I'm going to be really honest and tell you that I don't remember New Edition's "Can You Stand The Rain" when it was first getting radio play in early 1989. I think that I was firmly committed to hair bands by then. The song is from the quintet's album Heart Break, their first venture without Bobby Brown. It introduced us to Johnny Gill who does a fantastic job sharing lead vocals with Ralph Tresvant on "Can You Stand The Rain".
So anyway, I heard this song several months back during BET's three part special on the band (which really IS worth seeing) and couldn't tell which era of New Edition it was from. That makes it pretty timeless in my eyes and it also has all of the components of a top-notch slow jam. Check out the video below and tell me, who is your favorite of the guys!
I've always dreamed this was the way that it could be Just like a fantasy, your hear along with me So now it seems we've slipped into reality And it's plain to see this is our destiny Feelings I try to hold seem to take control I lie awake, my body shakes with just one thought of you
So freestyle Friday kind of came and went this week, but we still need a dose of the actual music right? Here's a dose of Latin Freestyle via Sweet Sensation. "Take It While It's Hot" is the title track off of the ladies debut album from 1988. It put them on the map back then and it'll still get you up off of the couch right now, so enjoy!
I love those songs that serve as an instant vehicle to take me back in time. Spandau Ballet's "True" is most certainly one of those. Every time I hear it (which is actually pretty often) I'm instantly reliving 1983 all over again. To say that this song got a lot of air play would be a real understatement, especially since even now, more than 30 years later it's still in heavy rotation on some stations. "True" is the kind of song that you just kind of know all of the words to, even if you don't like it. I remember it always being on in the car and so nearly every time I hear those opening notes, then at least for a second I'm back in my dad's old Buick driving to god knows where.
"True" was Spandau Ballet's biggest hit in the U.S. and while they aren't often seen here they do often still perform in the UK. You guys remember this song, right? I'm betting that you start singing along (even if it's just in your head) almost immediately!
"You must be my Lucky Star 'Cause you shine on me wherever you are I just think of you and I start to glow And I need your light And baby you know Starlight, star bright first star I see tonight Starlight, [star bright] make everything all right Starlight, star bright first star I see tonight Starlight, [star bright] yeah."
It's funny because when I hear the name Madonna the first visual that comes to mind is the early-80's version. Something about the "Lucky Star" video has stuck with me for all of these- decades! I still associate Madonna with her dancers doing choreography to the heavy synth and drum track- and that's just fine with me. I loved those days of suddenly needing lace bows and lace gloves. Piling neon and rubber bracelets on my arms and thinking just about everything in my closet would look better if I chopped off the bottom of it and turned it into a belly shirt! I love the era of my own life that vintage Madonna conjures up for me!
There are so many misconceptions that go hand in hand with being a bonafide rockstar. One of the biggest is the notion that once you "make it" in the music industry and score a platinum record or some other oddly shaped trophy, you're set for life. You know, money just keeps on flowing while difficult doors are magically opened for decades on end. The real truth is that any end of the music industry is a really harsh place to exist, even on the best of days. You can be on the road playing sold-out gigs now and in six months time, you can be back to waiting tables with zero musical options. It's a scenario that Kip Winger knows well, as he went from riding the late 80's hard rock wave with his own band (Winger), to having his career all but buried by MTV- the same network that had made him a household name. The only solid guarantee in music is that you're going to hit bottom far more often than you strike gold and it takes talent, timing and unshakable determination to pull yourself back up again.
That sitting on the bottom feeling is something that Winger has dealt with on multiple occasions and it's likely a big part of what has helped to transform him into a man that is comfortable in his own skin, flaws and all. He carries with him a depth that only comes from a life that has been fully lived and transparency that is quite beautiful. While the rockstar days aren't totally behind him, composing symphonic music and simply striving to be better, is what captures the majority of Winger's attention these days.
I caught up with Kip Winger recently and quickly realized that he is the kind of man that carries with him a great deal of wisdom, the kind that can rub off if you're ready and willing.
Google the lyrics to any of the songs on some of Winger's solo albums like, "Songs from the Ocean Floor" or "This Conversation Seems Like a Dream" and half a verse into it you'll understand that his writing is deeper than most.
Kip Winger on writing rock, progressive and symphonic music:
“I'm a believer that if you want to be a good writer then you have to sit down and write every day. You can't just expect it to hit you on a sunny (or a cloudy) kind of day. I'm the kind of person that believes that you just sit down and make it happen. One day is good, one day is bad and one day you might get to an idea that you'll work on in a month. Organizational skills are key when it comes to inspiration because the inspiration will hit you and it'll leave you just as fast as it hits you. I have to have a recorder or something with you because the inspiration for music for me usually comes from my subconscious being almost in a state of a trance or I can be doing something like grocery shopping. I sit down and write every day when I'm home. I tour a lot and it's harder to do it when I'm on the road, but I do carry tools to write when I'm on the road. When I'm home I write every day and I try to keep the projects that I'm working on very organized. Now I have these big projects that take much longer than just sitting down to write an album, but even still an album will take me a year.”
Kip on his own personal writing style:
“I do a lot of stream of consciousness writing as well as pursuing specific ideas. I know what I like so I don't just meander around and hope to get struck by a great idea. I do get struck by great ideas and all of the best ideas are purely by accident. You can't just sit down and write a great idea and I challenge any artist in the world to say that their ideas came because they thought of them. It just doesn't happen like that. Those ideas come because you work, work, work and then the universe will show you something that you weren't seeing and it'll show it very clearly so that you think, 'Oh my god, that's amazing'. You spend a little time getting high on that feeling and then you try to develop it and realize you suck (laughing) because the idea alone was its' greatest fruition.
I don't think I'm different than many other artists and I think that my process is probably pretty similar to most people. I may just be more dedicated to it than most people and I'm probably less dedicated to it than some people. I'd say I'm in the more dedicated category and I know what it means to be an artist. Having that understanding is about all that I can hope for.”
Kip on what influences his solo work:
"Well in my solo stuff when you hear world music it's a direct descendant of Peter Gabriel. I never dug down into authentic world music, it all came from the generation of Peter Gabriel and other English artists that were introducing that stuff into their music. If you listen to a song like "Don't Let Go" off of This Conversation Seems Like a Dreamyou just have to know that I was heavily influenced by Peter Gabriel. There's no way around it and I'm proud of it because he is a towering genius among us, the guy is incredible.
Photo: Kip Winger & Robby Rothschild by Aline Narducci
Kip on the creation of "Sure Was a Wildflower", one of his favorite songs:
“I wrote that song for a movie. I read the script and I don't remember the name, but the movie came out and they didn't like my song (chuckling). I really like that song. I was working with a very well-known television composer named Dominic Frontiere, who did old school stuff like Outer Limits and The Flying Nun, plus he was a jazz guy. He was working on the film when we both lived in Santa Fe and so he asked me if I was up for writing a song for it. So, I wrote the song for the movie and they didn't like it so I put it on my album instead. The lyrics come right from reading the script and that's one of my favorite songs out of everything I've ever written."
Photo: Kip Winger- Official Facebook
Creative people generally aren't too quick to admit their fear of failure. Musicians and artists need to make money and admitting that you're insecure can prevent you from landing gigs, but that doesn't mean that the fear doesn't exist. In fact, it usually is just left unspoken, but festering beneath the surface. Making platinum records and earning Grammy nominations apparently won't chase these fears away either.
Kip on admitting his creative fears in spite of finding success:
“I mean it's terrifying, I'm not going to lie. I'm working on symphony number one for Nashville Symphony and I'm scared to death, it is terrifying. I don't think you ever get over that kind of fear. The only people that I know that have gotten over it are people with giant egos and those same people usually aren't the better artists. I don't think you can get over the fear if you know the difference, I mean, how can you? You've always got Beethoven looming over your head. In my case, there are great composers that I'm actually friends with now that crush me. I can call them up and ask what they did in bar nine million of their fifth symphony so I'm in a really strange situation. All you can do is one note after the next, or if you're a writer you put one word after the one before, after the one before that and pretty soon you've got a novel.”
If life is intended to be a journey then it's only fair that we would need some help along the way. Winger learned years ago that he is wise to watch and learn from the steps, and the missteps of others.
Kip on the importance of mentors:
“I actively seek out mentors. I grew up reading this book that my dad gave me, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. In it, he talks about shadowing those who are doing what you want to successfully do, and so finding a mentor has always been a big thing for me. Even at the ripe old age of 57, I still have a couple people that I consider my mentors. I'll call them up and ask for advice on all sorts of things like how to get out of problems, or I'll ask them to look at my music, or I'll ask them why I suck (laughing).
I don't think that need for guidance should ever go away. I think that if you believe your own gospel too much and think that you’re all that, then you become a fraud or a parody of yourself. You have to have the humility to look around you to see and understand that people are as good or better than you. The people that I'm looking at are usually better than me and so I just keep trying. There's nothing else you can do but keep trying to get better. You can't not be you, that's the other part of the equation.”
He has spoken often about taking ballet in his teens and how it was the key to unlocking his love of classical music and yes, Winger does still dance.
Kip on the importance of dance class, even still:
“I like to stay in touch with dance because when I compose music, I consider dance even if it's not something that's going to end up being choreographed. My last ballet class was maybe nine months ago. I recently did a tango class and I'm kind of interested in that. That was just last week actually.”
Photo: Winger Promo Shot
Kip on that new Winger project:
“Reb (Beach) and I are going to start writing and we'll try to knock something out in August. He's out with Whitesnake now and I'm very busy, so we've got some time set aside in August for us to get together and try to do something. I don't know what we're going to do and I don't like to preplan it. I like to sit down with Reb and see what the mood of the day is. It's impossible for Reb and I not to sound like Winger because the combination of us is the sound of the band, no matter what song we do.”
Kip on why he can’t just coast on Winger’s early success:
“I think human beings, in general, tend to be lazy. A lot of people can find success at one thing and be like, okay I did it, I'm done and I can live off of that credential for the rest of my life. I don't even feel successful in many ways, all of that stuff sort of passed by me and it never sunk in. I'm not the kind of artist that can repeat myself and so I don't just sit around and think of the glory days. The glory days for me are still ahead of me, in terms of art. For me, it all comes from a very artistic point of view. I'm not interested in the commercial aspect of it, to my own detriment by the way, because I'm not a rich guy. I don't have tons of money but what I leave behind, that's the most important thing."
As if the rock and symphonic worlds aren't keeping him busy enough, Winger has teamed with Damien Gray to create a piece of musical theater. Kip on Get Jack, a Musical Thriller:
“The Get Jackconcept album is coming out in the next couple months and then we're hoping to do a lab later this year. We've got a great director, Kelly Divine, and we just signed a producer so it's moving along but it's a very heavy lift. Hamilton took ten years before it was up and successful. This has so many moving parts and the scheduling is difficult but it's moving forward and I'm happy with the progress given what we've been able to put together.”
It only makes sense that a man who values mentors to facilitate his future growth would still have a pretty impressive list of things to do.
Kip on what’s next:
“Honestly, more of what I'm doing but I need to try and make it better. I'm done seeking out new genres. I'm not going to do that anymore and I'm actually going to try and reduce all of the different directions. I'd like to reduce everything down into my solo records because that's a place where I can do it all. I know who I am and I know my limitations very well. I don't have any pretenses about who I am. I keep moving basically, and I adapt and overcome. I've experienced tons of obstacles. My big thing is time and I don't have enough time to do all of the things that I want to be doing. I'm comfortable with who I am but I'm not comfortable with my ability, especially with my orchestral writing, I'm just not good enough yet. I might do another musical and I'd like to write an opera. Yeah, I'd really like to write an opera.”
"Those were the times we had Sharing a joy that we thought would last Memories of love and affection Never really was just like a dream Was it the simple things That made me so crazy about you Was it your charm or your passion It's not hard to believe I love you and I need you so I... Sending you forget me nots"
While "Forget Me Nots" was released in 1982, making it a post-disco song, it is often still lumped in with that era of music. It was on Patrice Rushen's seventh studio album and while she had enjoyed a long career before it and has continued to write, sing and work to this day, "Forget Me Nots" is kind of her calling card. It has been one of the most sampled songs over the last few decades and well, why not? The baseline is unmistakable and the rhythm demands movement.
It might be 35 years old but just about every party or night at the club still includes at least one spin of "Forget Me Nots"!
I don't believe that I deserve this ride You took me for my very heart and pride You let me down and now your hand is out Well, here's some spare change you can count
"Find Another Fool" by Quarterflash almost feels like a lost hit to me. When everyone thinks of Quarterflash I think "Harden My Heart" instantly comes to mind, right? I happened to catch the video for "Find Another Fool" the other day and remembered that THIS is the song by them that I loved most.
Rindy Ross' vocals and then sax playing is just everything and this band was pretty rock solid. Quarterflash first formed in Portland back in 1980 and within a year or so they hit it big. This live video performance was filmed in 1981 after they were already playing to huge audiences. Am I the only one that misses the saxophone making a regular appearance in currently trending music?
"You're thinking up your white lies You're putting on your bedroom eyes You say you're coming home but you won't say when But I can feel it coming If you leave tonight keep running And you need never look back again Heard it from a friend who Heard it from a friend who Heard it from another you been messin' around"
I think REO Speedwagon is one of the very first bands that I really remember from childhood. I don't mean just a song here and there either. When Hi Infedelity was released it was always playing somewhere. My dad had it in his nightly rotation. The people that lived across the alley from us would blast it when they were outside and my friend Judy's older brother played it constantly too. They had the big liquor cabinet, side table, turntable thing and if it wasn't REO that was blaring then you can bet it was The Cars instead.
I knew all the words to every single song (whether I wanted to or not) but "Take It on the Run" was probably my favorite. It was a bit heavier and really showcases (still) what a great band REO Speedwagon is. Check out a live performance of it below!
You go around, tellin' lies, and now you wanna compromise
Whatcha tryin' to do to my heart
You better run, you better hide, you better leave from my side, yeah"
1981 was a pretty big year for me. It was the year that I finally turned ten, or "double digits" which, for whatever reason made me think I was a total big shot. It was also the year that I got a sparkling new bike that looked exactly like this one, but it was in pink.
I spent so many hours zooming up and down the alley behind my house with a neighborhood filled with kids. It was always girls against the boys in whatever game we played and let me tell you, the girls were way out-numbered. We talked a good game until the boys started throwing rocks and then out came the water works and running home to tell our parents. Needless to say, the boys were always in trouble.
I also remember that some of the stupidest things ever classified as toys. Do you guys remember Ka Bangers???? The only point in banging them together was to do it without hurting yourself or anyone else.
I can still hear my mother complaining about the idea of spending $3 on something so useless, yet my father did decide to take a 15 minute ride to find a set for me when every store near the house had sold out. The summer of 1981 was pretty memorable for me and not just because Lifesavers finally did the unimaginable and created blueberry lollipops,
it was also a musical turning point for me. Up until then I had been a total disco queen. My dad would listen to albums every night and I'd always get to choose the last song. For the longest time I completely tortured him with Abba.
"The Winner Takes It All", "Dancing Queen", etc. I was pretty obsessed. Then something happened and that something was MTV. It premiered in August of 1981 and at first it wasn't available everywhere.
Not all cable companies back then were sure that they should take a risk on an all-music network. Chain record stores did have MTV and believe me they installed televisions just to have it playing in the store. I remember going to the mall with my dad and basically camping out in the Gallery of Sound, watching music videos. At first there was only a handful and Pat Benatar's "You Better Run", being the second video ever shown, seemed to play hourly.
This Pat chick, she was really cool and super tough. I loved the fact that she seemed to hold her own with the guys despite being so tiny. Maybe it was the striped shirt and the leather, or it could have been just the song itself but either way I was hooked. My dad, who was working at a rock station at the time was beyond thrilled to help steer me away from disco and towards the kind of music that he loved, rock. Crimes of Passion became my very first album and I think that I played it into the ground.
It's kind of ironic to me that it took me 35 years to finally see Pat play live. I'm not sure exactly why that is, but this year I spent my birthday at one of her shows and it was just amazing. While I loved her way back then I totally respect the example that she has set for other your women trying to find their own way in the music biz. Plus she seems pretty normal and has always put her family ahead of being onstage. In fact, she and her husband didn't start touring full throttle again until after their two daughters were grown.
It's funny because if you see her in concert, Pat always mentions "You Better Run" as being a real turning point in her illustrious career because they really had no idea what, if anything would ever come of the whole music video concept. I have to think that she probably lit a real fire under more people that she could ever imagine just by taking a chance with a camera and that song!
A few lines in and I'm standing in my parents' very first apartment where my love of music all began. It's a few days before Halloween and my parents were throwing a party for all of their friends. The night before was my kiddie party in our basement. I wore a Wonder Woman costume that was so NOT a Wonder Woman costume because it had a skirt and no lasso. I remember a punch bowl and bobbing for apples and little else. But my parent's party, well that was the real deal. There was neat lighting, a table full of sweets that I was never allowed to have and all of our doorways had beads hanging from them that you were supposed to walk through.
I was 7 years old and beginning to develop my own taste and thanks to my dad's music obsession disco was a big part of it. When I was about five dad started to train as a DJ at a local radio station and his little record collection on a tiny cart with wheels suddenly took over a whole wall of our living room. Even in that small apartment dad's stereo was front and center. His love of music turned into an educated love of stereo equipment. He spent two hours without fail every night cranking out tunes, everything from Pink Floyd to Blue Oyster Cult to ABBA and all the while he was fiddling with levers on all sorts of boxes that were supposed to somehow enhance the sound. I didn't know if the “woofers and tweeters” did any good but the day that he played Chic's “Le Freak” my life immediately changed.
The last song of every evening was picked out by me and by the time 1978 rolled around I was choosing things like “Ring My Bell”, “The Hustle” and “Disco Inferno”. I also waited anxiously for Saturday afternoons to roll around because, thanks to cable television and WPIX in NYC I had discovered The Soap Factory, a weekly dance show. A few weeks before my parent's party we were all watching as Blondie performed a song called “Heart of Glass”. I was mesmerized by the lead singer'sblonde hair, bright lipstick and her turquoise pants suit. My dad always watched The Soap Factory with me, but this time even my mom stopped to check out Debbie Harry. I mean, how could you not?
My mom spent the next week or so in party planning mode. She would fill the bathroom sink with water and bubbles and I'd spend an hour in there playing with all of my Fisher Price Little People. I loved having them swim and ride in their boats every night after dinner and I can remember my mom on the phone in the next room on the phone night-after-night making plans for this bash. My dad was always the laid back one and seemed to have little involvement. She hung sparkly decorations, made food and spiked the punch all while dad was engrossed in his albums. Neither of us realized what he was actually up to and as it turned out, dad's involvement was actually monumental because he was preparing to put all of those newfound DJ skills to good use.
My mom had a surprise or two up her sleeve as well. The creativity was always flowing in that little apartment and so for the week leading up to the party when dad and his music was taking over the living room, mom was in her studio. It was a small room with her easel and mountain of art supplies on one side and her Singer sewing machine on the other. Beneath a window was a big cushion with built-in pillows to nap on. That was my spot to read or draw when mom was busy drawing advertisements for our local newspaper. Dad had thought that mom was working on extra assignments for art school when in fact she had been busy at her sewing machine making a turquoise satin pants suit, just like Debbie Harry's. She had decided to put her blonde wavy hair and 100-pound frame to good use and transform into his new favorite singer, gold cuff bracelet and all, for their Halloween party.
This one night, in particular, reminds me that at one point in time my parents really, truly were on the same page. They really did “get” each other. As mom shocked dad with her costume he was just getting the party started. Dad was the man, but his music collection was the true star of the evening. His friends were all on the floor in front of his racks of records, flipping through everything in amazement and helping him to decide what to play next. Dad's dedications were also a hit because the songs that he played weren't just for particular people but he also had hilarious reasons for his selections.
An hour or so into the party dad pulled out a surprise record that he was really excited about. It was Blondie's “Heart of Glass”, an extended dance mix that wasn't available in the states yet. When he ordered music for the station he would also add a few import records from the UK for his own collection and Blondie had just become available. It was a song that no one else knew until he played it that night but everyone loved it. Even the guys that had been downing their Michelob beer on the floor in front of the stereo all night were finally dancing. One spin of that record led to about 20 more before the night was over.
At first, I might have been the only one not in costume and that was because there was no way that I was going to put that fake Wonder Woman thing on again. My aunt (mom's younger sister) decided in the middle of what looked like a Soul Train line dance that I needed some makeup at least. She grabbed me and her purse and hauled us both into the bathroom. There Aunt Elaine pulled out her black eyeliner and within a few minutes had transformed me into “Cleopatra”. I wasn't sure exactly who that was but my eyes looked like I belonged on The Soap Factory so that kindasorta made me Debbie Harry for the night too, right?
Everyone left after midnight. I remember my dad explaining the concept of time to me and how the digital clock turning to 2:01 am meant that it was Sunday morning even though it still felt like Saturday night. Truth be told it was far later than that and somehow I was still awake. My mom tried to make me go to bed but when I begged for one more spin of “Heart of Glass” my dad put the record on before she could even bother to protest. My room needed to be cleaned up anyway because my bed was where everyone left their belongings upon arrival. They and their coats might have been gone but my toys were all over the place and my precious Little People were scattered all over the room.
I swore that I would help clean up if they let me stay up but instead I climbed into the green recliner that had been temporarily moved into my room during the party. The French doors to my room were open and I curled up there, watching as my parents dragged garbage bags around toclean up the wreckage. My mom told me that I had 5 minutes until she was putting me to bed and so I closed my eyes as Debbie Harry sang.
Who knew that nights like this one actually existed? If beaded doorways, little packs of M&M's and unexpected dance battles were what it meant to be an adult then I really couldn't wait to grow up. I closed my eyes tighter as I heard mom approaching and when she whispered to dad that I was asleep I stayed extra still until she went back to cleaning up. Eventually, I really did drift off to sleep in that chair and woke as dad was carrying me across the room to my bed. As mom tucked me in and kissed me goodnight she did the only thing that could have made this night any better, she took off her shiny cuff bracelet and put it on my arm.
"I couldn't escape this feeling with my China girl
I feel a wreck without my little China girl
I hear her heart beating loud as thunder
Saw these stars crashing
I'm a mess without my little China girl
Wake up in the morning, where's my little China girl
I hear her heart's beating loud as thunder
Saw these stars crashing down"
It has been awhile since anything by David Bowie has made its' way on to DailyBOOM, hasn't it? So let's revisit "China Girl", a song that was first recorded by Iggy Pop in the late 70's with little fanfare. He and Bowie had written it together and when Bowie remade it in 1983, it found commercial success. It's off of the Let's Dance album and the single was sandwiched between the title track and the later release of "Modern Love", so it was basically positioned for success.
The song itself has always had a bit of a double meaning. While the video depicts a romance, China is a term for heroin and girl is a term for cocaine. Bowie supposedly loved the hidden meaning of the song because he loved adding different layers to his music.
I just remember loving the song as a kid and I still believe it's one of Bowie's best tracks to come out of the 80's. Check out the video below!
"If I could grow wings I would do anything Just to keep you with me Can't you see?"
Honeymoon Suite's "What Does It Take" is one of those songs that left a lasting impression on me. Not because it got tons of airplay way back in 1986 or because it was on every time I turned my boom box on. In fact, it didn't even crack the top 50 on Billboard's Hot 100. But it was part of my favorite radio station's Top 10 at 10 countdowns for a really long time. It was one of those songs that was goodnight dedication material and had staying power for months.
You guys remember the goodnight dedication shows, right? One of those things that I really miss about good old live radio. I can remember hitting redial repeatedly trying to get through to make a dedication and for a long time, this was THE song of choice.
Honeymoon Suite found moderate success back in the '80s but in truth, they probably should have hit a lot harder than they did because they were really great. Like many of the other great bands to come out of the '80s, Honeymoon Suite still does perform together.
"Shout Shout Let it all out These are the things I can do without Come on I'm talking to you Come on."
Is "Shout" by Tears For Fears one of the most recognizable songs of the 80's? The band seemed to think that it was one of the simplest songs to record but the mix of the synthesizer with a nifty guitar solo made a lasting impression. The song enjoyed three weeks at the top of Billboard's charts in August of 1985 and it also found itself in the top ten in at least 25 different countries.
The song itself was released at a time of unrest because many were still reeling from the fallout of The Cold War. "Shout" was intended to be a rallying cry that encouraged people to educate themselves and then speak up and out. I was 14 at the time and all that I knew was that the song sounded different from everything else on the radio and I loved it.
The bars are temples but the pearls ain't free You'll find a god in every golden cloister And if you're lucky then the god's a she I can feel an angel sliding up to me."
You may not remember the name Murray Head, but you'll definitely remember the one-hit-wonder that he sang on in 1985. "One Night In Bangkok" was part of the Chess musical that came out after its' concept album took off. Murray was simply a British actor that was brought in to read the lyrics and probably never anticipated the song being so well-received. Check out the video below. Of course you remember this, right?
"You were the only one The only friend that I counted on How could I watch you walk away I'd give anything to have you here today But now I stand alone with my pride And dream that you're still by my side But that was yesterday I had the world in my hands But it's not the end of my world Just a slight change of plans"
I pulled out a bunch of old Foreigner records today to revisit their catalog. Yeah, I know that I've always really liked them, which is why I have so much of their stuff on vinyl, but I'm surprised that I don't listen to them more often. Agent Provocateur is the kind of album that easily plays from end to end without a song that just feels like filler.
You know what I mean, don't you? There are usually 2 or 3 songs on an album that aren't as good as the rest of it and it's almost like it's their purpose to bridge the singles. Except here. That's definitely not the case with Foreigner. While I've always insisted that "Urgent" is my favorite song, as I can still hear it blaring out of my transistor radio, "That Was Yesterday" is about as solid as it gets.
It's the grown-up, ice cold version of love gone bad and every once in awhile, everyone can relate to that, right? There's no (expiration) dating "That Was Yesterday" and I really love it. Check the video out below!
Please don't go, please don't go Don't go there tonight It just isn't right You may not come back to me Our future we'll never see You're throwing our life plans away Please don't go
While I technically live near the beach now, that feeling of driving "down the shore" as a kid never fades. It was a once a year occasion that amounted to being just about everything to me and my friends. Wildwood, Ocean City, Seaside Heights were all a possibility and I think that memory of hitting the boardwalk at night as a kid is one that I'll never forget.
Spending 4 hours in the car also meant that we were driving to where the coolest music was. In 1985 I alternated between rock and club music and I think the latter just epitomizes boardwalk fun. The songs blaring in all of the t-shirt shops on the boardwalk were ones that I would never hear on the radio at home. In 1985, Nayobe's "Please Don't Go" was hands down THE club hit of the summer and now even 30 years later it is still identified as one of those songs that remind my generation of summer beach fun.
Even if you have no clue who Nayobe is, I'm going to bet that you'll remember this song.
