Golden Years Of Classic Soul, Soft Rock & Sunshine Radio Pop

Matthew Leland

Let’s start the year with the golden years of FM radio 😊 Enjoy! 

The closing track by JIM is brand new. It's a project from JIm Baron, a member of house/disco band Crazy P and he's also known as Ron Basejam.

Phillip Mitchell only released one single for Event Records in 1975. Despite the beautiful ballad There’s Another In My Life being an R&B hit, he did not have a follow-up. However, there were three songs recorded at the Brad Shapiro-led Muscle Shoals session, and I’ll See You In Hell First was the superb mid-tempo track that was shelved until compiled on an Ace CD in 1990.

The Bee Gees have had a great musical career, but they always seemed to take themselves a little bit too seriously. In the media they appeared to have little self-criticism and even walked out of a TV program by BBC presenter Clive Anderson because they appeared to lack self-mockery. When their records started to sell less in the early 1980s, according to the brothers, it was due to disco demolition night and the subsequent disco backlash. Surprisingly they never called their music “disco” themselves through the years and their non-disco album Spirits Having Flown was released before disco demolition night took place in the summer of 1979. Moreover, disco demolition night, comparable to Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany, was mainly a racist, homophobic and sexist record burning, in which the Bee Gees were mainly left out. They did not want to admit that their albums in the 1980s were less good due to internal problems. Anti-star Robin Gibb in particular had difficulty with the leading role of big brother Barry, but his relationship with his twin brother Maurice was not good as well. There is a video circulating on YouTube in which Maurice enthusiastically talks about the record he produced for The Osmonds. Robin sits next to him with a grumpy face and is visibly surprised when his brother talks about the LP. He is not happy with the news and asks very sarcastically whether the album is a success. It wasn't until the late 1980s when the brothers started to move in the same direction again.

Next up is a new part of Smooth Sailing!

Tracklist:

David Bowie – Golden Years (1975)
Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky (1977)
Bee Gees – Love So Right (1976)
Little River Band – Help Is On Its Way (1977)
Stevie Wonder – You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (1973)
Phillip Mitchell – I'll See You In Hell (1975)
Steely Dan – Peg (1977)
Hot Chocolate ‎– Emma (1974)
Alive And Kicking ‎– Tighter, Tighter (1970)
Mott The Hoople ‎– All The Young Dudes (1972)
Norman Connors (Feat. Michael Henderson & Jean Carn) – Valentine Love (1975)
Wings – With A Little Luck (1978)
Lenny LeBlanc – Sharing The Night Together (1976)
Smokey Robinson – Quiet Storm (1975)
Lynsey De Paul ‎– Sugar Me (1972)
Dane Donohue – Casablanca (1978)
Carol Woods – I Wonder What Will Happen (1972)
Byrne & Barnes – Never Gonna Stop Lovin’ You (1981)
Goldie – Making Up Again (1978)
Liverpool Express – You Are My Love (1976)
JIM – Don’t Let Me Down (2023)