Bradley's Buzz

Lisa Hartman Week - Day 2

So a few friends from the O.C. showed up last night and we hit the bar and a club to see a couple of bands - which means I just got to work and am still drunk - I mean hungover... either way today's trip to the wonderful world of Lisa Hartman week will be brief but oh so worth it -

bub 46 Lisa Hartman - HOLD ON (2004; 1979)

Lisa came off of Tabitha and a few films to try her hand in the studio one more time, 1979's Hold On pushed her music more toward the Motown sound she had grown up loving than the adult contemporary she had done on her debut. Opening with a cover of "Hold On I'm Comin'" the album was off and running with a renewed energy and some pretty killer hooks; the strangely entertaining "If You Want To Come Home" is pure Bob Segar-ish type of late 70's pop/rock and with the back up "oohs" and "aahs" you can hear the original Motown influence and the "we can just sit home and get high" lines gives it that ultra cool 1970's feel but for some reason it wasn't a hit, in fact it wasn't even released as a single but had I been an A&R guy it's the one I would've pulled.

Instead they pulled "Walk Away" which is a good song but it's another ballad and it seems to me they were really trying to push her as an Olivia styled chanteuse, but by 1979 even ONJ was wearing leather pants and cooing to the rock beat of "Deeper Than The Night". But it's not like they concentrated only on ballads for Hold On, for Lisa tackles some fairly big rock tunes to cover, Segar's "Old Time Rock & Roll" and the Supreme's "You Keep Me Hangin' On" which she does well on both though I much prefer her Supremes cover which is slightly more convincing than the lyrics of "Old Time Rock & Roll" particularly when you put those lyrics of reclaiming rock and roll along side the disco tinged "Who's Gonna Hold You" or the string laced "Steal Away Again."

But don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun of these songs at all because for some reason I really, really love them. The thrill of having CD's no one else can buy keeps me going and the love and admiration I have for my Ciji Dunne also only goes so far, eventually you have to cut to the music and I can honestly say I love this album. Her ballads aren't the cringe worthy over the topness of say some of the catalogs from Melissa Machester or god forbid Celine Dion, instead we have a group of really pretty songs about love and longing and none are better than the closing track of Hold On, "Don't You Love Me Anymore" a very bittersweet rendition with a crackling performance by Lisa where it almost appears as if she is crying by the end of the song, a great song.

But should I ever not include something bonus like to it, we get two great rock songs from 1980; the uber catchy and fabulousness of "Falling In Love With Love" and "Waiting For A Miracle". The pair are songs she performed in the TV movie The Great American Traffic Jam, playing, what else but a singer of a rock band caught in the great traffic jam with her band mates so they perform a few songs and these songs are two of my favorites in Lisa's whole collection. Unfortunetly they were never issued in any form, well until Bubbatunes stepped in.

Lisa Hartman - Hold On (bub46)
Track List:01. Hold On I'm Comin' 02. If You Want To Come Home 03. Oh Me Oh My 04. Walk Away 05. Old Time Rock & Roll 06. Who's Gonna Hold You 07. Steal Away Again 08. Livin' Without Your Love 09. You Keep Me Hangin' On 10. Don't You Love Me AnymoreBonus Tracks:11. Falling In Love With Love 12. Waiting For A Miracle


Download LISA HARTMAN - HOLD ON

Labels: Bubbatunes, Lisa Hartman

posted by swivek @ 9:49 AM