So what did I do last night? Oh yeah that's right, I went and got myself hitched. Oh yeah, I'm off the market - so sorry boys, but the Leivas and I have made it official - well official in West Hollywood anyway. In this great land known as CaliMexi there are official benefits in being married but there is also a separate license with benefits (albeit a little less) for just West Hollywood rather than the whole California state process.
Yesterday I left work a little early so my man and I could trot on over to City Hall and register as domestic partners - two words I frankly despise but what can you do? That's what they call it. I know it only took him 7 years to lead me to the alter but it was worth it - I'm sure he feels that way.
So now we are officially an old married couple - though if I go into Hollywood I think I'm still single - so watch out Spotlight patrons - I keed, I keed. As for when he can finally trot me off to the State Department and be recognized in all of California - I'm waiting until our tenth anniversary - August 20, 2010 when I am having a full on wedding whether or not we actually get gay marriage - so mark the calendars cause you just might be in the wedding party and if not, I'll still need you to bring me presents.
I now present the Leivasons (by the way that's confetti in our hair - don't ask)
The Leivas and I spend many an hour in front of the old boob tube, okay in all honesty the Leivas watches what I believe to be every single television program on the air, but I usually end up on the sofa next to him for a variety of quality brad-like television viewing. So what am I watching this summer? Well let me tell you:
The most hilarious little tv show debuted on Logo a few weeks ago and I can't get enough of it. Rick & Steve - the Happiest Gay Couple In The World really have nothing on the Leivas & I but the show is a frickin' hoot. Rick and Steve and their pals - lesbian couple Kristen and her sardonic mullet topped girlfriend Dana, then there's Chuck in his wheelchair and his 19 year old twink boyfriend Evan. The main story comes about with Kristen wanting to get Rick to donate his goods so the gals can have a baby, after all "Conservatives and crack heads shouldn't be the only ones who can have a baby." There's some hilarious stuff and some parts that may not make everyone laugh but hey, I'm not everyone. One of my all time lines could've been said by me - when the 19 year old twink says, "I'm on pins and needles," Dana pipes up, "Mostly needles, I'm sure."
Watch the first part and even more on You Tube if you can handle it.
Then there's the old stand by that just keeps getting better and better, the third season of So You Think You Can Dance, with Mary Murphy's dorky and endearing exclamations, Mia Michaels and Wayne Robson's faboo choreography and of course the great dancing. We are down to only 6 dancers and I'm so rooting for Sabre, the feisty little woman with the big afro and the amazing moves. Watch it tonight!
and finally I love me those karaoke shows - The Singing Bee is by far better than Don't Forget The Lyrics if only for the fact that DFTL is so tense. They make you wait for what seems like hours to get the answers to the song lyrics and it's basically a one person show with the singer singing and singing and Wayne Brady acting and acting. Hottie Joey Fontaine (never thought I'd ever say that) on The Singing Bee is a lot more fun to watch and it goes a lot faster - plus that is the show I may end up on any day now ... I'll keep you posted about open audtions, if only to let you know I need a ride to the studio.
So what are you kids watching, or do you have real lives?
Our season finale is almost here - only two more episodes of the surprising and twisted world of Carlton Heights! Our brand new episode "Sweet Child 'O' Mine" is now online and I know you're just itching to read it.
You heard me right, EPISODE 12 SWEET CHILD 'O' MINE of Carlton Heights is now online - Click and read the latest episode in Brad's ongoing saga of those nutty cast of characters living on Avenue Sea.
In our latest episode, Dylan gets unexpected news when his mother comes for a visit, while another visitor leaves Ruth and Aidan in surprised shock, Larry discovers life is just as unbearable when he tries to give up booze and pills, while Haley and Johnny move their relationship forward though a confession may rip them apart. Guest Characters – Johnny Belducci, Stephen Merrick, Gladys Tudrow, Margaret Mackenzie, Dr. Stein, Sam Cissell, Verna Palmer, Libby Carlton, Carrie Johnson. Co-Starring Nurse, Bar Patrons, Mr. Wilson, Cell phone voice over, Voice over at Airport, Hotel Clerk, Patrons at Daniel’s, Dog.DOWNLOAD EPISODE 12.
If you've missed any episodes you can still download and read them at our OFFICIAL CARLTON HEIGHTS WEBSITE and don't forget to check out ourMy Space Groupso you can tell everyone how much you love the show and can't believe there's only one more episode left! You know you want to.
And just to show you all I am okay dealing with being 26 (ish), I have chosen to show you all what happens as you reach that big 3-0 (ish), you end up needing frickin' glasses.
Okay, truth be told about 7 years ago when I moved to LA at the ripe age of 16, I took my eye test at the DMV and couldn't really make out any letters. I could barely see them so I guessed and I guessed right cause they passed me... but as time has gone on, I have seen less and less including the writing on the TV - which is a must to see. So I finally went to the eye doctor who told me I most definitely needed glasses.
I wanted a pair of Laura Avery glasses but when I was told I should wear my glasses all the time and not just for driving etc. I thought I should go a more conservative route.. and so I give you - BRADLEY 4 EYES....
Incidentally, when I went to get the glasses, the wonderful gals at my eye doctor had me put them on and look out the window, I can't believe how pretty the world really is. I mean the street signs are gorgeous, and now I can finally see them... the gals did ask me if I got lost a lot considering I am blind and all, and I just told them that yes, I did get lost often but figured it was just from being blonde not blind... we'll see if the glasses actually help with my sense of direction.... okay, go ahead and laugh and point at me, it's okay I can handle it... besides now I look like a writer.
Sundays are supposed to be calm and sleepy but not when you live the life of a Bradley. It is so exciting living my life sometimes, it's at these special times when things are going so fast and furious I like to share a bit with my friends, family and complete strangers who drop by here every once in a while. So the past few weeks have been pretty hectic, a few Sundays ago we had brunch at Barney's Beanery with our old pal director Quinten Tarentino*
Then, last Sunday was the Oscars so for the week before all of Hollywood Boulevard by the Kodak Theater was blocked off. After winning my Oscar for the Most Believable Portrayal of a Midwesterner, Alf and I decided we were much too tired to hit the party scene, even though Elton John's Big Event is held at Morton's just down the street - we were just too tired. **
And then this Sunday, before I even had my clothes on there was a knock on the door as West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman came a knockin' to sit down and chat with the Leivas and me. After all we are practically West Hollywood royalty and our vote can make or break a politician in our little city. There is a vote tomorrow on 3 of the 6 city council members, all who rotate into mayor for a while and the biggest concern and headache for everyone here is remodeling apartments and old houses into mult story condos no one can afford. Alfred knew I had such concerns so after he let the politician in, he ran to the bedroom where as I said, I was naked, to tell me John was there. I tell you, it's just like me to be naked around a politican. I'm such a walking soap opera. So, I talked with the man, who incidentally has been on the city council since the city's inception in 1984 and was one of the men who turned the town into it's own city. He told me a few things I wanted to hear, and most importantly something I needed to hear - that my apartment building couldn't be turned into a condo very easity - first, there's no outside access from the apartments (i.e. no balconies etc.) and the parking isn't up to par for a condo and the building owner would need an 80% approval from its residents to convert. I think I may vote for this man, the other two he endorses, I'm still not so sure about. Politics are hard!***
Then after schmoozing with the city elite, the Leivas and I took in a little movie at the Arc Light in Hollywood with our old friend Ben from Queer As Folk. As I am so busy and selfish, I can never remember his real name so I just call him Ben from Queer As Folk - he likes that.****
and that's been my last few Sundays, what have you all been up to?
* Actually, Mr. Tarentino was in the booth next to us yacking it up with some chick - he didn't even pick up the Carlton Heights script I threw at him. ** 1. This is a real Oscar I'm holding - and it's frickin' heavy 2. I didn't win it nor was I able to take it home 3. Hollywood & Highland had a room dedicated to the Oscars and you could pick one up and take your pic with it. All the actual Oscars that were presented were there in a big case. *** The mayor of West Hollywood really did come to visit. This is the only completely true story of the bunch. **** We did go see a movie Happy Feet - which was awesome- Patrick, you would love it! The penguins use 'heart songs' to find each other and it's a bunch of 70's and 80's meshed together, and yes Ben was there but I don't know him and he didn't talk to us even after I threw a copy of Carlton Heights at him.
Well we are near the end of February and that means Black Diva Month is coming to a close, and while you're all debating whether Tina, Whitney or Donna Summer are the ultimate diva, I have our final two new Bubbatunes to throw at you - I tell you when we celebrate a diva month, we go all out...
bub 74 Janet - 861704(February 27, 2007) I love me my Miss Jackson, and that's cuz I'm nasty y'all.. through her chubby years, her svelte bod and even through her latest attempts at commercialism, I have loved just about everything she has ever done. However, we only had limited time to do the very best of the Miss J, so a few things had to be thrown out, including anything off of her newest album 20 Y.0. which I do have but I'm still kind of wrapping my little white boy mind around it, and I definitely didn't want to push off one of my favorite Janet songs just to be a completist, and of course there's also the fact that her first two albums from 1982 and 1984 aren't represented at all, which is how we got our name kids - 861704 stands for 17 songs from the years 1986-2004 I know I'm so clever. Like our other divas Janet has her own official greatest hits out there and it's good but it came out in 1996 and our girl has had a number of hits in these past almost 11 years. Then there's also some kick ass killer album tracks that will never make a greatest hits...
Because I wanted to make sure I didn't forget any of my ultimate favs, we begin 861704 with one, two, three, four, five, six pop of my very favorite Janet singles starting with "Just A Little While" from 2004 - this song was rushed out right after Boobgate and had it done been for all that stupid boobla, I think it would've been a huge hit - the rest of the Damita Jo album is kind of boring and overly sexual but this was a perfect piece of pop confection and is my personal favorite Janet single ever. We then move into more pop/guitar fun with 2001's "Someone To Call My Lover" which is a lip flapping piece of fun, "maybe we'll meet in a bar/ he'll drive a funky car/ maybe we'll meet in a club/ and fall so deeply in love" try to sing along with this one, and though I love me some fun Janet, I also love the sexual crazed lunatic she started to become with the 1993 janet. album so my fav single from that time period is representin' with "If" - a sexy jaunt with those awesome synth strings and the fast paced 'rap' verse, it's unforgettable, and the first time Miss J finally dropped some clothing was in the video for one of my other favorites, "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" which is another piece of ultimate fun. It's so catchy and lovable it's no wonder it went up to #1 and made Janet want to finally show off her body - plus does anyone not remember all those hot guys in the video.. mmm bop. Her first big hit was in the feisty "What Have You Done For Me Lately" and though some of the songs from Control sound a tad dated ("Nasty" I'm talking to you) this one stands up very well, plus I love the lyrics ("soap opera says you have one life to live/ who's right/ who's wrong?) and the bridge is great since I too have never asked for more than I deserve. Then our final sixth song of the ultimate fav singles ends with the ballad "Again" which was used in her film Poetic Justice but was also included on the janet. album. It's simple and sweet and very touching.
But there's more than just ultimate favorites on our compilation because I pretty much love all these songs in one degree or another, we have the hit singles from all those years, the guitar drenched "Black Cat", the sweet fun of "Together Again","The Pleasure Principle" and "Control" from that insanely popular 1986 album, "Rhythm Nation" and "All For You" which is another of the early 2000's great janet singles, I mean when you start out with, "got a nice body all right/ guess I'm gonna have to ride it tonight..."
But there are a few feisty and superb album tracks that anyone with half an ear on Miss J would know - the house thump of "Throb", the super entrenched bitch fest of "This Time" which includes an operatic solo and ends with J saying, "You're dismissed" and a super cool send off called "What About" from 1997's The Velvet Rope."What about the shit you done to me/ what about that?/ what about that?" I frickin' love it. Now if only she would start making more songs like the ones represented here, we could get her back on the top where she belongs.
Janet - 861704(bub74) Track List - 01. Just A Little While 02. Someone To Call My Lover 03. If 04. Love Will Never Do (Without You) 05. What Have You Done For Me Lately 06. Again 07. Black Cat 08. Together Again 09. This Time 10. The Pleasure Principle 11. Doesn't Really Matter 12. Throb 13. Scream (with Michael J) 14. Control 15. What About 16. Rhythm Nation 17. All For You
bub 75 Pointer Sisters - ON FIRE(February 27, 2007) With this little compilation we end up adding four more divas to our list in one shot - the sisters that were the Pointers, Anita, June, Ruth and for a short time in the early days Bonnie came up with solid hits through out most of their career. From the 40's style bop tunes and even country twinged anthems in the early 70's to their shot at rock and pop in the late 70's and early 80's into the stuff they're most associated with - the synth laden dance pop of the 80's. Yes, these girls did it all and after listening to a bunch of songs (I was on a downloading frenzy) I realized how much I loved them. Of course Ruth's death last year, made me really want to go after the Pointer Sister's catalog and I found a few CD's to purchase but found the best compilation out there, is of course the one I'm presenting here, after all they did have a score of hits, some well known, some a little known, and some forgotten so it's my goal to try to represent the very best of the Pointers, from all the years and included a lot that aren't on every compilation including one of my all time favorite overlooked singles of the 80's "He Turned Me Out" a funky dance invocation that was featured in the film Action Jackson (one of the more overlooked action adventure films of any era), plus my favorite singles like their fun rendition of Springsteen's "Fire", and the pop laden mega hits "Neutron Dance," "I'm So Excited", "Jump (For My Love)" and my ultimate fav of that bunch, the slow robotic voice of Anita on "Automatic", I also discovered a few gems I never knew existed like a superb rendition of "Steam Heat" and their first single, a rousing fun harmonized confection called "Yes We Can Can" - then there's the girl group sounds of forgotten hits like "Should I Do It" (which Tanya Tucker also made in 1981) and "Could I Be Dreamin'" and a super cool Springsteen song that ended up on the follow up album that had included "Fire" - "(She's Got) The Fever)" is a moody rock song with super cool harmonies (their speciality) and a really cool rock track. In fact I've recently learned the whole album Priority from 1979 is essentially a rock album and a very good one at that - unfortunetly it's not on CD but should I happen to come across it on vinyl, I have a feeling Luther will be getting it and it will be a bubbatunes reissue in days flat.. until then enjoy the Pointer Sisters in their glory cuz these ladies were on fire!
Pointer Sisters - ON FIRE(bub75) Track List: 01. Yes We Can Can 02. (She's Got) The Fever 03. Automatic 04. American Music 05. Fire 06. I'm So Excited 07. He's So Shy 08. Dare Me 09. Neutron Dance 10. He Turned Me Out 11. Steam Heat 12. Could I Be Dreamin' 13. Freedom 14. Slow Hand 15. Goldmine 16. How Long (Betcha Got A Chick On The Side) 17. Jump (For My Love) 18. Should I Do It 19. Wang Dang Doodle
My little baby sister is preggers, that's right I'm gonna be an uncle again. Actually it's pretty exciting but being close to my sister particularly at this time has made me realize something I never thought of - what do you name your child? For some reason all of my other friends either had no problem naming their kids or I just wasn't involved in the process, but this time around I'm hearing all the trouble that goes into finding the perfect name for a little guy who's going to be called that for the rest of his life. But even more importantly, it's a name I'm going to have to use for the rest of MY life. At least she found out what sex the baby will be so we can at least narrow it down to a boy's name, but since the actual name is still up in the air I thought I'd invite you all to start to giving your ideas - I'm sure she'll love it. A lot of mine have already been shot down and I suppose it's a good thing she isn't having a girl since I'd call her Ciji no matter what her mother named her. So as of right now, Evan is a big runner and her husband is Matthew so that's always in the running as are Jonathon (named after his father) and James (named after our father) so what can you guys come up with? For some reference here is a list of names already rejected - Jared, Jake, Jacob, Dexter (my favorite), Desmond (Des), Logan, Lucas, Luke and a whole bunch more, but come on give it your best shot - who ever gets the winning name will get a prize. Either a picture of me and the baby or a Swivek CD - your choice!
bub72 Donna Summer – Sweet Summer Songs(February 20, 2007) Where Tina Turner may have more soul than any of her contemporaries, her songs tend to be more of a hit and miss where Donna Summer seems to have come up with consistently great songs at least from 1975 through 1989 because as I was looking through her catalog I came up with way more songs I loved than what a one CD collection could handle. Perhaps that’s the reason there’s about 20 Donna Summer compilations out there. I own two of them, one is a double disc full of her singles from the beginning of her career to the middle 90’s and the other is her first official greatest hits collection 1979’s On The Radio; both of them are great of course but like most performers, I have personal favorites that never seem to make it onto compilations and so Donna gets the bubbatunes treatment with Sweet Summer Songs, a 19 track set that compiles some of her more famous singles through out the years and some of my favorite album tracks.
Again we skip the obvious chronological track list and instead go for a big beat fast paced opener with her brilliant 1979 single “Bad Girls”. We spend a lot of time with Donna through her 1970’s output but that’s really where she did do most of her gleaming. I mean Donna’s 1970’s output was nothing short of brilliant, mixing it up between dance styled ballads, full on disco and pushing electronic dance music into the mainstream, she was never boring. We’ve included most of her hits during the time, the sexy and dirty debut of 1975’s “Love To Love You Baby”, her duet with Brooklyn Dreams “Heaven Knows” (1978), the string driven disco ballad “On The Radio” (1979), the introduction of electronics on “I Feel Love” (1977), the so insane it’s genius “Macarthur Park” (1978) and one of the very first songs I ever heard by Donna, 1978’s brilliant though still slightly overplayed “Last Dance.” A Donna Summer mix wouldn’t be complete without the mandatory sheer brilliance of the rock/dance hybrid known as “Hot Stuff”, so of course that is also here.
Although all those songs are legendary and brilliant some of her more under appreciated songs came from that era as well including two songs from 1979’s Bad Girls album, the smooth and bouncy story of Hollywood found in “Sunset People” which has been referred to as “the best Donna Summer album cut of her career” though it was released as a single in the UK in the summer of 1980. “Our Love” is another electronic based song and one that doesn’t get as much press as her others. The simplistic lyrics about love lasting even when you can’t be together isn’t exactly poetry but it’s sweet and the bleeping pulsing electronic backbeat including the drum machine solos is pure brilliance. I’ve always felt that “I Feel Love” had really poor lyrics and they were put in essentially to put Donna’s voice above the real purpose of the song – to introduce an all electronic sound where with “Our Love” Donna was actually able to express some real emotion and real drive while doing it above an excellent back beat.
Because of Donna’s amazing talent as a singer and her ability to change musical styles effortlessly, when disco died Donna’s career didn’t. Instead she was the second person signed to David Geffen’s new label (right behind John Lennon) and made one of my favorite albums 1980’s The Wanderer. We’ve included the brilliant title track which tells the story of a woman who just likes to go, go, go and refuses to stand still for a 9 to 5 life. When the song was released as a single the powers that be put the song “Stop Me” as it’s B-side and as the years progressed that song eventually got more play than the single. One of my favorite songs by Donna, it’s a simple little pop song that changes from a slightly mid tempo to full fast rocker as Donna hiccups the verses trying to get her man to believe she isn’t as awful as he thinks she is, as the chorus progresses however she has to ask the man if all of her pleading is just old hat, “So if you’ve heard this all before/ don’t let me carry on no more/ stop me/ stop me if you think you’ve heard this one/ this one/ stop me/ stop me if you think you’ve heard this one/ stop me/ stop me/ stop me!” It’s incredible and I wonder if Morrissey used this as the basis for his Smiths number???
Because of her diversity, we get to ride with her into the rock arena with 1980’s “Cold Love” an awesome guitar synth driven track that was the second single from The Wanderer album. I read a book a few years ago that had the best rock singles ever and believe it or not this song was one of them. Donna’s voice is in super form as she struts around looking for love, “Hope in the dark/ love in the light/ I keep on looking for someone who’s right/ a face and a name/ it’s always the same/ so sick of playing love’s foolish games/ tell me why/ tell me whyyyyy… cold love/cold love/ another shot of rock and roll love/ cold love/ cold love/ whatever happened to that sweet old love/ tell me why/ tell me why/ tell me why…”
After The Wanderer, Donna went back to the studio with her long time collaborators Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte to create a two-disc album known as I’m A Rainbow. Geffen Records rejected the album and they set her up with Quincy Jones instead so for years the I’m A Rainbow album sat on the shelves until it was finally released on CD in 1996. But what happened between those 15 years of shelf life is a few songs ended up here and there - usually on a soundtrack. One of those songs is actually one of her best songs ever – the synthy pop fun of “Romeo”. As Geffen shelved the album, they let Giorgio Moroder use it for his mega hit soundtrack to the film Flashdance. The song is full of fast paced Donna cooing and announcing how great a man she has. The music is full on early 80’s synth pop and her vocals and sort of 60’s girl group delivery makes it one of my favorite songs by Summer ever.
With the I’m A Rainbow album shelved, Donna was hooked up with Quincy Jones for 1982’s Donna Summer album. Of the Quincy Jones productions came the top ten hit, “Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)” which is a high hitting gem if ever there was one. Full of energy and personality, it’s one of those hits that you forget about it until you hear it and then you can’t get the damn thing out of your head. Also from the Donna Summer album came an interesting foray into new music territory with the slightly reggae religious themed “State Of Independence.” I’m not huge on songs about Jesus when I’m not in church and Donna seems to know this so instead of a full on gospel choir type of song like she had done before (1980’s “I Believe In Jesus”), she used contemporary beats, ethereal lyrics and one of her best vocal performances. It probably didn’t hurt any that her chorus of back up singers were actually Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick and Lionel Richie.
Sweet Summer Songs delves even further into Donna’s more unrecognized 80’s work with the 1987 single “Dinner With Gershwin” which is set to a kind of creepy little metallic synth track as she registers low trying to get close to her man, “I wanna have dinner with Gershwin/ I wanna watch Rembrandt sketch/ I wanna fly double with Earheart/ impossible I guess…” The clever lyrics by Brenda Russell (“Piano In The Dark”, “Get Here”) tell the story of a fantasy as the list of what Donna wants to do really consists of getting “next to you.”
Donna’s material through the early 80’s continued to keep her career in fairly high momentum, in 1983 a contractual obligation to old label Casablanca had her record an album for them, the result was one of her biggest hits ever with “She Works Hard For The Money.” If new wave and guitar rock were ushering in a new wind in the early 80’s pushing music like Donna’s crafted dance into the wings, this was Donna’s effort at pushing back. Using full on rock guitars but keeping some synthy and dancey bass lines, Donna’s song about the workingwoman hit a thread with the public and both the single and video were in constant play.
The 80’s ended with Donna working with yet another group of boys who were changing dance and pop music – those Brits known as Stock/Aitken/Waterman whose songs had been on rotation for most of the late 80’s with Banarama, Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue being just a few who had worked with the boys. The Donna Summer resulting album Another Place & Time may not have been quite up to par with other Donna albums but it was obvious by 1989 that both the boys of SAW and Donna were pretty good at creating brilliant singles and “This Time I Know It’s For Real” is no exception. It’s almost perfect in the delivery by the boys and with Donna writing the lyrics and singing in her Summer style, it’s one of the best singles the boys ever produced.
Donna Summer – Sweet Summer Songs(bub72) Track List: 01. Bad Girls 02. Cold Love 03. Dinner With Gershwin 04. Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) 05. Last Dance 06. The Wanderer 07. Our Love 08. Heaven Knows 09. On The Radio 10. Hot Stuff 11. Romeo 12. State Of Independence 13. I Feel Love 14. Stop Me 15. Sunset People 16. She Works Hard For The Money 17. Macarthur Park 18. Love To Love You Baby 19. This Time I Know It’s For Real
Come back to see our next new Bubbatune compilation with a diva who can certainly knows where broken hearts go even if she gets so emotional she has to exhale... any guesses? Until next time, beep beep aaah toot toot or just shoop shoop...
February is Black History Month, and we here at Bubbatunes (Brad's house) are nothing if not diverse, so we are going to spend the next few posts looking at some new Bubbatunes compilations that show how truly diverse we can be as we celebrate Diva Month, and first up is one of the most legendary set of pipes and legs to ever hit the top 100...
bub 71 Tina Turner - Soul Survivor (February 13, 2007) I like my Tina rockin’ and full of attitude so with our Bubbatunes compilation of that leggy broad, we opted to go the rock route, throwing out most of the songs that end up on her compilations. Instead of the adult contemporary type of ballads she likes to do these days we went to the back vault and her soulful renderings done with Ike and then moved up picking and choosing the most soulful and rocking songs. Of course the height of Tina’s popularity was the huge bombastic Private Dancer album from 1984 and as I truly believe it’s a classic album and the only essential full album to own by Tina we ended up using 8 of the 9 songs from that album. What can I say, it really is a great album and it’s definitely her most rock album of her big solo career that the album launched.
I’m not big on chronological order for some reason, and since I did use so many songs from Private Dancer, it would’ve felt a little too samey I think, so we go from the early days to the later days and back again through 20 classic Tina performances. Opening with the Ike & Tina Turner debut single “A Fool In Love” – Tina is in top form as she belts through the song asking her Ikettes why she’s so crazy in love. We get more of the Ike & Tina years with the classic 1970 “Proud Mary” and the two ultimate highlights, Tina’s own “Nutbush City Limits” which she redid in the 90’s but this 1973 rendering is the quissessential version and Ike’s band is in super funk form and one of her best vocal performances ever is found on the Phil Spector produced “River Deep Mountain High”, she would never sound so raw again.
After her Ike years, Tina stayed relatively low key, and if anyone (and who doesn’t) knows her biography, we all know why. But there were a few albums here and there and of course her performance in the Who’s Tommy, but since I don’t own any of those songs and there is more than enough released after these years, we kind of skip ahead to 1982 when Tina met up with BEG, which is really just a front for Martyn Ware & Greg Walsh. The funky electronic rock vibes on their cover of “Ball Of Confusion” is another highlight in Tina’s career. The song kicks ass literally with Tina belting politics faster than she can move those legs, and that’s pretty damn fast.
Because of her work on the BEG project, those boys decided to produce another song for Tina and thus her cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” produced by Walsh & Ware was her Capitol Records debut. Of course Tina is great vocal shape for the song and the more contemporary production makes the song a perfect comeback single. But the highlight of the single is actually the flip side on the 7” – a B-side only rocker called “I Wrote A Letter” which is now my all time favorite Tina Turner song. Why it didn’t end up on the album I’m not sure, although her rocking performance, the guitars and that raw performance may not have fit in with the songs that ended up on Private Dancer. Nonetheless, it’s a song that shows Tina can and should really rock out.
The Private Dancer album came out a few months after the comeback single and anyone who was around at the time knows what a phenomenon it was. In terms of a comeback, Tina surely holds a huge record. Suddenly the 40 plus year old singer was the hottest thing in pop music, and even then that’s really saying something about the music world. Of course Tina’s back story was enough to keep a soap opera going for a few years so add that into the great selection of songs and it’s no wonder she was taken into the heart of the mainstream. People love diversity stories and the downtrodden coming into their own is always appealing. Of course that theme was the basis for her album and it comes across on a number of the songs from the album, “Show Some Respect” is a funky little rock number that was released as the fourth single in the US where it struck in the top 40, and with it’s feisty lyrics, it’s always been one of my favorites from the album. The huge rocking hit “Better Be Good To Me” is the one that really struck the chord in both the masses and Tina’s own personal life, her gutty performance still stands strong all these years later, and when she does that low register, I swear it can still send a chill up my spine.
There were a few of the mellower sounds to be found on Private Dancer but because of her re-emergence into a more rock sound, they aren’t as AC as some of her later things, the title cut was another huge single and for some reason the song of a woman who is basically a whore really stands up on his own. I find myself turning it up time and time again and I love the lyrics particularly her pondering about having a family and of course that killer bridge with the forms of payment spread out for her client. The first single and main thing she will probably always be remembered for is the huge ass hit “What’s Love Got To Do With It” which is also in a more slow ballad type of production, though it’s up tempo and Tina seems genuinely pleased that she is able to realize the hook up and the relationship she’s in doesn’t mean all that much. I know it’s been played to death but if you go back and actually pay attention to the lyrics, it’s a very sophisticated little number.
The rocking side of Tina is firmly involved in the Private Dancer album and nowhere does she rock out more than on “Steel Claw”, my very favorite song on the album. This one needs to be turned up at insane volumes and if you can catch a breath you may even be able to sing along to Tina’s rapid fire delivery.
Though in more of a mid tempo vein two more album cuts made our compilation because they are killer tracks, the keyboard punches of Ann Peeble’s “I Can’t Stand The Rain” was released in the UK as a single and did fairly well. My mom loves this song because of how it sounds in headphones, and it really is a great performance all around. The first cut on Private Dancer is a strange lyrical tune called “I Might Have Been Queen (Soul Survivor)” which seems to be talking about reincarnation and past lives and with Tina’s penchant for Buddhism and the whole process of coming back from the career dead, it’s a perfect testament of Tina and one of my favorite songs.
After the success of Private Dancer, Tina was in hot demand and she appeared everywhere including a rocking little single called “It’s Only Love” with Bryan Adams. One of those singles you remember when you hear it but because of Tina’s otherwise more subtle singles we tend to forget about it. Well not me, and it’s not because I’m a Bryan Adams fan (I’m not) but because this song really is good and like I said I love Tina rocking out.
Tina also went back to the movies and starred in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome which is mostly important because of the two singles the film launched, the subtle meandering and cynicism of “We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)” which is a killer track complete with a kids choir and the more rocking and always overlooked Holly Knight written “One Of The Living” which has a more apocalyptic tone than the hit single. Tina rocks it in that soulful way only Tina can, and once again it’s one of my all time favorite Tina Turner songs.
After all the hoopla of 1984/85 Tina went back to the studio and gave us the inferior Break Every Rule and though it launched a few hit singles, I don’t think it lived up to Private Dancer, of course that is an almost impossible feat. What Break Every Rule did give us though was the great bluesy rock of “What You Get Is What You See”, one feisty little single about those bastards in the night who think they’re so wonderful but Tina can see right through them.
Tina’s next album of new material was 1989’s Foreign Affair and for that album we all go back to Holly Knight for the clever single “The Best.” Holly had co-written “Better Be Good To Me” and “One Of The Living” so Tina would’ve been a fool not to go for the girl for another hit single and she got that, if not one of her most recognizable hits.
The years after Foreign Affair have been very hit and miss for Tina, at least with me. There are a few highlights including songs she did for the film version of her autobiography but there wasn’t anything that ever really threw me for a loop and the only two that came up worth really highlighting were “I Don’t Wanna Fight” the soundtrack hit and her 1999 single “When The Heartache Is Over”, the former is played to death and the latter though a hit in the UK is somewhat forgotten so we went with that one. It has a more contemporary feel since it has that pseudo electronica dance production a la Cher’s “Believe” and the lyrics are the feisty Tina kind I love.
Tina Turner – Soul Survivor(bub71) Track List: 01. A Fool In Love 02. Show Some Respect 03. Ball Of Confusion 04. Better Be Good To Me 05. Nutbush City Limits 06. One Of The Living 07. I Can’t Stand The Rain 08. I Wrote A Letter 09. We Don’t Need Another Hero 10. I Might Have Been Queen (Soul Survivor) 11. River Deep Mountain High 12. What’s Love Got To Do With It 13. It’s Only Love 14. Let’s Stay Together 15. What You Get Is What You See 16. When The Heartache Is Over 17. Steel Claw 18. Proud Mary 19. Private Dancer 20. The Best
Next time we look at another diva with her finger on the trigger and ready to strut some hot stuff baby...
Well here we are at long last - the top spot in theTop 100 Singles Of The 1970's - According To Bradley - and just to keep you at the edge of your Lazy Boy, let's take one more look at how we got to the top - here is a rundown of the past 99 songs we've talked about:
100 - The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia - Vicki Lawrence
99 - Nobody Likes Lovin' More Than I Do - Lisa Hartman
98 - I Am Woman - Helen Reddy
97 - Copacabana - Barry Manilow
96 - Lady Marmalade - La Belle
95 - You Needed Me - Anne Murray
94 - YMCA - Village People
93 - Rock & Roll - Led Zeppelin
92 - Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed
91 - I Think I Love You - Partridge Family
90 - Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
89 - Fly Like An Eagle - Steve Miller Band
88 - Orgasm Addict - Buzzcocks
87 - Rock Lobster - B-52's
86 - Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell
85 - Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
84 - So Far Away - Carole King
83 - Changes - David Bowie
82 - Renegade - Styx
81 - Lay Down (Candles In The Rain) - Melanie
80 - Don't Cry Out Loud - Melissa Manchester
79 - Dark Lady - Cher
78 - Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner
77 - Long Long Time - Linda Ronstadt
76 - Piano Man - Billy Joel
75 - Sad Eyes - Robert John
74 - Boogie Woogie Dancin' Shoes - Claudja Barry
73 - The Ballad Of Lucy Joran - Marianne Faithfull
72 - Because The Night - Patti Smith Group
71 - Dream On - Aerosmith
70 - Hotel California - The Eagles
69 - Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' - Journey
68 - Love Hurts - Nazareth
67 - More Than A Feeling - Boston
66 - Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
65 - I Feel Love - Donna Summer
64 - Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2 - Pink Floyd
63 - Pop Muzik - M
62 - I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
61 - Denis - Blondie
60 - ABC - Jackson 5
59 - I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round) - Alicia Bridges
58 - Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb
57 - Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
56 - Dancing Queen - ABBA
55 - Your Song - Elton John
54 - Walk This Way - Aerosmith
53 - Le Freak - Chic
52 - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend - The Ramones
51 - Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
50 - My Life - Billy Joel
49 - Rip Her To Shreds - Blondie
48 - Me & Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
47 - Let It Be - The Beatles
46 - Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
45 - Mama Mia - ABBA
44 - Bad Girls - Donna Summer
43 - Jolene - Dolly Parton
42 - Cars - Gary Numan
41 - Don't Bring Me Down - ELO
40 - Knock On Wood - Amii Stewart
39 - Brand New Key - Melanie
38 - Dancing Barefoot - Patti Smith Group
37 - Vengeance - Carly Simon
36 - Hopelessly Devoted To You - Olivia Newton-John
35 - Can't Smile Without You - Barry Manilow
34 - If You Think You Know How To Love Me - Pat Benatar
33 - I Was Made For Dancin' - Leif Garrett
32 - I've Got The Music In Me - Kiki Dee Band
31 - Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
30 - X Offender - Blondie
29 - Alison - Elvis Costello
28 - Would You Lay With Me (In A Field Of Stone) - Tanya Tucker
27 - Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
26 - Brass In Pocket (I'm Special) - Pretenders
25 - Just What I Needed - The Cars
24 - Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille
23 - Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
22 - I Want You To Want Me (live) - Cheap Trick
21 - American Girl - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
20 - Magic Man - Heart
19 - Paradise By The Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf
18 - Time For Me To Fly - REO Speedwagon
17 - A Little More Love - Olivia Newton-John
16 - One Way Or Another - Blondie
15 - How Deep Is Your Love - Bee Gees
14 - Hot Stuff - Donna Summer
13 - My Sharona - The Knack
12 - Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie
11 - You're No Good - Linda Ronstadt
10 - I Don't Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats
9 - Ballroom Blitz - Sweet
8 - Hot Child In The City - Nick Gilder
7 - Dreaming - Blondie
6 - You're So Vain - Carly Simon
5 - Video Killed The Radio Star - The Buggles
4 - You're The One That I Want - Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta
3 - Heart Of Glass - Blondie
2 - Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar
and now that I've wasted enough time, I proudly present to you the
#1 SINGLE OF THE 1970's :
Imagine – John Lennon (John Lennon) Apple single #1840 US / #6009 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 10/23/1971 #3 / UK 11/01/1975 #6 As you can see there are some things that just have to outweigh my love for Debbie and Pat and that would have to be a peaceful ditty by a peaceful god known as John Lennon. “Imagine” is probably John’s most famous solo recording if not his most famous of all, the simple piano and the somewhat (for 1970) controversial lyrics, “Imagine there’s no Heaven/it’s easy if you try/ No Hell below us/ above us just sky…” For the religious of the world they probably thought John may be the anti-Christ but the fact is what causes most if not all wars is religion. It’s so frightening to think that faith in a higher being was something that would bring people together not tear them apart. Of course believing in God and letting regular old people run religion is where people get into trouble.
But John knows it’s not only religion and the belief in Heaven and Hell that causes people to fight, there’s also politics ripping up the world, “Imagine there’s no countries/ it isn’t hard to do/ Nothing to kill or die for…” In fact, John asks us to, “Imagine all the people living life in peace…” It isn’t hard to do, or is it? Like most of us, who would love for the world to come together and live as one we are called dreamers (if we’re lucky), “You may say that I’m a dreamer/ but I’m not the only one/ I hope someday you will join us/ and the world will live as one…” It’s a very harsh world where someone so sensitive and longing for a feeling of world unity would end up the victim of a ruthless bullet, and leave us at such a critical stage in his own life. Paul McCartney may have been the cute one and I’d never try to even imply Sir P’s contributions aren’t incredible, but I’ve always been in the John Lennon camp of the Beatles and with songs that can make you fill you with such thrilling beguilement as “Imagine” and that very song can have just as big of a punch over 30 years after its release shows what an incredible influence and talent John Lennon was. Imagine a world with no John, it’s very hard to do.
Well I hope you enjoyed our trip back to the days of shag carpets, disco and Tab that was the Top 100 Singles Of The 70's. Did it surprise you? Were you in agreement? Do you think I don't know sheatt about music? Let us know, I appreciate all feedback as long as it's full of praise. And you needn't worry that this is the last of those Top 100 According To Bradley's because we have others in the work including a look at singles of the 90's and the 60's not to mention the ones that will probably show up sooner including my somewhat eclectic look at films with the top 100 Movies According To Bradley and the Top 100 TV Shows According To Bradley - both of which I think you'll find quite amusing... but until that day we return tomorrow to some normally scheduled blogging including a few new Bubbatunes I whipped up while you've been reading these posts!
THE TOP 10! 10-6 We have done it, we have gone through 90 songs from that decade of decadence the 70's; and here we are in the top 10 - the ten best reasons to love music from the 70's - according to me.
#10 – I Don’t Like Mondays – Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof) Columbia single #11117 US / Ensign #30 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 02/02/1980 #73 / UK 07/21/1979 #1 With “I Don’t Like Mondays” we end up with a story song that doesn’t really tell a story per se but is based upon a true story - a tragic true story if ever there was one. Long before Columbine which found disgruntled students shooting and killing their fellow classmates, On January 29th, 1979, the first day of school after Christmas break, 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer opened fire on kids arriving at Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego from her house across the street, killing two men and wounding eight students and a police officer. Principal Burton Wragg was attempting to rescue children in the line of fire when he was shot and killed, and custodian Mike Suchar was slain attempting to aid Wragg. The girl used a rifle her father had given her as a Christmas gift. As to what impelled her into this form of murderous madness, she told a reporter, ''I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day.'' The "Mondays" comment was not the only eyebrow-raising declaration to issue from Spencer that day. According to a report written by the police negotiators who spoke with her during the six-hour standoff, she made such comments to them as ''There was no reason for it, and it was just a lot of fun''; ''It was just like shooting ducks in a pond''; and ''[the children ] looked like a herd of cows standing around, it was really easy pickings.'' The stand off eventually ended after 6 ½ hours with Brenda surrendering and she is still in prison, but the story doesn’t end there. Instead Bob Geldof wrote this keyboard laced cry about the girl, “The silicone chip inside her head gets switched to overload/ and no one’s gonna go to school today/ she’s gonna make them stay at home/ and Daddy doesn’t understand it/ he always said she was good as gold/ and he can see no reason/ casue there is no reason/ what reason do you need to know..” before a choir type vocal comes in for the chorus, “Tell me why!” and Bob’s answer, “I Don’t Like Mondays” “Tell Me Why!” “I Don’t Like Mondays/I wanna shoot/ oooh / the whole day down.” Intense subject matter for a song, and no doubt what the song is talking about, in fact it was banned in the US long before 2 Live Crew ever got that major distincition. By the early days of 1980 however, the song was being played on some radio stations and eventually cracked our top 100 but in the UK it was released in the summer of ’79, less than 6 months after the actual shooting and Brenda Spencer didn’t even go to trial until early October. The really strange thing about it all is the song is very catchy and sing songy. I love singing it and for some reason the subject matter doesn’t terrify me as I belt out the song. But isn’t art supposed to have a grain of truth and some actual substance and meaning behind it? For that “I Don’t Like Mondays” should be an automatic Best of in just about any music list.
#9 – Ballroom Blitz – Sweet (Mike Chapman/Nicky Chinn) Capitol single #4055 US / RCA single #2403 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 06/14/1975 #5 / UK 09/22/1973 #2 I love me some high energy and Sweet certainly delivers that on “Ballroom Blitz”. Sure it’s a tad cheesy, it’s also a tad over the top but it is also a heaping help of fun. I love singing this song because of the different voices you get to use. The song begins with a crazed shout out to band mates before going slightly calm in the lyrics and then taking off again for the bridge before the awesome, “yeah/yeah/yeah” leads us to the rapid fire chorus, “And the man in the back said ‘everyone attack’/ and it turned into a ballroom blitz/ and the girl corner said ‘boy I wanna warn ya/ it’ll turn into a ballroom blitz” and then there’s the awesome drum breakdown in the middle that always gets me. I’ve been meaning to do a cover of this song for years and perhaps someday I’ll get to it, but for now I just bring the energy levels of Karaoke night up a few notches.
#8 – Hot Child In The City – Nick Gilder (Nick Gilder/James McCulloch) Chrysalis single #2226 Chart Debut: US Pop 06/10/1978 #1 “Hot Child In The City” was one of my favorite songs when I was a kid, though I always thought it was a woman singing. Of course all I could ever remember was the chorus so for all I knew it could’ve been a woman. As it turns out, Nick Gilder is not a girl but a slightly high voiced male who performed awesome new wave rock songs usually about sex. Nick was originally the singer of the band Sweeney Todd until he went off on his own. “Hot Child In The City” comes from his second album, 1978’s City Nights. The whole song is a huge homage to some seductive teenage runaway ruling the streets of the city. I love the imagery as I wanted to be that slutty teen running along the streets of Los Angeles. “Danger in the shape of something wild/ stranger dressed in black/ she’s a hungry child..” replace she with he and I tell you this was me! In recent years I’ve been able to get most of Nick’s great Chrysalis Records releases all of which contain some form of city slick teens running wild and sharing their sex, and I love every single one of them. Another killer track of his titled “Rated X” would end up on Pat Benatar’s debut album In The Heat Of The Night, another record full of stylistic seductiveness and Nick would also go on to write for others including “The Warrior” by Scandal, but “Hot Child In The City” is his most famous song and his one and only single to make it into the top 40 which if you ever heard “Here Comes The Night” proves to be a real shame.
#7 – Dreaming – Blondie (Deborah Harry/ Chris Stein) Chrysalis single #2379 US / #2350 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 09/29/1979 #27 / UK 09/29/1979 #2 Blondie drummer Clem Burke has claimed “Dreaming” was just one long giant drum roll and in some aspects he may be right. The song starts with his drumming before the guitars and keyboards come in and the fact that the whole 3 minute song is one smashing drum hit after another makes it pack a whole hella punch. Of course it’s Blondie so every little musical aspect borders on genius, from that punching drum, to Jimmy’s too cool for the real world keyboards, Nigel’s bass and Chris and Frank etching out the guitar work, and of course not only do we get Debbie’s icy cool vocals but we also get her ambiguous lyrical workout. I love songs that talk of reflective dreaming, the type that walk you through how your dreams can come true, or even how daydreaming the day away can make your whole life seem a lot better. Debbie does a fantastic job with “Dreaming” by taking a lyric that could easily have played in a ballad and putting it into a jaugernat of a rock song. “When I met you in the restaurant/you could tell I was no debuante/ you asked me what’s my pleasure/ a movie or a measure/ I’ll have a cup of tea/ and tell you of my dreaming/ dreaming is free…” Oh Debbie, how your sometimes incoherent ramblings can turn the world on its ear, I’m not sure what a measure is, and Debbie probably doesn’t know anymore either but it makes for a very interesting line, and when we go to our next verse we get even more brilliant yet random thoughts, “I don’t want to live on charity/ pleasure’s real or is it fantasy/ reel to reel is living rarity/ people stop and stare at me/ we just walk on by/ we just keep on dreaming…” I love that line. Then Clem goes into hyper drive and the song shifts gears a bit, “Beep/beep/ walking a two mile/ meet/ meet/ meet me at the turstile/ never met him/ I’ll never forget him/ dream/ dream/ even for a little while/ dream/ dream/ filling up an idle hour/ fade away/ oooh / radiaaaaaaattee..” Which I always thought was such a cool line because well fade away, radiate is just an awesome line but it’s also a song from Blondie’s previous album so it’s kind of like a shout out to themselves. The song goes back to its original beat for our final and favorite verse, “I sit by and watch the traffic go/ I sit by and watch the river flow/ Imagine something of your very own/ something you can have and hold/ I’d build a road in gold/ just to have some dreaming…” and after Debbie informs us a few more times that Dreaming is free, we fade out with Jimmy’s keyboards coming up and taking over. A clever and classic little single of daydreaming, ethereal images, awesome musicianship and cooler than cool lyrics,“Dreaming” would hit #2 in the UK but only scored in the top 30 here, I guess we were too busy dreaming to pay attention to the brilliance.
#6 – You’re So Vain – Carly Simon (Carly Simon) Elektra single #45824 US / #12077 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 12/02/1972 #1 / UK 12/16/1972 #3 In the past few months I have discovered that Carly Simon kicks ass. Perhaps not in the leather clad Joan Jett style but in a very real way nonetheless. After hearing a ton of her early albums and the chances she takes in both lyrics and music styles, she has now made me a life long fan, and it only took about 23 years to catch up. One song that didn’t need any reintroduction to the Carly canon is our #6 single “You’re So Vain.” The single is a song that is so famous it has its own urban legend. Of course perhaps it’s the urban legend that has made the single last so long in our concioussness. For all purposes, “You’re So Vain” is a piss off to someone from Carly and when it came out who exactly that someone was had everyone’s mind buzzin. Was it Carly’s boyfriend soon to be husband James Taylor that she was singing about? Was it Mick Jagger who sings a very audible appearance on the back up? Was it Warren Beatty who had dated our girl for a while? The question has never been answered and Carly liked it that way, stating in a not too long ago interview that if she told who it was about then the whole mystique of the song may be taken away. Finally, after over 30 years of prodding she did a fairly interesting thing by auctioning off to a high bidder who the song was really about. The deal was she would whisper in the winner’s ear who she wrote about and then perform the song for them. Of course they had to sign wavers as to not repeat the information. So some guy won and she did perform him and now there are at least two people who know who the real scheister is. As for us momo’s who can’t win auctions or have the ability to whip Carly into a corner at an exclusive party, we are left just imagining who she is singing about. But thanks to the power of the lyrics we could put just about anyone in the song, the theme that the person is a bastard in the night who is so vain he may actually think we’re singing about him can be fairly universal. Perhaps it’s the appeal of the attitude behind the song that makes it so great. I know that it surely doesn’t hurt that Carly has a pretty cool reserve about her in her vocal performance and her lyrics are always three notches higher than the normal intellect, I mean just look at her rhymes, “You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht/ your hat strategically dipped below one eye/ your scarf it was apricot/ you had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte/ and all the girls were dreaming that you’d be their partner…” Who writes like that? I tell you who, Carly Simon. A woman who would seem above reproach to the lowlies who didn’t grow up in Manhattan or vacation in the Hamptons, but with her willingness to let us into her very personal feelings, she never seemed the hardened upper crust New Englander, instead she came off very folky, very mature, and very sexy. Add to the mix with that filtering bravado of a guitar at the beginning, her refrain about her dreams being clouds in her coffee and Mick Jagger’s incredible backing vocal and you have a song that will last long after Carly’s unable to even remember who she wrote the song about.
And so you have the first batch of our top 10 singles of the 70's - I hope I'm not terribly disappointing all of you with my somewhat prejudiced and eclectic tastes but these really are the songs I listen to over and over and deserve to be in the top 10 according to Bradley - oh and because I'm such a trivia buff here's a little trivia about our latest list - 3 of the 5 songs are produced by Mike Chapman, I know strange huh? And completely coincidental - Mike produced some of the best music ever from the 70's on up and on this list he produced and co-wrote Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz", and produced the Nick Gilder single "Hot Child In The City" and pretty much reinvented Blondie with his produced albums including Parallel Lines which has a few singles on our countdown and today's "Dreaming" which is from the Chapman produced Eat To The Beat album - okay, until next time when we have that long awaited post which will give you not only the top 5 singles of the 70's but the very best - the #1 single of the 70's - According to Bradley.
The Top 100 Singles Of The 70's - According To Bradley #20-16 Welcome back to the world of yellow, gold and avacado green polka dotted bliss - the 70's - a decade that gave us so many things from the Ford Maverick to the Brady Bunch, and plenty of tunes to listen to including our next batch of the top 70's singles - according to yours truly - the bradley of bradley's buzz.. so let's get on with it man...
#20 – Magic Man – Heart (Ann & Nancy Wilson) Mushroom single #7011 US / Arista single #71 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 07/16/1976 #9 Ann Wilson can sing the paint right off of a house, her energy is incredible and even on their first album the Wilson sisters, with Ann in the front on vocals and Nancy sliding her guitar, were an incredible force. The single “Magic Man” is just one of the many reasons the band deserves a lot more recognition than I think they get. The grinding rock and seduction of Ann’s vocals draws you in from that very first note. Add in the somewhat mystical Stevie Nicks-ish lyrics a classic is born. “Come on home girl, Mama cried on the phone/ too soon to lose my baby and my girl should be at home/oh try to understand/ try to understand/ try, try, try to understand/ he’s a magic man, mama…” I understand it, I have a magic man myself. The song always reminds me of an old pal of mine named Angie Rachenback (the last name was massacered in spelling to protect the innocent) who had this crazed relationship with her man JB and she always felt this was their song.. god I miss those people.
#19 – Paradise By The Dashboard Light – Meat Loaf (Jim Steinman) Cleveland International single #50588 US / CBS single #6673 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 08/12/1978 #39 “Paradise By The Dashboard Light” is an 8 minute opus of raw sex, losing your virginity and teenage boy’s lust dreams – you know rock and roll. Originally conceived as a stage rock opera the Bat Out Of Hell concept by writer Jim Steinman is one that has lasted through out the years. When the team of Steinman and singer Meat Loaf finally secured a record deal in early ’77, no one could’ve been prepared for the storm that followed it. One of the biggest selling albums of all time, Bat Out Of Hell, is actually a very riveting album even all these years later. Of course the single found here is one of those enduring reasons, Meat Loaf’s huge voice beckoning to his girl to do it in the car while Ellen Foley’s breathy sexiness and attitude come in wondering if he’s going to love her forever should she give in. After all the foreplay, fooling around and of course lying, our hero gets the girl while we get a play by play action by a sportscaster then as things are over and done we get the realization that the sexual couple are now linked forever much to Meat’s dismay. A brilliant opus of real life set to a bombastic rock melody that changes into three different songs. Say what you want about the overplayed song but there is a reason it has been so permanently imprinted into our rock and roll minds.
#18 – Time For Me To Fly – REO Speedwagon (Kevin Cronin) Epic single #50582 US only Chart Debut: US Pop 07/22/1978 #56 I love this song. I can’t tell you how loud I start signing it whenever I hear it, and I’m not exactly why the lyrics have attached themselves to permanently into my mind, but it constantly pops up, “I’ve been around for you/ been up and down for you/ but I just can’t get any relief/ I swallowed my pride for you/ lived and lied for you/ but you still make me feel like a thief/ you’ve got me stealing your love away/ cause you never give it…” I tell you I sing it with so much conviction you’d think I actually had been treated this way. A perfect break up/ kick em to the curb song, “Time For Me To Fly” flows effortlessly with great guitar strums and Kevin Cronin’s impassioned vocals, even Dolly Parton’s honky tonk blue grass version of it from her 1989 White Limozeen album couldn’t take away the guts found in the verses.
#17 – A Little More Love – Olivia Newton-John (John Farrar) MCA single #40975 US / EMI single #2879 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 11/25/1978 #3 / UK 12/16/1978 #4 After Grease, our Olivia held onto those tight leather pants and created a whole new image for herself, one of a hot, blonde rock chick who could take a pop single and add sexiness to it while still staying somewhat middle of the road sweet. Her 1978 album Totally Hot and it’s cover said all it needed to but a make over and the success of Grease didn’t necessarily guarantee a huge new career and that’s where the songs had to come in. Luckily, her main songwriter and producer John Farrar was on the same wavelength as Livvie and they created a slew of rocking little pop songs including the guitar laced “A Little More Love.”
The song opens with a rocky little pop guitar hook, “Night is draggin’ her feet” and a guitar kick up comes in, “I wait alone in the heat”, and Olivia’s sexiness begins to shine through, “I know/ know that you’ll have your way/ til you have to go home/ ‘No’s a word I can’t say…” and the song shifts into a catchy pop beat, “Cause it gets me nowhere to tell you ‘no’/ and it gets me nowhere to make you go” before shifting into the real part of the chorus and Livvie’s vocals go higher, “Will a little more love make you start dependin’?/ will a little more love bring a happy ending?/ will a little more love make it right?/ will a little more love make it right?” and of course she throws in some of those off the charts Livvie screeches I so adore, and we end up with a perfect single to introduce the new and improved post-Grease Olivia Newton-John.
#16 – One Way Or Another –Blondie (Deborah Harry/Nigel Harrison) Chrysalis single #2336 US only Chart Debut: US Pop 06/02/1979 #24 Blondie’s final US single from their third album Parallel Lines, “One Way Or Another” is the ultimate stalker song, Debbie grunted through this three and a half minute rock fest, and though it’s been used in endless commercials, the single itself is still a worthy piece of 70’s gloriousness. “One Way Or Another I’m gonna getcha/ getcha/ getcha…” begins the catchy verse before moving into a darker melody and the actual stalking parts, “I will drive past your house/ and if the lights are all down/ I’ll see who’s arouuuwwwwnd…” I love singing this song in karaoke because of the different parts and just the whole nastiness of it all. Of course it turns even cooler when the end of the song turns the whole thing around with Debbie’s interest in her prey completely over with, “One way or another I’m gonna lose you/ I’ll trick ya/ I’ll trick ya…” and once again the song changes melody only this time it turns into a marching band of craziness, “I’ll walk down the mall/ stand over by the wall/ where I can see it all/ I’ll find out who you call/ lead you to the supermarket/ checkout some specials and rat food/ get lost in the crowd…” and the song fades out with Debbie’s voice alternating lines in each speaker. “One Way Or Another” is a masterpiece in musicianship, vocals and Mike Chapman’s superb production. It’s still one of the highlights on the 1978 Parallel Lines album that finally put Blondie into the mainstream.
and there you have it, only 5 more until we hit the top 10 singles of the 70's and if you're like me, you're just twittering in anticipation...
I love getting presents so any holiday where I actually get something is usually pretty exciting to me, but for some reason the last few years of Valentine's Day hasn't been as intriguing as it used to be.
Do you remember being in elementary school and making Valentine's, putting the little candies into an enevelope and then into the handmade boxes lined up against a wall, always hoping you get a Valentine from that special person? Well I do! The excitement of wondering how many valentines you get and who gave them to you was really exciting. Years later and that feeling is replaced by going to the night club and trying to see how many numbers get put into your pocket - not exactly the same thing.
In 1998 I moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho a week before Valentine's Day and as luck would have it, they just happened to have opened a gay bar a few months before hand, so on Valentine's Day, the bar put together a huge shindig complete with white table cloths, flowers and the whole to do. Thanks to the bar, I met a lot of great people in that little town and it was on that night under the invite of my one and only new friend in town, Rebecca, that I ended up meeting Patrick and Colleen - the Weenis if you will, one of the most interesting women I've ever had the privilage of meeting. We bonded that night over complete bitterness and it's my favorite Valentine's memory ever.
Not that I don't have complete love for my new life as a not so bitter happily in love Bradley, but it occured to me this year as the holiday approached that the Leivas buys me stuff all the time, and more importantly he loves me and appreciates me everyday. It's a very strange thing to say and to realize.. so now I'm the complete opposite of what I used to - gone is the giddy child waiting for a Valentine from an admirer, gone is the bitter bitch who would throw ice at couples happily making out and now instead I'm just part of a happy normal couple completely in love with my boyfriend. What a bore!
But don't worry cause we still have plans to spend some quality time together - I know he bought me a present and so it's only right that we go out to dinner but should you think we're getting all dolled up and spending gazillions of dollars on a romantic dinner in a place jam packed full of new lovers and old lovers trying to rekindle that flame, we are heading to the Mexican cabana known as Aculpoco, a chain Mexi place that serves giant margarittas. Because after all, no matter what holiday it is I deserve to drink.
Top 100 Singles Of The 70's - According To Bradley #25-21 and we're back for more fun and games...and we have some doozies for you today - from a couple of schtick mongers, a new wave band of Boston fun, some repeat offenders and a classic from a big time heartbreaker.... so let's get our groove on!
#25 – Just What I Needed – The Cars (Ric Ocasek) Elektra single #45491 US/ #12312 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 06/17/1978 #27 / UK 02/17/1979 #17 I always forget about the Cars. I’m not sure why but when I come up with lists or just want to hear some great new wavey type of tunes I somehow forget about the Ric Ocasek led band. But once I recall I own hteir CDs and pop them into the stereo I’m a huge fan.it was hard to pick out one single from the band that released so many good ones in the 70’s but after listening and re-listening to songs and making my little blue highlights, it always came down to “Just When I Needed.” “I don’t mind you coming here wasting all my time, time/ cause when you’re standing oh so near/ I kind of lose my mind, yeah…” how great of a line is that? Perfect lyrics with the perfect late 70’s new wave sound, this is a classic and from now on I will remember The Cars. In fact, I may be brewing up a Bubbatunes compilation in the near future.
#24 – Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain & Tennille (Neil Sedaka) A&M single #1672 US / #7165 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 04/19/1975 #1 / UK 08/02/1975 #32 I have a suddenly strange relationship with Mr. Darryl Dragon and his wife these days. When I was a little kid I loved the Captain & Tennille. I used to watch their shows, and when I attended those RIF things at the elementary school one of the first books I got was the biography of these two. What can I say, I was a very strange child. I always liked their music and remember watching their variety show. A few years ago the show came out on DVD and I got it as a Christmas present and I was so happy. That is until I watched the show, I never realized Toni Tennille had such a horrible accent. She’s from Alabama and she never lost that annoyingly stupid accent. It makes everything she says sound like she’s a toothless hick. I know that’s probably prejudiced or something but just watch it for yourself and see if you can get through a scene of her talking. But now her singing voice that’s a whole different thing. With her low alto she was able to take the 70’s schtick of love and bring about some very classic singles. Of course their cover of Neil Sedaka’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” is what they’re most famous for and with good reason. The Captain’s intense keyboard work and Toni’s passioned vocals make this bouncy tune a classic 30 some years after its release. For this I can forgive that annoying speaking voice. As for the DVD, it sits on my shelf and occasionally gets thrown into the player, but I fast forward her talking and run right into the musical numbers.
#23 – Dreams – Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks) Warner Bros single #8371 US / #16969 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 04/16/1977 #1 / UK 07/09/1977 #24 “Dreams” is the final Fleetwood Mac single on our list and with this Stevie Nicks penned masterpiece they come in with the second most number of singles on our list. I’m sure you know who is first. But let’s talk a little about Miss S and her crazy antics when it comes to the ethereal world of songwriting. More of a ballad than the other Fleetwood Mac singles from Rumours, this song is what launched them into the stratosphere. Her take on her break up with Lindsay, she lacks the cynicism of Lindsay and though she has some romanticism in her, she’s not as sugary sweet as Christine McVie. Instead she uses her witchy powers to create a haunting rock song, “So there you go/ you say you want your freedom/ well who am I to hold you down?” Stevie always portrays herself as a realist in lyrics, which may seems strange considering her penchant for the mystic but the fact is you never doubt the honesty in her voice or her words and she never seems to concerned with breaking down. She just picks up her shawls and goes home.
#22 – I Want You To Want Me (Live) – Cheap Trick (Rick Nielson) Epic single #50680 US / CBS single #7258 UK Chart Debut: US Pop 04/28/1979 #7 / UK 05/05/1979 #29 “I Want You To Want Me” was originally released in 1977 as a single off of the Cheap Trick album In Color. The song charted but wasn’t the huge hit nor the version that most people know. The classic version of the song comes from the live album At Budoken that was on a number of heavy metal heads turn tables in the late 70’s. A fiercely intense little fun box of music, the album launched a number of singles but it was the highly infectious version of “I Want You To Want Me” that became the major hit. The song is great, and I can’t believe how fast and furious the live version is compared to the rather pale recorded version from two years before. Robin Zander’s radar like vocals had me confused for years. What the hell is that second verse I wondered FOR YEARS, and the fact that I still sung the song and turned it up without knowing the lyrics shows you just how good of a song it is. But for those of you, who like me could never quite make out all the lyrics, I’ve learned they are quite a bit easier to understand on the studio version and have finally heard what he’s saying, “Shine up the old brown shoes/ Put on a brand new shirt/ get home early from work / if you say that you love me…” Of course I think we all know, “Didn’t I/ didn’t I/ didn’t I see you crying?/ didn’t I/ didn’t I/ didn’t I see you crying” but the rest goes, “Feeling all alone without a friend/ you know you feel like dying”… I tell you that Robin can be a real Motormouth Mabel.
#21 – American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Tom Petty) Shelter single #62007 US / Island single #643 UK Chart Debut: UK 08/13/1977 #40 It’s kind of strange to think that one of the most popular Tom Petty singles never even hit the top 100 in his home land yet was a top 40 hit over seas right out of the box. Perhaps it was promotion or some other crazy thing, but it is one of the best singles of the 70’s, okay perhaps the 21st best single of the 70’s. One of the more bouncy singles in Petty’s career, the rock beat bounces right from the beginning, “Well she was an American Girl/ raised on promises/ she couldn’t help thinking/ that there was a little more to life somewhere else…” Yet another example of a great opening line. Almost everyone I know can relate to the idea of trying to find out what is around the corner, what would happen if you just packed up and left. I know I’ve had those feelings and never ever regret on acting on any of them. My favorite lines come about when Petty puts us right into the girl’s mind, “Well it was kind of cold that night/ she stood alone on her balcony/ yeah, she could hear the cars roll by/ out on 441 like waves crashing on the beach/ and for one desperate moment there/ he crept back in her memory/ god it’s so painful when something that’s so close/ and still so far out of reach…” I love it, and the chorus isn’t bad either.
and there you have our latest in our long line of 70's classics, stay tuned for next time when we wrap up the top 20 and head on into the top 10 Singles of the 70's!
Location: West Hollywood, California, United States
SHORT VERSION: Bradley Jacobson is a singer/songwriter, sometime actor, sometime writer, audio engineer and producer, and all around happy dude. He was the singer/songwriter of the electronic trashy punky pop band Swivek, but is now a "solo" artist releasing music under his own name.
You heard me right, EPISODE 12 
