In all honesty, this week's artist is the kind of band that I usually hate--they're that generic rock and roll band that could have been put together with info programmed into a computer. They had a number one single released before this week's tune that I did not care for at all. Hell, even the cover of this week's featured album shows four guys trying so hard to look cool that they're anything but. And yet...here they are, having a song inducted into the hallowed halls of Friday Night Jukebox....
Player (formed in 1976 in Los Angeles) had a somewhat odd career--at the height of the band's initial success in late 1978 they had a huge blow up between members after a show in Florida and after some member departures found themselves without a contract. Though they would soldier on with a few remaining members (and managed to release three more LPs), they were finished by 1982. Think of that--two top ten singles in 1978 and done as a band by 1982! They would reunite in 1995 (lasted until 2003), and then again in 2007, after which they stayed together until 2018 when another dispute arose. At present, there are two different incarnations of the band led by two former members. Through the years over eighteen different musicians have been in Player. For their career, they released six studio albums (somehow managed two more after their original dissolution), three compilations, and twelve singles (seven of which charted). As noted above, there are two different versions of Player currently riding the oldies circuit--and with enough success to still make a living as musicians. Good on them.
Fun Fact: Founding member Ronn Moss (who leads one of the two current incarnations) went into acting after Player split in 1982 and found quite a bit of success. He was offered a role on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful in 1987 and would go on to play Ridge Forrester for twenty-five years before leaving the show in 2012. Moss continued to perform with the band through their several reunions.
"This Time I'm in It for Love" was the second single from Player's 1977 debut album, the oh, so ingeniously named Player. The single would go on to become their second (and last) top ten single, while the album was the highest charting of their career, reaching #26.
While I noted above that Player was the type of generic band that wasn't my cup of tea, I'd like to note a few things about this week's single. First, it's a hell of a pop tune. Second, there's plenty of blue-eyed soul, which, as regular readers (all three of you) will recall, is an absolute emaycee fave. Third, as I listened to "This Time I'm in It for Love" as part of my weekly half-assed research, I could definitely hear some early Hall and Oates vibes--there was some killer white boy soul in Hall and Oates' early years. And finally, you have to remember this song came out at a time when disco (a genre that could be called the Donald Trump of pop music) overwhelmed the airwaves--anything catchy with a little guitar, drums, and bass was a breath of fresh air. In the end, it's a delicious slice of pop pie that I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this week. Good pop music, you know, makes the world go 'round....
Lyric Sheet: "I heard the weatherman/Predict a sunny day/He did not mean to lie/I look outside it's raining anyway/I guess I can live with a rainy day..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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