Hard to argue with any of your points! I guess what I was saying is you have different levels of artistic abilities, and I just think some feel they are more able than they really are. And then they get upset when we don’t support them, and they blame everything except for the mediocre material they felt was their masterpiece. And Eric was an easy shot because he went from a really strong pop album to his artistic Mona Lisa with Boats Against The Current, an album he still can’t understand why it didn’t sell, and one I totally hate like apparently most others as it was the cut out king for a long time. And to your point, I guess there is an awful lot of incredible material from many artists that we never would have heard if they tried to listen to chuckle heads like me; as you said, I guess we need to just let them be an “artist”. I just get bummed when an artist I really liked tries to jump the shark, change their sound and come out with something that no one really wants to hear. But then they get criticized for doing Go All The Way, as you cited, over and over (which of course he did one more time with that awful song You Took Me All The Way that was only written at the insistence of his rep at Geffen). Anyway, your point is well taken.
but sometimes you don't know one's artistic ability unless you actually allow their wings. Like the above poster said, there was a time where people thought The Beatles were just a simple pop-rock band, they were given the chance to blow our minds. Also look at Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie, Madonna (while she may not be to everyone's opinion of a great artist, she really did blow away those who just thought she was some cheesy early 80s dance pop star), Radiohead amongst many others who were signed as one thing, yet ended up turning into so much more and took risks.
Your statement was; "The greatest artists ever were the ones who followed their own muse." Do you not consider Elvis Presley one of the greatest artists ever?" As for the movies, it was the 60's. Plenty of artists were doing movies from The Beatles to Cap'n Geech And The Shrimp Shack Shooters. Elvis made plenty of money, kept his image out there, and got to hook up with Ann-Margret. As for Colonel Parker being an idiot, he may have been a shyster, but he wasn't an idiot. There are many acts who totally or mostly relied on other material to make their mark. Your blanket statement misses the mark. Then on the other side were The Monkees who ended their own popularity by demanding to be something they weren't.
Nothing wrong with making movies, or even with making your career mostly by doing covers/songs other people wrote, provided those are the songs you want to do and they are not foisted on you by others. My point about Elvis was, here's a guy whose career was hurt by being in all those movies -- check out his chart action from 1962 - 1966, it wasn't a patch on what he was doing before. Most of the docs I've seen about him indicated that he basically had no love for them after a while, he was just going with the flow. But when he started doing what he wanted to do again circa Comeback special, his chart performance also improved. Better art and better commerce. Can't argue with the Ann-Margret point, though.
LOL at You Took Me All the Way, and also to a lesser degree Overnight Sensation. Yeah, I guess he was recycling his sound pretty quickly, wasn't he? I guess it's hard when you're a singer and your magnum opus is laughed at/ignored, so I can understand Carmen's frustration. Doesn't mean I agree with him, but I can understand it! When I think about it, I usually only follow an artist for a small part of their career; then they change enough that I don't find them compelling anymore. But maybe they get other fans at that point with their new direction, so I don't get mad, just move on to someone else!
Tragedy Tragedy might be the first #1 we've talked about where the cover version by Alvin and the Chipmunks actually has a lower vocal than the original! (actually, it's interesting that there are three Chipmunks and three Bee Gees -- obviously Barry would be Alvin, so the question is, who are the others? Probably Maurice is Simon and Robin Theodore?). (so does that make Stigwood David Seville? OK, I'll stop now). I certainly recall the chorus of this song (including the faux explosion) but was amazed that I recalled none of the rest of it. This was one of the songs we nasty kids really loved to parody; plenty of lyrics about real life 'tragedies' that usually involved getting kicked in the privates or some other such hilarity. As for the song, this is definitely the point where the falsetto became just. too. much. I think I would rather listen to disco Chipmunks if I'm going there. The chorus is catchy, though, that I'll give them. (and I can't let it go: the Chipmunks topped the charts in the fifties and still make movies and records that sell to this day. They never get credit for their staggering longevity, do they? Especially considering that they're little cartoon rodents, it's an amazing achievement).
The thing with the Chipmunks, all you have to do is replace their voices every couple decades or whatever. My 11 yo son was watching them on TV the other day, there was an episode which was about the making of The Christmas Song, and I had to explain to him that it was a #1 song in the '50s, 50 years befoer he was born! Show me another '50s #1 artist who can do anything close to that. You can't. That's why the Chipmunks have longetivity.
Just heard this re-watching Undercover Brother. It's one of those songs where you just have to pause the movie and listen to it in full.
Paul McCartney and Wings released this number in March of 1979. I always kind of liked it, even though I know a lot of people most assuredly did not. Good Night Tonight! As we kids used to sing along: 'Don't say it! Don't spray it!' (apparently I'm not the only person who liked it: it reached 5 in both the UK and US charts)
Not sure about others here, but this particular Paul McCartney song gave me the feeling that disco had started (or further?) permeated the old guard. I mentioned in an earlier post there were songs out around now that caused me to stop listening to the radio for a while. I have to admit that this was one of them. Maybe this isn't disco per se (however it is specifically defined), but it certainly seems disco-influenced, if nothing else.
Besides being heavily disco-influenced, "Goodnight Tonight" was 'Macca's' first single in the US under a new deal with Columbia Records.
I will not apologize for my liking of this song, then or now. I think it transcends the "old guard trying out disco" tag. Maybe the vocoder and little "space ship" sound effects "solo" is a bit dated, but the tune is strong, the chordal work underneath is sophisticated and artfully done, it has some nice twists on the arrangement and Paul's semi-languid/dreamy delivery was a nice change of pace from Bee Gee falsetto land. Having a legit virtuoso guitar player in Wings for this brief period (Lawrence Juber) added a nice trait to the Wings sound especially for this track. And Paul's bass lines and tone are KILLER on this. I loved his late 70's/early 80's bass work...he hasn't explored that mid-heavy "funk" style he adopted then in a long time. I even like the video. I think it's cute.
I was surprised when Paul came out with this one. I liked it but was annoyed that it wasn't on an album.
It's a work of genius and should have been a single. Might not have been a hit, but would have been a great change of pace and if it had hit it might have shielded them a bit from the disco apocalypse.
Yeah, I went looking for it on Back To The Egg. Columbia (or McCartney) were morons for not including it. I loved the song as a kid, but now I recognize it as another pop/rock fossil climbing aboard the disco bandwagon. Like "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" it certainly works, but unlike "Sexy" McCartney feels like a bizarre fit on the dance floor. Whereas Rod sounds like he was born to front sleazy (or maybe not!) disco songs. "Goodnight" is sort of a discofied "With A Little Luck" - slight melody, spacy rambling instrumental noodling, pulse provided by electronics and Paul's bass. He was headed fast toward the end of his commercial relevance. You can only fly on vapors for so long.
I'm sorry, but I just can't stand Michael McDonald and his mush-mouthed vocals. Tom Johnston was the ONE when it comes to leading the Doobie Brothers' hits.
Yeah we are at the point where many stereotypical Classic Rockers are dipping their toes in the disco pool. Can't reveal too much as there are some heavies yet to come but easily the most unlikely act to tread that water would be The Grateful Dead with "Shakedown Street" in 1978. It totally works but man, who would've thunk they would have jumped that bandwagon?
We've hit peak Yacht Rock. Yes, I know the term wasn't coined until decades later, but it could have been coined just for this song. I always loved this one, and Michael McDonald's weird mush mouth vocals. It certainly beats the avalanche of "overtight undershorts" vocals from Styx, Supertramp, Rush, Air Supply and a host of other whiter-than-white acts that were about to infest the charts.
McCartney was still in the 1960s mindset of issuing singles, but then offering albums with different material. Giving fans their money's worth. Problem is by 1979 many people bought albums only, and singles were to an extent just promotion for the LP. So Back to the Egg was really undermined. Really loved Goodnight Tonight. Still have the 45 I bought from way back then. If only he'd kept this lineup of Wings going through the 1980s.
I don’t know, it never crossed my mind it was a disco song. And it has some weird breaks in it so I don’t know how well it would go over on a dance floor. Of course someone is probably going to inform me it went number one on the disco chart
One of the greatest songs I’ve heard. Someone said that it is very spiritual. I don’t know that Barry set out to do that, but I see the characterization. I love the long outro! A very creative song with a strong hook. The falsetto seems more restrained in a positive way, and used to great effect on this song imo. On a good set up those keyboards during the outro sound amazing and really bite. Took a long time to finally get that magic pressing to experience it but just recently located a first pressing in mint condition. Sound fantastic, even better than my Nautilus.
