Brand New Brand New Key

The other day I found myself listening to "Brand New Key" by Melanie in the car. While Melanie's quirky, novelty number one hit has managed to endure in the pop consciousness for the four decades since its release, from "Boogie Nights" (oh Heather Graham how you still roller skate around in my dreams) to that recent HP commercial with the baby on the highway, it became quite apparent while listening that the overall roller skate/roller skate key analogy behind the song had become completely outdated. The overall theme of a girl trying to attract the attention of a boy is timeless and the cheeky sexual innuendo of finding a key for her lock, was controversial and subtly progressive then and is just as relevant now, but I figured there had to be a better way to convey that without using roller skates as the example.

Even for a roller skating reference it is woefully ancient. Assuming there are kids out there still riding roller skates (and judging by the diminishing number of skating rinks across the country I assume there aren't too many who still do), they would probably be using roller blades (or maybe those stupid Heelys that were kind of popular a few years ago) over the old quad variety. Even if there are some anachronistic kids out there somewhere with the old quad skates, they would have to be using quad skates that are so outmoded that they still required skate keys. To this day I have never seen such skates and am still not quite sure why roller skates would even require keys when you can just put them on like regular shoes or even ice skates. The entire sum of my knowledge of roller skates with keys consists of, aside from "Brand New Key", an old episode of "Muppet Babies" where Fozzie loses his skate key and the whole gang goes on an adventure to find it.

Given how antiquated the analogy was, I tried to think of a more updated comparison. In being faithful to the original song it had to relate to a seemingly innocent children's toy or activity but could possibly also be construed to be about sex. This actually proved to be far more difficult then I had originally imagined. In fact, I couldn't even think of a single good relevant replacement. I've got a brand new...pack of Silly Bandz? Bakugan figurine? Nintendo 3DS game? Maybe something about getting new smartphones so they can sext each other? There really weren't any better options (although if they did a reboot of the song in the 90's I think it should be about POGs and slammers).

So I guess the lesson here may be not to mess with a classic. Any better suggestions out there?

Gold Digging, part 6: Mellow Hits

Your eyes are not fooling you, dear reader, after over a year and a half long delay from my last A.M Gold digging exploration, I have finally come around to concluding what really should have been a week-long six-part series about some 70s compilation CDs I randomly bought. For those of you who are unfamiliar or have just plain forgotten, you can brush up at the archives. For those of you who've been eagerly waiting all these months upon months with bated breath and hopeful eyes, I am horrified beyond words. This disc is the third and final disc from the three CD box set entitled "Radio Hits '69-'74". I've noted in the review of the last CD that, even with the seemingly straightforward premise of creating a compilation of songs that were popular on the radio between the years 1969 and 1974, Time Life managed to include two songs released post-1974; you will notice as you make your way through this breakdown that it wasn't an isolated incident. As for the title of the disc itself, it's something called "Mellow Hits"; I'm not sure how much of a nuanced difference it is from the previous CD "Easy Hits".

It's the final countdown!:

1. "Sky High" - Jigsaw (1975) #3

There are at least two things that are completely wrong about the inclusion of "Sky High" on this CD. The obvious first error is that it doesn't qualify has a 1969-1974 radio hit since it was released in 1975. The second more subtle yet more egregious mistake is that there is no way any listener is going to qualify the song as anything close to "mellow". In a tight, just under three minute, package, the song soars higher and higher with a funky immediacy; euphorically rising with each successive chorus, but never quite leveling off. I also always thought it kind of sounded like a weird pop rock Bond theme and, as it turned out, the song itself was originally written for a 70s Hong Kong action thriller (with George Lazenby no less!). Given all that, it's hardly the kind of tune one would sit back in his basement beanbag and mellow out to. Terrible categorization aside, the song itself is an all time A.M. Gold classic; one of those amazing, totally unique hit songs that turns their artists into one hit wonders since they can never replicate the sound.

2. "Hitchin' a Ride" - Vanity Fare (1969) #5

"Hitchin' a Ride" will always remind me of the nostalgic 1995 coming of age movie "Now and Then", a movie I watched an inordinate amount of times in middle school, which then, oddly enough, makes me nostalgic for the 90s. It's quite weird considering how it's one of those classic songs that lazy movie and television producers often use to immediately signal that it's the 60s. Additionally there already is another "Hitchin' a Ride" from the 90s that really should make me nostalgic for the decade. Wild. As for the song itself, it's another great pop tune: fun, light, with an excellent use of flute (really more pop artists today should utilize the flute; reclaim it back from all those pretentious prog rockers who sucked all the fun out of it over the decades). It's almost impossible not to feel a little happier after listening to the song.

3. "The Night Chicago Died" - Paper Lace (1974) #1

I briefly mentioned "The Night Chicago Died" when I wrote about Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods' cover of the Paper Lace song "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" on disc 3; basically about the endearingly egregious inaccuracy of the song with regards to Chicago gangland history. In addition to the historical inaccuracy, the story is overblown and borderline nonsensical and the upbeat tone is in absurd contrast with the supposedly dire subject matter of the song, however all these elements work to make this a standout ridiculous story song in what was the greatest decade for ridiculous story songs ever. To change all these unique parts of the song would be to ruin it. Who would want to listen to a slow, somber dirge that accurately recounts how Al Capone was quietly arrested for income tax evasion? When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

4. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" - Jim Croce (1973) #1

One cannot talk about "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" without also mentioning Jim Croce's earlier 1972 hit "You Don't Mess Around With Jim". Depending on who you're asking, "Leroy Brown" is at best a spiritual sequel to "Jim" and at worst a lazy, inferior, clone. Lyrically they're essentially the same song: a story about the titular, supposed, badass, who eventually gets his ass kicked by some new stranger that's an even bigger badass (I guess the lesson is that there is always someone better than you so don't get to high on yourself?). Earlier this year, friend of the blog Andrew U. wrote the most definitive statement thus far on which was the superior song and I was cited as an authority. While "Jim" narrowly edged "Leroy Brown" as the better song, I still stand by my roughly paraphrased quote:

"Uh, I guess Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. It's a little bit jumpier...it's got the piano...You Don't Mess Around with Jim, eh, it's a little more stripped down...plus, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown was my first love. They're basically the exact same song, though."

5. "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando (1973) #1

Here's a weird observation. For the group's first #1 hit "Knock Three Times" (included in Gold Digging, part 2) in 1971, they were credited as "Tony Orlando and Dawn". By the time of their second #1 hit, the above titled song, they were now credited as "Dawn featuring Tony Orlando" and by their last #1 "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)" the group was back to "Tony Orlando and Dawn". I wonder what happened during that middle period where Tony got relegated to mere feature player status? Maybe it was like "Careless Whisper" where it was clearly a George Michael solo song but was credited as "Wham! featuring George Michael". Alas, I didn't catch the Tony Orlando "Behind the Music" back in the day. Like I mentioned when I wrote about, Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together", both that song and this have that unique quality of overt cheesiness and never sounding modern or cool even in their own periods. Oddly though, it's that unique anachronistic sound that also sort of makes the song kinda timeless. It's so unambiguously hokey and lacking in irony that it almost comes around to cool. And as long as there are veterans returning home from war or prisoners getting paroled, this gem will continue to live on.

6. "Without You" - Nilsson (1972) #1

Few songs reach the soaring peaks of gravitas and bombast as Nilsson's cover of Badfinger's "Without You". Given what a totally eccentric, weirdo, pop genius Harry Nilsson was, I wonder if he was being totally sincere in his over the top heartbreak or just cleverly pulling the listener's chain. Either way it is one of my all time favorite songs to karaoke, albeit a little hard on the vocal chords if sung towards the end of the night. My one minor complaint is that for such an epic sounding operatic number it really should be longer; by the time the song clocks out at just about quarter after three minutes I'm left wondering: it's over already? Song with this sort of Jim Steinman-esque grandness to them really should have a baseline of at least four minutes and work from there. Then again Nilsson was never much for fixed conventions.

7. "Light My Fire" - Jose Feliciano (1968) #3

Way back when I first found out that Jose Feliciano, writer and performer of my all-time favorite Christmas song "Feliz Navidad", had other hit songs and a prolific multi-decade long career, it was a bit of a surprise. I had always assumed that nearly all holiday song writers existed in a genre vacuum and, for the most part, were strictly one hit wonders (seriously how many other Elmo & Patsy hits can you name?). Felicicano's "Light My Fire" is a solid enough cover. It's definitely not one of those exemplary covers that overwhelm the popularity of the original, but it's also not just a lazy retread either, it contributes something as well. It's interesting to note that Felicano's version went to #3 just a year after the Doors went to #1. I think more up and coming artists should learn from this; forget covering old tunes, take the most current popular chart topper and immediately capitalize on its current fame by knocking out a cover of it as soon as possible. It still has to be sort of good but at least you have the benefit of the current wave of popularity.

8. "Shannon" - Henry Gross (1976) #6

The urban legend about the Barry Manilow song "Mandy" was that its overly romantic, heartfelt lyrics were actually about the songwriter's dog rather than a woman named Mandy, the story turned out to be was false. "Shannon" by Henry Gross, however, is apparently totally about a dog. In fact, it's not just any dog, it's about the death of Beach Boy Carl Wilson's Irish Setter. It's hard to tell through Gross's falsetto delivery of the chorus ("Shannon is gone I hope she's drifting out to sea") but when actually reading the lyrics, it does seem more obvious that the titular "Shannon" was a dog. It also makes me question the methods the family possibly used to dispose of poor Shannon; did they just dump her in the ocean? Dog or woman, the song still has a wonderful baroque melancholy to it that pulls off that difficult trick of being sad yet still pop. Also, Time Life, don't think I forget that this song is 2 years past 1974, pretty weak.

9. "One Less Bell to Answer" - The 5th Dimension (1970) #2

I have always considered this song to be the sad sequel to The 5th Dimension's "Wedding Bell Blues" (reviewed all the way back in Gold Digging, part 1). It would appear that commitment-phobic "Bill" from "Wedding Bell Blues" has rejected the singer's ultimatum to marry her and has left their home leaving the singer in the titular situation of having "one less bell to answer". It's actually quite depressing to think that the endless love and exuberance of the former song has given way to the daily crying and remorse of the latter, but then again I've always been a consummate pessimist. Despite the different tones, both songs are excellent and lead vocalist Marilyn McCoo really knocks it out of the park here.

10. "Everybody Plays the Fool" - The Main Ingredient (1972) #3

If you can't feel the slightest bit happier and positive about the state of your life after hearing this song, you must really be in some seriously dire straits. The whole song exudes an infectious air of "we've all been there before, let's dust ourselves off an look forward to tomorrow" positivity from the comforting lyrics to the perky flutes (once again, behold the power of the flute!). It goes along the same poppy "keep your head up" route as Billy Joel's "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" but while Joel's song was almost explicitly anti-suicide, this has a more implied approach. I always wondered what kinds of songs prevented more suicides: deliriously upbeat songs that expounded the pros of life or relentlessly dark and emotionally raw songs that sought to provide catharsis. I think it could go either way.

11. "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)" - Zager and Evans (1969) #1

I could probably write a lengthy blog post alone on "In the Year 2525". In an era of weird and unusual hit songs, I don't think it gets any weirder or more unusual than this insane and poorly reasoned vision of the future. The whole song reads like almost intentionally awful amateur science fiction, journeying through 1010 year intervals (except for a brief stop in 7510 and 8510; I guess they didn't have enough lines that rhymed with five) of increasingly bizarre and awkwardly assembled rhyming couplets about man's increasing dehumanization; all through the contrastingly un-sci-fi medium of folk guitar and horns. Whatever attempts at deep questions of the future of mankind and its place in the universe are lost in the sublime ridiculousness. The whole thing really isn't for everybody, in fact, I know people who consider this song, hands down, their least favorite song of all time. For me, the mess sort of works. I like its earnest, albeit kinda awful, attempt at something different. It's an original.

12. "Oh Happy Day" - The Edwin Hawkins Singers (1969) #4

I initially thought this was weird choice for a closer, going with a hit R&B Gospel arrangement of an 18th century hymn; but in retrospect religious pop music was unusually popular in the A.M. Gold era. Although these 6 CDs didn't have too many on them, I've learned from my overall A.M. Gold listening experiences that there were a shocking number of nonsecular chart hits (one of these days I may do an entire post about "The Lord's Prayer" by Sister Janet Mead; a funky rock version of the Lord's Prayer that went to #4 in 1974 and which I couldn't get out of my head for days). Overall, I don't have much of a strong opinion about "Oh Happy Day", it's uplifting and well sung but really most gospel songs start to blend together for me. I do always find the sound of a gospel choir to be pleasing though (Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" would be nothing without the New Jersey Mass Choir).

Well, with that our long national nightmare is over. As for the CD overall, despite that fact I found almost none of the songs to fit into Time Life's ill defined concept of "Mellow Hits", song quality wise it was probably the strongest of all six CDs I've listened to (the best for last; it oddly worked out that way). On the flip side of that however is the fact that there weren't too many real discoveries here compared to the other CDs. Most of the songs were songs that I knew and enjoyed prior, but I can't really fault them for that. So in conclusion, I just want to say that I'm as surprised as you are that I actually managed to finish out the string; a year and a half long hiatus is liable to make anyone pessimistic. Interestingly in the time between the last CD and this one, I actually procured the entirety Rhino Record's Super Hits of the 70s: Have a Nice Day series; that's 25 discs worth of 70s AM classics. Maybe I'll start on that if I need something to do for the next 50 years.

Gold Digging, part 5: Easy Hits

It's time to break free of my recent posting doldrums with the fifth and penultimate edition of my exciting journey through the shimmering gilded excesses of late 60s-early 70s mainstream A.M. music radio. We're making our way into the second disk of the second three CD set "Radio Hits 69-74", taking in the shimmering bounties of the height of the A.M. Gold era (I guess you might also call it "The Golden Age"?). The uselessly ambiguous title to today's CD is "Easy Hits", which would seem to indicate that the track listing would veer more towards the lighter sounds of 70's soft rock (or maybe promiscuous music that always puts out?). However, given Time-Life's track record thus far of total inconsistency between the content and titles of their CD collections, I wouldn't be surprised if they threw in a show tune or a some wacky novelty hit.

On to the next golden dozen!:

1. "Venus" - Shocking Blue (1969) #1

It's just one of those pop music quirks of fate. Had I heard the Shocking blue version of "Venus" before the Bananarama version growing up, I'd probably consider it superior. From a strict genre to genre comparison, I would usually prefer a 60s organ heavy, psedo-psychedelic rock single over a polished 80s synth laden, girl group dance track. I still enjoy both songs, however Bananarama has already staked its squatters rights claim in my mind so basically every time I hear the Shocking Blue version I just think of it as a lo-fi cover of the later "original" song. Unfortunately, in addition, I also think about women's razors.

2. "She's a Lady" - Tom Jones (1971) #2

I never really considered the booming, sweaty, hairy-chested, crooning of Mr. Tom Jones as really A.M. Gold. It's definitely not what I'd call "easy hits". This is "the Voice" we're talking about here, every hit he throws out is a larger than life, ridiculously over the top, sexy, power bomb; nothings easy about it except his persona. With that said "She's a Lady" is definitely top form Jones, as soon as that funky guitar kicks in you know the song's getting down to business. The song is also fascinating in that it somehow manages to be both overtly male chauvinistic while also kind being of complementary and respectful towards females. I once had a debate at a karaoke function with a girl who thought the song was in praise of a strong independent lady while I though it was more about a more submissive lady who knew her place. That's just the kind of complicated stuff, Jones throws on you.

3. "Stuck in the Middle With You" - Stealers Wheel (1972) #6

Apparently Steven Wright was wrong when he mentioned the chart history of "Stuck in the Middle With You" in the famous scene from "Reservoir Dogs". According to wikipedia, the song was actually released in 1972 and topped out at #6 in 1973 not #5 in April of 1974 as he mention. However, for me it's still a "Dylanesque, pop, bubble-gum favorite". A lot of things come together to make this an A.M. Gold classic: the funky bass foundation, the country fried slide guitar, Gerry Rafferty's laid back delivery, the cowbell; but most of all it's the sweet background clapping. For me a quality clapping section is one of those subtle touches that elevates good songs into the rarefied air of great songs. This is a great song.

4. "Alone Again (Naturally)" - Gilbert O'Sullivan (1972) #1

The signature tune from Mr. Fun himself, Gilbert O'Sullivan. This song is always in the conversation for the most depressing pop hit of all time. In a little over three and a half minutes the singer: contemplates suicide, recalls being abandoned by his bride on his wedding day, sadly recalls his past joy, feels abandoned by God, considers how the world is full of heartbreak, recalls crying at his father's death, remembers his mother's deep despair over her husband's sudden death, and then crying at her eventual death, all the whole realizing he is truly alone in the world. It's overwrought and depressing but it's still so undeniably catchy. The song's unlikely success in spite of it's terminal uncoolness is sort of a microcosm of the entirety of Gilbert O'Sullivan's shockingly successful career.

5. "Moonlight Feels Right" - Starbuck (1976) #3

I just want to mention that this song was relased in 1976, which should technically not be included in a CD set entitled "Radio Hits '69-'74"! Apparently Time-Life has hit a new level of negligence concerning their title and track selections. Errors aside, I have to admit I've become somewhat obsessed with this song recently; definitely one of the most interesting A.M. Gold songs I've heard thus far. It has all the dated conventions of a vintage hit, but there are elements of the song: the subtle smarmy vocals (allmusic describes it as "the missing link between Barry Manilow and Pavement's Stephen Malkmus"), lush wall to wall electronic synth, random marimba, that could make for a passable indie disco/indie dance/synthpop single. It's not out of the realm of plausibility to imagine MGMT or Of Montreal doing an updated cover.

6. "The Candy Man" - Sammy Davis Jr. (1972) #1

One of the more idiosyncratic number one hits of the 70s (a decade known for idiosyncratic hits). I can't imagine how this record even came to be. Who at the record label thought that matching an outdated old crooner with a song from a children's musical would somehow lead to a number one hit? I'm sure true Sammy Davis Jr. purists find this song and the fact that it was the biggest hit of his long and distinguished career to be a terrible embarrassment along the lines of Chuck Berry's only #1 hit being "My Ding-A-Ling". I'm still a fan though. The guy's a consummate entertainer and I can listen him read a phone book with that unique voice. Totally part of my top tier of Sammy Davis Jr songs along with the theme from "Baretta".

7. "Love Will Keep Us Together" - Captain & Tennille (1975) #1

While the original Neil Sedaka version of this song came out in 1974, this more famous cover came out in 1975 thus once again violating the '69-'74 hit parameters. Sloppy job, Time-Life, sloppy job. Aside from the goofiness of the group itself, the song somehow manages a quirky otherworldly sound that avoids any edge or credibility or general coolness. I feel like it sounded cheesy and outdated from the first week it came out. The only other comparable songs I can think of that manage to stay in that bubble of datedness from the start are all the old Tony Orlando and Dawn hits. Of course for me I find none of these qualities to be a negative. In all its unabashed hokiness and seemingly shallow sentimentality, for me it still somehow manages to be one of the clearest, unconditional declarations of love in pop music history.

8. "Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat" - Tony DeFranco and the DeFranco Family (1973) #3

It's another song from "Reservoir Dogs" referenced by K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70's. This is one of my all time favorite A.M. Gold tunes. For one shinning moment in time in 1973, little Tony DeFranco and the DeFranco Family broke free of their ultimate lot as a third rate poor man's Canadian Osmonds and created a record on par with anything the Jackson 5 ever did. I just love the slow, suspenseful build up, the harmonizing vocals from the older less talented siblings, and then the obscenely catchy chorus. It also has the most important element of all great family pop groups: a cute little lead singer singing passionately about a love that he probably has no idea about.

9. "The Morning After" - Maureen McGovern (1973) #1

The CD abruptly changes gears by bringing the light, poppy love momentum we've built up to a screeching halt with this slow love ballad. If the track arrangers were paying any attention to flow and continuity this really should have been placed around the end. It's obviously a monster of a closer, a powerful block of overblown, soaring vocals befitting the over the top disaster movie that it was written for. While the music is sufficiently bombastic for my tastes, I think Maureen McGovern's holding back on the gravitas. In the hands of someone with the proper chops, like a Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey, it can really do some damage. Also would someone out there in the wilds of the Internet please do me a favor and ironically apply it to the totally pessimistic ending of the anti-nuke made or TV movie "The Day After"?

10. "Beach Baby" - The First Class (1974) #4

The genre of bubblegum pop, which I consider to be essentially a kissing cousin of the more traditional A.M. Gold pop, died out roughly in the early 1970s. As with the decline of all genres, it was blamed on the rise other other rival derivative genres, the loss of its target audience, the changing of styles and sensibilities, etc. I think the real reason it died is because after "Beach Baby" was released the entire genre as whole realized that it had obtained perfection and that it would be a hopeless exercise in futility to carry on (I'm pretty sure the entire original 1910 Fruitgum Company committed ritual suicide). "Beach Baby" is a pure masterpiece. Its production reaches a level of dense musical complexity with soaring horns, layered vocals unheard of for a bubblegum tune. In a genre known for 2 minute singles, it ran a grand 5 minutes (you could probably fit like 3-4 Archies songs in there) with an epic sprawling narrative that nostalgically looked back on and defined the genre as a whole. I can only imagine that when Tony Burrows wrapped up recording of "Beach Baby" and saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more world to conquer.

11. "In the Summertime" - Mungo Jerry (1970) #3

For me the season of summer doesn't start until I randomly hear "In the Summertime" on TV or the radio (and believe me broadcasters always find a reason to play the song). Now here's a song that sounds like no other, a song that sounds more apt being played on a player piano in a wild west saloon then on 70s A.M. radio. It's unique, jug blowing, old timey sound combined with its descriptive laid back lyrics of summer laziness and mischief (criminal vehicular homicide if you follow the "have a drink have a drive" advice) creates a timeless song that is quintessentially summer. It's almost like a popular Christmas carol in its connection to a season and its immediate ability to evoke all that is great with it. A hundred years from now, while humanity desperate scours the expanded seas to find mythical dry land, they'll still be listening to the breezy sounds of Mungo Jerry on their massive makeshift barges.

12. "Love (Can Make You Happy)" - Mercy (1969) #2

This is sort of a disappointing ending to what turned out to be a really solid collection thus far. The whole thing sort of comes off as obvious and hollow. If you're going to take on the Herculean task of trying to sum up the infinite complexities of human love into a three minute pop song, you either have to scale it back and focus on one element (like a kiss or their eyes or lust) or just go for broke and try to cheese it up as much you can (see the selected works of Barry Manilow). Mercy sort of takes an unsatisfying middle ground with a "love is nice" approach. It's a pleasant sounding tune, but it's not going to get any emotions out of this listener with the exception of apathy.

As for the CD as a whole, I really enjoyed most of it. It's probably the most consistent CD I've listened to thus far. The only real knock against it was that it turned out to be a bit too conservative for me. While it contained some of my all time personal favorite tracks, the other side of that was that I was familiar with most of the songs prior. So in terms of finding new nuggets, the pickings were a little slim. Of course that's no fault of Time-Life. What is the fault of Time-Life is categorizing a CD as "Easy Hits" when a majority of the songs aren't really easy hits. Five down, only one more to go. What treasures still await on the final disk?

Gold Digging, part 4: Pop Treasures

I have to admit things have been a bit slow around here lately (lousy obligations of the real world). So I figure what better way to break up this recent posting drought then to start the second half of my ongoing A.M. Gold mining expedition. We're cracking open a whole new three CD set, "Radio Hits '69-'74". It's a curiously specific title considering this collection's usually ambiguous and ill defined categorizing. However, fans of unspecific musical compiling, will still be satisfactorily left in the dark by the first CD from the set "Pop Treasures". I'm going to assume it's some sort combination of types of songs found in the previously reviewed "Pop Classics" CD and "Top 40 Treasures" CD, all apparently within the boundaries of 1969 to 1974.

Well, time to dig in!:

1. "Little Willy" - Sweet (1973) #3

Sweet is definitely up there in my personal list of historic bands I would have liked to have been a part of. Mixing the funnest parts of glam rock and bubble gum pop with a dash of early heavy metal, these guys always looked like they were having a good time racking up hits on both sides of the ocean and never taking themselves too seriously. "Little Willy" is a classic A.M. Gold rocker with all the proper ingredients: big hooks, crunchy riffs, and a catchy sing-a-long chorus. Is it just me or is this whole song an extended metaphor for someone trying to keep down an erection ("Little Willy, Willy won't go home")? It seems pretty blatant to me.

2. "Come and Get Your Love" - Redbone (1974) #5

While I admire the fact that "Come and Get Your Love" by the rare Native American band Redbone is the biggest Native American related billboard hit aside from Paul Revere & the Raiders' classic 1971 chart topper (and Victor karaoke classic) "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)", I still am not a fan of the song. It's just an unamendable oil and water situation. I think it all goes back to the traumatizing childhood experience of listening to my sister play her Real McCoy album which included their awful Eurotrash dance cover day and night. Hearing that first before the original just turned me off to the song all together. Perhaps in another life the situation will be reversed and I'll be down with the bone.

3. "Precious and Few" - Climax (1972) #3

It's a decent song but found it overall to be a bit too soft for my tastes. The beginning of this song inexplicably reminds me of the beginning of "Cherish" by the Association. They also share a similar mellow theme of adoring the receiver of the lyrics. This similarity however works against "Precious and Few" since it always causes it to be unfairly compared with the superior "Cherish". Overall not a bad effort, but the Climax I prefer will still be with a K, Y, and two XXes.

4. "Don't Pull Your Love Out" - Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds (1971) #4

This was definitely a bona fide, straight up A.M. Gold discovery for me! I couldn't get it out my head for a week; pure 24 carat A.M. Gold from the slick production to the snappy rolling chorus! Kudos to the hi making law firm of Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds. My theory is that the best pop songs about heartbreak fit in two distinct categories: they can either be over-the-top, totally bombastic, epic tragedies (a la "The Worst That Could Happen") or, as with this case, perplexingly upbeat songs with tones completely opposite from their subject matter. The protagonist of the sing is begging for the woman not to leave him and crumble his entire world, yet it's delivered with a good time, easy vibe. Awesome!

5. "Last Song" - Edward Bear (1972) #3

Had the technology existed in 1972 for people to make personal mix compilations for each other, I suspect there would have been many a break up mixes with "Last Song" as the literal last song on the mix. There's a soft, weepy, sappy melancholy in it, but it actually keeps a open a sliver of hope by mentioning that they still love the person. It's another quality A.M. Gold track and an exemplary example of its genre. The only thing that could improve its standing would if the band Edward Bear actually had a real life bear member, had a pet bear, or at the very least had some sort of bear costume/image thing going like Teddybears.

6. "Sylvia's Mother" - Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show (1972) #5

I really can't decide how to read "Sylvia's Mother". There's no question that's it's an awful song. However, it straddles an incredibly tenuous line between just plain awful and so awful that it actually becomes interesting; and I can't determine which side of the line it falls under. While nowhere near great, it does fit that deliciously tragic and overblown part of my great pop heartbreak song dichotomy; the stakes are high enough and the whole song is sung in this outrageous, irritating whine. However even at its most bombastic moments you have that ridiculous interjection by the telephone operator asking for more money for the call that makes me wonder if this whole song is just some bad joke or parody. Given the fact that it was written by quirky, poet, writer, and general Renaissance man Shel Silverstein, I have my reservations.

7. "Sweet Mary" - Wadsworth Mansion (1971) #7

This is just a fun, breezy, slice of pop gold. I can just imagine what life must have been like, driving around early 70's America in your giant, domestic automobile with the top down, the turbulence of Vietnam and the 60s rolling to an end and the disillusionment of the Watergate scandal a distant few years away. This song has a total Three Dog Night quality to it with the harmonies and the slight gospel inspired set up. It is almost as though Wadsworth Mansion broke into their recording studio and grabbed the first hit they could find. It is definately a smart move on the part of the band to emulate the sounds of the greatest A.M. Gold band of all time at the height of their powers. Unfortunately, while Three Dog Night managed to squeeze out a dozen or so gold albums and even more top 40 hits, Wadsworth Mansion faded away into the great A.M. Gold either,

8. "Garden Party" - Ricky Nelson (1972) #6

Ricky Nelson's final big hit coincided with Chuck Berry's #1 for "My Ding-a-Ling" as songs by previously forgotten 50's artists that suddenly became top ten hits in 1972. I like the smooth, country flavored, story song quality of "Garden Party". It sounds like a shorter version of "American Pie" in that it seems to have the same kind of dense metaphors and personal references. Interestingly enough, the titular garden party refers to a bad experience at a concert he gave at Madison Square Garden; it really adds a lot of context to the song. Despite all the introspective subject matter I still immaturely construe the line in the chorus, "you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself" as dirty.

9. "Signs" - Five Man Electrical Band (1971) #3

Now "Signs" is a textbook example of a song being so thoroughly in the awful territory that it actually becomes a good song. The ridiculous self righteousness oozing out of every pore of this song, despite the best intentions of its creators, can never be taken seriously. Taken without its important "message" and in this non-serious context, the song become quite fun. It definitely makes for a entertaining sing-a-long with everyone trying to sound more righteously indignant than the other. I also think that, despite the date of its release, this song still has a more 60s (albeit fake and hollow 60s) protest feel to it, so I wouldn't personally categorize it in the A.M. Gold genre.

10. "Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?" - Hurricane Smith (1972) #3

This is totally one of those "only in the 70s" kind of hits. You got this lifelong British sound engineer who in his late 40s decides to start recording his own music under the pseudonym, Hurricane Smith, and suddenly he's got a transatlantic hit with a song that sounds like a 30's standard. Did I also mention his voice sounds like a Muppet and he looks like a slightly less unattractive Jim Croce? It's an amazing triumph. At first I was totally turned off by this odd little tune but against all odds, much like its original unlikely climb up the charts, it totally won me over, little by little, listening after listening. It also looks like two tons of fun to do on the karaoke machine.

11. "Everything is Beautiful" - Ray Stevens (1970) #1

It's interesting to note that this is actually the first number one single on the album thus far. Compared to the three other #1 loaded compilations I've reviewed this is quite a change indeed. That being said, this song straight up sucks. Ray Stevens strays away from his quirky, novelty bread and butter and makes a lame hamfisted "message" song and is somehow rewarded with one of the biggest hits of his career. While any song with a child chorus is almost always a deal breaker for me, the worst part of the song for me is the subtle condescending feeling I get from the lyrics. I know it's all about tolerance and seeing the beauty of all things, but the "everything is beautiful in its own way" just comes off a bit smug in my book. It sounds like "yeah X is beautiful but by their own inferior standards rather than in my own eyes". I don't know, I'm probably reading way too much into it. You definately wouldn't get this sort of ambiguity with "The Streak"

12. "Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)" - Steam (1969) #1

The selection of this apt closer seems to indicate that perhaps there might have been some attention paid to the arrangement of these tracks this album! We can only dream! As for the song itself, it's good but at one point I might have liked it more. It's overuse as a stadium crowd pleaser and official tauting anthem of departing individuals has sort of taken a lot of the sheen of the song. It's not longer a song, it's a Jock Jam, whose ubiquity puts it into a whole different category of music and standards by which it should be judged. As for the above album cover? Just about the gayest thing this side of Orleans.

I must say "Pop Treasures" was quite a departure from what I've been used to from the previous A.M. Gold set. It was definitely a more varied and deeper catalog of hits, with less chart toppers and more classic hidden gems. Perhaps they should have gone with "Pop Gems". The track listing was generally strong and the small handful of disappointments were made up by the new quality finds. I'm looking forward to all the other potential hits from 1969 to 1974, the "Golden Age" of A.M. Gold.

Gold Digging, part 3: Top 40 Treasures

We officially enter the halfway mark as we wrap up the third and final disc of my first A.M. Gold box set. We've heard both "radio gems" and "pop classics", but Time-Life now enters unprecedented levels of non-specificity with "Top 40 Treasures"; thus opening the door to essentially every possible song that was a hit in the 60s and 70s. At least we can gleam from the ambiguous title that there won't be any non-top 40 hits (although that's not much of a shocker given that they have yet to include any songs that charted outside of the top ten).

All that glitters is gold!:

1. "I Can Help" - Billy Swan (1974) #1

This was one of those Country/Pop crossover hits that were surprisingly frequent in the 70s, and which made up a significant chunk of the A.M. Gold genre. It's a happy little A.M. pop nugget, nothing remarkably good or bad about it. I'll leave it on if it comes on the radio, but I won't crank it up. Also, am I the only one who construes the "it would sure do me good to do you good" to be dirtier than it should be?

2. "Jackie Blue" - Ozark Mountain Daredevils (1975) #3

Now here's a true A.M. Gold classic! A strange, country flavored, funk-light, smooth jam with a classically cool delivery. It's a wholly unique single that can only really be classified as a product of the diverse A.M. Gold era. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, in addition to having one of the most awesome band names ever, has one of the most distinct sounds of any band from the the period. While their technical label may have been "Southern Rock", songs like "Jackie Blue" gave them a unique, almost prog-rock edge. One of the better descriptions, given by wikipedia, is a "countrified Steely Dan".

3. "Green-Eyed Lady" - Sugarloaf (1970) #3

Here's another pop rock pillar of the A.M. Gold canon. The CD actually had the 3 plus minute radio edit of the song. It really should be enjoyed in its original 7 minute plus version. Any song with prominent jazz organs should be a minimum six minutes long (will someone please direct me to the "Walking on the Sun" 12 inch mix?). The length really sets it apart from most of its A.M. Gold contemporaries but once again that unique sound can only be categorized as pure gold.

4. "Sooner or Later" - The Grass Roots (1970) #9

I consider "Sooner or Later" to be one of the best, straight forward pop love songs of all time. There are no subtle innuendos or elaborate metaphors to muddy up the message. The whole effort is simplicity itself, with about 75% of the tune being the chorus hammering home the hypnotic mantra of capitulating to the inevitable power of love. I'm surprised this song never became a staple of generic romantic comedy soundtracks or trailers along the lines of Natalie Cole's "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)". It really sums up the entire premise of all romantic comedies that despite all efforts to resist, everyone falls in love in the end. It's a perfect capper of a song to play while they roll the end credits.

5. "Black and White" - Three Dog Night (1972) #1

You definitely can't have an A.M. Gold compilation without some Three Dog Night. I consider them to be the most successful pure A.M. Gold band of all time. Looking over their discography, I am surprised at how varied and successful they really were. "Black and White", their preachy public appeal for racial tolerance is just as relevant today as it was in 1972. Regarding the context of the song, I always wondered if they had the backup cred of actually being an integrated band. Any footage I've seen of them seem to show about a dozen people in the background and it's not far fetched to assume at least one of these guys was black thus fulfilling the unifying dreams of the song.

6. "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" - B.J. Thomas (1975) #1

It's another mid-70's crossover country pop number one. I must admit, not really a fan of the song. The whole thing just sounds so unmemorably generic that I wonder how it ever managed to become such a big crossover single. I also hate the unnecessarily long winded title with the confusing parentheses. My favorite B.J. Thomas song will forever always his duet with Jennifer Warnes for the theme to "Growing Pains".

7. "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" - Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods (1974) #1

It's really interesting that, while this version and the Paper Lace version are not all that different, in America the Bo Donaldson version that went to number #1 while the Paper Lace single went nowhere and in the UK the the Paper Lace version went to #1 while the other faltered. Frankly I support the Bo Donaldson version out of outright patriotism. What right did a British band like Paper Lace have in recording pop songs co-opting events in American history? We've never had bands here writing about the Battle of Hastings or the signing of the Magna Carta. "The Night Chicago Died" was a wildly inaccurate (albeit endlessly entertaining) mess of a pop history song that made "The Battle of New Orleans" sound like a thoroughly researched historical lecture.

8. "The Entertainer" - Marvin Hamlisch (1974) #3

Nothing demonstrates the unparalleled variety of the A.M. Gold genre then the hit version of "The Entertainer" by "rock superstar" Marvin Hamlisch (although only the second person, along with Richard Rogers, to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, and a Pulizter). The 70s was that sort of insane time when an adaptation of a turn of the century ragtime instrumental used in a movie would rocket up the charts to number 3. It's definitely one of the more interesting and unexplainable chart successes of the decade. I wonder if we'll be saying the same thing thirty years down the line when we try to explain "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" to our children.

9. "You Don't Mess Around With Jim" - Jim Croce (1972) #8

I would categorize this more along the lines of the 70's singer/songwriter realm rather than straight ahead A.M. Gold catagory. It's a just a bit too stripped down and folksy to be up there with the more lavishly produced pop records. With that being said, this song will always be the distant second to the ruckus, toe tapping joy of "Bad Bad Leroy Brown". Did anyone else notice that thematically the two songs are totally identical? They're both about titular bad asses from the wrong side of the tracks that learn a lesson by getting brutally beaten up by unexpected upstarts they push too far. Sort of a weird theme to coincidentally repeat if you ask me.

10. "Drift Away" - Dobie Gray (1973) #5

I hate, hate, hate this song. It's definitely up there as one of my all time least favorite songs. While I hate the Dobie Gray version, I really hate the Uncle Kracker version (a cover that somehow manages to provide absolutely no new take on the original whatsoever and exists merely to bring the song back to prominence). It's boring, it's slow, I don't care for the singing and the offensively stupid chorus ("I wanna get lost in your rock n' roll"? Barf!). I would consider it a little bit more tolerable if the chorus actually was "feed me the Beach Boys, and free my soul" which I misinterpreted it to be growing up.

11. "Little Green Apples" - O.C. Smith (1968) #2

This is one of those songs that a whole bunch of artists have covered, and O.C. Smith's version is considered the definitive one, but I really like the Roger Miller version. The Smith version's got a nice, smooth soul quality to it, but Miller's sparse recording just aches with a surprising display genuine heartfelt emotion that I never thought he was capable of. Also, the whimsical, yet clever lyrics seems to much more like a Roger Miller penned song than any other. Sorry, O.C., you'll always be, alas, a distant second.

12. "Hair" - The Cowsills (1969) #2

It's not really a song I would consider A.M. Gold. It would be a better fit in the show tunes category or 60's rock. I do concede it to be, hands down, the all time greatest song about hair ever written. They really get into all the details (or perhaps "hairy details"?): types of hair, conditions of hair, styles of hair, etc. They certainly don't mess around. This ode to the coif must be the bane of every bald music fan though. Overall, a good song, but a really unexpected and random choice to close out the CD (but then again that is sort of Time-Life's policy).

On the whole "Top 40 Treasures" really lived up to its extremely broad title. This was by far the most unexpected collection of tracks yet. As I've noted, some of the tracks may not even be considered true A.M. Gold songs. With the horrible exception of "Drift Away", every other song was okay to classic. Now that we've got the first box in the bag, we'll be looking ahead to the mysterious treasures hidden within my other three CD A.M. Gold box. What digitally remastered joys and horrors lies ahead, only time (Life) will tell.

Gold Digging, part 2: Pop Classics

Our decadent swim through the guilder filled Money Bin that is my recently purchased A.M. Gold box sets continues with the indistinguishably titled "Pop Classics" CD. What important distinctions are there between the carefully chosen tracks of "Pop Classics" and the cautiously arranged songs from the previous CD, "Radio Gems"? Only the compilation experts at Time-Life Music know the true answer.

Get ready for another dozen, classic, shimmering golden hits:

1. "Magic" - Pilot (1975) #5

For anyone around my age, your first exposure this song was while watching "Happy Gilmore" (it was also the first time I heard "Tuesday's Gone" by Lynard Skynard). I think AT&T also used it in a bunch of commercials a la "All Around the World". It's really one of the great A.M. Gold standards; a lighthearted, bouncy three minutes of fun with a really distinctive sound. 70's pop rock at its finest. Had the band just created a diluted copy single of "Magic" (aka the Ace of Base maneuver) it would have been enough to gotten them that elusive second U.S. hit.

2. "Rock Me Gently" - Andy Kim (1974) #1

First off, you wouldn't believe the disappointment I felt when I learned that Andy Kim was not a fellow Korean. You just can't go around with a last name like Kim (original name Andrew Youakim) and not expect some confusion; it's like that "Seinfeld" episode where Jerry thought Donna Chang was a Chinese woman. With that being said, the Candian Neil Diamond doppelganger certainly crafted one quality hit with "Rock Me Gently". I've really gotten into this song as of late. I love the funky bass, the cheesy not-so-subtle innuendo, the reckless use of "baby"s, and the awesome build up by the end. It's all pure gold. Those not previously familiar with the song may also recognize it from last year's psychedelic Jeep commercial.

3. "Delta Dawn" - Helen Reddy (1973) #1

Conventional wisdom would indicate that I should hate most of Helen Reddy's work. As an unrepentant misogynist I should be turned off by her female empowerment messages. As a non-fan of "traditional" female vocalists I should be turned off to her overall sound. However, despite those personal impediments, I still inexplicably enjoy "Delta Dawn". Country-fried, pseudo-gospel ballads always get to me. Also, on a more subtle level, this song always reminds me of the totally underrated entrance music to former WWE Female wrestling champion, the late Bertha Faye.

4. "Knock Three Times" - Tony Orlando and Dawn (1971) #1

What collection of 70's pop would be complete without at least one Tony Orlando and Dawn song. Oddly enough the CD only credits Dawn as the artists. What's not to absolutely love about this song? The tale of hopeful romance, the enthusiastic crooning of Tony Orlando, the ingenious call and response (a device so clearly lacking in today's modern pop songs); it all adds up to an intoxicating combination. Even without looking at the other cds, I am fairly sure that this won't be the last Tony Orlando and Dawn song to make the collection.

5. "Rhinestone Cowboy" - Glenn Campbell (1975) #1

I remember seeing the Jon Lovitz spoof "High School High" (in theaters no less!) and watching the scene where the white and nerdy Lovitz offers the DJ at the school dance his record of "Rhinestone Cowboy" and all the black youth being awkwardly frozen by the Glen Campbell tune. For years after that, "Rhinestone Cowboy" became for me the sonic embodiment of out of touch, comically lame, white guy music. That may very well still be the case. However, it still doesn't change the fact that it's a solid tune. Glen Campbell's legendary vocals, the soaring crescendos, the fact that this is probably the only top 40 hit with the word "rhinestone" in the title, all contribute to its glistening gold qualities.

6. "Baby Come Back" - Player (1978) #1

The song is a bit too plodding for my taste and I find myself waiting too eagerly for the pay off chorus, but overall it's a decent single. I do however give much praise to the ingenious use of the song in a series of recent advertisements for Swiffer products. The ads (deemed the 70th best pop culture item of 2008 by Utz) really are the perfect example of how to make a ubiquitous, overplayed, campaign for a unremarkable product without annoying everyone. They're short, they show the product, and are clever without being obnoxiously snarky. I for one will now forever associate this song with sad looking brooms and mops.

7. "Hot Child in the City" - Nick Gilder (1978) #1

Seriously, how many people after hearing this song thought that the singer was a chick? I still have to remind myself occasionally that Nick Gilder is a man (a particularly effeminate looking man, but a man no less). In the vein of Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight", it's one of those songs with a pop sound that belies its darker subject matter (something about runaway children turning tricks I think). Like "Afternoon Delight", it's also a spectacular golden one hit wonder.

8. "Sad Eyes" - Robert John (1979) #1

The parade of number one hits continues! They should have just replaced the trace non-number one songs with a few more chart toppers and renamed the cd "Number One Hits". For a song called "Sad Eyes" I feel like it could have been sadder. There was a great opportunity for some real emotional power given the set up. Unfortunately I wasn't buying the sadness as much as I should have. This song sort of a more subdued, less enthusiastic, watered down version of "Lights" by Journey.

9. "Sentimental Lady" - Bob Welch (1978) #8

Bob Welch's musical ties with Fleetwood Mac (one of my least favorite bands of all time) and the carry over that sound into "Sentimental Lady" (which was originally recorded by the band) is the main reason, I find it to be a forgettable record. I haven't heard the rest of his work, but until I come across something better, he will maintain his firm position behind 1990 AL Cy Young Award winner Bob Welch in my "Famous Bob Welches" depth chart.

10. "Come Back When You Grow Up" - Bobby Vee and the Strangers (1967) #3

A classic tune from Bobby Vee's large collection of top 40 hits, but it seems a bit too old sounding in tone to be considered a true A.M. Gold single. Despite the date of its release, there's an earnest, innocent sound to it that seems more like a pre-Beatles pop tune, like something Bobby Vinton or a Ricky Nelson would have put out. I'm not saying its bad or anything, it just seems a bit out of place.

11. "Traces" - Classics IV (1969) #2

Here's a broken heart pop song with a sufficient amount of emotional gravitas. While an extra helping of gravitas would have done nothing but improve it, it still featured enough feeling to make it a keeper in my book. It was a smooth trip throughout and I especially dug the sexy sax coming in to drive the point home. A quality effort from the band with one of the worst names in all of rock (honestly, it comes off like "Leonard Part VI").

12. "Honey" - Bobby Goldsboro (1968) #1

The cd concludes with another number one hit and, boy, did they ever pick a number one to end with! "Honey" is one of those bombastic train wrecks of a song that somehow manages to simultaneously be both one of the worst pop songs ever made and a outrageous smashing success (think "MacArthur Park"). Of course, knowing my peculiar tastes, this song is right up my alley. The lyrics are ridiculously detailed, yet meaningless. The story is contrived and manipulative. The music is overwrought and pretentiously inflated. The singing is, in contrast, oddly cold and almost robotic in its lack of emotions. It all adds up to one of the biggest hits of 1968 and one of the most fascinating songs I've ever heard.

The final conclusion about "Pop Classics" is that it's essentially a tale of two sides. Roughly the first half of the cd is for me all killer Gold. By the time it rolls around to the last half it sort of dips into a forgettable, overly weepy prom night 1979 territory. I was however impressed by the high amount of number one singles. It's nice to know Time-Live Music likes to put in the big hits of the era. Combining the two contrasting halves of the album, I have to call it a push and say it was an average disc overall.

Gold Digging, part 1: Radio Gems

You can call me Yukon Cornelius because I love gold...A.M. Gold to be specific. Now whether "A.M. Gold" is the official nomenclature for the genre or it's just a made up title for the Time-Life series; all I know is it's one of my all time favorite genres of music. For those not really familiar with the term, the definition of A.M. Gold is pretty broad and ambiguous as it covers multiple decades and a wide variety of musical styles. The simplest way to describe it is mainstream, radio friendly, pop music from the sixties and seventies. However, despite this description you wouldn't really count the Beatles, or Motown, or hard rock, or most songs of the classic rock canon as A.M. Gold. While the framework for identifying an A.M. Gold song may be confusing, to paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart's famous definition of obscenity (you'd be surprised how many times I paraphrase it in everyday life): "I'll know it when I hear it."

A true A.M. Gold single has a unique feeling all its own. In the 60s and 70s, men were men and pop was pop. The recording industry was at the peak of its success and pop music was manufactured with the scale and efficiency of an assembly line. Straight pop artists knew their role and were unabashedly creating the most mainstream, conventional, melodic, satisfyingly accessible music ever made under four minutes. There seemed to be an understood dichotomy. One one hand, album based music was king and you had "artists" creating ten minute long epics, ambitious concept albums, and expanding the boundaries of popular music. The success of the record industry allowed for a level of unparalleled freedom and artistic autonomy that is impossible in today's desperate hit driven marketplace. On the other side you had A.M. Gold artist with their business like approach to crafting straight ahead hits, long before the term "sell out" entered the musical vernacular. They weren't interested in making a statement or in many cases even looking cool (in fact, I can't imagine many of these artists being thought of as cool even in their prime). They just were looking to make music that appealed to the most people. To listen to a A.M. Gold is to listen to pop in its purest form.

Having given my little rant about my love of A.M. Gold, imagine my wonderful surprise when I recently came across not one but two box sets of random Time-Life A.M. Gold compilations in the deep clearance bin at my local FYE! When the dust settled, I found myself with six cds worth of classic gold for around eight dollars.

After the gold rush...

I've been steadily making my way through the collection by listening to them in the optimum environment: from my portable cd player via cassette adapter in the car while driving. As I make it through each cd, I will give my individual commentary on the track listings. So as the first of my running six part series I present: AM Gold - Radio Gems*

*One thing you'll notice with future posts is that, as the case with all Time-Life CD compilations, the titles of the individual CDs are all completely generic and have no relevance in describing what type of songs are on the CD. The track list for each CD is totally random and any song could be mixed around any of the other five CDs.

1. "Brother Louie" - Stories (1973) #1

It took me my second listening to realize the song was all about interracial romance. Not really the best song to kick off the CD but then again there is little rhyme or reason assigned to the ordering. It was a okay song, but it didn't really do much for me, the singer had a poor man's Rod Stewart thing going. For a number one hit, I could not recall having heard this song before.

2. "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" - Looking Glass (1972) #1

Now here's a song, I'm all too familiar with; one of the finest examples of A.M.Gold. What's not to love? The smooth, polished, light rock sound; the harmonies; compelling narrative; all pure gold. This song is the standard by which all A.M. Gold rock tunes should be judged against. Looking Glass also fills out one of the unofficial criteria for being a classic 70s A.M. Gold band and that's being uniformly ugly.

3. "These Eyes" - The Guess Who (1969) #6

I think the Guess Who are a criminally underrated band. Most people associate them with their biggest hit, the fairly uncompelling, "American Woman"; but they have one of the most diverse group of hits of any band I know (and all while overcoming their Canadian handicap). I still find it hard to believe that the same band who did "American Woman" also did "These Eyes" and "Undun". "These Eyes" is another slice of smooth rock, best enjoyed while night driving. Also, I think it was a bizarre yet strangely inspired choice to be featured in "Superbad".

4. "Sara Smile" - Hall and Oates (1976) #4

While 95% of the material on a "Hits" compilation is made up of either one hit wonders or mostly forgotten former hit artists, the other 5% is made up of one randomly selected hit from the singles collection of a immensely successful artist with numerous hits to their name. In this case, the good people at Time-Life decided to include this early Hall and Oates among the others. No complaints here, it's definitely one of my top 5 Hall and Oates song. I've always preferred their pre-80s synthesizer, straight up blue eyed soul material.

5. "Afternoon Delight" - Starland Vocal Band (1976) #1

What else can I say about this definitive ode to boning in the daytime. It's filthy, it's lurid, it's wrong, it's diabolically catchy. Did people just not get what the song was about? I mean the metaphors were pretty weak. The song was so popular that they gave the Starland Vocal Band their own short lived variety show, which sort of puts "Afternoon Delight" in the category of 70s songs that become TV shows or movies (a category that is much larger than you'd think).

6. "One Toke Over the Line" - Brewer and Shipley (1971) #10

I found myself surprisingly enjoying this crunchy piece of folk rock. The gospel-like chorus really gets into your head. As my friend Andrew U. pointed out in conversation, a great percentage of pop songs from the early 70s era either fell into songs about God, songs about drugs, or both. I'm pretty sure this one's about both. Apparently the covering artists on the conservative "Lawrence Welk Show" though it was about God.

7. "Put Your Hand in the Hand" - Ocean (1971) #2

This is a song that definitely fits into the "songs about God" part of the early 70s rock dichotomy. Overall, the song is fairly tolerable. It just seems to sound like a watered down version "One Toke Over the Line". Nothing beats gospel inspired pop rock to give you a momentary sense of life affirmation though.

8. "Brand New Key" - Melanie (1971) #1

The 1971 hit parade continues. For me, "Brand New Key" will always remind me of Heather Graham's Rollergirl in "Boogie Nights", a defining moment of my teenage sexual development. As for the song itself, I find it to be infinitely cute and sexy but held back by the somewhat irritating voice of Melanie. I think there are some cute, twee voiced pop sirens that can really go to town with a cover. Lisa Loeb if you're reading this, get to work!

9. "Seasons in the Sun" - Terry Jacks (1974) #1

I used to not be a fan of this song on account of the annoying chorus. After giving it a closer listen, I still don't really like the chorus, but I found myself enjoying the overlooked verses. I knew the song had a melancholy subject matter in contrast to the sound, but these lyrics are really fascinatingly in their casual moroseness, like a Smiths song. In spite of the chorus, the songs back on my approved list.

10. "Wildfire" - Michael Martin Murphey (1975) #3

As it turned out the experience I had with "Wildfire" was the exact opposite of "Seasons in the Sun". I came into the song with a positive attitude towards "Wildfire" based mainly on my recollection of the chorus, but a detailed listening to the verses made be realize how ridiculous this song was. It's literally about a ghost horse named "Wildfire" that I guess haunts the plains of Nebraska. Now every time I hear it the image I get in my head is of a psychedelic Lisa Frank poster. According to the wikipedia article, David Letterman shared my baffling view of the song in 2007 and actually ended up inviting Murphey on the show to perform. So in contrast to the previous song, "Wildfire" is now on my unapproved list.

11. "Wedding Bell Blues" - The 5th Dimension (1969) #1

Until just recently, my perception of the 5th Dimension was entirely based on "Age of Aquarious/Let the Sunshine In". I assumed they were just this ridiculous, psychedelic, R&B outfit in the vein of Earth, Wind, and Fire or Sly and the Family Stone. I also assumed they were strict one hit wonders. Apparently none of this is the case. They are a pretty straight ahead suit and dress R&B group with a considerable collection of top 40 hits that span over a decade. As for the song, I really enjoyed it. I found it quite charming and sweet. It's also the perfect song for anyone who wants to get a guy named Bill to marry them.

12. "Everybody's Talkin'" - Harry Nilsson (1969) #6

I noted earlier the diverse sounds of The Guess Who, but that is nothing compared to Harry Nilsson, an artist that truly defies strict categorization. If you want to hear one of the most fascinating pop albums of all time, you've got to get yourself a copy of "Nilsson Schmilsson", every song is stylistically independent of the other. As for "Everybody's Talkin"", it's my second favorite Nilsson song (I still can't resist the gravitas of "Without You"). I have yet to see "Midnight Cowboy" but, on the surface, the light, breezy tone seems fairly at odds with the dark subject matter of the movie.

So my overall impression was generally favorable. It was a pretty diverse collection of late 60s, early 70s fair, a little folky in the middle. It was a fine introduction into collection. There were plenty of number ones hits and nothing out of the top 10, so I guess the album fulfilled its broad promise of "Radio Gems", whatever that may mean.