Mellow Moods Forgotten Gems

-
Picture: Robert Landau

The Smooth Operators pay tribute to the heyday of the FM radio sound with Mellow Moods. Enjoy this new chapter: Forgotten Gems! 

One of the first successful female singer/songwriters in England, Lynsey de Paul (born Lynsey Rubin) had an illustrious career. When she started as a vocalist, she immediately scored with ‘Sugar me’, which reached the number five spot on the British pop charts. Other successes were ‘My man and me’, ‘Won't somebody dance with me’ and ‘Rock bottom’. The latter was recorded with British vocalist Mike Moran and it became second in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977. Between 1972 and 1977, Lynsey de Paul wrote 14 British Top 40 hits. In 1981 she released ‘Strange changes’ after being in California with actor James Coburn for three years, but the song and the accompanying album didn't sell well. She then had a successful career as a composer, actress and television celebrity. On October 1, 2014, she suffered a sudden brain hemorrhage and died later that day at the age of 64.

The song ‘Why did you do it’ by Stretch is not about a girl, but about Mick Fleetwood. Around 1975 he asked the guys to tour with him, but eventually he didn’t show up because of marital problems and it all ended in court.

Tracklist:

Valentine Brothers – One Night At A Time (1979)
Quincy Jones Feat. Paulette McWilliams – Mellow Madness (1975)
Earth, Wind & Fire – They Don’t See (1972)
Sabrina Starke – Use Me (2013)
Fleetwood Mac – Tusk [USC Version] (1979)
Lynsey De Paul – Strange Changes (1981)
Peter Sarstedt – Mellowed Out (1982)
Dave Mason – Misty Morning Stranger (1974)
Bettye Swann – I Want Sunday Back Again (1976)
Stretch – Why Did You Do It (1976)
Andrea Balducci – The Letter (2012)
Don Blackman – Heart's Desire (1982)
Tavares – Whodunit (1977)
Rufus Feat. Chaka Khan – Circles (1975)
Jackson Sisters ‎– I Believe In Miracles (1973)
The Three Degrees – Who Is She (And What Is She To You) (1975)
Four80East – Hold A Candle (2015)
Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light (1972)
Lee Ritenour feat. Eric Tagg - Mr. Briefcase (1981)
Gladys Knight & The Pips - Taste Of Bitter Love (1980)
Starbuck - Everybody Be Dancin’ (1977)
Brand New Heavies - Back To Love (1994)
Gino Vannelli - I Just Wanna Stop (1978)
Climax Blues Band - Couldn’t Get It Right (1976)
Phil Collins - I Missed Again (1981)
Mama’s Gun - Let’s Find A Way (2009)
Looking Glass - Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl) (1972)
Candi Staton - Nights On Broadway (1977)
Future World Orchestra - Desire (1981)
Kenny Loggins - Heart To Heart (1982)
Stevie Wonder - That Girl (1981)
Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Looking’ Out For No. 1 (1976)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Disco Knockouts!

-
Image
Apart from the picture of Sharron Davies, there are two songs that inspired me to make this mix. One of them is a recent track from Duck Sauce. The repetition of the female vocals reminded me of Stars On 45 (I believe they both sampled 'Gotta Go Home' by Boney M). The other one is from Dutch singer Dee Dee. I heard ‘I put a spell on you’ on a recent episode of Tim Sweeney’s ‘Beats in space’. In the accompanying video she looks a little bit like a sex doll, but I love the song! I like the closing track from soul veterans the Drifters, but isn’t it strange to hear guys who were in their thirties at the time sing about schoolgirls? Different times, I guess, when no one had heard of R. Kelly yet... One of my personal favourites is ‘Night time’ from Maggie MacNeal. I bought the 7” which was produced by Michael Lloyd (known for his work for the Osmonds, Lou Rawls and Solomon Burke) way back in 1979. Maggie MacNeal was one half of successful Dutch duo Mouth & MacNeal. Their bigg
Read more

The Smooth Operators Present Classic Yacht Rock

-
Image
Unsplash The Smooth Operators (Martijn Soetens and I) introduce you to yacht rock songs that you must have heard at least once in your life! We present some real yacht rock classics and yacht rock songs that we think should have been classics. Harden My Heart by American pop/rock group Quarterflash was written by guitarist Marv Ross and included on the band's debut album, Quarterflash (1981). The song was originally released as a single in early 1980 by Seafood Mama, Quarterflash's predecessor band. Quarterflash's version became a top-10 hit in the United States, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1982. Guitarist and songwriter Marv Ross remembered that a friend of his had given him the title and that he came up with the lyrics very quickly. Last Monday Michael McDonald, front man of the Doobie Brothers, celebrated his 72th birthday: "Emerging from the laid-back California rock scene of the '70s, McDonald found his niche in a unique blend of
Read more

West Coast Sundown: Yacht Rock, Late Night Pop & Sunset Soul

-
Image
Unsplash Enjoy the soundtrack to a West Coast sundown! 😊 The closing track by Matt Duncan is brand new, by the way. It sounds like a lost recording from The Nightfly sessions by Donald Fagen. At the time critics sometimes called David Cassidy’s music bubblegum pop. That was simply defined  music manufactured to sell as much records as possible and it was mostly aimed at a very young audience. Bubblegum's classic period ran from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies. At that point disco music took over the single market. However, David Cassidy certainly made some very good records, although in later years he found it difficult to shake off his teen idol image. “His wispiest, breathiest hit was called ‘I Am A Clown’. Poor, sweet, forlorn sexy David – marshmallows could’ve bruised this sound.“ (Bob Stanley in his book Yeah Yeah Yeah )  Midas Shadow by Al Stewart is from his classic 1976 album The Year Of The Cat . The message of this song is that when a successful businessman stops
Read more