Memories -- Forgotten Songs
One of the things that made me feel old was hearing songs that I loved in High School and College being played on "Golden Oldie Stations". I hear alot of songs from my day on them and some of them are really great, but there are some songs that from my teens and military years that have been completely forgotten.
I would have never dreamed that the melancholy beauty of Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks would have been forgotten. The first time I really listened to it I was 16 years old and home from school with a flu. As I listened and realized that the singer in the song was dying and saying good-bye to everyone he loved, it truly occured to me, possibly for the first time in my life, that the day was coming that I was going to die. I was depressed for the rest of the day thanks to that song, yet I still loved it. I have it on 1970s' compilation of hits CD and still listen to it from time to time.
If you want to complain about the sexual content of today's music then you are overlooking a lot of songs from 25 to 35 years ago. Some of them were raunchy and yet others were kind of pleasant to listen to; two married couples who called themselves The Starland Vocal Band had a couple of minor hits and one biggie -- Afternoon Delight -- a song of love in the afternoon. While it was overtly sexual, it was also two married couples singing of their love and it was also quite a pleasant melody and decent arrangement. I have it on a couple of compilation CDs and still enjoy hearing it.
I was one of probably millions of people who first thought that Beach Baby by the apparent one-hit-wonder First Class was a song by the Beach Boys as it is definitely in their style and something they could have done. It is one of my favorite songs ever. I love its energy and harmony. Again thanks to compilations I can still listen to it today.
Most of us are familiar with the "Archies" single Suger Sugar which is now part of our superculture but less known, but still fairly well known, is that the song was written and partly sung by a guy named Andy Kim, who was actually quite young when he sang it. A few years later he had a top 40 hit under his own name named Rock Me Gently. While not as well known as Sugar Sugar, I believe it is a far superior song to his better known hit. Again it is difficult to find this song under anything but compilations. (Sadly the link to this song does not have the music).
I guess I could go on and on and on. We all have songs we loved in the past that seem to be forgotten. Maybe other oldies stations carry some of these songs, but I never hear them on our local oldies stations.
I would have never dreamed that the melancholy beauty of Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks would have been forgotten. The first time I really listened to it I was 16 years old and home from school with a flu. As I listened and realized that the singer in the song was dying and saying good-bye to everyone he loved, it truly occured to me, possibly for the first time in my life, that the day was coming that I was going to die. I was depressed for the rest of the day thanks to that song, yet I still loved it. I have it on 1970s' compilation of hits CD and still listen to it from time to time.
If you want to complain about the sexual content of today's music then you are overlooking a lot of songs from 25 to 35 years ago. Some of them were raunchy and yet others were kind of pleasant to listen to; two married couples who called themselves The Starland Vocal Band had a couple of minor hits and one biggie -- Afternoon Delight -- a song of love in the afternoon. While it was overtly sexual, it was also two married couples singing of their love and it was also quite a pleasant melody and decent arrangement. I have it on a couple of compilation CDs and still enjoy hearing it.
I was one of probably millions of people who first thought that Beach Baby by the apparent one-hit-wonder First Class was a song by the Beach Boys as it is definitely in their style and something they could have done. It is one of my favorite songs ever. I love its energy and harmony. Again thanks to compilations I can still listen to it today.
Most of us are familiar with the "Archies" single Suger Sugar which is now part of our superculture but less known, but still fairly well known, is that the song was written and partly sung by a guy named Andy Kim, who was actually quite young when he sang it. A few years later he had a top 40 hit under his own name named Rock Me Gently. While not as well known as Sugar Sugar, I believe it is a far superior song to his better known hit. Again it is difficult to find this song under anything but compilations. (Sadly the link to this song does not have the music).
I guess I could go on and on and on. We all have songs we loved in the past that seem to be forgotten. Maybe other oldies stations carry some of these songs, but I never hear them on our local oldies stations.
posted by shoprat at 5:17 PM
11 Comments:
Coincidentally, I have a playlist going via MusicMatch at this moment that includes the Poppy Family (Terry Jacks' group) track "That's Where I Went Wrong", Susan Jacks doing the vocal, and about 40 other songs from my own "time", like old Stevie Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, Vanity Fare, Mercy, New Colony 6, Marmalade...
It's all actually very relaxing to listen to and brings back a lot of memories of a less stressful and infinitely more pleasant era.
I'll give you a daisy a day dear
I'll give you a daisy a day
I'll love you until the rivers run still
And the four winds we know blow away
That is one of my favorites by Jed Strunk.
If you real thought provoking listen to almost anything by Red Sovine
Seasons in the Sun? No offense, SR, but that song, as Jimmyb would say, is GAY!
Afternoon delight was not bad,I still like that one, and Rock me gently, was girl bubble gum. Never heard of the other one. I liked Skip's pick.
One hit wonders
How about:
Ballroom Blitz by Sweet
Convoy by CB McCall (Whaddaya say, Skip).
Rock On- David Essex
Kung Fu Fighting - ?
Smokin' in the Boys room-Brownsville station
Anything by Gladys Knight and the Pips or the Spinners.
Let us not forget the legendary Michigander, Rockin Robert (Bob) Seger. I'm going out to get his new CD tomorrow. 61 and still a badass!
Skip you mean this song
Now he walks down the street
in the evening
and he stops by the old candy store
and somehow I believe he's believing
he's holding her hand like before
For he feels all her love walking with him
and he smiles at the things she might say
and the old man walks up to the hilltop
and gives her a daisy a day!
I'll give you a daisy a day
I'll give you a daisy a day
I'll love you until the rivers run still
and the four winds we know blow away.
tim All music a matter of personal taste
Ballroom blitz? Sweet had several other hits including
Little Willie,
AC - DC (She has some woman besides me)
Convoy, (by CW McCall) had a sequel but I only heard it a few times
Yo ho ho and a thousand trucks
gonna take a bath with the Rubber Duck
Yo ho ho and lots a luck
Around the world with the Rubber Duck
(They got away from the bears by following the long haired friends of Jesus into the ocean and their faith kept them afloat as they went from country to country).
Shop You have 10 years on me brother and I'm pushing 40, but I will say that I am partial to tunes from that era. I'd be closer to list Tim put up. I still enjoy listening to some of those.
Semper Fi!
I love those old songs too SR. I remember listening to them while roller skating.
I loooooove old songs but my version of old songs is probably not the same as yours ;-)!!
Out here on the left coast we have a couple of real good radio stations that play hits from the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Krth (K-Earth) 101, is brobaly the best oldies station around.
BTW, Seasons in the Sun was orginally written and composed by Jacques Brel in 1961. it didn't do well until terry re-did it in 1973. He did rewrite the last verse however.
CW McCall ahs a looooong list of hits believe it or not....then the CB craze died. but now that I look back they were pretty pathetic.
and remember "them cab-over Petes don't float, but we're going truckin' on the autobahn!!"
Too funny because I've been thinking of writing about my favorite golden oldies.
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