Pac Man Fever

What's Wrong With That -- I'd Like To Know...

"Dad, is it true that Paul McCartney was in another group before Wings?"
That's a line out of Billy Crystal's stand up act, but it still makes me smile.  A while back, a friend and I were out driving and listening to the classic rock station in Los Angeles (Hey, that WAS a while back!  Eventually, it went to all talk).  Anyway, he blurted out, "When the Beatles broke up, I think Paul's music was way better than John's!"  There was no argument to follow that declarative statement;  John Lennon was brilliant, but I was always in the Paul camp.  I definitely think of Paul McCartney & Wings when I think of great music from the seventies.  Of all the Beatles, Wings was the only permanent group to spin off the original, even if they disbanded after ten years.
So, I was reading one of my older editions of the Billboard Book Of Top 40 Hits, and as usual, I got lost in the pages.  I noticed that today in music history (05/22/1976), "Silly Love Songs" hit #1, and it was the one song that stayed in the Top 40 the longest.  This was after leaving Apple Records and signing to Capitol, billing themselves simply as Wings.  According to the book, the lineup changes were as follows:

Wings formed in 1971 with Linda McCartney (keyboards, backing vocals), Denny Laine of the Moody Blues (guitar) and Denny Seiwell (drums).  Henry McCullough (guitar joined in 1972).  Seiwell and McCullough left in 1973.  In 1975, Joe English (drums) and Jimmy McCulloch of Thunderclap Newman (guitar ) joined.  McCulloch died of heart failure on 9/27/79 (age 26).  Both English and McCullough left in 1977.  Wings officially disbanded in 1981.

Below is "Silly Love Songs" from Wings' fifth album, Wings At the Speed Of Sound

Music critics constantly ripped Paul McCartney's songwriting for being insubstantial, or as John Lennon put it, "Silly love songs..."  So, Paul wrote this to answer his detractors.  It scored big.  His pen is all over the Wings catalog, along with Linda's support.  The songs are clever, heartfelt and satisfying.  And what's wrong with that?  I'd like to know.

Be good out there,

Dean

 

Catching Up With Ray Stevens. God Bless the Man! (part two)

All right, so what was I saying... oh, yeah.  "The Streak".  I think I played this single way too much back in 1974, so much that I'm pretty sure it irritated my mom and dad.  But I loved to play things over and over like a mental patient back then.  Even though the song was on my transistor radio twice an hour, I still had to hear it on my turntable.  Here is the original 45 the way it sounded when I played it on my GE record player:

 

So, back to Ray Stevens.  The seventies were good to him, but in 1976, he switched labels to Warner Brothers, where he stayed for four years.  He actually moved around a lot, label-wise.  In the beginning of 1977, I had just discovered Dr. Demento, who was broadcasting on KMET here in Los Angeles.  His listeners would request his songs all the time, so I knew I wasn't the one who liked his stuff!  After 1980, Ray flew gracefully under the radar, charting almost exclusively on the U.S. Country radio stations for 11 years.  He put out several releases with RCA, Mercury and MCA Records during this time.  It was in 1991 that he would open his theater in Branson, Missouri only to sell it too quickly.  But the next year would bring him new-found success.   Using a late-night television direct marketing campaign -- the kind you used before websites and social media -- Ray put together his best material in video form, and ended up selling well over three million copies of those tapes.  This continues to be his music marketing niche to this day; of course today it's DVD's and downloads.  He's achieved pretty impressive numbers, considering his last 13 songs haven't hit on the charts at all, but there was an exception.  Shortly after September 11th, his CD single "Osama - Yo' Mama" hit #48 on Billboard's Country chart.  Now he runs his own label and puts out songs and video on the web whenever he can.
I'm trying to resist writing an obituary for the guy, because he's not dead yet! But he crossed my mind lately when my mother sent a youtube link to his latest tune, "Come To the U.S.A."  The song, like some of his recent work, used satire to spotlight the current controversy over the passing of Arizona's senate bill 1070 regarding illegal immigration.  Even though he's recorded songs in the past that had interwoven social commentary (i.e. "Mr. Businessman"), he never really struck me as a political animal in his songwriting.  If he wasn't one before 9-11, he sure seems to be one now.  That's fine by me, though.  It seems to be a comfortable fit, given that he isn't trying to force himself to be relevant; he comes off as natural and honest.  And his fans, including the new ones, have responded.  I wasn't shocked, but I was disenchanted by what I read in the comments section of the Youtube page.  It was mostly filled with praise for him and his new tune but inevitably laced with lowbrow ignorant written attacks .  I see that kind of stuff all the time on web -- but for Ray Stevens??  Maybe he's a throwback in today's music world, but God bless the man!  I find it very cool that at age 71, he's still putting out good stuff.  
Oh, yeah.  After giving my wife a few clues, she remembers him after all.  I hope the country always will.

Be good out there,

Dean

Catching Up With Ray Stevens. God Bless the Man! (part one)

As of 2010, Ray Stevens has 54 years in the music business under his belt. He is a Multi-platinum recording artist, songwriter and two-time Grammy winner (with 11 nominees). He has sold over 25 million albums and over 4 million videos throughout his notable career. But my kids have never heard of him, and my wife doesn't remember him!

I believe he belongs up on the Mount Rushmore of novelty song recording artists, right up there with "Weird Al" Yankovic and Allan Sherman. Ray Stevens has enjoyed an impressively extensive career, producing a string of charting singles (ten in the U.S. Top 40) spanning over 40 years. But unlike Sherman and Yankovic, Stevens made his mark recording original material, usually satirizing pop culture of the day. And though he had a character that gushed silliness and absurdity, he was a legitimately talented performer as well as a producer of pop and country music. His resume is quite impressive, from working closely with Chet Atkins and Elvis Presley (Did you know he produced Elvis' last hit?) to producing newcomers Dolly Parton and B.J. Thomas.

After he had signed on to Barnaby Records which was Andy Williams' record label, he spent three days in his basement and penned his first number one hit "Everything Is Beautiful".  The connection with Andy's television program and his own variety show gave Ray the exposure to accelerate his career.  He did quite well in both musical genres, but he will be forever remembered for his countless "novelty songs". You can read his discography in several places, but some of my favorites were "Ahab the Arab", "Freddie Feelgood (And His Funky Little Five Piece Band)", "Gitarzan", "Along Came Jones", "Bridget the Midget (The Queen Of the Blues)", "In the Mood", and "I Need Your Help Barry Manilow". But "The Streak" is probably his biggest and most known single. I remember buying that 45 in April 1974 off the music rack at Zody's in Buena Park, and after I wore that record out, my dad bought the album and gave it to me as a present. That album, Boogity Boogity, remains my favorite -- more than likely for it's sentimental value because it came from my dad.

There's more, but I'll post it tomorrow... TO BE CONTINUED...

Be good out there,
Dean

Photos From Key West

KEY WEST, FLORIDA

04-10-10 

"Looking For the Sunset"

except it rained that day!

Flew in to Ft. Lauderdale on business for a day, and then my wife and I headed south for some sights and fun.  Stayed for five days. Couldn't make it for the Songwriter's Festival; the timing just wasn't right.  I'll be back though.  It was a great time!

In a future posting, I plan to share some video

relevant to songwriting.  I had about three segments 

planned to shoot during one of those famous

Key West sunsets.  No good luck to be had there, though.

RAIN!  Oh, it stopped!  AWW..It's raining again!!!

Anyway, I will edit what I can use (grrr)..

To be continued...

    Be good...        Dean O

Let me introduce myself...

Dean Olson here.

Today, I am posting my first comments in the new blog "Eclectic Notes".
There are tons of bloggers out there, and since I am a newbie, I just wanted to quickly check in.

I am a regular Joe, with one foot in the real world and the other in my dream world. That dream world is music. I love to listen to it, record it, play it, and sell it. It has been a long tough road trying to hold a full time 50 hour a week job AND be a musician and songwriter, but somehow I do it. Of course, things change in the course of your life, and I decided to make a slight change in the game plan. Now the real world is in the background, and the dream world is moving to the front of the stage! It has been difficult though. As the blog turns, I will try to open my heart and share my trials and thoughts with you. After all, I am by nature a shy guy, and haven't had a ton of social experience, but do have pearls of wisdom to share. (What is he talking about?)

My music partner Jim and I started the Eclectic Rhythms Band in 1998 in Orange County, California. A couple of demo CD's helped us start climbing the ladder of popularity, even steering toward an appearance on FM radio in Los Angeles.

But after the events of September 11, 2001, things quickly dissolved. Jim and I are the only two to move on and make music, but we always chose to put success on the shelf for later since life always got in the way (you know how that is). I adopted the adjective "eclectic" for all the projects we did, resulting in my being known as the Eclectic Songwriter. 

There will be more to follow, but as I said before, I just wanted to check in!
Until next time, be good out there!

Dean O