Smooth Sailing: Yacht Rock & Mellow Soul

-

Unsplash

The opening song by multi-instrumentalist Matt Dibble is from the posthumously released album Forever. He was one of the founding members of British band Super db, but died unexpectedly in 2021, probably due to an allergic reaction.

The track by Percy Mays is from the new compilation LP W3NG, out on Numero, “a sweet selection of mellow grooves”, according to record store Dusty Groove.

In 1978, when glam rock band Mud began to fall apart, the main songwriters of the band Rob Davis and Ray Stiles took some time off to record a few singles as a duo and named themselves Roly. One of these singles was Don’t Ever Change, which was a cover of a Carole King & Gerry Coffin composition, first recorded by The Crickets in 1961 (after been rejected by The Everly Brothers). Mud officially split in 1980, but they shortly reunited in the original line-up a few years later. They then recorded Don’t Ever Change again, this time with their front man Les Gray as the lead singer. One of the tracks that Roly released, Roly Pin, would later appear on the compilation Three Day Week (When The Lights Went Out 1972-1975), compiled by Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, members of the band Saint Etienne.

Enjoy this new Smooth Sailing part! 😊

Tracklist:

Matt Dibble – She’s Transported (2024)
Carol Ray Band – Quelques Mots Gentils (1983)
Diane Tell – Miami (1980)
Faragher Brothers – That’s A Start (1977)
Percy Mays – Changes (1976)
Ed Motta – Smile (2013)
Phyllis Bailey – Focus (1978)
The S.S.O. Orchestra – Faded Lady (1976)
Future Flight – Foolish Things (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)
Greg Smaha – Sunshine (1979)
Stephen Bishop – Everybody Needs Love (1978)
Arian – Your Love Makes Me A Winner (1981)
State Cows – All Over (2019)
The Stepkids – The Lottery (2013)
Earth, Wind & Fire ‎– Reasons (1979)
Bix Phillip – The Potter Never Rests (1982)
Roly – Don't Ever Change (1978)

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