Vol. 5 Episode 4

Radiohead have a new app out based on The King of Limbs ideas.

This is Slumberland Records 25th year. They will be highlighting records released through them every few days. Yesterday was Linda Smith - Till Another Time. I ordered a copy of this EP. The single I heard was very jangle pop sounding. I am excited to hear the other tracks on the EP.

Here We Go...

Daryl Hall & John Oates – Bigger Than Both of Us

This is the fifth album from Daryl Hall & John Oates, A.K.A. Hall & Oates. The album was released in 1976. This album marked the first in a series of number one hits for the group with the song Rich Girl.

The first single from the album is called Do What You Want,Be What You Are. The song is a slow R&B track that didn’t even crack the top 40 charts. It is a good song but didn’t have the pop sound that the public was craving for.

The second single was Rich Girl. This track isn’t much faster than the first single but there was something special about this track.

From Wikipedia about the song, “The song's lyrics are about a spoiled girl who can rely on her parents' money to do whatever she wants. The song was rumored to be about the then-scandalous newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. In fact, the title character in the song is based on a spoiled heir to a fast-food chain who was an ex-boyfriend of Daryl Hall's girlfriend, Sara Allen. "But you can't write, 'You're a rich boy' in a song, so I changed it to a girl," Hall told Rolling Stone.
Hall elaborated on the song in an interview with American Songwriter:
"Rich Girl" was written about an old boyfriend of Sara [Allen]'s from college that she was still friends with at the time. His name is Victor Walker. He came to our apartment, and he was acting sort of strange. His father was quite rich. I think he was involved with some kind of a fast-food chain. I said, "This guy is out of his mind, but he doesn't have to worry about it because his father's gonna bail him out of any problems he gets in." So I sat down and wrote that chorus. [Sings] "He can rely on the old man's money/he can rely on the old man's money/he's a rich guy." I thought that didn't sound right, so I changed it to "Rich Girl". He knows the song was written about him.^”

Christopher Cross – Christopher Cross

This is the self titled debut album from Christopher Cross. The album was released in 1979. It has been noted as one of the most influential soft rock albums of the early 80s. The album actually beat out Pink Floyds’ The Wall for album of the year in 1981.

The first single from the album is called Ride Like TheWind. This is a classic soft rock/synth pop track that makes me want to get down and boogie. It is not disco but it has that style of dance feel.

The second single, Sailing, has become a classic as well but strictly as a soft rock track. The song is slow but the vocals are what make this track. The tone and timbre of Christopher's’ voice is just magical.

The third single from the album is called Never Be The Same. This song was not as popular as the previous two songs but used the same sounds. It is a good song but not as good as the previous to singles in my opinion. It did reach 15 in the top 40 charts though so it was a popular song.

The fourth single is called Say You'll Be Mine. This is also a good song but didn’t seem to do as well in the charts. It doesn’t have that groove that makes you want to listen to the song over and over.

The album is great if you want to hear some soft rock or adult contemporary as the classification of soft rock has now become to be called.

Broken Bells – The Ghost Inside

This is a UK only 7” single released in 2010. I am a little disappointed that the single wasn’t released on vinyl or CD here in the US. I am also a little let down that there hasn’t bee a physical single released for the new album yet and there has been a second single put out just this week.

The A side of the single is The Ghost Inside. The single reached 22 in the US Alternative charts. Why they still call it the alternative charts is a mystery to me. The song is very good and makes use of very cool synth and guitar sounds. The lyrics are a bit depressing but the music is so good it is easy to overlook the lyrics.

The B side of the record, Meyrin Fields, ended up being the title track for the Meyrin Fields EP. I talked about this EP in Vol. 2 Episode 17. Obviously the comments that I made about the EP have changed as I have not only purchased This single but I have also purchased both albums, the EP and the two physical versions of the singles that have been released. I decided that, with the release of a second album, I could get all of the previous releases and have a full collection of their work.

That is all I have for this week...