So I am going to play every 45 in my collection.......(Part 3!!)

Got more Isley Brothers 45s? I notice most of the posters aren't saying anything about them.

 

A couple of years ago I bought a couple of BGO's 2 on 1s of the Isley Brothers albums to expand my Isley Brothers collection. From Inside You I really dig Love Zone. I can't believe it wasn't released as a single, because that sounds like a sure fire hit!

 

Tapped out but Isley Jasper Isley is up next!

 

Isley Jasper Isley-Kiss and Tell/Instrumental
This lead single hit #63 in the USA in 1984. Good old "creative differences" led to Ernie and Marvin along with Brother in Law Chris Jasper (who shouldered a lot of the work handling lead vocals, arranging and producing) leaving the Isley Brothers and forming their own group and head in a more pop/rock direction. "Kiss and Tell" sees the guys successfully finding their groove in the 80's a la Kool and the Gang and The Jacksons......although it really sounds like an excellent Michael McDonald song!

 

Isley Jasper Isley-Look the Other Way/Instrumental
The second single from the band was a minor R&B hit. The beginning of the track sounds just like Little Red Corvette....good start! Ernie lends some nice guitar to the proceedings and it is very surprising that this song didn't land in the pop charts at all.

 

Isley Jasper Isley- Caravan of Love/I Can't Get Over Losin' You
The trio's most enduring song (also popularized by The Housemartini's a cappella cover version), hit #51 pop, #1 R&B in the USA in 1985. I loved this track when it came out and I still do. Nice to see the guys revert back to the old Isley sound a bit on this one. Vocal harmony is front and center and it makes for a fun sing-a-long. I never get tired of hearing this and play it often.

 

With all the Isley songs you're posting, I take it you weren't a fan of For The Love Of You? How rude!

 

I wish I could own them all! I don't have the "The Heat is On" LP either. The hunting never ends!

 

I agree. But, I guess we can let him slide a bit because of his age. But, if he doesn't get those early albums, he has you to answer to!

 

I have been meaning to get the box set with all of the RCA and T-Neck albums!

 

Like Nike says, Just do it! I don't need the whole box, but i've bought several lossless single versions from it from 7-digital. A few more and i'll be able to create an Isley Brothers singles collection.

 

J. Geils Band- One Last Kiss/Revenge
This single, their first on EMI, reached #35 in the USA in 1978. Many highlights on this track which kind of bridged their more old school R&B sound with their energing pop/rock leanings. Geils plays some nice guitar here and Wolf is good as always....love the whispered "One Last Kiss" before it launches into the solo.

 

J. Geils Band- Love Stinks/'Till the Walls Come Tumbling Down
This FM Radio staple only managed to reach #38 in the USA in 1980. Basically a slowed down Louie Louie. Love Seth's keyboards and Wolf's vocals, especially the "I've Been Through Minks" delivery. I played this in a band years ago and I remember rehearsing it the first time...our singer sings out "I don't care what any Cavanaugh thinks", and I just stopped cold. This was pre-internet and you actually had to decipher lyrics for yourself back then! I asked him what that line could even mean? He said he thought the Cavanaugh's must be some royal family or something and Wolf was turning up his nose at them. We all had a great laugh when I told him it was "I don't care what any Casanova thinks!"

 

Love like the song! The perfect anti-love song! First time I heard it was on MTV or some other music video show. But, I never owned it until fairly recently.

 

Yeah, yeah

 

J. Geils Band- Centerfold/Rage in the Cage
A huge #1 hit in the USA and a #3 hit in the UK in 1982. Great lyrics and great storytelling in this one about a guy who sees his high school flame years later in a men's magazine. What to do? Well buy it of course! A very underappreciated part of this song musically are the "oohs and aahs" sing by females in the background with layers of syths underneath. A very cool sound.

 

J. Geils Band- Freeze Frame/Flamethrower
Another huge hit from the Justman/Wolf songwriting team. This hit #3 in the USA and #27 in the UK in 1982. Keyboards form a lot of this songs sound and that beginning riff is instantly recognizable (and sounds out of tune) In my friends lexicon, pretty much every time Tuesday is mentioned it is "a rough cut Tuesday". Nice and funky bass part here too. Insanely catchy tune.....I will be humming it For days now.

 

J. Geils Band- Angel in Blue/River Blindness
This reached #40 in the USA and #55 in the UK in 1982. I think Seth Justman tracked down the "Centerfold" girl and found her dancing her life away in a cage in a gentleman's club. As perfectly poppy as the first two singles were, this is my favorite. Wolf's phrasing is perfect on these songs about the downtrodden. Cissy Houston and Luther Vandross on background vocals don't hurt either! Great lyrics all throughout the song but my favorite passage is:

And the bees they had stung her
The birds they had flown
There were guys she could number
But none had she known
And she never had dreams
So they never came true
Oh my fade away angel
Angel in Blue"

 

J. Geils Band- Concealed Weapons/Tell 'em Jonsey
Now that Peter Wolf was out of the band, keyboardist and principle songwriter Seth Justman took over lead vocal duties. He is no Peter Wolf but then again, few are. This track hit #63 in the USA in 1984. It reminds me a lot of Adam Ant's work around this time like Puss N Boots and Strip.....songs and a sound that I really like.

 

Terry Jacks-Seasons in the Sun/Put the Bone In
A rewrite of a Jacques Brel song by Rod McKuen, this hit #1 in the USA and the UK in 1974. This has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide, a pretty rare feat! Jacks only released his own version after the Beach Boys decided to not release the version Jacks was producing for them! Not meant for parties, the lyric details a dying man saying goodbye to loved ones. The pleasant melody belies the lyric. Not one I ever play to be honest, but I don't despise it.

 

This was also around the time when they recorded "Fright Night" for the movie of the same name. My best friend reissued that soundtrack on vinyl on his label about a year or so ago.

 

As you've likely read elsewhere on the forum, I primarily listened to R&B, funk, and jazz music from 1981 - mid-1982. So, this song was already on its way out when I first heard it. A guy at work was shocked that I hadn't heard it in early 1981, so I went out and bought the 45 and liked it.

 

I never cared for it. I find it annoying, especially the keyboard part, and the "beat" and tempo. Again, my ear was more attuned to R&B, funk, and jazz.

 

This came out when I was in the sixth grade, and I hated it with a passion. The little kids liked it, though. But, as i've aged, i've come to respect it, even like it.

 

Prior to Love Stinks, the only J. Geils Band single I owned was Where Did Our Love Go from '76. That made 3 different versions of that song in my collection. And they are all great in their own way.