Thanks for the cool anecdote, Charles! I met Aynsley about a decade+ before you saw him! He was with a pre-Perry Journey circa '75, and their 1st Columbia album. I was at the U of Houston radio station, and well, they gave me a present!.........here's the story: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/behind-the-mic-a-personal-peek-into
Thanks for the cool anecdote, Charles! I met Aynsley about a decade+ before you saw him! He was with a pre-Perry Journey circa '75, and their 1st Columbia album. I was at the U of Houston radio station, and well, they gave me a present!.........here's the story: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/behind-the-mic-a-personal-peek-into
I was into Nick, Elvis and that whole scene, late '70s, but researching this piece, and spending more time listening to Dave, I've developed a whole new appreciation for his talent...songwriting, producing, and arranging! You're spot on about him being a kingpin of the movement, but more than that, he helped "grandfather" (if you will) the kids into a direction that was more grounded in trad rock'n'roll, and not just all blather, spitting, and safety pins!
Whether you do it here or at home, I'll be dropping a new GROW BIGGER EARS Sat (9/10) at 9am CT, and if you're game, it might be fun to take a stab at which songs I chose! The 5-song Playlist will be focused (hee-hee) on "eyes," with songs all featuring that word in their titles! It'll be a sight for sore ears! Hint: Alan Parsons Project just missed the cut with their, "Eye in the Sky" (and not because "eye" was singular)! Thanks again, Charles, and stay tuned!🎼🎶🎵😊👍
Oh, man, so many threads here. I have the first two Journey albums, but I didn't like the direction they were headed with "Next" and then they really lost me when they hired Perry. Not a fan of him or the sonic direction they took after he joined, though I do think Neal Schon is one of the great underrated guitarists ever (way better than Santana, IMO). I would have loved an all-instrumental Journey--they had the chops to do it. Agreed, the stuff that stands the test of time has to be grounded in something, and classic rock is fertile ground. I think the best New Wave drew on rock, punk, disco and emergent electronica. Re. "eyes", gotta say, I didn't have to think about it: Kim Carnes' version of "Bette Davis Eyes".
I think Columbia got tired of Journey 1.0 being Weather Report 2.0, and it was "Gimme some hits, guys! And, what's with the meandering 6-minute songs?" Journey became my favorite band on which to dump most of my record biz loathing (Bon Jovi's the other, which leads me to refer to this phenomenon as Bon Journey)....radio played them ad infinitum, hence sales skyrocketed, leading John and Jane Q. Record-Buying Public to equate multi-million dollar sales with stellar musicianship.
Which is fine, we can have that debate (no question Schon is a beast), but at the other end of the "I beg your pardon" spectrum is the logical (however misguided) extension of, "Gee, Stephen Michael Schwartz only sold 15,000 copies of his '74 debut RCA album, and nobody's heard of Starjets or (outside of Australia, despite worldwide Sire Records release) Taxiride (1999)...I guess they're not any good!" Nothing could be further from the truth, yet that's the prevailing perception amongst the public!
Which is why I proudly fly the flag of the unheard, unsung, and under-sung---see my many "Audio Autopsy" series posts, with each of the above 3 featured...all three, BTW, include exclusive interviews with the artists themselves available nowhere else! Starjets' Paul Bowen and Taxiride's Jason Singh were both kind and generous enough to give me lots of time and info (on FB DM) to answer my Qs, and give me exclusive material!
I find it hard to believe Steve Perry or Bon Jon Bovi would give me the time of day, much less tell me what day it was!!
And, of course, as YOU know, Stephen has been providing astounding, first-hand accounts of his '70s days in and amongst the greatest in the '70s and '80s rock biz on FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE since February!
Didn't mean to lapse suddenly into shameless self-promotion, but once I get started........!
As for GROW BIGGER EARS and our "Eyes" post for tomorrow morning, certainly Kim made the original long list of what was whittled to five. But, if you check my past GBE posts (and see my paragraphic rants above!) you'll detect a marked disdain for the obvious, with an eye toward (again) avoiding the billion-dollar-selling artists who need no help from me, and spotlighting artists for whom airplay back in the day was as rare as oxygen on Pluto (or any other Disney character)!
Plus, I call my Playlists "Power Pop Playlists," and while not every song will be specifically in that sub-genre, it signals my desire for dynamic, melodic, harmony-filled tuneage, generally speaking. And, while Kim did a marvelous job with "BDE," it...well, it just didn't make the cut! BTW, Kim worked the sessions for, and sang back-up on, Stephen's RCA album, and can be heard on his "Get it Up For Love" track, featured last week here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-3-ned-doheny-get-it
Wow, you were saying something about a lot of threads?!? Whew!!!😎👍
Wow, lots there. First, my suggestion of Kim Carnes notwithstanding, I am completely with you re. focusing on the artists who don't get any airplay--or oxygen--here. In my case, the Sisyphian strategy is to focus mainly on foreign acts. Eastern European rock bands, Dutch opera singers, Scandinavian symphonic rock, Japanese metal, punk and jazz, and so on. I'm involved with some promoters working to bring Japanese bands to the U.S., and I've discovered that not only do the US music press actively refuse to cover these acts, but Uncle Sam is in on the game. The U.S. music mafia are more protected than the steel industry. Getting visas for foreign artists is a nightmare, and DHS seem to have a laser-sharp focus on fucking them over. I know of one band that had to cancel their appearance at a big rock festival here because their guitarist had more picks in his luggage than was listed on their travel manifest. But, as they say, I persist. BTW, completely share your love of melody and harmony--so even the metal I listen to is melodic and even beautiful. I'm probably more partial to the "power" and less to the "pop", but you may find some artists in my previous posts who fill the bill for you--I would be happy if you find a favorite or two and run with them. Check this out--they put Journey and Foreigner to shame: https://zapatosjam.substack.com/p/international-womens-day-the-greatest-22-03-08
Thanks for the cool anecdote, Charles! I met Aynsley about a decade+ before you saw him! He was with a pre-Perry Journey circa '75, and their 1st Columbia album. I was at the U of Houston radio station, and well, they gave me a present!.........here's the story: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/behind-the-mic-a-personal-peek-into
I was into Nick, Elvis and that whole scene, late '70s, but researching this piece, and spending more time listening to Dave, I've developed a whole new appreciation for his talent...songwriting, producing, and arranging! You're spot on about him being a kingpin of the movement, but more than that, he helped "grandfather" (if you will) the kids into a direction that was more grounded in trad rock'n'roll, and not just all blather, spitting, and safety pins!
Whether you do it here or at home, I'll be dropping a new GROW BIGGER EARS Sat (9/10) at 9am CT, and if you're game, it might be fun to take a stab at which songs I chose! The 5-song Playlist will be focused (hee-hee) on "eyes," with songs all featuring that word in their titles! It'll be a sight for sore ears! Hint: Alan Parsons Project just missed the cut with their, "Eye in the Sky" (and not because "eye" was singular)! Thanks again, Charles, and stay tuned!🎼🎶🎵😊👍
Oh, man, so many threads here. I have the first two Journey albums, but I didn't like the direction they were headed with "Next" and then they really lost me when they hired Perry. Not a fan of him or the sonic direction they took after he joined, though I do think Neal Schon is one of the great underrated guitarists ever (way better than Santana, IMO). I would have loved an all-instrumental Journey--they had the chops to do it. Agreed, the stuff that stands the test of time has to be grounded in something, and classic rock is fertile ground. I think the best New Wave drew on rock, punk, disco and emergent electronica. Re. "eyes", gotta say, I didn't have to think about it: Kim Carnes' version of "Bette Davis Eyes".
I think Columbia got tired of Journey 1.0 being Weather Report 2.0, and it was "Gimme some hits, guys! And, what's with the meandering 6-minute songs?" Journey became my favorite band on which to dump most of my record biz loathing (Bon Jovi's the other, which leads me to refer to this phenomenon as Bon Journey)....radio played them ad infinitum, hence sales skyrocketed, leading John and Jane Q. Record-Buying Public to equate multi-million dollar sales with stellar musicianship.
Which is fine, we can have that debate (no question Schon is a beast), but at the other end of the "I beg your pardon" spectrum is the logical (however misguided) extension of, "Gee, Stephen Michael Schwartz only sold 15,000 copies of his '74 debut RCA album, and nobody's heard of Starjets or (outside of Australia, despite worldwide Sire Records release) Taxiride (1999)...I guess they're not any good!" Nothing could be further from the truth, yet that's the prevailing perception amongst the public!
Which is why I proudly fly the flag of the unheard, unsung, and under-sung---see my many "Audio Autopsy" series posts, with each of the above 3 featured...all three, BTW, include exclusive interviews with the artists themselves available nowhere else! Starjets' Paul Bowen and Taxiride's Jason Singh were both kind and generous enough to give me lots of time and info (on FB DM) to answer my Qs, and give me exclusive material!
I find it hard to believe Steve Perry or Bon Jon Bovi would give me the time of day, much less tell me what day it was!!
And, of course, as YOU know, Stephen has been providing astounding, first-hand accounts of his '70s days in and amongst the greatest in the '70s and '80s rock biz on FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE since February!
Didn't mean to lapse suddenly into shameless self-promotion, but once I get started........!
As for GROW BIGGER EARS and our "Eyes" post for tomorrow morning, certainly Kim made the original long list of what was whittled to five. But, if you check my past GBE posts (and see my paragraphic rants above!) you'll detect a marked disdain for the obvious, with an eye toward (again) avoiding the billion-dollar-selling artists who need no help from me, and spotlighting artists for whom airplay back in the day was as rare as oxygen on Pluto (or any other Disney character)!
Plus, I call my Playlists "Power Pop Playlists," and while not every song will be specifically in that sub-genre, it signals my desire for dynamic, melodic, harmony-filled tuneage, generally speaking. And, while Kim did a marvelous job with "BDE," it...well, it just didn't make the cut! BTW, Kim worked the sessions for, and sang back-up on, Stephen's RCA album, and can be heard on his "Get it Up For Love" track, featured last week here: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/inside-tracks-3-ned-doheny-get-it
Wow, you were saying something about a lot of threads?!? Whew!!!😎👍
Wow, lots there. First, my suggestion of Kim Carnes notwithstanding, I am completely with you re. focusing on the artists who don't get any airplay--or oxygen--here. In my case, the Sisyphian strategy is to focus mainly on foreign acts. Eastern European rock bands, Dutch opera singers, Scandinavian symphonic rock, Japanese metal, punk and jazz, and so on. I'm involved with some promoters working to bring Japanese bands to the U.S., and I've discovered that not only do the US music press actively refuse to cover these acts, but Uncle Sam is in on the game. The U.S. music mafia are more protected than the steel industry. Getting visas for foreign artists is a nightmare, and DHS seem to have a laser-sharp focus on fucking them over. I know of one band that had to cancel their appearance at a big rock festival here because their guitarist had more picks in his luggage than was listed on their travel manifest. But, as they say, I persist. BTW, completely share your love of melody and harmony--so even the metal I listen to is melodic and even beautiful. I'm probably more partial to the "power" and less to the "pop", but you may find some artists in my previous posts who fill the bill for you--I would be happy if you find a favorite or two and run with them. Check this out--they put Journey and Foreigner to shame: https://zapatosjam.substack.com/p/international-womens-day-the-greatest-22-03-08