Friday Night Jukebox, CDXLII--Hall and Oates: Everytime You Go Away

 Regular readers (both of you) will remember that I am a big fan of blue-eyed soul (Boz Scaggs, early Rod Stewart, Greg Allman, Van Morrison before he turned into a covidiot), and this week's featured tune is as exquisite of an example of a blue-eyed soul song as one will find.  Quintessential, in a word....

I wrote about Hall and Oates in Jukebox XXI (eight--eight!--years ago), and while my first posts didn't do an artist bio, per se, I think I covered enough of their highlights that another one would be superfluous.  However, I would be remiss if I didn't note that Hall and Oates have had two tours since that post, and have started writing songs for a new album, though its recording and release remain in flux.

Fun Fact:  Hall and Oates hate to be called "Hall and Oates."  The band's official name is Daryl Hall & John Oates, as they consider themselves to be two separate artists and not a conventional duo.  You'll note how much I give a shit as I repeatedly refer to them as "Hall and Oates."

"Everytime You Go Away" was released on their commercial breakthrough album Voices in 1980.  Hall and Oates never released (oh, they should have!) it as a single, but British crooner Paul Young took it to #1 in America and #4 in his native U.K. in 1985 (while Young's version is serviceable, it doesn't hold a candle to Hall and Oates' original).  The album hit #17 on the Billboard 200, though (just to show you the tricks the mind plays) I would have sworn it was a #1 album based on its ubiquity.

While I have listened to "Everytime You Go Away" numerous times through the years, because of time and tide it had been a while since I last heard it...but I was surprised, as I closed my eyes and sang along as I did my half-assed research for this post, that I remembered every lyric and all the nuances of Hall's vocals.  Opening with an extended guitar solo from John Oates that echoes the yearning in Hall's vocals to come, the song details a love on the brink and the longing and heartache that come with separation.  Hall's vocals are a master class in soul serenading as he musters all the love and loneliness that the relationship has wrought.  And the song's close--the back and forth between the backing vocals and Hall's lovelorn scatting--my God, it's like dancing euphorically through Shangri-La. It's been forty-three years since I first heard it, and it still sounds just as fresh, just as infectious, as ever.  A classic.

Lyric Sheet:  "Babe, if we can't solve any problems/Why do we lose so many tears/Whoa, so you go again/When the leading man appears..."

Enjoy:

Republicans = Nazis

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXXXIV--Steve Winwood: While You See a Chance

I'd been working for Camelot Music about five months when this week's tune came out--all I remember of it at the time was that I didn't like it much.  Fast forward a few years and it came on the radio as I was driving to work one morning, and I remember thinking to myself."Why in the hell didn't I like this song?  This is a great song!"  And my epiphany would become the first of many through the years.

While most of us were playing with our toys and watching TV when we were in grade school, Steve Winwood was backing blues musicians such as B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters on their U.K. tours playing organ and guitar.  He joined his first band, the Spencer Davis Group, when he was fourteen, and the band had a number one hit in the U.K. by the time Winwood was 17.  He left shortly thereafter for the seminal sixties band Traffic, and then after several albums left them to help form Blind Faith (with among others, Eric Clapton).  In the late seventies Winwood finally got around to pursuing a solo career (at the ripe old age of 29), and it was there he had his greatest commercial success.  For his solo career, Winwood has released nine studio albums, with three top tens in the U.K. and three top fives in the U.S. (including one number one).  He has also released 25 singles, with six top ten hits in the U.S., including two #1's (for whatever odd reason, Winwood did not have nearly the single chart success in the U.K.).  Winwood has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic, but surprisingly has not been inducted as a solo artist.  Though Winwood has not released a new album since 2008, he continues to tour regularly 

"While You See a Chance" was the first single released from Winwood's second solo album, Arc of a Diver  in 1981.  The song reached #7 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and the LP hit #3 on the Billboard 200.

Fun Fact:  Winwood is a multi-instrumentalist, and played all of the instruments on Arc of a Diver, as well as the release that followed, Back in the High Life.  

"While You See a Chance" is a carpe diem song, with Winwood exhorting us to take our best shot at both love and life.  Winwood's organ (synthesizer?) playing drives the song throughout, giving Winwood's exhortation an invigorating backdrop.  But in the end, it's Winwood's vocals (blue-eyed soul, an emaycee fave) that takes the song to another level.  Winwood has said his singing style was patterned after Ray Charles, and while he's not quite as gifted vocally as Charles, it's easy to see the similarities, especially the guttural, from the heart soul that resonates from the tips of your toes to the ends of your fingers.  Just another dazzling piece of pop music.

Lyric Sheet:  "Stand up in a clear blue morning/Until you see what can be..."

Enjoy:

It Was an Insurrection--the Blood of Those Killed on January 6th Is on Republican Hands

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCXXIII--Paolo Nutini: New Shoes

In which we touch upon emaycee's love for blue-eyed soul and good old fashioned top forty pop....

Paolo Nutini hails from Paisley, Scotland and released his debut album at the ripe old age of 19 in 2006.  Over the last fifteen years Nutini has carved out quite a career for himself, especially in his native U.K.  He has had two #1 LPs on the U.K. Album Chart, as well as a #3.  He's also had four top twenty singles on the U.K. Singles Chart.  He's been nominated for three Brit Awards.  For his career, Nutini has released three studio albums, one live album, and twelve singles.  While the bulk of his success has been on the British Isles, all three of Nutini's albums have charted here in America.  While Nutini has not spoken of it, he has been on hiatus since 2017, but one supposes with his track record of success it's only a matter of time before he's recording and touring again.

"New Shoes" was released on his debut album in 2006, These Streets.  The single reached #21 in the U.K., but did not chart here in the States.  The album was #3 in his home county, and reached #48 on the Billboard 200.

The first time I heard "New Shoes" (either MTV or VH-1, can't remember which), it reminded me of the top forty singles I heard in the early to middle 70's that were the genesis of my love for rock and roll.  This one is just plain fun--a ditty about a guy who makes his day better by putting on some new shoes (oh, if only it was that easy).  The stanzas are a cool warm up to the chorus, which is to catchy what sugar is to sweet.  But Nutini's vocals are what turn the song into a pure pop dream--his voice is smooth and silky with the same swagger that propelled Van Morrison and Rod Stewart to long careers.  It's not going to end up on any all-time top ten lists, but it's a shot of musical joy, a jolt of blue-eyed soul that I can guarantee you I'll be bopping along to it until it's time for me to start preparing next week's Jukebox post....

Lyric Sheet:  "Oh, short on money but long on time/Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine..."

Enjoy:

Daily Reminder:  Zero Republicans Voted for the COVID-19 Relief Package

Peace,

emaycee