Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming, we're finally on our own, this summer I hear the drumming...I'm (eleven days--yikes) late again....
You could read my introduction paragraph to last week's (at least technically last week's) tune of the week, and it could serve as this week's paragraph. Huge single from the seventies gets played everywhere. I will add this about this week's song: I sincerely doubt there is a seventies pop compilation ever released that doesn't contain it. Zero. It is literally the epitome of seventies pop....
Looking Glass formed at Rutgers University in 1969, but the original lineup broke up after graduation. Lead singer Elliot Lurie and Larry Gonsky recruited two new members and continued the band anew. They released their first album in 1972 and their second a year later. In 1974 the band changed its name to Fallen Angels at which time Lurie split, and in 1975 changed their name to Starz. (who would go on to develop a small following and gain some reputation as an influential heavy metal band). That would also be the last year that the original band would be together until 2003 when Lurie reformed the band with all new musicians. They continue to play the oldie circuit, and it's my guess it beats the hell out of working in a grocery store. For their career, Looking Glass released the aforementioned two albums and five singles (they actually had a second hit that reached #33).
"Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" was the first release from their 1972 debut album, the ever so conveniently named Looking Glass. The single would reach #1 (with a bullet!), while the album peaked at #113. Look how cool those kids are in the Great White North--#1 there, too.
Fun Fact: Looking Glass owes a good deal of their big single's success to one Harv Moore, program director at WPCG in Washington, D.C. He gave the radio release of the song a chance over two days and later said the station's switchboard "lit up like a Christmas tree." Epic Records quickly released a single and other stations around the country caught on shortly.
From its mellow groove opening (replete with some wondrous doo-doo doo doos), "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" just oozes sticky sweet pop vibes and doesn't let up until it's over. It tells the story of a waitress named Brandy from a "port on a western bay" (screams San Francisco) who spends her life serving sailors. Alas, poor Brandy fell in love with one who told her the sea was his life, and she spends her days in love with a man who will never be hers. Lead singer Lurie lays down some blue-eyed soul, and the band makes some bitchin' and joyous music for its three minutes and six seconds. While doing my half-assed research, I noticed that the song is full of some nice backing horns--how the hell did I miss that the first million times I heard it? As with last week's song, this is a wonderful slice of pop pie from the seventies that never gets old, which is probably as big of a testament to its greatness as any words I might write.
Lyric Sheet: "At night when the bars close down/Brandy walks through a silent town/And loves a man who's not around/She still can hear him say..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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