch continued to release solo albums until the early '80s, though he never match the success of French Kiss. An interesting anecdote is that Guns N' Roses used to practice in Welch's garage before they were famous, but unfortunately, that pushed Welch into a pretty bad heroin and cocaine addiction (he was partying with Guns N' Roses, after all). He went to rehab, then moved out of LA afterward, and remained clean for the rest of his life.
When Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, Welch was conspicuously passed over, with essentially all of the members from the pre-Welch lineup and the post-Welch "classic" lineup being inducted.
Sadly, Welch committed suicide in 2012 at the age of 66, a few months after major spinal surgery left him in constant pain and doctors told him he would eventually become an invalid. So, after ending on that downer of a note, let's get to the songs I like.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Hot Love, Cold World"
As noted above, this song was a minor hit. It has a Steve Miller vibe to me, and some good guitar work by Welch.
Favorite song on Side 2: "Carolene"
It was a tough call between "Ebony Eyes" and "Carolene," as they're both pretty solid power pop songs, but I gave the edge to "Carolene" because I think it's a good word combination for someone named Caroline who incendiary, like kerosene. Because if it was gasoline, it would just be "Caroline," and then you wouldn't know any different. Also, it's a pretty damn catchy song.
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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "V," and all I have left from "V" artists are two Billy Vaughn albums, so we're going with his 1958 album Sail Along Silv'ry Moon.
Back on Festivus, I featured Vaughn's 1960 album Billy Vaughn Plays The Million Sellers, so i won't go too deep into Vaughn's background again, but in case you already forgot, he was a successful orchestra leader in the '50s and '60s.
As with Billy Vaughn Plays The Million Sellers, Sail Along Silv'ry Moon is a jazzy collection of pop and instrumental standards played by Vaughn's orchestra. It's the kind of music you can imagine your grandparents listening to on an old Victrola instead of that confounded rock and roll the kids were listening to.
The album did pretty well, reaching #5 on the Billboard album chart, and it spawned three Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track was originally a hit for Bing Crosby in 1937, and Vaughn's version did just as well, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the pop charts in Canada, Germany, and Norway, and #4 in Australia. It was a big enough hit that it came it at #6 on Billboard's Year-End singles chart in 1958.
"Raunchy" was a contemporary instrumental rock and roll song by Bill Justis. It's famous as the song that a 14-year-old George Harrison played for Paul McCartney and John Lennon that convinced them to let George join The Quarrymen, which, of course, became The Beatles. Vaughn's sax-forward version of the song went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Finally, Vaughn's dreamy version of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" -- originally a 1934 western song by The Sons of Pioneers, whose 1946 version of the song was famously featured at the beginning of The Big Lebowski -- went to #30 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Sweet Georgia Brown"
You probably know "Sweet Georgia Brown" as the theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters. Vaughn's version is pleasant.
Favorite song on Side 2: "Raunchy"
Even if this wasn't related to The Beatles in any way, I would still pick it as my favorite off of Side 2 because it's got more punch and grit than most of the songs on the album. I actually like it better than the original.
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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "T," and we're going with Toto's biggest album, their fourth studio album, 1982's appropriately title Toto IV.
Toto formed in the late '70s, and other than main lead singer Bobby Kimball, the members of the band were pretty much all veteran session musicians, and from my vinyl journey over the last nearly 15 months, I can tell you that these guys seemed to be involved in just about every album that was made from the mid '70s to the mid '90s, either as backing musicians, arrangers, or songwriters. Here are some highlights:
Their first since, 1978's "Hold The Line," was a Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and they had another Top 30 hit in 1979 with "99," but their third album, 1981's Turn Back didn't produce any charting singles.
Under pressure from the record company to deliver a hit record, the band came through big time with Toto IV. It went to #4 on the Billboard album chart and went triple platinum in the U.S., making it their highest-charting and best-selling album ever in the U.S. It also did well internationally, topping the album charts in Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, and Switzerland and landing in the top ten on the album charts in another five countries. It has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
All five singles released from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with four in the Top 30, three in the Top 10, and one #1 -- "Africa" (#1), "Rosanna" (#2), "I Won't Hold You Back" (#10), "Make Believe" (#30), and "Waiting For Your Love" (#73). Toto IV was nominated for six Grammy Awards and won five, including Album of the Year, as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rosanna"
On a personal level, my parents had this album, and I remember listening to it a lot as a young kid. "Africa" is one of those songs that's so ingrained in my musical psyche that I can't remember a time when I didn't know it.
It would be the last album with the band's original lineup, as Hungate left the band to spend more time with his family and Kimball was fired a couple years later before the band's next album. While the band had another four Top 40 hits over the next several years, they never matched the magic of Toto IV, though they have been releasing albums on a relatively consistent basis over the past four decades.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Rosanna"
I wanted to pick something else from this side, so that I'm not going with the band's two biggest songs, but I'd be lying if I said I liked any of the songs on Side 1 better than "Rosanna" -- which is incorrectly assumed to be about Rosanna Arquette, who was dating Steve Porcaro at the time.
Favorite song on Side 2: "Africa"
This is an all-time classic that apparently barely made the cut for the album. Jeff Porcaro's drums are awesome. Brother Steve's synthesizers sound like all sorts of non-keyboarded instruments. Paich and Kimball's vocals play off of each other swimmingly. Never mind that Paich (who wrote the song) had never been to Africa and that Mount Kilimanjaro does not rise above the Serengeti.
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Yesterday's CoronaVinyl category was "S," and my selection was Styx's ninth studio album, 1979's Cornerstone.
The album cover folds out in the back to reveal a shiny inner sleeve. Quite exquisite. By 1979, Styx was on a pretty good hot streak. Their last two albums had gone to #6 on the Billboard album chart, and they had charted seven songs in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, including two Top 10s, in the previous four years.
With Cornerstone, they kept the streak going. It was their highest-charting album to that point, hitting #2 on the Billboard album chart, and it produced the band's first #1 hit, "Babe," Dennis DeYoung's ode to his wife Suzanne. "Why Me" was another Top 40 hit, reaching #26, and "Borrowed Time" was a minor hit, going to #64.
But despite the band's success, there were some cracks forming in the veneer, with internal tensions bubbling regarding the musical direction of the band. Cornerstone was a step in a decidedly more pop direction, and DeYoung wanted to continue in that direction, while Tommy Shaw and others wanted to have a harder sound. DeYoung and Shaw must not have hated each other too much at this point, as they co-wrote two songs on the album, and all but one song on the album was written by one or both of them.
They kept things together for another couple albums -- 1981's Paradise Theater, which was the band's only #1 album, and 1983's robot-forward concept album Kilroy Was Here, which went to #3 -- but then broke up. They reformed in 1990 without Shaw and scored another Top 5 hit with "Show Me The Way," before breaking up again. They reformed again in the late '90s and have released albums every several years since they with various lineups.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Never Say Never"
This song just sounds like classic Styx to me. A poppy rock song with harmonies that you can imagine teenagers in 1979 singing to their high school sweethearts. Those people are almost 60 now.
Favorite song on Side 2: "Eddie"
This is guitarist James Young's sole songwriting and lead vocal contribution to the album, and it's the hardest-rocking song on the album. It was also an unsuccessful plea to get Edward "Ted" Kennedy to not run against incumbent Jimmy Carter for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980. I enjoy the chorus: "Eddie, now don't you run / You know you're a bootlegger's son / And you saw just what they've done to your brothers."
1. "Out With the Boys" by White Lion
2. "Hard Time" by Ratt
3. "Bad Reputation" by Damn Yankees
4. "Run Riot" by Def Leppard
5. "Love On the Run" by Scorpions
6. "Chains Around Heaven" by Black 'N Blue
7. "A.V.H." by Ozzy Osbourne
8. "Silent Night" by Bon Jovi
9. "Farewell" by Europe
10. "Chained" by Giant
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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "R," and I think the world is ready for Ready For The World's 1986 sophomore album, Long Time Coming.
Flint-based Ready For The World had a few R&B hits in the mid '80s, including the #1 hit "Oh, Sheila" in 1985, from their self-titled debut album, which also had another Top 40 hit, "Digital Display" (#21). Their follow-up album was Long Time Coming, and I'm just going to go ahead and start the rumor that Eddie Murphy got his inspiration for Prince Akeem's wardrobe in Coming to America from the cover of this album.
Long Time Coming is a good example of mid '80s R&B and proto-new jack swing. It has some softer songs and some funkier songs. While it didn't do as well as their debut, it was still pretty successful, reaching #32 on the Billboard album chart and #5 on the Billboard R&B album chart. The slow jam "Love You Down" was another Top 10 hit for the band, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. It was their last charting song on the Billboard Hot 100, although they had three more Top 15 hits on the Billboard R&B singles chart before they disbanded in 1991. They released another album in 1996 and another in 2004, but never achieved the success they had in the mid '80s.
Favorite song on Side 1: "So In Love"
This one's a catchy, funky song with a nice guitar solo, courtesy of the album's producer Gary Spaniola.
Favorite song on Side 2: "Mary Goes 'Round"
This was a minor hit, reaching #23 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. It's a funky little R&B song about a groupie named Mary.
Tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the release of singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik's self-titled debut album, which included his biggest song, the pop-rock hit "Barely Breathing." The song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the Billboard Adult Alternative singles chart, #19 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and #12 on the Canadian pop chart. It spent an amazing 55 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, which, at the time, was the fourth longest tenure on that chart of any single in its history. As a result, it came in at #18 on the Year End Billboard chart for 1997.
Sheik didn't have another song that reached the Top 40, but he did go on to become a successful composer for stage and screen, earning two Tony Awards for his work on Spring Awakening.
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I'm out of Ns and Os, so today's CoronaVinyl category is "P," and we're going with some yacht rock, with Player's self-title 1977 debut album.
Player formed in LA in 1976, from the ashes of several local bands. The cover of their first album tells you all you need to know about their music. Get ready to get it on, ladies. "Excuse me, miss, I ordered the long navy silk scarf with roses."
The album did pretty well, going to #32 on the Billboard album charts, behind the strength of two Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. "Baby Come Back" was a chart topper, and it's a yacht rock classic, even serving as one of the promo songs on SiriusXM's Yacht Rock Radio stations. They followed that up with "This Time I'm In It For Love," which went to #10.
The band parlayed their early success into touring in support of the likes of Eric Clapton, Heart, Kenny Loggins, and Boz Scaggs. As things happen, they had internal tensions -- not sure if it was scarf related -- and they went through some lineup changes over the next couple years before breaking up in the early '80s. They did reunite in part in the mid '90s and put out another album then, as well as another album in 2013.
Interesting tidbit: when the band had a lull in 1980, bassist Ronn Moss -- he's the one in the scarf -- decided to focus on acting. From 1987 to 2012, he played the role of Ridge Forrester in the soap opera The Bold and The Beautiful.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Baby Come Back"
There's a reason this was a #1 song. It's pure '70s sexy soft rock. How could she not come back after hearing this?
Favorite song on Side 2: "Cancellation"
This is one of the more rocking songs on the album, which is to say that it would fit well on a Styx or Foreigner album from around that same time. I don't mean that pejoratively. It's a good song.
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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "M," and I have a couple Dave Mason albums, so we're going with his 1970 debut solo album, Alone Together.
Mason -- who just celebrated his 75th birthday last week -- was one of the founding members of Traffic, with whom he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. In the late '60s, he kind of drifted in and out of Traffic, where he and Steve Winwood generally shared lead vocal duties. Probably his best know song that he sung with Traffic was 1968's "Feelin' Alright?," which was famously covered by Joe Cocker a few years later.
He also did some backing work on some amazing albums -- including on The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Electric Ladyland, The Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet, and George Harrison's All Things Must Pass -- but then decided to pursue a solo career, culminating in Alone Together in 1970. My version of the album is one of approximately 30% that was pressed on marble vinyl, which was certainly unusual for the time. The album cover/jacket itself is cool as well, folding out in three spots to show Mason among some rocky hills, with his large head at the top, and there's even a little pinhole near the top of his top hat, in case you wanted to hang it on your wall.
Musically, it's a combination of rock, folk rock, and psychedelic rock -- the kind of music you'd expect from a former member of Traffic. All in all, it's a very solid album. He gathered a pretty solid group of backing musicians, too, including former Traffic band mate Jim Capaldi, Derek and The Dominos' Jim Gordon, and session drummers John Barbata and Jim Keltner on drums, Leon Russell on keyboards, Flying Burrito Brother Chris Ethridge, Derek and The Dominos' Carl Radle, and Wrecking Crew member Larry Knecthel on bass, and Bonnie Bramlett and Rita Coolidge on backing vocals, among others.
Alone Together went to #22 on the Billboard album chart, his highest-charting solo album in the U.S. It produced one charting song, the peppy "Only You Know and I Know," which went to #42 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1977, he had a Top 15 hit with what I always assumed was a Baby Boomer divorce anthem, "We Just Disagree." He released albums steadily until 1987, then took a 20-year hiatus from releasing his own music (and he was briefly a member of Fleetwood Mac in the mid '90s), to return with four solo albums since 2008, including a reimagining of Alone Together released last year, called Alone Together, Again.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Waitin' On You"
This one is a soulful, bar rocker, with some female backing vocals .
Favorite song on Side 2: "Look At You Look At Me"
The last song on the album is a bluesy rocker that turns into an eight-minute jam.
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I meant to post this Friday, but things got away from me, so I moved it to today. Today's CoronaVinyl category is "L," and I'm going with Little Feat's fourth studio album, 1974's Feats Don't Fail Me Now.
Little Feat is another one of those bands whose name I often hear, but for one reason or another, I just don't know much about them. I also mix them up with Little River Band, though I understand that their genres don't always cross.
But anyway, Little Feat was played mostly southern rock, swamp rock, blues rock, boogie rock, and country rock, with some jam band tendencies. The had some pretty decent success in the '70s, despite not having any big radio hits. From my CoronaVinyl listening over the past 14 months, I know that various members of Little Feat made appearances on many other artists' albums, and main lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Lowell George (who had previously been a member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention) was well-loved and respected.
I enjoyed Feats Don't Fail Me Now, which has George Washington and Marilyn Monroe driving on a mountain pass on the cover. The music on the album is pretty much what I described above. It's just a good rock and roll album, with a southern/country tinge, with some jamming. For me, it felt like an extension of The Band, which is a huge compliment. The band had contributions from the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Emmy Lou Harris on backing vocals, funk band Tower of Power on horns, and future Earth, Wind & Fire drummer Fred White on drums on one track.
The album went to #36 on the Billboard album chart. The band would release three more studio albums in the '70s and broke up in 1979, shortly before George died of a heart attack at the age of 34. Remaining members reformed the group in 1987, and they released nine more studio albums between 1988 and 2012, with relatively little turnover.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Rock and Roll Doctor"
The album starts off with a bluesy, swampy number that sounds like a combination of early '70s Stones and early '70s Grateful Dead.
Favorite song on Side 2: "Cold Cold Cold/Tripe Face Boogie"
The last song on the album is a jammy ten-minute medley of two songs, including the only song of which I'm aware that has the word "tripe" in it. The first half reminds me of some of Lynyrd Skynyrd's bluesier songs, and then the second half turns into a southern rock jam.
1. "Uh! All Night" by KISS
2. "To The Fire" by Bon Jovi
3. "Scene of the Crime" by Ratt
4. "Down & Dirty" by Y&T
5. "Spark In My Heart" by Hurricane
6. "She Wants More" by Slaughter
7. "Lightnin' Strikes Again" by Dokken
8. "Mine All Mine" by Van Halen
9. "Billy" by Blue Murder
10. "Only The Strong Will Survive" by King Kobra
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