CoronaVinyl Day 251 (P): Worlds Away by Pablo Cruise

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "P," and I'm going with Pablo Cruise's 1978 album Worlds Away, their fourth studio album.

As you may recall, a few weeks ago, I was all ready to feature this album for "C," when I discovered that Pablo Cruise is not the name of a man, but actually the name of a band.  Formed in 1973 in San Francisco, according to the venerable Wikipedia, the band chose the name Pablo Cruise because "Pablo represents an honest, real, down-to-earth individual; and Cruise depicts his fun-loving and easygoing attitude towards life."

The band struggled to find success with their first couple albums, but their third album, 1977's A Place in the Sun, helped them break through, reaching #19 on the Billboard album chart and producing the band's first three charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including their first Top 10 hit, "Whatcha Gonna Do?," which reached #6 (and #1 in Canada).

Worlds Away was their follow-up, and it's pure late '70s pop rock.  It's a little harder than what I would consider "soft rock," but definitely well within what we would now call yacht rock.  Along with the band members, they had help from Steve Porcaro (keyboards) and Mike Porcaro (bass) from Toto.  At least one of the Porcaro brothers had a hand in many albums around this time.

The album was their highest-charting, going to #6 on the Billboard album chart and eventually going platinum in the U.S.  It also spawned their second Top 10 hit, "Love Will Find a Way" (also #6), as well as another Top 25 hit ("Don't Want to Live Without It" (#21)) and another song that barely missed the Top 40 ("I Go to Rio" (#46)).  

As with many bands, they went through some lineup changes over the following several years, and while they had a couple more Top 20 songs, they never captured the magic of Worlds Away.  Then, as the popularity of yacht rock waned and the popularity of new wave and synth pop rose, they tried to change their sound to adapt, but it didn't work.  They broke up in 1984, tried to reunite in 1985, but couldn't get a record deal and broke up again, and then have reunited a couple times over the years to tour (and even released a live album in 2011).

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Love Will Find a Way"
You can understand why this song was a Top 10 hit for the band.  It's catchy, with a little bit of a '70s Philadelphia Soul feel to it, at least in the choruses.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "I Go to Rio"
The album closes with a cover of a 1976 Peter Allen Latin-tinged disco song.  The original had been a #1 hit in Allen's native Australia (and was also a Top 30 hit in a couple European countries), but does not appear to have been released in the U.S., where it surely would have been a hit, knowing what we know about popular music in the mid '70s.

CoronaVinyl Day 250 (N): Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "N," and I only have one album by an "N" artist that I haven't yet featured on CoronaVinyl, so that made the decision-making process fairly easy today.  We're listening to Ted Nugent's third solo studio album, 1977's Cat Scratch Fever.

As I discussed back in September when listening to The Nug's prior album, 1976's Free-For-All, Nugent and his lead singer and rhythm guitarist David St. Holmes had a falling out during the recording of Free-For-All, resulting in a few different lead singers on that album.  St. Holmes was back for Cat Scratch Fever, and he sang lead vocals on all but three songs (on which Nugent himself handled lead vocals).

Catch Scratch Fever is a blistering hard rock album with a few Nugent classics, like the title track, which went to #30 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Nugent's only Top 40 solo hit to date.  The instrumental "Home Bound" also charted, reaching #70.  The album itself reached #17 on the Billboard album chart, which was Nugent's highest-charting solo album at the time.  It also eventually went triple platinum in the U.S., making it his best-selling album ever, along 1978's live album Double Gonzo Live!, which also went triple platinum.

The Spotify version of the album has bonus live versions of the title track and "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang."

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang"
Though the title track can hardly be said to be subtle in its sexual innuendo, the second song on the album is about as subtle as a jackhammer.  It's a great, hard-driving rock song about, well, poontang.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "Workin' Hard, Playin' Hard"
The second side starts off with a nice crunchy riff and a solid song that has very much represented my mantra since college.

CoronaVinyl Day 249 (M): Blue by Joni Mitchell

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

I meant to post this yesterday, but instead I decided to walk with the family to get tacos and burritos, and then show my kids The Bad News Bears for the first time.  What flew for PG in 1976 certainly would not fly for PG today!

Anyway, yesterday's CoronaVinyl category was "M," and I have a few albums by Laurel-Canyon-by-way-of-Canada folk chanteuse Joni Mitchell in my collection, so let's go with her iconic fourth studio album, 1971's Blue.

I have nothing against Joni Mitchell or her music, but early '70s singer-songwriters aren't what I gravitate towards.  It's safe to say that I listened to more Joni Mitchell yesterday than I have in any single day of my life, if not the rest of my life combined.

There's no denying that Mitchell has a great voice, one that can cover multiple octaves to fit various moods.  Blue is basically just Mitchell, her acoustic guitar, and her piano, pouring her heart out about lovers past and the pains of love.  There are a couple of well-known guest musicians on a few tracks, like Stephen Stills on bass and guitar on "Carey," James Taylor on guitar on "All I Want," "California," and "A Case For You," session drummer Russ Kunkel on "Carey," "California," and "A Case of You," and Flying Burrito Brother Sneaky Pete Kleinow on steel guitar on "California" and "This Flight Tonight."

The album is certainly an emotional rollercoaster, and at the time, it was rare for a musician to open up so much in his or her music about his or her personal life like Mitchell did on Blue.  The songs are very personal, including songs about her ex-boyfriend Graham Nash ("My Old Man" and "River"), with whom she had a relationship from 1968 to 1970 -- and she broke up with him via a telegram from Europe while she was writing this album.  There are also songs about James Taylor ("This Flight Tonight," "All I Want," and "Blue"), with whom Mitchell was having a torrid relationship at the time, although he would break up with her not long before the album was released as his own music career was taking off.  "A Case of You" is also rumored to be about Leonard Cohen, but it may also have been about Nash.  "The Last Time I Saw Richard," which is the final track on the album, is a great name for a song and is also apparently about Mitchell's first marriage, which had ended in 1967 (and was not to a man named Richard).

Blue went to #15 on the Billboard album chart -- her first album to crack the Top 20 -- #3 on the UK album chart, and #9 on the Canadian album chart (her highest showing to that point on either of those charts).  It eventually went platinum in the U.S. and double platinum in the UK.  Only one song from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100 -- "Carey," which went to #93.

The album is considered a masterpiece, and it has received many accolades over the years.  It was even ranked #3 on Rolling Stone's 2020 update of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.  It's a fine album, but to suggest that the only two albums ever made better than Blue are Pet Sounds and What's Going On and that Blue is better than any Beatles album is an insult to anyone who has ever listened to music.

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Carey"
This is about Mitchell's brief relationship with an American hippie chef named Cary Raditz that Mitchell met while on vacation in Crete.  It's a little more uptempo than the other songs.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "This Flight Tonight"
As mentioned above, this song is about James Taylor.  It's another one that's a little more uptempo, and the muted pedal steel guitar courtesy of Sneaky Pete adds a little bit of edge, even if just for a few seconds.

Hair Band Friday - 4/9/21

1.  "Back For More" by Ratt

2.  "Angel In My Heart" by Britny Fox

3.  "Dressed to Kill" by Vandenberg

4.  "Once Around the Ride" by Cinderella

5.  "Tonight" by Ozzy Osbourne

6.  "Dream Evil" by Dio

7.  "Anybody Listening?" by Queensrÿche

8.  "I'm Leaving You" by Scorpions

9.  "Mother's Little Helper" (live) by Tesla

10.  "Givin' The Dog a Bone" by AC/DC

CoronaVinyl Day 248 (L): Keep The Fire by Kenny Loggins

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "L," and in my most recent acquisition of albums from my neighbor were several Kenny Loggins records, so let's go with 1979's Keep The Fire, his third solo studio album.

In between his time in Loggins & Messina and his time in the '80s as the King of Movie Theme Songs, Loggins was making pop and soft rock (including what we now call yacht rock) albums with pretty decent success.  Keep The Fire is a nice mix of pop, rock, and soft rock with some Caribbean influence in there as well (see "Junkanoo Holiday (Fallin' Flyin')"), and he had some help from a few big names.  The album was produced by legendary producer and future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Tom Dowd, who by that time had produced and/or engineered albums for the likes of The Allman Brothers Band, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Cream, Derek & The Dominos, The Drifters, Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Wilson Pickett, The Rascals, Otis Redding, and Rod Stewart, among many others.

The biggest hit from the album, "This Is It," was co-written by Michael McDonald, who also provided backing vocals for the song.  McDonald always seemed to be involved when great yacht songs were being made (see also Christopher Cross's "Ride Like the Wind").  In addition, Michael Jackson and Mr. Mister lead singer Richard Page sang backing vocals on "Who's Right, Who's Wrong."

The album reached #16 on the Billboard album charts, and it was eventually certified platinum in the U.S.  The aforementioned "This Is It" went to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the title track went to #36, becoming Loggins's second and third solo Top 40 hits.

And we have to discuss the album cover, which features a very messianic Loggins -- staring straight at us -- in what appears to be a cream colored silk wizard's robe holding a glowing orb in front of a moonscape that features some sort of lava rainbow.  It's essentially perfect.

Less than a year later, Loggins would begin his '80s movie theme reign, with "I'm Alright" from Caddyshack, which went to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.  He then had "Footloose" (#1) and "I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)" (#22) from Footloose in 1984, "Danger Zone" (#2) and "Playing With the Boys" (#60) from Top Gun in 1986, "Meet Me Half Way" (#11) from Over The Top in 1987, and "Nobody's Fool" (#11) from Caddyshack II in 1988.

In total, Loggins had 14 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist, including 5 Top 10s and one #1 ("Footloose").  On the Billboard Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary chart, he had 8 Top 10 songs, including one #1, 1996's "For The First Time," which, as you may have guessed, was for the soundtrack to a movie (the Michelle Pfeiffer/George Clooney vehicle One Fine Day).

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Mr. Night"
This is an uptempo pop rock song, with kind of a New Orleans jazz/funk feel.  The funny thing is that I was going to say it foreshadows "Holiday Road" from Vacation, but as I was about to write that sentence, I remember that Lindsey Buckingham did "Holiday Road," and not Loggins.  That's how much I associate Loggins with '80s movies themes.  I assume he did them all.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "Keep The Fire"
The second side of the album is definitely the softer side.  I'm going with the title track as my favorite song, as it's the most yacht rocky.

CoronaVinyl Day 247 (K): Crazy Nights by KISS

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "K," and we're going with some '80s KISS -- Crazy Nights, the band's 14th studio album, released in 1987.

The '80s were an interesting time for KISS.  When the decade started, they still had their original lineup intact (though it was fracturing), and they were still wearing their makeup and were one of the biggest bands in the world.  The early '80s didn't treat the band well, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley left the band, the band's first few albums of the decade were not great commercial successes, they didn't have a Top 40 hit, and the band took off their makeup in 1983.  The group also went through a couple lineup changes in the '80s, and Gene Simmons was more focused on his acting career than the band.

Crazy Nights was the band's second album with the lineup of Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Bruce Kulick, and Eric Carr.  The band decided to switch their sound a little, focusing on a more mainstream rock sound to keep up with the era.  They used some outside songwriters to help write songs, including legendary songwriters Desmond Child and Diane Warren, and for the first time, the band used synthesizers and keyboards.  

The result was the band's best-charting album of the '80s.  It reached #18 on the Billboard album chart, as well as #4 on the UK album chart, making it the band's highest-charting album ever in the UK.  "Crazy Crazy Nights," which was co-written by Stanley and Child, went to #65 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the power ballad "Reason to Live," co-written by Stanley and outside songwriter Adam Mitchell, reached #64.  In the UK, the former went to #4 on the UK pop chart -- the band's highest-charting single in the UK -- the latter went to #33, and "Turn On the Night" (co-written by Stanley and Warren) went to #41.  Helping the band's cause was that all three of those songs had videos on MTV, and the video to "Reason to Live" was particularly popular among the Dial MTV crowd.

Now I'm not going to sit here and blow smoke up your ass and say that this is some amazing album or that it holds a candle to the band's classic albums from the '70s, but it's a pretty good '80s rock album.  It definitely has a Survivor feel to it in some songs, and other song are harder rocking.

For whatever reason, the songs from the album have been very underrepresented in KISS's live shows over the years.  Crazy Nights is the second least represented album in live setlists over the band's career, behind only the disastrous 1981 concept album Music From the Elder.  Only "Crazy Crazy Nights" was included on the band's setlist after the tour for the album, and it was dropped after the subsequent tour and only reappeared 20 years later.  

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Crazy Crazy Nights"
This is a fun-loving '80s rock song.  It's a little cheesy, but that was the style back then.  It's also Daughter's favorite KISS song, for better or worse.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "When Your Walls Come Down"
The first track on Side 2 is one of the harder rocking songs on the album, and it's a more straightforward hard rock song than some of the more mainstream sounding songs on the rest of the album.

Retro Video of the Week: "Your Wildest Dreams" by The Moody Blues

Friday will mark the 35th anniversary of the release of The Moody Blues' 12th studio album, The Other Side of Life, the band's first album in three years.  It represented a bit of departure from the band's prog rock roots to more of a modern, '80s pop sound.  Whatever they did worked, as the album went to #9 on the Billboard album charts, making it their final Top 10 album in the U.S.  It also went platinum in the U.S. -- their last album to do so.

The song "Your Wildest Dreams" was the big hit from the album, and it's one of those songs that I remember hearing on the radio back then, but didn't really remember that it was The Moody Blues who performed it.  It's a synthy, catchy pop song that still retains a little bit of the band's proggy sensibilities.  It was also the band's first Top 10 hit in the U.S. since "Nights in White Satin" in 1972, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and it would be their last Top 10 song in the U.S.).  The song also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks and went to #2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

The video is a sometimes trippy flashback/flashforward video about a woman and a band member who never quite seemed to make a relationship work out.  It's all about timing, am I right?  It received heavy airplay on MTV and Video of the Year Award from Billboard.

CoronaVinyl Day 246 (J): Infinity by Journey

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

Today's CoronaVinyl category is "J," and I have more than a couple remaining Journey albums, so let's go with their 1978 breakthrough album Infinity, the band's fourth studio album.

Journey was formed in the early '70s when keyboardist/lead singer Gregg Rolie and guitarist Neal Schon left Santana.  They teamed up with bassist Ross Valory, rhythm guitarist George Tickner (who has a fantastic mustache, by the way), and Tubes drummer Prairie Prince.  Originally, they played jazz fusion and prog rock.  Prince then went back to The Tubes, and former Bluesbreakers and Frank Zappa drummer Aynsley Dunbar (who was also fresh off drumming for two David Bowie albums) replaced Prince before the band recorded their first album.

Their first three albums weren't big commercial successes, with the highest-charting album only reaching #85 on the Billboard album chart and no singles charting on the Billboard Hot 100.  Tickner left after the third album, and the band decided to change their musical direction to be more mainstream and hire a frontman to share lead vocal duties with Rolie.  They hired lead singer Robert Fleischman in 1977, but he left within a year due to differences with the band's management.

Enter Steve Perry.  Infinity was the band's first album with Perry at the helm, though Rolie still handled some lead vocal duties.  The addition of Perry and the band's new sound helped propel Journey into the mainstream.  The album reached #21 on the Billboard album chart and eventually went triple platinum in the U.S. -- the first of five consecutive studio albums that went at least triple platinum in the U.S., six consecutive that went at least double platinum, and seven consecutive that went at least platinum.

Infinity also yielded the band's first three charting singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Wheel in the Sky" reaching #57, "Anytime" going to #83, and "Lights" hitting #68.  All three would be big AOR hits and classic rock radio over the coming decades.  When you listen to the album, you can hear the direction in which the band will go.  It's solid, radio-friendly rock and roll.  Dunbar left the band after this album and would go on to play with Jefferson Starship and Whitesnake, among others.

As alluded to above, Infinity set the stage for Journey's success.  The band's star kept rising over the next decade, as they racked up 17 Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1979 and 1987, including six Top 10 hits.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 -- putting Rolie in some elite company, as he is one of now 23 individuals who have been inducted into the Rock Hall multiple times.

Favorite song on Side 1:  "Feeling That Way/Anytime"
Technically, these are two separate songs, but they are in consecutive order on the album, and any time you hear them on the radio, they are played back-to-back.  I have always enjoyed Rolie's vocals when he was with Santana.  He and Perry share lead vocals on "Feeling That Way" -- with Rolie's deeper voice complemented by Perry's soaring iconic voice.  And let's not overlook Schon's guitars.  Then the end of "Feeling That Way" seamlessly transitions into the opening harmonies of "Anytime," on which Rolie and Perry again share lead vocals.  Schon again has a great solo, and Dunbar has some delicious fills.

Favorite song on Side 2:  "Can Do"
The obvious choice would be "Wheel in the Sky," which is undoubtedly a great song, but I went with a hidden gem in "Can Do."  It's the hardest rocking song on the album, a snarling little rocker that showcases Perry's pipes and Schon's guitar prowess.

Tuesday Top Ten: Longest Droughts Between Final Four and National Title

Last night's national title game was a bit of a letdown after an otherwise thrilling NCAA Tournament, as Baylor led from start to finish, beating Gonzaga handily, 86-70, for the Bears' first-ever national title.

Even with the anticlimactic national title game, it was an historic Final Four.

• For the first time ever, all four Final Four teams were located west of the Mississippi River, and for the first time since 1995 and only the 4th time ever, both championship game participants were located west of the Mississippi. 
• For only the 6th time ever, we had a double-digit seed in the Final Four (11-seed UCLA), and for the second time since the "First Four" format began in 2011, one of the First Four teams advanced to the Final Four.  VCU also did it in 2011.
• For the first time ever, two teams from Texas made the Final Four in the same year (Baylor and Houston). 
• For the second NCAA Tournament in a row (and only the 7th time since 1964), both teams playing for the title had never won an NCAA title. 
• Gonzaga was the first team to enter the national title game undefeated since Larry Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores in 1979.  Of course, because of the Zags' loss, the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers remain the last team to go a full season undefeated.
• Baylor was playing in the national title game for the first time since 1948. Only Wisconsin had a longer span between national title game appearances (1941-2015). 
• The Bears became the first team from Texas since the historic 1966 Texas Western Miners to win the national title.

In between Baylor's 1948 national title game appearance and this year's national championship, the Bears played in the Final Four one other time, in 1950.  The span of 71 years between their most recent prior Final Four appearance and their national title is the longest in men's college basketball history by more than double Virginia's prior record, set at the last NCAA Tournament in 2019.  And you know I love college basketball stats, so here are the ten longest droughts between when a school won a national title and the school's most recent previous Final Four before winning said title.

1.  Baylor - 71 years (1950-2021)

2.  Virginia - 35 years (1984-2019)

3.  NC State - 24 years (1950-1974)

4.  Michigan State - 22 years (1957-1979)

5.  UCLA - 15 years (1980-1995)

6.  Villanova - 14 years (1971-1985)

7 (tie).  California - 13 years (1946-1959)

7 (tie).  Indiana - 13 years (1940-1953) (both were national titles)

7 (tie).  Michigan - 13 years (1976-1989)

10.  Kansas - 12 years (1940-1952)

CoronaVinyl Day 245 (I): Dekadance by INXS

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

I'm back, and so is CoronaVinyl.  Since we last spoke, I've come into some more records.  It turns out one of my neighbors used to have some sort of job related to the music industry and just has tons of records -- many of which he received as free "promotional use only" copies -- that he is finally getting rid of at his wife's behest.  One man's wife's triumph is another man's wife's discontent.

I've gained some additional albums by "I" artist, and just in time for today's CoronaVinyl category, which is "I."  One said "I" record is INXS's 1983 EP Dekadance.  It was released in the U.S. as a four-song EP, with extended versions of four songs off the band's 1982 album Shabooh Shoobah.  In the band's native Australia, a 7-song EP called Dekadance was released two years later with entirely different songs.

The songs on the album are "Black and White," "To Look At You," "The One Thing," and "Here Comes II."  The middle two are only available on vinyl or cassette on this EP and have never been released in any other format.

The songs are good, early INXS songs -- the kind of danceable pop rock that you would come to expect from the band.  Of course, INXS would go on to become international stars a couple years later -- with the Listen Like Thieves album in 1985, the massive Kick album in 1987, and X in 1990 -- though they already had some success in Australia before the rest of the world caught on.

Famously, lead singer Michael Hutchence died from suicide in 1997 (though not autoerotic asphyxiation as has been rumored).  The band continued on after Hutchence's death with several lead singers, though they never reached the same level of success as they had with Hutchence.  All in all, the band had ten Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, seven of which were Top 10 hits -- including six in a row between 1987 and 1990 -- and one of which went to #1 (1987's "Need You Tonight").  In their native Australia, the band has had 37 Top 40 hits, including ten Top 10s and one #1 (1984's "Original Sin"). 

The EP isn't available on Spotify, and I couldn't find it in its entirety on YouTube, but here's a 14-minute YouTube video that discusses both the American and Australian versions of Dekadance, as well as separate YouTube "videos" of each of the four songs on the EP.  With only four songs on the EP, I'm not going to bother picking favorites from each side.