California Coastin’: AOR Disco & Mellow Soul by The Smooth Operators

Jeremy Bishop

A selection of AOR Disco and Mellow Soul by The Smooth Operators, perfect for a drive along the beautiful Californian Coast. Enjoy!

One of the tracks on this new cloudcast is Drift Away by Mud. After their very successful glam rock years in the mid-seventies, this British band started to search for new directions. In 1978 they tried to jump on the West Coast bandwagon for one single only. Drift Away was originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz on his 1972 album Reunion. Kenny Loggins, Jim Gordon and Michael Omartian were some of the well-known musicians who played on the record. A year later Dobie Gray made a very soulful cover of the track, which reached #5 on the Billboard pop chart. Mud made some kind of combination of the two versions, but they did not reach a new audience and the song failed to chart. The single is on the recently released compilation album Mud: The Singles 1973-80 on Cherry Red Records. I will write more about it soon.

Tracklist:

Future Flight – You Should’ve Been There (1981)
The Ferry Brothers – ’Til Mornin’ Comes (1977)
Perry & Sanlin – Off On Your Love (1980)
Jewel Bass – Let Your Love Rain Down On Me (1979)
Hal Bradbury – Call Me (1980)
Side Effect – Georgy Porgy (1980)
James Bradley – I Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love (1979)
Greg Smaha – Sunshine (1979)
Crystal Winds – Lovers Holiday (1982)
The S.S.O. Orchestra – Faded Lady (1976)
Lee McDonald – We’ve Only Just Begun (1981)
New World Generation – I’m Feeling Fine (1983)
Cecilio & Kapono – Someday (1975)
Matthew Larkin Cassell – In My Life (1977)
American Gypsy – In The Morning (1974)
Mud – Drift Away (1978)
Sunrize – I Need You More Than Words Can Say (1982)