CoronaVinyl Day 184 (S): Where Did Our Love Go by The Supremes

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "S," and I haven't yet featured a Supremes album, despite the fact that I have three of them, so now's as good a time as any.

In 1964, The Supremes released their second studio album, Where Did Our Love Go, and in doing so, the so-called "Motown Sound" that would dominate the rest of the decade was introduced to the world.  Where Did Our Love Go featured the group's singles and B-sides from 1963 and 1964, including the group's first three #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100:  the title track, "Baby Love," and "Come See About Me."  With that feat, The Supremes became the first artist/group in history to have three Billboard #1 hits from the same album.

The album was #1 on the inaugural Billboard R&B album chart in January 1965, and it also reached #2 on the Billboard album chart for four consecutive weeks, held out of #1 by The Beatles' North American counterpart to Beatles For Sale, the Beatles '65 album.  At the time, it was the highest-charting album for an all-female group.

I know I've featured many Motown albums during CoronaVinyl, and I guess I can't reiterate enough what great pop music was being generated from Motown in the '60s.  In addition to the pop songwriting genius of Holland-Dozier-Holland, Smokey Robinson, Norman Whitfield, Harvey Fuqua, and the many other great Motown songwriters, Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard played a huge part in Motown's national and international success -- and, more importantly, helped pave the way for other African-American R&B and soul acts to find crossover success.  

Now that we're more than 50 years removed from the '60s, I think it's easy to forget (or maybe you didn't know in the first place!) how huge The Supremes were.  They were the most successful American group of the '60s, and remain the most successful American vocal group ever.  From late 1963 through the end of the decade, The Supremes had 25 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including 18 Top 10 songs, and 12 #1 songs -- including the very last #1 song of the '60s, "Someday We'll Be Together."  They were second only to The Beatles in terms of chart success in the '60s.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Where Did Our Love Go"

The title track and first track on the album is a classic and, in my mind, it is the epitome of the Motown Sound.  It's pure pop ecstasy, courtesy of Holland-Dozier-Holland's innovative and counterintuitive songwriting and production.  While Diana Ross sings verses, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard are singing the chorus in the background at the same time.  It shouldn't work because they're basically singing over each other, but it ends up having the opposite effect, where you can't help but sing the chorus.  And when the song is over, you're still singing "baby baby, where did our love go?"

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Your Kiss of Fire"
This is one of the few songs on the album not written by Holland-Dozier-Holland.  It was written by Robert Gordy (Berry's brother) and Harvey Fuqua.  I just like the imagery of "your sweet kiss of fire" and the fact that this song beckons it.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Dovetail Kölsch-Style Ale

Beer #16 in the beer advent calendar is from another great local brewery, Dovetail.  They specialize in continental European-style beers traditionally brewed in Germany, Czechia, Belgium, and Austria.  That means it's one of the few breweries I can go to -- or, more accurately, could go to before COVID -- where I don't have to worry about the draft list being dominated by hoppy beers.  They don't make any!  This one is their Kölsch-Style Ale.  Like the pilsner, the kölsch is one of those styles of beer that is almost always good, but you never drink a kölsch and say, "This is the best beer I've ever had."  But that's okay.  This is light, crisp, refreshing, and crushable, as most kölsches are.

-Name:  Kölsch-Style Ale

-Brewery:  Dovetail Brewery

-Location:  Chicago, IL

-ABV:  4.6%

-IBU:  24

-Good for drinking if:  You're watching Christmas Vacation for the third time this month.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Retro Video of the Week: "When My Heart Finds Christmas" by Harry Connick, Jr.

This week's holiday-themed Retro Video of the Week comes courtesy of New Orleanian crooner Harry Connick, Jr.  In 1993, Connick released a Christmas album called When My Heart Finds Christmas, which ended up being a huge success.  It was the top-selling holiday album in the U.S. in 1993, and has since gone triple platinum in the U.S.

At some point, I acquired this CD, but I don't think it's something I would have intentionally purchased, so maybe it was my wife's and it just got mixed in with mine.  Either way, I'm familiar with it.  The album is mostly traditional and/or popular Christmas songs -- like "Sleigh Ride," "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," "O Holy Night," and the like -- but there are also four original Connick compositions:  the title track, "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus," "The Blessed Dawn Of Christmas Day," and "I Pray On Christmas."

I was hoping there would be a video for "(It Must've Been Ol') Santa Claus," which is my personal favorite on the album, as it has a nice New Orleans jazz feel.  But alas, you'll have to settle for the title track, which has an official video.  It's sentimental and stringy -- just like everything else in the '90s.  Wait, what?

CoronaVinyl Day 183 (R): Can't Slow Down by Lionel Richie

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Sadly, I don't have any albums by Queen or any other "Q" artist, so we're skipping from "P" to "R."  Today's CoronaVinyl selection is Lionel Richie's hit 1983 album Can't Slow Down.

Richie, of course, had been the lead singer and one of the founding members of The Commodores.  He left the band in 1982 to pursue a solo career.  Can't Slow Down was his second solo album, and it ended up being his biggest success.

The album was pretty much an immediate smash upon its release, and it sustained its magic for several years.  Here are some amazing stats about the album:

• It went to #1 on the Billboard album chart, spent 59 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 (including the entirety of 1984), and spent a total of 160 weeks on the chart (i.e., the Top 200).  
• It was the #3 album on the Billboard Year End chart for 1984 and #22 in 1985.  It was also #1 on the Billboard R&B album Year End chart for 1984.
• It was the best-selling album in 1984 in Australia, the Netherlands, and the UK.
• It hit #1 on the album charts in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK, and reached the Top 5 on the album charts in Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
• It was #6 on the decade-end album chart for the 1980s in Australia.
• All five singles from the album reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, R&B singles, Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.
• "All Night Long (All Night)" - #1 (all three; also #5 on Billboard Dance singles chart)
• "Hello" - #1 (all three)
• "Stuck On You" - #3 (Hot 100); #3 (AC); #8 (R&B) (also reached #24 on the Billboard country singles chart)
• "Running With the Night" - #7 (Hot 100); #6 (R&B and AC)
• "Penny Lover" - #8 (Hot 100 and R&B); #1 (AC)
• The songs were also big hits internationally:
• "All Night Long (All Night)" - #1 in Australia, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, and South Africa, and Top 10 in seven other countries
• "Hello" - #1 on eleven international pop charts, and Top 10 on an additional six.
• "Stuck On You" - Top 5 in Canada and Ireland, and Top 40 on an additional five countries' charts
• "Running With the Night" - Top 10 on five other charts, and Top 40 on an additional six countries' charts
• "Penny Lover" - Top 10 in Belgium and Ireland, and Top 40 on an additional six charts
• "All Night Long (All Night)" was also ranked #96 on Billboard's All-Time Singles chart (1958-2018), and "Hello" was #389.
• By 1986, it had sold an astounding 15 million copies, and currently has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, including over 10 million in the U.S.
• In addition to some fantastic session musicians, Steve Lukather of Toto plays guitar on "The Only One" and "Running With the Night," Jeff Porcaro of Toto plays drums on "Running With the Night," and Richard Marx sings backing vocals on "All Night Long (All Night)," "Love Will Find a Way, "The Only One" and "Running With the Night."
• The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the 1985 Grammy Awards, beating out Cyndi Lauper's She's So Unusual, Prince's Purple Rain, Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A., and Tina Turner's Private Dancer.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that the album cover is a gate-fold cover, which, when opened -- as shown above -- reveals a full-length, seemingly superfluous photo of Richie on either a stripper pole or nearing the bottom of a joyous firepole slide.  Whatever is going on there and no matter why the record company decided that it needed to make a gate-fold album cover to feature this photo, it's magnificent.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "All Night Long (All Night)"

This is one of the most beloved '80s songs.  I mean, who can hate this song?  No one, that's who.  In addition to being a great pop song, Richie performed the song at at the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in L.A.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Running With the Night"
Despite the fact that it was a Top 10 song, "Running With the Night" is somewhat forgotten in the Lionel Richie pantheon, but it's a funky pop song, and Steve Lukather has a nice guitar solo as well.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Bell's Light Hearted Ale

Beer #15 in the beer advent calendar was another hoppy one, but at least it's from one of my favorite breweries, Bell's.  It's the Light Hearted Ale, which is a "lo-cal IPA" that is a lighter, more sessionable version of their Two Hearted Ale.  At only 3.7% and 110 calories, this would be a good summer beer for those of you who like hoppy beers.  It's not as over-the-top hoppy as some of the other selections thus far in the calendar, but it's still not something I would go for.

-Name:  Light Hearted Ale

-Brewery:  Bell's Brewery

-Location:  Comstock, MI

-ABV:  3.7%

-IBU:  36

-Good for drinking if:  You're about to hear the most annoying sound in the world.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.5

Tuesday Top Ten: '70s British Glam Christmas Songs

Believe it or not, last week I had planned to do a Tuesday Top Ten of my favorite '70s holiday songs, several of which most certainly would have been British glam songs.  Things got away from me for whatever reason, so I didn't post a Tuesday Top Ten, but I'm glad I didn't because the good folks at Riot Fest did the work for me.  Later last week, I came across this article titled "Our Top 10 Tracks For a Very 70s Glam Rock Christmas."  

As the article points out, for whatever reason, there was a bit of a revival of Christmas songs in the UK in the '70s -- with Brits waiting the bated breath to see which song was #1 on the pop charts on Christmas -- and glam was right on top of it.  Glam stalwarts like T. Rex, Slade, Wizzard, Roxy Music, Sparks, and Mud all put out Christmas songs (though T. Rex's song wasn't discovered until the '90s).

Here is the list.  I'll let you read the article to find out about each song, since I can't do them justice like the author has done.  Also, the article has an embedded video of each:

10.  "Wombling Merry Christmas" by The Wombles
9.  "Stop The Cavalry" by Jona Lewie
8.  "Make a Daft Noise for Christmas" by The Goodies
7.  "Thank God It's Not Christmas" by Sparks
6.  "Giddy Up (Sleighride)" by Roxy Music (as The Dumbells)
5.  "Lonely This Christmas" by Mud
4.  "Christmas Bop" by T. Rex
3.  "Hey Mr. Christmas" by Showadaddy
2.  "Merry XMas Everybody" by Slade
1.  "I Wish It Would Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard

As the author says, it would be a "fool's errand" to try to pick which of the top two should be number one, as both are classics.  Both were released in 1973, with Slade topping the UK pop chart with "Merry XMas Everybody," and Wizzard's "I Wish It Would Be Christmas Everyday" coming in at #4.  Both were instant holiday classics and remained beloved.  I will say that Wizzard's video is a little bit more insane -- with a then 27-year-old Roy Wood looking like he's in his 90s dressed as some glammed-out Father Christmas -- so I'm fine with it getting the nod.

Needless to say, if you're looking to punch up your holiday playlist with some new (to you) songs from across the pond, these are great songs to add.

CoronaVinyl Day 182 (P): Zenyatta Mondatta by The Police

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "P," and my choice is The Police's third studio album, 1980's Zenyatta Mondatta.  I believe I got this from a co-worker as part of a Secret Santa exchange at work 16 or 17 years ago, along with a couple other vintage albums, making it the best Secret Santa haul I ever got.

Zenyatta Mondatta is kind of the last album of The Police's initial era that was influenced at least in part by reggae, dub, and punk, before they moved to a more pop sound, though this album does have its share of pop.  The title itself is just jibberish that the band made up because it rolled off the tongue nicely.

The album did well commercially, topping the album charts in the UK and Australia, the band's second #1 album in both countries.  It was also the breakthrough album for the band in the U.S., going to #5 on the Billboard album chart, becoming the band's first album to crack the Top 20 in the U.S.   Elsewhere, it also reached the Top 5 on the album charts in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.  It also earned the band two Grammy Awards, one for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and another for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Behind My Camel," the latter of which was written by guitarist Andy Summers, and Sting hated the song so much he refused to play bass on it (Summers played the bass) and buried the tape of it in the garden outside the studio.

It also features two of the band's most well-known songs, "Don't Stand So Close To Me" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da."  The former -- which is a very poignant COVID song -- went to #1 on the UK pop chart, and the latter went to #5.  Both songs went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, making them the band's first songs to go higher than #32 in the U.S. 

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Canary in a Coalmine"

This is a punchy, uptempo reggae-ish song, with the band's signature three-pronged vocals, with Summers and Stewart Copeland backing Sting.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Man in a Suitcase"
This kind of seems like the counterpart to "Canary in a Coalmine."  It's a poppy, reggae rock song, which is the kind of Police song I generally liked more than their poppier or softer stuff.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Bold Dog Tilly Reserve

Beer #14 in the beer advent calendar was both unexpected and interesting.  It was Tilly Reserve from local brewery Bold Dog.  As you can see from the can, it is a "wine barrel-aged mango papaya hefeweizen."  I love hefeweizens, but I've had some inconsistent experience with wine barrel-aged beers.  Some have been good.  Some not so much.  Thankfully, this one fell into the former category.  It is aged in both cabernet and chardonnay barrels, and it paired well with the wheatiness, giving it some dryness.  I didn't taste too much mango or papaya, but that might have been offset by the wine.  Whatever it had going on, I liked it.

-Name:  Tilly Reserve

-Brewery:  Bold Dog Beer Company

-Location:  Chicago, IL

-ABV:  5.0%

-IBU:  15

-Good for drinking if:  You're watching the most entertaining NFL game of the year.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4

CoronaVinyl Day 181 (O): Definitely Maybe by Oasis

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "O," and I only have one album by an "O" artist that I haven't yet featured, Oasis's 1994 debut album Definitely Maybe.

This album was one of the defining albums of the '90s, kickstarting the Britpop movement, rejecting the gloom of grunge in the process.  It shot straight to #1 on the UK album chart in its debut week, and it became the fastest-selling debut album of all-time in the UK.  Four songs from the album reached the Top 40 on the UK pop chart, including two Top 10 songs:  "Cigarettes & Alcohol" (#7), "Live Forever" (#10), "Shakermaker" (#11), and "Supersonic" (#31).  It has since maintained its status as one of the most beloved British albums ever, even beating out Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as the greatest album of all-time in a 2006 NME readers poll.

While the album only reached #58 on the Billboard album chart and didn't feature any charting singles in the U.S., "Supersonic" (#11) and "Live Forever" (#2) both charted well on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, setting the band up for their future success in the U.S.

The version I have is the 25th anniversary edition, released last year.  As you can see, like the version of (What's The Story) Morning Glory? I have, it is split into four sides on picture discs.  It also has an extra song ("Sad Song" on Side 2) to make it an even 12 songs.

Favorite song from Side 1:  "Rock 'n' Roll Star"

The first track starts the album off with a bang.  It's as if Noel Gallagher knew the trajectory of the band and wanted to announce it to the world.

Favorite song from Side 2:  "Up In The Sky"
The opening riff has a Revolver-era Beatles quality about it.  "Up In The Sky" is a lesser-known Oasis gem, but it represents everything that made them great.  A nice, uptempo catchy rock song.

Favorite song from Side 3:  "Supersonic"
This was the band's first single, and it's a good one.  I love the beginning of the song, and that kind of descending guitar crunch.  And although I hate gin, I love the line in the opening verse "I'm feeling supersonic / Give me gin and tonic."

Favorite song from Side 4:  "Married With Children"
While this would be better if it had a No Ma'am reference, it's still a nice little acoustic alt-rock song.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Beer: Beers 11-13

I haven't posted about my daily beers since Thursday, but rest assured, I've been keeping pace with my beer advent calendar.  Beer #11 was a "Sabro hopped oatmeal stout" called Batch Two Was Better! from another local brewery, Alarmist.  I love oatmeal stouts, but this one was hopped up enough that I didn't love it.

-Name:  Batch Two Was Better!

-Brewery:  Alarmist Brewing

-Location:  Chicago, IL

-ABV:  7.0%

-IBU:  N/A

-Good for drinking if:  For some reason you want an oatmeal stout to be hoppy while you're watching the comedic results of a flatulent horse.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.75

Beer #12 was a "festive red ale" from one of my favorite local breweries, Maplewood, which is one of the nearest breweries to where I live.  The beer is called Royal Tannenbaum, which might be my new favorite name for a winter beer, even if the hoppiness and spruce tips weren't particularly appealing to my palate.  If you're a fan of dark, heavy beers (as I am), Maplewood has some really good ones, like their Cuppa series (my favorite is the Cuppa Stuffff, which is an imperial stout that tastes like Oreos), Fat Pug (their milk stout), Morbidly Obese Pug (their imperial milk stout), Krispie Cakes (which isn't dark or particularly heavy, but tastes like Rice Kripsie treats), and Silver Morning (their winter doppelbock).

-Name:  Royal Tannenbaum

-Brewery:  Maplewood Brewing Co.

-Location:  Chicago, IL

-ABV:  6.6%

-IBU:  N/A

-Good for drinking if:  You died tragically rescuing your family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking battleship.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  3.25

Beer #13 was a classic:  Boulevard's Unfiltered Wheat.  It's a great, hazy American wheat beer, which, at 4.4%, is definitely crushable.  I love a good wheat beer, and this is no exception.

-Name:  Unfiltered Wheat

-Brewery:  Boulevard Brewing Co.

-Location:  Kansas City, MO

-ABV:  4.4%

-IBU:  14

-Good for drinking if:  You're looking for a refreshing break from the heft of winter beers.

-Rating (out of five stars, by quarter star increments):  4