Happy New Year, everybody... As usual, we've had a few celebrity deaths in the waning days of 2022. One person who died yesterday was Anita Pointer, who was one of the Pointer Sisters. I always enjoyed their music back in the days when I was a wee lass growing up. Anita, who was suffering from cancer and was 74 years old, was the fourth of six children born to parents, Elton and Sarah Pointer. Anita was born in California, but her parents came from Arkansas, and they were very strict, as Elton Pointer was a minister. Anita was their fourth child of six.
Reverend and Mrs. Pointer were very much against what they called "the devil's music", which basically seemed to include any type of music that wasn't religious, especially rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and the blues. Nevertheless, the pull of pop music was too strong to resist, and the sisters came together to make their own, special brand of music.
In 1969, Anita and her sisters, June and Bonnie, who are both now deceased, formed their very successful trio, The Pointer Sisters. In 1972, their sister Ruth, also joined. Ruth is the oldest, and is still living. She is the only member of the current incarnation of the Pointer Sisters who was in the original line up. Her daughter, Issa, and granddaughter, Sadako, are also in the group today.
I always really enjoyed the Pointer Sisters when they were in their prime. I remember a lot of their songs, which were always impeccably harmonized and had broad, commercial appeal. They also covered songs by artists who sang different styles. For instance, they famously covered the song "Fire" by Bruce Springsteen. I love Bruce's version, but I always think of theirs first.
A news item about Anita Pointer's death.
Anyway, below are a few songs by The Pointer Sisters... I don't think they make 'em like this anymore...
"Slow Hand"
"Fire"
"I'm So Excited"
"Jump For My Love"
"Automatic"
And here's "Overnight Success", a solo song by Anita Pointer.
Wherever Anita is now, I hope she's resting in eternal peace!
I love it when a random song from the past pops into my head. Just a little while ago, a song called "Just Be Good To Me" started playing in my head. I went looking for it on iTunes. I only found a version done by a Canadian singer named Deborah Cox. Deborah Cox recorded "Just Be Good To Me" in 1995. She's two years younger than I am. I knew the song was older than that, since I remember it playing on the radio when I was a kid. Sure enough, I learned that it was released by the S.O.S. Band in 1983.
The song I remembered. It's hard to find this song without paying an arm and a leg.
Neither iTunes nor Amazon.com had this song available by the S.O.S. Band. If I want it, I have to pay a shitload of money. I like the song, but not that much! Besides, I can always listen on YouTube. I did download Deborah Cox's version, which is pretty good and very faithful to this version.
She's got chops. I read that she used to sing backup for Celine Dion.
Amazon.de does have "Just Be Good To Me" available to download, but I can't download stuff from their store, because I have a U.S. bank account. I would need a German account to access the digital Amazon.de store.
Living in Germany can have its annoying sides. Like, for instance, I am once again locked out of my PenFed account, and I have to call the bank to get it unlocked. But I have to wait until the afternoon, because I'm six hours ahead of PenFed, which is in Virginia. It's even worse when something happens on USAA. They're on central time, there.
Anyway, the S.O.S. band had another hit song back in the day. It's called "Take Your Time, Do It Right". I don't like that one as much as the funky "Just Be Good To Me". For one thing, "Take Your Time" has a tendency to get stuck in my head. It's quite an earworm.
But you sure can dance to it... or do other things.
"High Hopes" is a 1982 era hit.
"The Finest" is another hit by the S.O.S. Band, but I don't remember this one.
The S.O.S. Band stands for Sounds of Success. They got their start in Atlanta, Georgia in 1977. As I sit here listening to their music, realizing that they worked with some famously great producers like Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, I can understand why their sound is so infectious and still pretty great many years later. I've always really appreciated funk, even though I'm about as white as a person can get.
I'll probably be singing that song for the rest of the day.
A couple of nights ago, while sitting in rented accommodation in Slovenia, I was messing around on YouTube and watching old clips of the old British kids' show that included the Pink Windmill Kids, with Rod Hull and Emu. Toward the end of the show's run, it was starting to resemble an American show called Kids Incorporated. But whoever was choosing the songs for the Pink Windmill Kids' show, must have loved disco and dance music, even in the 80s.
Having grown up during that time, I am well familiar with the big hit, "Funkytown". I used to hear it all the time at the skating rink.
This was a big hit... Probably Lipps Inc.'s biggest...
So there I was, sitting there watching the Pink Windmill Kids doing covers of songs like "Funkytown", although I don't think they ever actually did "Funkytown". And they did a song called "Power", which was originally a Lipps Inc. song. But "Power" also rips off "Venus" by The Shocking Blue and Bananarama... and the horn section also sounds suspiciously similar to James Brown.
Pretty impressive...
"Power" definitely sounds like a song by the people who brought us "Funkytown", But what really struck me was the unusual chord harmonies on the chorus. And what struck me even harder is how well these girls from The Pink Windmill Kids do it... especially given that it's a "deep cut".
Impressive stuff. But by the end of the 80s, the Pink Windmill Kids were definitely channeling Kids Incorporated.
I'm surprised none of these kids turned out to be famous. Or, at least none that I know of today...
Moving on...
Yesterday, I learned that Ronnie Wilson, one of the founding members of The Gap Band, died at age 73. May he rest in peace.
This song never gets old... it always reminds me of my childhood.
Picture it. It's the late 1980s. I'm at a horse show in Hampton, Virginia. Someone is blaring Top 40 radio. It's The Fat Boys and their updated version of "Wipeout", which featured The Beach Boys.
Yikes...
Hearing that song at that moment left an indelible imprint on my brain. Now, whenever I hear The Fat Boys sing "Wipeout", I am reminded of my days as a competitive equestrienne. Those days are long over, of course. I haven't been riding in over twenty years. I miss it.
The Fat Boys came back into my consciousness yesterday, when I heard that one of the founding members died at age 52. Prince Markie Dee, otherwise known as Mark Anthony Morales, died on February 11, 2021, just eight days shy of his 53rd birthday. His death came after the untimely death of one of his bandmates, Darren (the Human Beat Box) Robinson, who died in 1995 at age 28. Robinson died while doing something he supposedly loved-- rapping. He'd been sitting on chair, performing for friends, when he fell off the chair and hit his head. He never regained consciousness. The other bandmate was Damon Wimbley, otherwise known as Kool Rock Ski.
The only other song by The Fat Boys that I remember as a hit was a remake of "The Twist" by Chubby Checker. It was kind of a fun song, although the 80s update doesn't really stand up to the original.
"Come on baby. Let's do the Twist."
Morales went on to work with other artists, notably Mary J. Blige. He's remembered as a great guy, very talented... and he died much too young at age 52. I certainly wasn't a mega fan of The Fat Boys, but their music always reminds me of a special time in my life-- the high school years. Seems crazy that they were that long ago.
Yet another bizarre musical number from the past came to my consciousness the other. A friend shared this video of the late Herve Villechaize, who famously played Tattoo on Fantasy Island back in the day. Apparently, acting wasn't the Frenchman's only talent...
"Why Do People Have To Fight?" Good question, Herve.
Apparently, Mr. Villechaize was on Dinah Shore's talk show in the early 80s, and he sang his heart out on television. I used to love watching Fantasy Island when I was growing up in the 1980s. I remember very well, watching Herve yell "The plane! The plane" with every new episode. I miss the days when TV shows were completely campy and silly.
"Hello Boss..." Back when Ricardo Montalban was still alive and not in a wheelchair.
But Herve suffered, even though he was a star. I remember very clearly back in the 1990s, when I heard he'd committed suicide. His girlfriend, Kathy Self, found him dead after he shot himself. He'd left a note explaining that he was driven to suicide due to long term health problems. His organs were too large for his small body, and he spent years in pain, kneeling to sleep so he could breathe.
I could use a little breather.
Herve Villechaize was born with dwarfism, the youngest of four children born to an English mother and a French surgeon. It was believed that the dwarfism was caused by an endocrine disorder, which his father unsuccessfully tried to cure. As he got older, he insisted on being called a "midget" instead of a "dwarf". While "dwarf" is a medical term, it seems to have become a slur, as the term "midget" has. Nowadays, people seem to prefer the term "little person".
Besides acting and singing, Herve Villechaize was also an artist and photographer, and that was how he made his living before he fell into the world of entertainment.
When I saw his music video, I knew it was perfect for this blog. Enjoy another performance by the legendary Herve Villechaize.
Back in the early 80s, I was very horse crazy. I liked to buy anything having to do with horses. It didn't matter the discipline, either. I watched it all on TV, and I was keen to try anything.
One day, back in 1983 or 84, while shopping alone at Murphy's Mart in Gloucester, Virginia, I was browsing in their meager music section and I saw it... Ballytown.
Not my copy, but I did own one...
Yes, this was a game. No, no one ever wanted to play it with me.
This was basically a long playing record that had horse races on it. I remember it was really weird looking vinyl. The grooves were not like the ones I'd seen on music albums. I think that was to change the outcome, because I think this was supposed to be a betting game for parties.
Looks like a 45 version of the record. Mine was a 33.
I think I played this record a few times, then lost interest. It got stored in my parents' entertainment center for years, until they finally moved out of the house I grew up in. I kind of wish I still had it today, but I don't own a record player anymore. Besides, I'm still not a party animal and no one would play this game with me now. Still, it was kind of a novel idea. Kind of a shame I spent my hard earned money on it, although given how horse crazy I used to be, it's not a total surprise.
When I was growing up, kids had a lot more freedom than they do today. I used to be allowed to walk to stores that were a couple of miles away and shop by myself. It didn't matter that I had to cross a busy highway. My parents trusted me not to get killed. I remember one time, a county cop stopped to ask if I needed a ride. I was within sight of my house, so I said no. He took my word for it and didn't question me further. I'm sure today, he would have picked me up for running away or something. Or my parents would have gotten a good talking to...
Someone should have given them a talking to for letting me buy this album, although I have to admit it's kind of a fun nostalgic memory.
For those who are interested in Wham!, I've just posted a review of Andrew Ridgeley's 2019 book, Wham!, George Michael, and Me: A Memoir. I finished it this morning and found it a very entertaining read, especially if you were young in the 80s.
Andrew Ridgeley talks about why Wham! split up.
And one of their earliest collaborations, Enjoy What You Do.
I guess I could post the review here, but I don't really feel like it, especially since it's just as easy to click the link. But even if you don't click it to read my thoughts, I'll just say it was a fun read. You'd probably like it if you read it.
Today's blog post comes courtesy of random singing I was doing last night over dinner. For some reason, I was reminded of Cutting Crew, an English band from the mid 80s that had some success when I was in high school. This was the song I was singing.
This is a live recording from 2007, but "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" was by far their biggest hit. I liked this song fine when it first came out, but quickly got sick of it.
For some reason, I liked this song better... but then, I was about 15 at the time. "I've Been In Love Before" might have appealed because it wasn't as popular. This was the follow up single in the UK, but in America, they followed up with this...
Supposedly, it wasn't as big of a hit... I can believe that, since I don't remember this song at all.
To my middle aged ears, Cutting Crew doesn't sound too bad at all. I'm surprised I didn't like them more. I never bought their album, though, mainly because I distinctly remember getting tired of "I Just Died In Your Arms" when it was popular. I also never liked the title much. Singer and songwriter Nick Van Eede has been with the band since the beginning and, in fact, appears to be the only original band member left. I'm not sure how popular this band is today, but it's still existing... they even have an official Web site. God, I miss the 80s.
Just before I went to sleep last night, I got the news that James Ingram died yesterday. His death was announced on Twitter by his old friend, Debbie Allen. Ms. Allen, fondly remembered as Lydia Grant on Fame, did not specify the cause or time of death. However, I woke up this morning to see Mr. Ingram's death being reported by the likes of the New York Times.
I grew up in the 1980s, so my childhood was peppered with songs by James Ingram. I always appreciated his rich, warm, elegant baritone and R&B sensibility. I can't think of a single song he ever did that I didn't enjoy. I especially loved his duets with Patti Austin, "Baby, Come To Me" and "How Do You Keep the Music Playing", both of which I like to sing myself.
Sigh...
Patti Austin and James Ingram were perfect together.
James Ingram also memorably sang "Somewhere Out There" with Linda Ronstadt, a song I like to sing myself. And he sang the soulful, faithful duet, "Yah Mo Be There" with Michael McDonald.
"Somewhere Out There"
"Yah Mo Be There"
I also remember his hits, "One Hundred Ways" and "Just Once", both of which came out in the early 1980s and still sound great over 35 years later.
"One Hundred Ways"
"Just once"
I remember buying his greatest hits compilation, The Power of Great Music, when I was in college and a member of BMG Music Club. I wasn't familiar with all of the songs on that CD, but once I listened to them, I loved each song. Mr. Ingram kind of dropped off the radar in the 90s and 00s. I do remember wondering what happened to him. I notice that he stayed married to just one woman, Debra Robinson, whom he married in 1975, before he was a star.
It always saddens me to hear about the death of people who were popular when I was a child. James Ingram was just 66 years old, which seems too young for death. My heart goes out to his family and friends who knew him best and will miss his presence for more than just the great music he made.
Last week, before I got regular Internet access again, I had a song from the 1980s stuck in my head. I didn't know it last week, but the song was called "Alibis" and it was performed by Brazilian band leader, Sergio Mendes. Sergio Mendes has been around for many years. I think he's been leading bands since the 1960s. His band has gone through different incarnations.
In the 1980s, Sergio Mendes had a few pop hits. I wrote about a couple of them early this year, but somehow I missed "Alibis", which was a hit when I was about twelve years old. It definitely has that 80s sound. Check it out.
Joe Pizzulo sings lead on this hit, although since it was on Solid Gold, he was probably lip syncing.
Sergio Mendes wasn't unlike Santana in that different people sing lead. Mendes is the band's leader, but he gets singers to be the frontpeople. In 1983, Mendes rejoined Herb Alpert's A&M label and worked with Alpert's wife, Lani Hall, on a few songs. A&M went defunct in 1999, but it hosted a lot of really great acts from my youth, including the Carpenters, Sting, Joan Baez, Styx, and Burt Bacharach, among many others.
I don't know why, but "Alibis" always reminds me of riding my bike back and forth to the barn when I was twelve. It was a summer hit, if I recall correctly, and lent itself well on my Walkman. I still think it sounds good today, thirty-four years later...
I am getting so old... but I really do think music was better back in the day. I have turned into my parents.
A Facebook friend reminded me of my old pastime of roller skating yesterday when she posted about her kindergarten aged son learning the Hokey Pokey for the first time. I am sure I learned that well-known kids' dance when I was very young, but I distinctly remember doing it on roller skates at Old Mill Skating Rink in Gloucester, Virginia.
I was pretty good at roller skating. I actually learned how to ice skate before I could roller skate, but there were no ice skating rinks in Gloucester when I moved there at age 8. I remember I used to spend hours at the rink, skating to the hits of the late 70s and early 80s. And then they'd do the Hokey Pokey, which was so much fun...
This isn't where I did the Hokey Pokey, but the song is the version they used when I did it in the 80s... And the people in this video don't appear to be very good skaters. They probably learned how to skate using roller blades.
I listened to this video earlier this morning and I swear, I now have that Hokey Pokey song stuck in my head. I see this is the version we used... from 1953.
by Ray Anthony & His Orchestra and JoAnn Greer singing.
It's been years since I last thought about the "Hokey Pokey", although I do remember doing it with my students when I taught English in Armenia in the 1990s. Armenian kids loved it as much as Americans did. It was a good way to teach body parts, too.
I remember the first time I ever heard Aretha Franklin's name. It was 1980 and I was in the third grade. I had a classmate with an unusual name. This girl was in my class, although she was in what was considered the "slower" group. I think she was at least a year older than I was because she'd been held back. Her name was Retha, and she was white and came from our very provincial town. Back then, we were friends, although we didn't stay friends beyond that year. We ran in different crowds.
I remember going home one day that school year and telling my mom that I had a new friend named Retha. My mom said, "I wonder where that name came from. Is she black?"
I said, "No, she's white."
"Maybe she was named after Aretha Franklin." Mom said.
"Who's that?" I asked.
"She's a very famous black singer." Mom said.
Aretha in 2017, still demanding "Respect". She was quite regal when she performed, very befitting of the "Queen of Soul".
For all I know, my friend's unusual name was in honor of the Queen of Soul, who died yesterday after having been very ill. I haven't seen or talked to Retha since high school. I don't think I talked to her much when we were in high school, either, because, like I said, we ran in different crowds. I remember her to be someone who cared less about school than I did. She seemed to be more into boys. My mom probably would not have approved of her, had she met her. My mom has always been a bit classist.
However, for some reason, I never forgot that innocuous conversation with my mom. Every time I heard Aretha Franklin's unmistakable pipes, I'd think of Retha, the girl from my third grade class. And then I would forget Retha and concentrate on Aretha's magnificent range and passion. She truly was in a class by herself.
Although this is definitely not among Aretha's most impressive songs, it's always been a guilty pleasure for me.
Oddly enough, though, the first time I remember hearing "Respect", it was sung by Maureen McGovern on the film "Airplane!". She was playing a nun trying to comfort a passenger who had food poisoning. When I heard Aretha's version, Maureen's uptight nun version seemed all the more ridiculous.
The jive brothers aren't impressed.
I remember in the 1980s, Aretha Franklin had a few Top 40 hits. She sang, "Who's Zoomin' Who?" and "Freeway of Love", both songs that adolescent me liked. Of course, neither were as memorable as Franklin's remake of Otis Redding's "Respect" or "Think". Actually, I can't listen to "Think" and not think of yet another white person. In 1990, Canadian figure skater Elizabeth Manley skated to Aretha Franklin's song, "Think", and I never forgot it. I think that might have even been the first time I ever heard that song.
Liz Manley skates to an Aretha Franklin hit. Manley won the silver medal in ladies figure skating in 1988. I seem to remember the first time I saw this performance, Manley used the original version.
Of course I knew "Respect" in those days, but that was the first time I'd heard "Think", which kind of blew my mind. Not long after that, I invested in a double CD set featuring Aretha Franklin's hits. I discovered a lot of her other hits... songs like "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)", which I think I heard the first time at a party in Yerevan, Armenia. I watched yet another white person dancing to her music. He got mad when I slammed into him.
Actually, this is probably one of my favorite Aretha Franklin songs. It's so soulful and emotional. It takes a lot to be able to deliver this kind of performance.
Some time later, I was back in the States and watching 7th Heaven. Actress Jessica Biel, then about fourteen years old and playing Mary Camden, was singing in a band. She bravely took on Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man".
Um... I'm not sure this was the best song for her...
Her version of "Respect" sounds a little like "The Hard Knock Life" from Annie.
Aretha Franklin was the kind of singer who appealed to everyone. She had a voice that made everyone respond. However, although many people tried to emulate her, almost no one could hold a candle to her. She was in her own league.
This is a Carole King song... and while I'd rather hear Carole sing it, Aretha Franklin certainly made it hers! Look at how the audience responds!
Another memorable take on "Natural Woman"... It's not that I don't appreciate Aretha's classic take on it-- it's more that I like to hear songwriters performing their music. I can't deny that Aretha turned Carole's song into a gold mine.
I'll be honest. It's taken me a very long time to learn to fully appreciate Aretha Franklin. In fact, I'm not sure I appreciate her as much as I should. I haven't listened to nearly enough of her music. She truly was a goddess in the music world, though, and worthy of all of the respect. We lost another musical legend yesterday, on the same date we lost the King of Rock and Roll in 1977. Maybe Aretha is up there in Heaven, singing with George Michael again...
Two stars in Heaven.
Anyway... Godspeed, Aretha. You were a rare and unique talent and the world will miss you.
In the 80s, I was a big fan of the show, Fame. You could say I watched it religiously, even though the storylines were kind of cheesy and the musical numbers were often either corny or badly sung. Fame had a lot of good dancers, probably due to Debbie Allen's influence. However, there were only a couple of good singers. Lee Curreri, who played Bruno, was legitimately a talented keyboard player and composer, but his singing left something to be desired.
Anyway, Fame is evidently still very popular in Italy. A few months ago, they had a reunion concert in Italy and quite a few of the original players gathered to sing the songs that were featured on the show. Here are a few videos from that concert, as well as one they did at The Troubadour in Los Angeles to raise money for the Actors' Fund.
In loving memory of Fame players lost...
"Starmaker" again... I'm struck by how nice Cynthia Gibb's voice is here. She's obviously invested in a lot of training, since she sounds much better here than she did on the show.
This was one of my favorite songs on Fame... I believe Lee Curreri actually composed this. It sounds a bit like something Boz Scaggs would have recorded. It holds up to time.
Nia Peeples sings one of her best known ballads from the show. She was probably the best singer they had when the show aired. Jesse Borrego is there to dance with her. They were a couple on Fame before Nia's character, Nicole, was killed off. I think in real life, Nicole was engaged to Carlo Imperato, who played Danny Amatullo.
Debbie Allen sings at the L.A. reunion.
And you can click here to see the Fame gang in Los Angeles, singing their iconic theme song. I can't say this is the best rendition I've heard, but they sure look like they're having fun. I best this show was a blast. I think even Eartha Robinson got in on this one... She was a dancer on the show!
I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for future Italy shows. Apparently, they've done shows there at least twice since we moved back to Europe. These clips are making me feel old, though... I can't believe the 80s were so long ago. Where did the time go?
South Park led me to write this post. They played a clip of "Pac Man Fever", a musical homage to the legendary arcade game. People of my generation loved Pac Man. Now it's ridiculously primitive.
Buckner & Garcia sing their one hit wonder... Holy shit! They were on American Bandstand!
Pac Man had a hell of a run in the 80s. I remember they marketed everything from breakfast cereal to Saturday morning cartoons with the little yellow guy and his descendants and "wife", Ms. Pac Man. And, yes, there was even a hit song. Man, oh man, does this song bring back some painful memories.
I am still hooked on video games, although now I'm playing them online and blowing too much money on them. I'd kill for a game I could play for a quarter.
Back in my youth, we even had game shows dedicated to video games. Of course, Pac Man was a big part of that. This is Starcade, which used to air on TBS.
Yeah, this is one of those songs that came out at the right time and is now mostly faded from memory. But the guys who made South Park are my age, so sometimes I relate even more to their show than I should.
Yes, another mid 80s band I had long forgotten about. They had a gem of a hit in their song "Your Love". People loved it.
More edgy rock. I think it's good, but it's totally 80s.
Unlike The Hooters, The Outfield comes from Britain. Unlike most British bands, they experienced success in the United States, but not in their homeland. Interestingly enough, though they are Brits, their band is named after baseball. They initially called themselves The Baseball Boys, kind of as a joke, but fan response was favorable. Given that they sounded very American, it seems fitting that they'd call themselves The Outfield. However, despite their baseball inspired name, they didn't actually know much about baseball until they came to the States.
Here's another hit by The Outfield, "Since You've Been Gone".
"Say It Isn't So" reminds me a little of Big Country, another band that was popular in the mid 80s.
Hell, they are still kind of appealing thirty years later, even though I'm probably only saying this because I'm older than hell now. I see that songwriter and bassist John Spinks, died of liver cancer the same day my dad died, on July 9, 2014. That's too bad. He was just 60 years old.
Wow... here's a band I haven't thought of in decades. The Hooters had a popular album out when I was about 13 or 14. It spawned several hits. Then they kind of disappeared. For some reason, their song "And They Danced" popped into my head this morning and I felt compelled to buy new music... well, old music that is new only because I just now bought it.
The Hooters are from Philadelphia, but they are especially popular in Europe... or, at least they were thirty years ago. This band has been in existence since 1980 and is apparently still around today. But they hit the height of their popularity in 1985 or so.
This is a blast from the past...
The energy of "And We Danced" was very popular in the mid 80s. The hard rocking guitars and harmonicas were appealing to people my age back in the day. I listen to it now and still think it sounds good, if not a little reminiscent of McDonald's ads of the time. I went looking to see if I could find the ad I'm thinking of, but it doesn't appear to be on YouTube.
"Day by Day"
This music kind of reminds me of Growing Pains. We all miss the days when Kirk Cameron was cute and cool and all the girls had a crush on him. Now he's a fundamentalist Christian asswipe. Too bad.
I do remember liking "Where Do The Children Go"...
Wow... thirty-two years have flown by. I'm older than dirt. While I'm thinking about it, I will post about another forgotten 80s era band...
Here's another blast from the past. This one is from 1988 and I had totally forgotten about it until I saw it on Facebook's "On This Day" feature. I was 16 in 1988 and now I'm 45. This song has held up pretty well after so many years. I think it's still good 29 years later.
Good stuff.
This song has a great melody and surprisingly thoughtful lyrics. Brent Bourgeois formed the band Bourgeois Tagg with Larry Tagg, a former songwriter turned high school English and drama teacher. Brent Bourgeois later became a contemporary Christian singer and, according to Wikipedia, now teachers pop songwriting at University of the Pacific. He's also a music composer for Facebook.
Another song by this band...
This is another one of their hits, but I don't recognize it.
This one features Larry Tagg singing lead.
The only song I remember is "I Don't Mind At All", which doesn't sound nearly as dated as these other songs do. It looks like these guys enjoyed careers in songwriting, though, even if they weren't exactly household names in their heyday.
This old song by Squeeze popped into my head today. I haven't heard it since the 80s.
I can think of other Squeeze songs I liked better...
Squeeze was one of those adult contemporary/progressive bands of the 80s whose songs were catchy and infectious. I wasn't a big aficionado of their music, but I do remember a few decent songs. The one I liked the best was this song.
This song doesn't age, even though it's from 1981. Love the organ. I see it was produced by Elvis Costello and I believe it. It kind of has his stamp on it.
This one is probably #2 for me, if only because I remember it well from my high school years. Listening to it now, it sounds a bit cheesy.
"Black Coffee in Bed" is another big Squeeze hit.
Squeeze was founded by Brits in the late 1970s and performed well into the 90s. Despite my music nerdiness, I only know a few of their tunes. I probably ought to explore them more, especially since the legendary Paul Carrack was a member at one time. I had friends who loved Squeeze, but I guess I was just out to lunch.
For now, I'll just watch these old videos and remember being a kid. I can't believe how old I am.
I don't often post book reviews on this blog, but since this one is about 80s star Belinda Carlisle, formerly of The Go Go's, I think it's fitting that it's here...
Belinda Carlisle unzips her lips...
Review by knotheadusc in Books, Music, Hotels & Travel
July, 20 2010
Pros: Well-written, interesting, reveals perhaps more than Carlisle bargained for.
Cons: Carlisle is self-absorbed and lacks perspective.
Summer seems to be the time for celebrity memoirs. I happen to love a good celebrity tell all, so I'm always game for reading and reviewing them. I've just finished reading Belinda Carlisle'sLips Unsealed: A Memoir (2010), having picked it up a couple of days ago, thinking I needed something more lightweight to read after the somber subject of my last book review. *Sigh* As it turned out, Ms. Carlisle's memoir didn't quite fit the bill for easy, breezy reading material.
Who is Belinda Carlisle?
Here's an explantation for those of you who did not grow up in the 70s and 80s or did not listen to pop music back in that era. Belinda Carlisle is the lead singer of the 80s era punk/pop girl band The Go Go's. She's also done quite a few solo albums over the years, though her hey day as a solo artist was in the late 1980s. Since that happened to be the time I was in high school, it made me part of Belinda Carlisle's targeted group of fans. However, while I did like Belinda Carlisle when she was a Go Go, I never liked her as much as a solo artist.
So why did I read her book?
I read Belinda Carlisle's book for several reasons. First off, while I wasn't a big fan of Belinda's music, I did always think she was kind of cute, likeable, and perky. I liked the Go Go's; when they were popular, they were among very few all girl bands. Reading Carlisle's memoir opened my eyes to the host of personal problems she's struggled with, apparently throughout her life.
Blame it on dad...
Belinda Carlisle grew up in southern California. She was her mother Joanne's firstborn child out of a total of seven kids by two different men. Belinda was born when her mother was 18 years old. Her father, Harold Carlisle, who was Joanne's first husband, was about twice his wife's age. He was out of the house a lot when Belinda was growing up, due to his work. Harold and Joanne were terribly incompatible, yet they still managed to have two more kids before Harold Carlisle permanently left the home. Belinda was seven years old and very upset about the split. However, Joanne had been keeping company with a neighbor named Walt. He eventually moved in, married Belinda's mom, and took over daddy duties, fathering four more kids.
As Belinda tells it, they were always very poor and her bio-dad wasn't around at all. Apparently, he never paid child support or visited. And Belinda's mother had encouraged her kids with Harold Carlisle to call Walt "Dad". Belinda writes that she still calls him that and thinks of him in that way, even though Walt was abusive and an alcoholic.
As the oldest child, Belinda had to take on a lot of responsibilities around the house. This was in part because her mother suffered from a mental illness and because with seven kids in the house, there was a lot to do. Belinda also had a very fragile self-esteem. Because her family was poor, she didn't have a lot of cool clothes and she had a less than svelte body. Her classmates made fun of her.
As she came of age, Belinda Carlisle went from being an awkward, chubby kid to a wild teenager. She writes of hanging around her friends at concert venues in Los Angeles, drinking, doing drugs, and occasionally shoplifting. She developed an affinity for punk music and eventually ran into the other women who would help make up the Go Go's.
Making music and getting laid and snorting cocaine and getting drunk... lather, rinse, repeat
Once the story progresses into Belinda Carlisle's music career, an unpleasant image of her begins to emerge. She describes herself as a very troubled person, not particularly talented as a songwriter, not able to play any instruments, and not even the greatest singer. But she was the lead singer for the Go Go's, despite those shortcomings. Her status as a lead singer opened doors for her, created resentments for some of the other band members, and apparently made her feel very insecure.
As Carlisle writes it, she was constantly snorting cocaine and drinking because she didn't like herself. She also didn't like her bio dad, who, once Belinda became an adult and was famous, tried to reconnect with her. She writes of an incident in which he showed up at a concert with his second wife and their daughters, whom she claims he "replaced her with". Belinda met them while extremely high on cocaine. She says he tried to explain his side of the story. She tuned him out, claiming that he was just blaming her mother-- who no doubt was responsible for at least some of went wrong. Then she expressed bitterness that he would try to contact her "just because she was famous". I daresay if she was that high on cocaine, her perceptions of what was actually said in that meeting are probably very skewed.
Later, bio dad and Belinda's sisters from his side of the family tried to reconnect again. She refused to see them and eventually told her dad she didn't want a relationship with him. And yet, throughout this book, it's pretty clear to me that his unexplained departure when she was a little kid had left a huge void. As far as I can tell, that psychic wound is still very painful for her. Yet, as she proudly proclaims her sobriety and newfound sanity, this is an area she evidently still refuses to address.
I'll admit...
My husband is one of those dads who left his children when they were young and no longer has a relationship with them thanks to extreme parental alienation. Because of that, I feel some empathy for Belinda Carlisle's father. Granted, everybody's situation is different. Harold Carlisle might very well be the jerk Belinda Carlisle makes him out to be. But, I do think it says something for him that he tried on several occasions to reunite with her. Yes, he did find her when she was famous, but this all occurred at a time before the Internet. Maybe that was the only way he could track her down.
I don't get the comment Belinda Carlisle made about her dad "replacing her" with daughters from his second marriage. First off, it would be impossible for Belinda's father (or any other parent) to replace one child with another. And secondly, clearly Harold Carlisle wasn't all bad. He did apparently stick around and raise his younger kids. If he was a total bum, he would have left them, too. Finally, Belinda's mother had four kids with her second husband and she considers them her siblings. Why isn't her father allowed to have a life post divorce? Clearly, her parents didn't belong together, but Belinda makes it clear that neither of them were angels. Why heap all the blame on dad?
Like father like daughter...
Another issue Carlisle never seems to address is that for all her complaints about her father's absence, she was apparently often absent from her son Duke's life. She was using cocaine and alcohol frequently when Duke was a small child, traveling a lot, and partying a whole lot. Yes, she was still married to Duke's father, but by her own admission she was not around much and was certainly no paragon of parenthood. I'm sure she'd blame that on her bio father, too.
Beyond Belinda's daddy woes...
There's an awful lot about drugs in this book. It seems that Belinda Carlisle spent about thirty years of her life high on cocaine. For that, she was rewarded with fame and fortune. She doesn't make fame out to be as great as it seems, except when she starts name dropping all the celebrities she's met over the years. Since this is a celebrity memoir and the nature of a celebrity's work puts them in contact with other celebrities, that's to be expected. But it does seem to me that Carlisle got more than her fair share of second and third chances. More often than not, she comes off as a bit self-absorbed and selfish.
Despite my griping...
I will admit that Lips Unsealed is well-written and interesting and, for that, I'm giving it four stars. Belinda Carlisle must have a guardian angel, since she found a husband that she describes as "saintly". They've been married for over two decades and their son has apparently grown up healthy and functional. They live in Los Angeles and the South of France. They must be doing something right.
Overall
Belinda Carlisle's memoir did annoy me on more than one occasion, but I think it's worth reading if you're a fan of hers or the Go Go's. She claims that now that she's in her 50s, she's clean and sober. I truly hope she is and has learned from her mistakes. Judging by this memoir, however, I think she's still got a long way to travel on the road to recovery.
For more information: http://belindacarlisle.50webs.com/
I used to love a song called "Everybody Have Fun Tonight". I liked it so much that I went out and spent $8 on Mosaic, the album from which it came. The band who sang it was Wang Chung and I was in the 9th grade, so $8 was a lot of money to me. I used to listen to the album all the time. I even brought my Walkman to school and listened to it during lunch.
Weird video! Don't watch it if you're prone to seizures.
Wang Chung actually had some pretty good songs in the mid 80s, even before their big hit with the clever lyrics "Everybody have fun tonight! Everybody Wang Chung tonight." Behold!
"To Live and Die in L.A."
And the ever popular...
"Dance Hall Days"
Hell, even some of the songs on that expensive cassette I purchased were pretty good. Remember this song? "Hypnotize Me" was on the Innerspace soundtrack.
Sadly, I can't watch this in Germany...
"Let's Go"... I don't think songwriting was their strong suit.
I don't know what it was about this duo from England. They had some hits, even if their songwriting was shit. And now I may have to go download Mosaic again, even though as I got older, I started to think it sucked. Memories make me spend oodles of money on crap.
in Books, Music, Hotels & Travel