Sunshine Radio: Southern California’s Best Mix (1974-1982)

C-Heads Magazine

Enjoy this new episode of Sunshine Radio, again with some long forgotten radio fragments! The tracks by Kim Et Moi, Giorgio Lopez and State Cows are brand new.

Gary Fane (Geert Veen) was born in my home town Groningen in 1942. He seemed to come from nowhere when he launched his ambitious concept album Horoscope, his musical interpretation of the zodiac, in 1980. At the time only a few people were aware that he was the original singer of The Surfers, known for the European, Beach Boys inspired hit Windsurfin' a few years earlier. Like Milli Vanilli, the tv-performances of the single were lip-synced by models, because Gary Fane himself was already in his late thirties when this song about high school fun was on the pop chart. He passed away in 2019. Horoscope has recently been remastered and re-issued.

Until this day Evie Sands remains a very underrated singer/songwriter, although she has received more appreciation in recent years, especially in the English Northern Soul scene. She began recording as a teenager in the mid-1960s. After a rocky start and having trouble with unreliable record executives who stole her songs, she finally had a hit single with Any Way That You Want Me in 1969. Her debut album, also named Any Way That You Want Me, was released several months after the single had peaked. It took five years before Estate of Mind saw the light of day. Produced by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, the LP again put her on the map as a first class singer/songwriter. The very sensual Love In The Afternoon is one of the tracks on the album. Unfortunately it is not on the new Evie Sands compilation I Can’t Let Go on Ace Records:

“Singing from her pre-teens and first working in the studio at a tender age, Sands’ powerful and mesmerising voice belied her youth and featured on classic 45s cherished by soul and rock collectors alike, as well as girl group and femme pop aficionados.”

Paul Anka looks like a plastic old guy with too much bling and too much tan nowadays, but he made quite a few good songs in the 1970s, after his success as a teen idol in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Flashback was never on any album and was released as a b-side of Let Me Get To Know You in the US. Luckily Flashback came out as a single in the Netherlands and reached number 25 on the Dutch Top 40.

Tracklist:

Gary Fane – Capricorn (Don’t Be Silly) (1980)
Pointer Sisters – Holdin’ Out For Love (1981)
Kim Et Moi – Pluie (2025)
Evie Sands – Love In The Afternoon (1974)
Paul Anka – Flashback (1973)
Alan Sorrenti – Beside You (1981)
Gino Vanelli – I Just Wanna Stop (1978)
FCC – Falling Out Of Love (1980)
Bell & James – Love, Call My Name (1981)
Doobie Brothers – You Belong To Me (1977)
Giorgio Lopez Feat. Stella – Toujours Distante (2025)
Steve Winwood – Help Me Angel (1982) 
Amy Holland – Strengthen My Love (1980)
Andy Gibb – Shadow Dancing (1977)
Ian Gomm ‎– Hold On (1978)
State Cows – Inside Of My Mind (2025)
Erik Tagg – Marja’s Tune (1977)
Donny Hathaway ‎– Love, Love, Love (1973)
Starbuck – I Got To Know (1976)
Four Seasons –  Down The Hall (1977)