Classic Roberta Flack...

When I was very young, my dad used to play Roberta Flack's 1973 album, Killing Me Softly.  I've always loved the title track, of course, but there was another song I remembered from those days.  A couple of weeks ago, that song inexplicably popped into my head and I ended up downloading Killing Me Softly.

I was just a baby when this album was released, but I swear 46 years later, it still sounds very fresh.  Roberta Flack's voice is so serene, gentle, and smooth... it reminds me of brown silk.

This is the song that inspired me to buy this album... It does make me smile!

And of course, this is probably my favorite of her songs.  It doesn't age.

I really miss the 70s sometimes.  There was a lot of crappy music back then, but there was just as much if not more amazing stuff.  I don't think we still get a lot of genuine talent anymore.  A lot of a person's success in music depends on luck, imagine, and how they look on video.  Roberta Flack has always seemed amazingly normal, and yet extraordinary.

I need to get more of her stuff.  She's very underrated.

Ah... the great love theme.  Of course, having been a child of the 80s, when I hear this, I am reminded of Oil of Olay commercials.  It wasn't until I was much older that I realized what a truly gorgeous song this is.

And, of course, I can't forget her turn with Michael Jackson on Free to Be You and Me.

This post marks my 500th post on this blog...  I don't know if I should keep it going for another 500.  I only post when I'm inspired by something from the past.  The lucky thing is that with every passing day, there's more past to be inspired by.

Chevy Van...

Before recently, I had never actually heard of a song from the 70s called "Chevy Van"...  I discovered this song in a Facebook group called Everything 70s.  Man, the folks who were born in the 60s had all the fun!

Apparently, it was released by Sammy Johns in 1973...

This song is about a guy who picks up a hitchhiking chick and gets laid in his Chevy Van.  Remember, this was when people didn't care about sexually transmitted infections.  It sounds like the woman was a bit loose and he was game.  And she clearly didn't think he meant to rape her, either.  To be sure, he was a gentleman.  A horny gentleman for sure, but a gentleman nonetheless.

Would this song be a hit today?  I don't think so.  It's a song from a bygone era.  Since I was alive when it was a hit, I feel pretty ancient.  But I guess the lady wanted to thank her benefactor properly by giving him a hummer in his van.

The things I think about on Monday mornings...  Now I'm going to have "Chevy Van" stuck in my head all day.