Little River Band charted with “Cool Change”

Cool Change Little River Band

Writer(s): Glenn Shorrock (see lyrics here) First Charted: October 20, 1979 Peak: 10 US, 13 CB, 3 GR, 12 HR, 5 RR, 8 AC, 15 CL, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 22.0 video, 44.74 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Formed in 1975, the rock group Little River Band found success right away, scoring a top-40 hit in the U.S. with “It’s a Long Way There” from their self-titled debut album. Over three subsequent albums, they racked up four more top-40 hits, including the #3 “Reminiscing” and #10 “Lady.” 1979’s First Under the Wire, their fifth album, became their most successful yet, reaching #10 and going platinum. Like its predecessor, it was supported by two top-10 U.S. hits. The first single, “Lonesome Loser,” reached #6 and the follow-up, “Cool Change,” peaked at #10. Ironically, the song failed to chart in the band’s native Australia, but in May 2001, it was named by the Australasian Performing Right Association oas one of the top 30 Australian songs of all time. WK In 2018, Australian radio network Triple M named it one of the top 100 “most Australian” songs of all time. WK However, the band “could’ve come from anywhere.” SS Like “easy-listening peers Pablo Cruise and Ambrosia, they existed in a gauzy, purgatory free of musical, cultural, and geographic identity.” SS “Cool Change” is a “piece of pleasant and competent soft-rock that goes down easy,” SS but things weren’t so easy-going with the band at the time. The band featured three songwriters who wrote and even recorded separately. They even toured in different buses. SS Glenn Shorrock wrote “Cool Change” amidst squabbles with Graeham Goble and essentially recorded it as a solo track, supported by session players Peter Jones on piano and Bill Harrower on saxophone. SS The song used sailing as a means of embracing the need for time alone, referencing the tranquility of being on the “cool and bright clear water.” Shorrock later admitted the song was “a cry for help.” SF Amusingly, he wasn’t much of a seafarer when he wrote the song, but he took up sailing after the song’s success. SF Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Little River Band SF Songfacts SS Spandex & Synths WK Wikipedia First posted 10/20/2020; last updated 12/6/2022.

50 years ago: “Tip Toe Through the Tulips” hit #1

Tip Toe Through the Tulips Nick Lucas

Writer(s): Joe Burke (music), Al Dubin (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: September 28, 1929 Peak: 110 US, 18 GA, 112 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.31 video, 0.54 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Nick Lucas and Winnie Lightner starred in the 1929 movie musical Gold Diggers of Broadway, which featured five songs written by Joe Burke and Al Dubin and performed by Lucas. One was “Tip Toe Through the Tulips.” He was outside of a house singing to a girl inside, asking “for her pardon if he kisses her in the moonlit garden.” TY2 Lucas reprised the song later in the show as a dance routine with girls dressed as tulips. SM Lucas was formerly a banjo player with the Russo-Rio Rito band. Nicknamed “The Singing Troubador,” he became “a national favorite in the late 20s” PM because of his “easygoing vocal and guitar style.” PM He charted 26 songs from 1925 to 1931, reaching the top 10 nineteen times. His only chart-topper, however, was his recorded version of “Tulips” in 1929. PM That same year, Jean Goldkette (#5), Johnny Marvin (#11), and Roy Fox (#18) all released charting versions. PM In 1930, the song was used in “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub,” the first Looney Tunes cartoon short. WK The song also showed up in the movies Confidential Agent (1945), Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951), The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), and Insidious (2010). It is also mentioned in the 1997 book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. One of the more unusual versions surfaced in 1968. Singer and ukulele player Tiny Tim performed the song on the sketch comedy show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In WK in a “high-pitched falsetto rendition.” SF It was released as a single and became a #17 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Nick Lucas DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 197. SM Sharon Mawer Charts (1900-1968) SF Songfacts TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 167. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 283 and 597. WK Wikipedia First posted 3/16/2023.

Styx charted with Cornerstone

Cornerstone Styx

Charted: October 13, 1979 Peak: 2 US, 36 UK, 11 CN, 21 AU Sales (in millions): 2.0 US Genre: classic arena rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Lights (DeYoung/Shaw) [4:38] (41 CL) Why Me (DeYoung) [3:54] (12/15/79, 26 US, 19 CB, 18 HR, 12 RR, 9 CL, 10 CN) Babe (DeYoung) [4:25] (10/6/79, 12 US, 13 CB, 12 HR, 13 RR, 6 UK, 9 AC, 1 CL, 6 UK, 16 CN, 3 AU) Never Say Never (Shaw) [3:08] Boat on the River (Shaw) [3:10] (3/16/80, --) Borrowed Time (DeYoung/Shaw) [4:58] (3/29/80, 64 US, 74 CB, 63 HR, 33 CL, 76 CN) First Time (DeYoung) [4:24] Eddie (Young) [4:15] Love in the Midnight (Shaw) [5:25] Total Running Time: 38:17 The Players: Dennis DeYoung (vocals, keyboards) Tommy Shaw (vocals, guitar) James “J.Y.” Young (guitar, vocals) Chuck Panozzo (bass) John Panozzo (drums)

Rating: 3.577 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Styx hit the big time with 1977’s The Grand Illusion when it went top 10 and multi-platinum on the strength of two top-40 hits. 1978’s Pieces of Eight replicated the feat, setting high expectations for 1979’s Cornerstone. Commercially, the album kept pace with its predecessors’ accomplishments. In fact, it became their highest-charting album to date, landing at #2. Styx was even named America’s favorite band in a 1979 Gallup poll. AZ The album was propelled by Babe, Styx’s only #1 hit and “one of the best rock ballads ever.” AMG Dennis DeYoung wrote the song as a birthday present to his wife Suzanne, thanking her for her patience with his life on the road. WK It “is a smooth, keyboard-pampered love song that finally credited Dennis De Young's textured vocals.” AMG It is “perhaps the prototypical I-love-you-but-I-just-gotta-go power ballad,” AZ which would “endear itself to a generation of prom-goers” AZ in the same vein as their “1975 slow-dance classic ‘Lady.’” AZ The song “irked longtime fans with its MOR sweetness” UCR and created a rift in the band. Initially, First Time, also written by DeYoung, was intended as the second single, but Tommy Shaw was concerned about the band alienating its fan base by releasing two ballads in a row. He even threatened to leave and the division was so strong that DeYoung was briefly fired, although he returned to the fold before word got to the press or the public. WK Instead, Why Me, another DeYoung-penned tune, was released as the follow-up. The more upbeat tune showcased the band’s experimentation with new sounds, such as horns, as did Borrowed Time. AZ The latter, a co-write between Shaw and DeYoung, was released as the third single. The band also added mandolin and accordian to the mix on Boat on the River. That song and Lights “implement silky harmonies and welcoming choruses” AMG and showcase Tommy Shaw’s songwriting and vocals. Neither song reached the status of other Shaw favorites like “Renegade” and “Blue Collar Man,” but “Boat on the River” was a hit in Europe WK and “Lights” did get attention on album rock radio in the United States. “Cornerstone is Styx at their most accessible and melodic,” AZ emphasizing their “pop sound more than the progressive rock influences that dominated their first eight studio albums.” WK “The songs aren’t as tight or assertive as their last few albums” AMG and the album “tends to sound a tad weaker than one would expect.” AMG As evidenced by the conflict over the album’s second single, Cornerstone showed “the first fragmenting of the group’s collective artistic vision” WK eventually leading to their breakup after 1983’s Kilroy Was Here.

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music Guide review by Mike DeGagne AZ Amazon review by Daniel Durchholz UCR Ultimate Classic Rock WK Wikipedia First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 5/17/2021.

Fleetwood Mac released Tusk

First posted 9/17/2020.

Tusk Fleetwood Mac

Released: October 12, 1979 Peak: 4 US, 11 UK, 2 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, 0.3 UK, 6.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Over & Over (C. McVie) [4:34] The Ledge (Buckingham) [2:08] Think About Me (C. McVie) [2:44] (3/80, 20 US, 39 AC, 24 CN) Save Me a Place (Buckingham) [2:42] Sara (Nicks) [6:22] (12/15/79, 7 US, 13 AC, 37 UK, 12 CN, 11 AU, airplay: 2 million) What Makes You Think You’re the One (Buckingham) [3:32] Storms (Nicks) [5:31] That’s All for Everyone (Buckingham) [3:03] Not That Funny (Buckingham) [3:11] Sisters of the Moon (Nicks) [4:42] (6/80, 86 US) Angel (Nicks) [4:54] That’s Enough for Me (Buckinham) [1:50] Brown Eyes (C. McVie) [4:27] Never Make Me Cry (C. McVie) [2:18] I Know I’m Not Wrong (Buckingham) [3:05] Honey Hi (C. McVie) [2:41] Beautiful Child (Nicks) [5:21] Walk a Thin Line (Buckingham) [3:46] Tusk (Buckingham) [3:37] (10/6/79, 8 US, 6 UK, 5 CN, 3 AU) Never Forget (C. McVie) [3:34] Total Running Time: 74:25 The Players: Lindsey Buckingham (vocals, guitar, et al) Stevie Nicks (vocals, tambourine) Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards) John McVie (bass) Mick Fleetwood (drums, percussion)

Rating: 3.968 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings) Quotable: “a bracing, weirdly affecting work that may not be as universal or immediate as Rumours, but is every bit as classic. As a piece of pop art, it's peerless.” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

About the Album: “More than any other Fleetwood Mac album, Tusk is born of a particular time and place – it could only have been created in the aftermath of Rumours, which shattered sales records, which in turn gave the group a blank check for its next album. But if they were falling apart during the making of Rumours, they were officially broken and shattered during the making of Tusk, and that disconnect between bandmembers resulted in a sprawling, incoherent, and utterly brilliant 20-track double album.” AMG Editor’s note: is it possible to write a review of a double album without using the word “sprawling”? By comparison to Rumours, which sold 40 million copies worldwide, spent 31 weeks atop the U.S. Billboard album chart, and sported four top-ten singles, Tusk was destined to be viewed as a flop. It peaked at #4, had two top-10 hits, and stalled at a “measly” 6.5 million in sales. “The truth of the matter is that Fleetwood Mac couldn’t top that success no matter how hard they tried, so it was better for them to indulge themselves and come up with something as unique as Tusk. The band seemed to acknowledge that right out of the gate with the strange “marching band-driven paranoia of the title track” AMG The song signalled that this wasn’t going to be an album that actively sought pop success, although that song did reach the top 10. That track also made it clear that this album would be a Lindsey Buckingham-dominated affair. Like Fleetwood Mac and Rumours, Tusk offers “smooth, reflective work from all three songwriters,” AMG the others being Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks. The latter most notably offers up “Dreams Part II” with Sara, another top-10 affair. However, even when McVie and Nicks take their turns at songwriting and singing, Buckinham’s presence is still felt with “an ethereal, floating quality that turns them into welcome respites from the seriously twisted immersions into Buckingham’s id.” AMG He composed nearly half the album and “owns this record with his nervous energy and obsessive production, winding up with a fussily detailed yet wildly messy record unlike any other.” AMG Tusk “is the ultimate cocaine album – it’s mellow for long stretches, and then bursts wide open in manic, frantic explosions, such as the mounting tension on The Ledge or the rampaging That's Enough for Me.” AMG “This is mainstream madness, crazier than Buckingham’s idol Brian Wilson and weirder than any number of cult classics.” AMG It “is a bracing, weirdly affecting work that may not be as universal or immediate as Rumours, but is every bit as classic. As a piece of pop art, it's peerless.” AMG Notes: A 2004 deluxe edition added a second disc of alternate versions of songs from the album. In 2015, a 5-CD version was released with unreleased demos, live tracks, and alternate versions.

Resources and Related Links: Fleetwood Mac’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

 

The Police Reggatta De Blanc released

Reggatta De Blanc The Police

Released: October 5, 1979 Peak: 25 US, 14 UK, 3 CN, 12 AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.3 UK, 8.5 world (includes US and UK) Genre: new wave

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Message in a Bottle [4:51] (9/21/79, 74 US, 62 CB, 80 HR, 2 CL, 3 CO, 1 UK, 2 CN, 5 AU) Regatta de Blanc (Copeland/Sting/Summers) [3:06] It’s Alright for You (Copeland/Sting) [3:13] Bring on the Night [4:16] (11/22/79, 22 CL, 30 CO) Deathwish (Copeland/Sting/Summers) [4:13] Walking on the Moon [5:02] (11/4/79, 6 CL 6 CO, 1 UK) On Any Other Day (Copeland) [2:57] (18 CO) The Bed’s Too Big Without You [4:26] (6/8/80, 21 CL, 11 CO, 17 UK) Contact (Copeland) [2:38] Does Everybody Stare (Copeland) [3:52] No Time This Time [3:17] Songs written by Sting unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 41:52 The Players: Sting (vocals, bass) Andy Summers (guitar) Steward Copeland (drums)

Rating: 4.088 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “By 1979’s Reggatta de Blanc…nonstop touring had sharpened the Police’s original blend of reggae-rock to perfection, resulting in breakthrough success.” AMG The album “features the Police’s distinctive appropriation of reggae and frontman Sting’s Caribbean vocal inflections.” WK The title loosely translates in French to “White Reggae.” WK “The inspirational anthem Message in a Bottle and the spacious Walking on the Moon” AMG both topped the UK charts, pushing the album to #1 as well. Like its predecessor, the album was a top-25 platinum-seller in the United States. “The album also signaled a change in the band’s sound. Whereas their debut got its point across with raw, energetic performances, Reggatta de Blanc was much more polished production-wise and fully developed from a songwriting standpoint.” AMG Music journalist Tim Peacock said the album transformed the group “into one of the post-punk era’s defining bands.” WK The songwriting was much quicker for the second album. “Whereas Outlandos D’Amour had benefitted from one of the most prolific songwriting periods of Sting’s life,” WK the sessions for Reggatta De Blanc were marked by recycling old songs. Bring on the Night and The Bed’s Too Big Without You both started out as tunes for Last Exit, Sting’s band prior to the Police. WK No Time This Time was originally a B-side to “So Lonely” from the previous album. “While vigorous rockers did crop up from time to time (It’s Alright for You, Deathwish, ‘No Time This Time,’ and the Grammy-winning instrumental title track), the material was overall much more sedate than the debut…Also included was Stewart Copeland’s one and only lead vocal appearance on a Police album, the witty On Any Other Day, as well as one of the band’s most eerie tracks, Contact.” AMG With Reggatta de Blanc, many picked Sting and Co. to be the superstar band of the ‘80s, and the Police would prove them correct on the band’s next release.” AMG The band’s drummer, Stewart Copeland, said it was his favorite Police album. WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for The Police AMG All Music Guide review by Greg Prato WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/22/2008; last updated 8/25/2021.