Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

Sex took over the US singles charts in 1976, with Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s The Night closing the year at #1, with his seduction of a “virgin child” and lots of sex noises. And Starland Vocal Band’s Afternoon Delight became an unlikely chart-topper, with its sunny harmonies camouflaging its subject matter of “rubbin’ sticks and stones together make the sparks ignite”.

Neither of these feature here, but The Who’s Squeeze Box does. Pete Townshend claims it is an innocent song about the joys of playing the accordion. Sure it is. More More More by former porn star Andrea True is more direct. “Just get the cameras rolling, get the action going,” Andrea instructs. The disco track was a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

As noted in Any Major Hits from 1976 Vol. 1, disco broke big that year. Diana Ross’ Love Hangover topped the US charts in May. Its slow-burn seduction gives way to a dancefloor groove halfway through. That structural trick — part ballad, part club track — became a template. Thelma Houston’s Don’t Leave Me This Way later in the year followed the same trick. As in the UK, Euro disco was making its mark in the US, with acts like Donna Summer and Silver Convention scoring big hits.

Oddly enough, Johnny Taylor’s Disco Lady, a chart-topper in March, discussed its subject matter over a rather more pedestrian groove; it’s not a pulsating club track.

It was a great year for soul; it is no accident that nine of the present 23 tracks are soul numbers. A quarter of the Billboard Top 100 hits in 1976 were soul or funk tracks (plus several disco tracks).

The charts in 1976 are remarkable for the variety of styles that provided big hits. Soul, disco, soft rock, country crossovers and novelty records all took turns at the top. They key seemed to be simplicity: most hit songs were instantly accessible and radio-friendly.

Links for all past mixes in the series are up.  If you dig the feel of 1976, take a look at the collection of posters from West-Germany’s Bravo magazine in 1976 (other years are available, too)

As with other Any Major Hit mixes, the sequencing is roughly chronological. As far as possible, all versions here are the single versions. The mix is timed to fit on as standard CD-R and includes home-rubbed covers and the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. The O’Jays – I Love Music
2. David Ruffin – Walk Away From Love
3. Rhythm Heritage – Theme From S.W.A.T.
4. The Who – Squeeze Box
5. Gary Wright – Dream Weaver
6. Peter Frampton – Show Me The Way (live)
7. Johnnie Taylor – Disco Lady
8. Elvin Bishop – Fooled Around And Fell In Love
9. John Sebastian – Welcome Back
10. Andrea True Connection – More, More, More
11. The Manhattans – Kiss And Say Goodbye
12. Starbuck – Moonlight Feels Right
13. War – Summer
14. Lou Rawls – You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine
15. Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free
16. Tavares – Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel
17. Daryl Hall & John Oates – She’s Gone
18. Silver – Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang
19. The Spinners – Rubberband Man
20. Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. – You Don’t Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)
21. Burton Cummings – Stand Tall
22. England Dan & John Ford Coley – Nights Are Forever Without You
23. Boston – More Than A Feeling

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Any Major Hits from 1944
Any Major Hits from 1947
Any Major Hits from 1961
Any Major Hits from 1970
Any Major Hits from 1971
Any Major Hits from 1972 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1972 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1973 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1973 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1974 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1974 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1975 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1975 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1976 Vol. 1

A Year in Hits
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This is the second part of songs about the USA, following Any Major USA Vol. 1 last week, to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the federation’s independence on July 4.

As in the first mix, some songs here celebrate the USA, while others are critical. French disco legend Patrick Juvet is pretty uncritical of the US, largely because he just likes funky music. Linda Ronstadt, covering Chuck Berry, clearly prefers the USA to the rest of the world, while Norah Jones’ American Anthem sees the best in the country.

Kim Wilde’s 1981 hit Kids In America is a romanticised projection of the USA as a land of drive-in movies, diners, and a more vibrant lifestyle than what the British record-buying public knew. At the time, Wilde had never actually been to the US.

Matthew Wilder’s catchy The Kid’s American from 1983 mirrors Wilde’s projection. The titular Kid is an edgy go-getter who is determined to succeed at all costs. In the 1980s, he was probably seen as admirable; in 2026, the Kid is likely an insufferable character.

On the critical side, Nina Simone’s Mississippi Goddam and Eugene McDaniels’ Love Letter To America are the most potent critiques across both mixes. Following those, I let James Brown break my one-artist-per-theme rule with his call for reconciliation and common purpose.

Opening track Back In The USA features a few name-checks of places, while a couple of other songs tell of journeying through the States. Simon & Garfunkel’s America represents a road trip on Greyhound buses and hitched rides, while The City Of New Orleans is about a train journey. The latter is included here in a live version by the song’s writer, Steve Goodman. Why not the studio original or Arlo Guthrie’s famous cover? Because soon we’ll have a Song Swarm dedicated to the track.

Talking of road trips, the American Road Trip series of mixes might make for a good companion during this time of commemoration — a coast-to-coast-and-back journey in songs through many US cities in an imaginary itinerary over seven volumes. Every song was about the city or town visited.

Oddly enough, The Pogues could have featured a few times. Their Thousands Are Sailing, a song about Irish migration, was on the shortlist, but I opted for the more obscure (except, maybe, to fans of The Wire) The Body Of An American. Migration is also the topic of Neil Diamond’s America, from the 1980 version of The Jazz Singer. The migrants are coming to America, where freedom’s light apparently burns warm. Different times.

The commemoration of the USA’s 250 years closes with Jimi Hendrix’s rendition at Woodstock of the Star Spangled Banner, which was at once a patriotic gesture and an anti-war protest, with the ferocious guitar distortions representing bombs in Vietnam.

One obvious track missing here is American Pie. For one thing, it’s too long for CD-R capacity; for another, it has been overplayed. You probably already have it in your collection and can easily add it to your own playlist.

There will be many more obvious omissions. The Ritchie Family’s American Generation narrowly missed the cut (it featured on A Life In Vinyl: 1979), as did Madness’ Uncle Sam. I also had The Proclaimers’ Letter From America shortlisted, but I don’t really like that song much. You will doubtless have your own suggestions, which you are most welcome to share in the Comments.

As always, this mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-of-the-braved covers and the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. Linda Ronstadt – Back In The U.S.A. (1978)
2. David Bowie – Young Americans (1974)
3. Simon & Garfunkel – America (1968)
4. Grateful Dead – U.S. Blues (1974)
5. Eugene McDaniels – Love Letter To America (1970)
6. Nina Simone – Mississippi Goddam (1964)
7. James Brown – Hey America (1970)
8. Patrick Juvet – I Love America (1978)
9. Kim Wilde – Kids In America (1981)
10. Matthew Wilder – The Kid’s American (1983)
11. Neil Diamond – America (1980)
12. Norah Jones – American Anthem (2007)
13. The Highwaymen – American Remains (1999)
14. Steve Goodman – City Of New Orleans (live) (1983)
15. Steve Miller Band – Living In The U.S.A. (1968)
16. The Guess Who – American Woman (1969)
17. The Pogues – The Body Of An American (1986)
18. Green Day – American Idiot (live) (2005)
19. Jimi Hendrix – Star Spangled Banner (Live at Woodstock) (1969)

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I remember the celebrations of the bicentenary of the United States in 1976 as a time of easy-going cheer. Maybe it was the feeling that with the chapters of Watergate and Vietnam closed, the USA could breathe out and let the sun in. Certainly, in Europe the USA was respected and, by some, even loved. As the US marks 250 years since independence, that respect and love has disintegrated.

Still, the 250 years anniversary is significant, an opportunity to stop and review all the good and all the bad that the US has brought to the world and to itself. And there are extremes on both ends of the scale.

The tracks on these two volumes of Any Major USA reflect a bit of that. There are songs here that celebrate the USA, but not in the jingoistic ways of a Toby Keith. There are also songs that are critical. Ironically (or maybe not), one of them was released in 1976, coinciding with the bicentenary. Gil Scott-Heron’s Winter In America should be the national anthem of the disaffected.

Volume 1 deliberately kicks off with the often misunderstood Born In The USA, presented here in a live version from 1985. Readers of this little corner of the Internet needn’t be told that the song isn’t a flag-waving nationalism-rouser but an angry lament for the betrayal of Americans by America. But could you blame the Reagans of the world for thinking it was a patriotic number when the cover of the album by the same name featured Bruce being cool in front of the Stars and Stripes?

And since we are nothing if not a balanced blog, we’ll follow Springsteen’s cri de coeur with James Brown’s 1980s bombast patriotism which namechecked a bunch of US cities. Let’s say that Brown’s politics were complicated. Other songs roll-call cities as well, most gloriously perhaps in Martha & The Vandella’s Dancing In The Streets.

As far as flags go, the Stars and Stripes is a work of design genius.

The playlist sequence throws up nice contrasts: at one point we have Jay & The Americans cheerfully push the narrative of the USA as the land of opportunities, the next MC5 call bullshit on that idea. For all those who believe that the USA is a paradise, there are many who think the US is run by parasites.

A couple of songs are from the outside looking in. The Clash obviously are not filled with admiration, and Supertramp, in their often misunderstood song, satirise an idealised American culture, issuing clichés of the American Dream as it mocks the British fascination with America.

So here’s the USA, the bitter and the sweet. Volume 2 will follow next week.

The American Road Trip series of mixes might make for a good companion during this time of commemoration. Posted ten years ago, it was a coast-to-coast-and-back journey in songs through many US cities in an imaginary itinerary over seven volumes. Every song was about the city or town visited.

As always, this mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-starspangledbannred covers and the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – Born In The U.S.A. (live) (1985)
2. James Brown – Living In America (1985)
3. Sister Sledge – All American Girls (1981)
4. Supertramp – Breakfast In America (1979)
5. Talking Heads – The Big Country (1978)
6. Los Lobos – One Time, One Night (1987)
7. The Impressions – This Is My Country (1968)
8. Swamp Dogg – God Bless America For What (1971)
9. Gil Scott-Heron – Winter In America (1976)
10. Z.Z. Hill – Clean Up America (1974)
11. Zulema – Hail, Hail America (1972)
12. Martha & The Vandellas – Dancing In The Street (1964)
13. The Beach Boys – Surfin’ U.S.A. (1963)
14. Chuck Berry – Promised Land (1964)
15. Trini Lopez – A-me-ri-ca (1962)
16. Jay & The Americans – Only In America (1963)
17. MC5 – The American Ruse (1970)
18. The Clash – I’m So Bored With The U.S.A. (1977)
19. John Mellencamp – R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A. (1985)
20. Willie Nelson – Living In The Promiseland (1986)
21. Woody Guthrie – This Land Is Your Land (1940)
22. Elvis Presley – An American Trilogy (1972)

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On Thusday, the football World Cup will kick off in Mexico City. But this mix is not really about football, and none of the songs are about sport. You don’t have to like football to enjoy this mix. I’ve used the World Cup as a pretext for compiling 48 songs from the 48 competing nations, as a way of hearing music from some countries which we might otherwise never encounter. Have you ever explored the popular music of Uzbekistan or Curaçao?

I can’t say that I’m amped for the World Cup. The commercialisation, corporatisation and gentrification of football, and the lack of ethics and aggressive expediency exhibited by the voldemordian governing body over the past decades, have stripped the World Cup of almost all of the few virtues it still had. Add to that the bizarre prevailing political circumstances, and I’m one of the many who are verging on giving up on the whole thing. But then there’s the football. If it’s exciting, I might still get into the spirit of the whole thing.

The research for this mix took ages (so long that Colombia’s recently late Toto La Momposina and Ghana’s Ebo Taylor were still alive when I compiled it). I had to sit through some indifferent music, but I also discovered a whole lot of great music I never even knew existed. There were many surprises. For some countries, the choices of suitable and great tracks were vast — how to decide which song should represent the USA, England or France? For other countries, the pickings were rather slimmer.

Some choices seemed obvious to me (Pelé for Brazil; the song that is played when Germany score a goal; the French song that scored the Paris Olympics two years ago; Waterloo in Swedish and French); others I had to chew over (no A-ha for Norway?). I’m quite prepared for it that my choices might not be those of others, of course.

The whole thing provides us with a journey around the world. I have ordered the playlist according to the tournament schedule, in the sequence in which the respective countries first play. So the mix begins with Mexico and South Africa, who will play the opening match on June 11, and ends with Uzbekistan and Colombia, who will play the last of the opening group games. That way, one can play the selected songs before the match, like alternative national anthems.

I have also made a playlist of the same songs in a less random sequence. Let me know if some songs here provided you with a happy discovery or complete surprise.

Enjoy this journey around the world!

1. El Chicano – Que Sera (Mexico) (1976)
2. Hugh Masekela – Thuma Mina (Send Me) (South Africa) (2006)
3. Dean – Instagram (South Korea) (2018)
4. Karel Gott – Rot und schwarz (Czechia) (1969)
5. Barenaked Ladies – Call And Answer (Canada) (1998)
6. Letu Štuke – Mjesto Za Dvoje (Bosnia-Herzegovina) (2005)
7. Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson – Winter In America (Live) (USA) 1976)
8. La Pimentada – Negra Tomasa (Paraguay) (2016)
9. Dana Al Fardan with the Doha String Quartet – Layla (Qatar) (2016)
10. Double – The Captain Of Her Heart (Switzerland) (1985)
11. Pelé & Elis Regina – Perdão, Não Tem (Brazil) (1969)
12. Manal – Call Me (Morocco) (2021)
13. Tabou Combo – Tu as volé (Haiti) (2000)
14. Big Country – In A Big Country (Scotland) (1983)
15. Bettie Serveert – Palomine (Netherlands) (1992)
16. Bob Evans – Sadness & Whiskey (Australia) 2006)
17. Ajda – Yakar Geçerim (Turkey) (2011)
18. Peter Schilling – Major Tom (Germany) (1983)
19. Izaline Calister – Mi Pais (Curacao) (2009)
20. Towa Tei – Luv Connection (Japan) (1994)
21. Ernesto Djédjé – Ziboté (Cote d’Ivoire) (1977)
22. Julio Jaramillo – Nuestro Juramento (Ecuador) (1972)
23. Abba – Waterloo (French/Swedish) (Sweden) (1974)
24. Emel Mathlouthi – Ma Lkit (Tunisia) (2011)
25. Mocedades – Eres Tu (Spain) (1972)
26. Cesária Évora – Nho Antone Escaderode (Cape Verde) (1999)
27. K’s Choice – Almost Happy (Belgium) (2000)
28. Cairokee – James Dean (Egypt) (2022)
29. Mishaal Tamer – Itty Bitty (Saudi Arabia) (2024)
30. Jaime Roos – Amándote (Uruguay) (1987)
31. Googoosh – Hamsafar (Iran) (1990)
32. Max Merritt & The Meteors – Slipping Away (New Zealand) (1975)
33. Edith Piaf – L’hymne à l’amour (France) (1950)
34. Ismaël Lô – Dibi Dibi Rek (Senegal) (1994)
35. Ilham Al-Madfai – Khuttar (Iraq) (1999)
36. Marit Larsen – Solid Ground (Norway) (2026)
37. Carlos Gardel – La Cumparsita (Argentina) (1958)
38. Khaled – Aïcha (Algeria) (1996)
39. Falco – Der Kommissar (Austria) (1982)
40. Zeyne – liya (Jordan) (2025)
41. Ana Moura – Desfado (Portugal) (2012)
42. Papa Wemba – Le Voyageur (DR Congo) 1992)
43. Black Box Recorder – England Made Me (England) (1998)
44. Oliver Dragojevic – Cesarica (Croatia) (1996)
45. Ebo Taylor – Atwer Abroba (Ghana) (1978)
46. Camilo Azuquita – Borombon (Panama) (1969)
47. Shahzoda – Xasta (Uzbekistan) (2016)
48. Toto La Momposina – Prende La Vela (Colombia) (2002)

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One thing this Not Feeling Guilty series has an abundance of is singers with names like school teachers whose solo careers were brief. That wasn’t necessarily a consequence of the quality of their music; I suspect many got lost because their record companies didn’t promote them in an oversaturated field of AOR and soft rock. Some recorded as a side project while doing session work. Others simply had poor luck, as the random roll of the dice left their LPs stuck on the shelves.

One of the many one-or-two-album acts in this series was Hal Bradbury, whose solitary solo album, You Win, I Lose, is a favourite among the “yacht rock” (that awful term) cognoscenti. The title track, featured here, was a cover of a recently released song by British singer Lulu. Issued in 1981, Hal’s album didn’t set the charts alight. But he had a happy outcome: he went on to become the lead singer of the popular Hawaiian band The Krush.

For 46 years, Dane Donohue had one album on his resumé, until he returned in 2024 with a new set. His eponymous 1978 debut had the backing of some big hitters: Bill Champlin produced it, and Stevie Nicks, JD Souther, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmitt contributed backing vocals. The first two sang on the featured track, on which Larry Carlton plays guitar, Jai Winding piano, and Steve Gadd drums. Despite such stellar friends, the album wasn’t a hit, and Donohue was dropped by his label. Instead of shopping for a new label, he moved into behind-the-scenes work as a session and backing vocalist, and doing commercial and jingle work.

South African rock band Stingray (Image from SA Charts)

Briefly popular in their native South Africa, Stingray released two albums in 1979 and 1981. They featured on Any Major Band Vol. 1 with the great The Man In My Shoes. Their biggest hit, however, was the hard-rocker Better The Devil You Know. The featured track here is a deep cut from their debut album. For their sophomore album, the band had to replace drummer Shaun Wright after he lost a leg in a shark attack. Lead singer Dennis East went on to have a long solo career in South Africa. He died in 2022.

The group Airplay also released only one album, but they had bigger fish to fry than soft-rocking the West Coast. Their line-up included Bill Champlin and session backing singer Tommy Funderburk on vocals; the great producer, songwriter and guitarist Jay Graydon; and the legendary David Foster on keyboards. Backing musicians included almost all of Toto, and Ray Parker Jr. on rhythm guitars. Airplay were also the first to record the Earth, Wind & Fire hit After The Love Has Gone (written by Champlin and Foster), but their version was released after EWF’s, on that solitary 1980 Airplay album.

Graydon delivers a lovely little solo on the featured track, and also played on Dusty Springfield’s album, from which a track appears here too. Graydon also did that great guitar solo on Steely Dan’s Peg, which featured on Any Major Guitar Vol. 3.

One act that had a very long career was The Imperials, one of the biggest names in gospel music. The featured track, a breezy number called Living Without Your Love, came from their 26th album. Founded in 1963, an iteration of the group is still going. Russ Taff, lead singer on Living Without Your Love, was part of the group from 1977–81 — the first Black member of The Imperials at a time when multiracial bands were still uncommon. His stint was the group’s most commercially successful, and Taff went on to have a strong solo career in contemporary Christian music.

Frankie Bleu featured already on Vol. 14. That time, he dedicated his song to Vanessa; this time around the recipient of his devotion is Suzanne. The singer-songwriter, erstwhile guitarist of Seattle band Gabriel, released one album in 1982, having contributed to the soundtrack of the 1979 film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, including the excellent Moses’ Theme — yacht rock’s answer to Theme From Shaft. And that’s about all I know of Frankie.

Also featuring on Vol. 14 were Jolis & Simone, another one-album act. They were songwriter James Jolis and singer-songwriter-keyboardist Kevin DiSimone, who did a lot of session work for Barry Manilow and the likes of Bob James. On their one outing together, the pair created an album of jazz-funk grooves. They wrote Manilow’s 1982 hit Stay, which had first been released by soul trio Goodman Ray Brown.

Two of the more obscure acts here were introduced in previous volumes: Dick St. Nicklaus in Vol. 11 (which also introduced Michael Johnson), and the Little River Band’s Birtles & Goble in Vol. 14.

All previous NFG mixes are live. As always, this mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R, and includes home-fifteen-albumed covers and the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. Rick Springfield – Don’t Talk To Strangers (1982)
2. Alan Parsons Project – Eye In The Sky (1982)
3. George Duke – You (1982)
4. Robbie Dupree – Nobody Else (1980)
5. Michael Johnson – This Night Won’t Last Forever (1979)
6. David Gates – Goodbye Girl (1978)
7. Dusty Springfield – You Can Do It (1978)
8. Hal Bradbury – You Win, I Lose (1981)
9. Frankie Bleu – Just For You (Suzanne’s Song) (1981)
10. Carly Simon – Tranquillo (Melt My Heart) (1978)
11. Dane Donohue – Woman (1978)
12. Air Supply – Even The Nights Are Better (1982)
13. Stingray – How Much (1979)
14. Melissa Manchester – Party Music (1975)
15. Eric Carmen – Change Of Heart (1978))
16. Airplay – It Will Be Alright (1980)
17. The Imperials – Living Without Your Love (1979)
18. Dick St. Nicklaus – Born To Love You (1979)
19. Bruce Hibbard – You’re So Good To Me (1980)
20. Birtles & Goble – Last Romance (1980)
21. Jolis & Simone – I Love Makin’ Love To You (1979)

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Not Feeling Guilty Mix 1
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 2
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 3
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 4
Not Feeling Guilty Mix 5
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 6
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 7
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 8
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 9
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 10
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 11
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 12
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 13
Not Feeling Guilty Vol. 14

ALL IN ONE PLACE

I think the Any Major Morning series is turning out to be my favourite — the three previous mixes (Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and last year’s Vol. 3) are on frequent rotation at Dude Towers. I’ve even created a playlist of favourites from the three compilations. The present volume will add to that playlist.

Most songs here welcome the morning, though a few meet the start of the new day with a cloud. Kris Kristofferson has a beer for breakfast and one more for dessert; Charlie Rich and Faron Young wake up with self-inflicted heartbreak; The Feminine Complex find their lover gone at six in the morning; and for Jackson Browne rising from bed represents another round of drudgery in the pursuit of money.

But none of them open their eyes to as bleak a scenario as The Byrds: in a war zone. “Take my time this morning, no hurry to learn to kill and take the will from unknown faces…”

Some tracks here are well-known, or by well-known people. Perhaps the most obscure here is The Feminine Complex, an all-women garage rock trio from Nashville who released four singles and one album in 1968-69. The folkie sound of the featured track — originally the b-side of their debut single — is very lovely but not really representative of the band’s sound, which was harder, even using feedback and guitar solos.

Archie Roach was an Australian singer-songwriter and Aboriginal activist. We sadly lost him in 2022. Jesse Colin Young was the lead singer of the 1960s folk-rock band The Youngbloods; he died last year. His featured song speaks of domestic bliss with the woman he loves (an antidote to the dejection of Kris, Charlie and Faron). The setting is a house from which “I walk out on the ridgetop”. That house burnt down in a 1995 wildfire.

At last, one-night-stand anthem Angel Of The Morning gets a run-out. Of all the great versions, I opted for the one by Nina Simone, by as sliver ahead of the one by P.P. Arnold. All this was done before the song’s writer, Chip Taylor died. A story told in the Comments section by Barrie Minney makes me regret that I didn’t go for Arnold. He recalls seeing Chip Taylor in concert 20 years ago. “The highlight of the evening was when he played Angel Of The Morning. Unbeknown to us PP Arnold was pretending to serve drinks behind the bar, when she suddenly joined in. Hairs on the back of your neck thing.”

My shortlist of morning songs keeps growing, so I’m quite confident that there will be a fifth volume. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy this fourth mix, alongside the three that preceded it.As always, the mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-boiledegged covers. PW in comments.

1. The Spiral Starecase – Good Morning New Day (1969)
2. Neil Young – Till The Morning Comes (1970)
3. Julie Felix – Windy Morning (1972)
4. Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down (1970)
5. Charlie Rich – The Most Beautiful Girl (1973)
6. Faron Young – It’s Four In The Morning (1971)
7. Jesse Colin Young – Morning Sun (1973)
8. Jackson Browne – The Pretender (1976)
9. The Smithereens – Groovy Tuesday (1986)
10. Archie Roach – Love In The Morning (1993)
11. Doja Cat – Morning Light (2018)
12. Mary J. Blige – Good Morning Gorgeous (2022)
13. Will Downing – That Good Morning Love (1988)
14. Bettye Crutcher – Sunday Morning’s Gonna Find Us In Love (1974)
15. Nina Simone – Angel Of The Morning (1971)
16. Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood – Some Velvet Morning (1967)
17. Claudine Longet – Good Day Sunshine (1967)
18. The Feminine Complex – Six O’Clock In The Morning (1968)
19. The Left Banke – In The Morning Light (1969)
20. Strawberry Alarm Clock – Good Morning Starshine (1969)
21. Vanity Fare – Early In The Morning (1969)
22. Grateful Dead – ’Till The Morning Comes (1970)
23. Nick Drake – From The Morning (1971)
24. The Byrds – Draft Morning (1968)

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James Gadson, the drummer behind many soul and disco hits, from Lean On Me to Got To Be Real, died on April 2 at the age of 86.

Bill Withers once said he didn’t need a click track when James Gadson was behind the drums because the man was the click track. Gadson’s groove sat in a place that drummers call “the pocket”. Few drummers lived in the pocket for as long as Gadson. One of the most-recorded drummers in the history of soul music, he started his recording career in the 1960s and kept going until a final release in 2020.

Born on June 17, 1939 in Kansas City, Gadson’s father Harold was a drummer who brought him and brother Thomas cornets. As a youngster, Gadson preferred singing doo wop to playing an instrument, but when he was in the air force in the 1960s, he discovered funk. He learned to play piano and then drums, obsessively.

The effort paid off. In the 1960s he played with acts like Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, Jimmy Reed, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding at various gigs. Then he met Charles Wright and joined his Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band, with whom he recorded three albums, including the hit Express Yourself. He also released a few records as a singer, but they went nowhere.

Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. James Gadson is the tall guy at the centre in the back. Wright is fourth from left.

Gadson fared better as a session drummer. Notably, he played and co-produced on Bill Withers’ Still Bill LP, with classics like Lean On Me, Who Is He (And What Is He To You), and Use Me. The latter is a masterclass in laying down a hypnotic groove, residing just behind the beat. A year later, he backed Withers on his great Live At Carnegie Hall album. He also played on the legendary Bill Withers at the BBC gig.

From there on, the hits kept on coming: Jackson 5’s Dancing Machine, Tavares’ Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel, Marvin Gaye’s I Want You, Diana Ross’ Love Hangover, Thelma Houston’s Saturday Night Sunday Morning and Don’t Leave Me This Way, Yvonne Elliman’s If I Can’t Have You, Cheryl Lynn’s Got To Be Real, Rose Royce’s Wishing On A Star, Peaches & Herb’s Reunited and Shake Your Groove Thang, Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer’s No More Tears, Donald Fagen’s I.G.Y., Womack & Womack’s Love Wars, and many more.

I won’t even get into all the acts he backed in the 1970s and ’80s. The list is long and illustrious! Maybe I’ll do that in his In Memoriam entry.

In the new millennium, which he entered as a 60-year-old, Gadson played the drums or percussions for the likes of Beck, Lana Del Rey, Norah Jones, Justin Timberlake, Simply Red, Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker, Ray Charles, Amos Lee, Kelly Clarkson, D’Angelo, Harry Styles, The Vanguard, Michael Kiwanuka, Nikki Costa, Keith Urban,Charlotte Gainsbourg, Was (Not Was), Corinne Bailey Rae, Florence + The Machine, and more.

The Roots’ Questlove, a man who knows his way around the sticks, eulogised Gadson: “Some drummers are soulful. Some drummers are funky. Some drummer are a rockin’. Some drummers are swinging — but NO drummer, has impacted the art of breakbeat drummer (danceable drums) like James Gadson.”

This collection includes some of these hits and tracks by only a small fraction of the many acts he drummed for, or produced, or both. With this, Gadson joins other drummers in this series of session musician. Before him, there were Bernard Purdy (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), Steve Gadd (Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol.3), Hal Blaine (Vol. 1 and Vol.2), Jim Gordon (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), Ricky Lawson (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), Jim Keltner (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), Bobby Graham, and Ringo Starr (Earl Palmer is still to come!).

Quincy Jones’ If I Ever Lose This Heaven features the vocals of Leon Ware (who co-wrote it) and Minnie Riperton, both of whom Gadson also backed on solo efforts, and vocal effects by Al Jarreau.

The backing vocals on Ramsey Lewis’ Whisper Zone is credited to Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, but I think I can hear some Philip Bailey in there too. The band’s Larry Dunn produced and arranged the track, and contributed the superb electric piano part.

And if it’s brilliant keyboard solos you’re after, check the one out by Patrice Rushen on her own Remind Me.

Finally, the drum beat and the slide whistle sound at around 2:22 on Vernon Burch’s 1979 funk track Get Up were sampled to prominent effect by Deee-Lite for their 1990 hit Groove Is In The Heart. Gadson also produced the Burch song.

I’ve aimed at keeping the collection at a length of about two hours, with tracks 1-18 filling the CD-R length. The text here is included as a PDF file as well as self-high-hatted covers.

1. James Gadson – Got To Find My Baby (1971)
2. Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – Express Yourself (1970)
3. Bill Withers – Use Me (1972)
4. Quincy Jones – If I Ever Lose This Heaven (1974)
5. Diana Ross – Love Hangover (1976)
6. Thelma Houston – Saturday Night, Sunday Morning (1978)
7. Cheryl Lynn – Got To Be Real (1978)
8. Ramsey Lewis – Whisper Zone (1980)
9. Patrice Rushen – Remind Me (1982)
10. Sherrick – Just Call (1987)
11. Womack & Womack – Love Wars (1983)
12. Marlena Shaw – Yu Ma/Go Away Little Boy (1977)
13. Randy Crawford – Don’t Let Me Down (1976)
14. Rose Royce – Wishing On A Star (1977)
15. Marvin Gaye – I Want You (1976)
16. Boz Scaggs – You Make It So Hard (To Say No) (1974)
17. Yvonne Elliman – If I Can’t Have You (1977)
18. Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer – No More Tears (Enough Is Enough) (1979)
BONUS TRACKS
19. Vernon Burch – Get Up (1979)
20. Heat – It’s Up To You (1980)
21. Peaches & Herb – Reunited (1978)
22. Wilton Felder feat. Bobby Womack – (No Matter How High I Get) I’ll Still Be Looking Up To You (1985)
23. Anita Baker – Angel (1983)
24. Donald Fagen – I.G.Y. (1982)
25. Leonard Cohen – Be For Real (1992)
26. Norah Jones – Back To Manhattan (2009)
27. Amos Lee – Flower (2011)
28. Justin Timberlake – (Another Song) All Over Again (2006)

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Previous Session Musicians:
Any Major Backing Singers Vol. 1
The Roy Bittan Collection
The Larry Carlton Collection
The Hal Blaine Collection Vol. 1
The Hal Blaine Collection Vol. 2
The Steve Gadd Collection Vol. 1
The Steve Gadd Collection Vol. 2
The Steve Gadd Collection Vol. 3
The Jim Gordon Collection Vol. 1
The Jim Gordon Collection Vol. 2
The Bobby Graham Collection
The Nicky Hopkins Collection
The Louis Johnson Collection
The Jim Keltner Collection Vol. 1
The Jim Keltner Collection Vol. 2
The Bobby Keys Collection
The Ricky Lawson Collection Vol. 1
The Ricky Lawson Collection Vol. 2
The Joe Osborne Collection
The Bernard Purdie Collection Vol. 1
The Bernard Purdie Collection Vol. 2
The Ringo Starr Collection

As I have done over the past few years, I’ll review the hits from fifty years ago in two parts. One follows the hits from 1976 in the UK, the other in the US. This lot picks 23 tracks that were riding high in the UK charts in 1976; some of them were hits too in the US (and it will work vice versa when Volume 2, which will focus on the US charts, comes out).

In the UK, 1976 marked the launch of punk, with a hype that prompted even West Germany’s teen magazine Bravo to write a feature on the Sex Pistols, with a poster — before the band had even released a record (their first UK chart entry was in December).

Even as the year started with the pomp rock of Bohemian Rhapsody, the year really belonged to ABBA, who finally knocked the Queen opus off the top of the charts in late January with Mamma Mia. Two further #1s followed: Fernando in July and Dancing Queen in September. ABBA spent 12 weeks on the top of the UK charts, and added a #3 hit with Money Money Money as the year fizzled out. Three more consecutive #1s would follow in 1977.

That dancing queen felt the beat from the tambourine in a discotheque. And disco music was getting bigger in 1976 — not yet so big that Ethel Merman felt compelled to make a disco LP, but enjoying a certain ubiquity. And UK acts were helping to lead the charge. Tina Charles’ I Love to Love and The Real Thing’s You To Me Are Everything and Can’t Get By Without You brought club vibes to mainstream pop. From Germany, Donna Summer’s Love To Love You Baby and Silver Convention’s Fly Robin Fly were, well, flying high in the charts. From the US, Tavares’ Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel was a slice of disco joy.

While Ethel Merman and Sesame Street were still holding their disco fire, one novelty record already blazed a trail for the joy-destroying trivialisation of the genre: Rick Dees’ Disco Duck, perhaps the worst record of 1976.

Dees had plenty of competition. JJ Barrie’s dreadful No Charge, a spoken-word country moral tale about unpaid motherhood, spent weeks at #1. The Wurzels’ belated comedy cover of Melanie’s Brand New Key, reworked as Combiner Harvester, introduced agricultural humour to the charts. Robin Sarstedt’s My Resistance Is Low sounded like a Disney movie reject. And punk found an antidote in Our Kid, a Liverpool vocal quartet of boys, led by a 12-year-old with a pudding-bowl haircut, whose You Just Might See Me Cry probably made many people weep with anger.

The closer on this mix might or might it be a novelty tune. The Kursaal Flyers’ Little Does She Know is deliberately and gloriously overproduced — producer Mike Batt said he was going for a Phil Spector effect. Cheating songs are rarely set in laundromats, nor do they tend to refer to dropped bikinis that had been bought in Rome. But the Kursaal Flyers were not usually a novelty band trading in parody, so I assume that they played the song straight.

The year’s biggest-selling single in the UK was the Eurovision winner Save Your Kisses for Me by Brotherhood of Man. The passage of time has eased my objections to this lightweight number. It’s a harmless and catchy singalong tune. But it doesn’t feature in this mix.

The most unexpected record was the born-again Christian Cliff Richard singing about a Devil Woman, a song about a stray cat with evil eyes and a lady with bad intent corrupting our clean Clifford. It’s a decent rock number, and rock music was still very much around. Status Quo were chugging their boogie riff, and Thin Lizzy made a great comeback with The Boys Are Back In Town (featured here, like all tracks, in its single version. I’ve replaced that in my folder with the full album cut).

As the Sex Pistols made their chart debut with Anarchy In The UK in December, peaking at #38, the charts were topped by Showaddywaddy with their rock & roll revivalist Under The Moon Of Love and Johnny Mathis’ adult-oriented When A Child Is Born. Punk would make its mark in 1977, but even in that year, the top positions in the UK charts would defy all ideas of revolution.

Will I make Hits From 1977 mixes next year? I don’t know yet — the lack of comments for the predecessor mixes over the past couple of years suggests that this series is more a self- than crowd-pleasing exercise. I did a Life In Vinyl 1977 mix some years ago, which covers that year. But the well of hits goes deeper than my vinyl acquisitions of that year. You tell me in the Comments or on my Facebook whether you want Any Major Hits From 1977.

Meanwhile, the US hits of 1976 will follow soon.

Links for all past mixes in the series are up.  If you dig the feel of 1976, take a look at the collection of posters from West-Germany’s Bravo magazine in 1976 (other years are available, too)

As with other Any Major Hit mixes, the sequencing is roughly chronological. The mix is timed to fit on as standard CD-R and includes home-discoed covers and the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. Slik – Forever And Ever
2. Tina Charles – I Love To Love
3. Billy Ocean – Love Really Hurts Without You
4. R&J Stone – We Do It
5. Barry White – You See The Trouble With Me
6. Harpo – Movie Star
7. Sailor – Girls Girls Girls
8. Cliff Richard – Devil Woman
9. Sutherlands Brothers & Quiver – Arms Of Mary
10. Jimmy James & The Vagabonds – I’ll Go Where Your Music Takes Me
11. Melba Moore – This Is It
12. Real Thing – You To Me Are Everything
13. Gallagher & Lyle – Heart On My Sleeve
14. Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town
15. David Dundas – Jeans On
16. Jesse Green – Nice And Slow
17. Johnny Wakelin – In Zaire
18. Sherbet – Howzat
19. Leo Sayer – You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
20. Showaddywaddy – Under The Moon Of Love
21. Bonnie Tyler – Lost In France
22. Electric Light Orchestra – Livin’ Thing
23. Kursaal Flyers – Little Does She Know

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Any Major Hits from 1944
Any Major Hits from 1947
Any Major Hits from 1961
Any Major Hits from 1970
Any Major Hits from 1971
Any Major Hits from 1972 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1972 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1973 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1973 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1974 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1974 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1975 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1975 Vol. 2

A Year in Hits
More CD-R Mixes

In 1966, pop music was in a state of transition, with established stars still dominant but increasingly challenged by new sounds, new attitudes and new expectations of what a hit record could be. Much of it was informed by the British invasion, which in turn had given rise to garage rock.

Sixty years ago, the British Invasion, led a couple of years earlier by The Beatles, was in full flow, with Herman’s Hermits especially chasing hit after hit. Also featuring prominently in the US charts were acts like The Yardbirds, Rolling Stones, The Hollies, Donovan, The Mindbenders, The Troggs, Peter & Gordon, The Kinks etc.

But the biggest songs of 1966 in the US were distinctly American: California Dreaming by The Mamas and The Papas, followed by garage rock band ? And The Mysterians with 96 Tears.

In the UK, Green, Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones was the biggest-selling single of 1966 — a British crooner singing a cover of a country song!

In the US and the UK, the year belonged above all to The Beatles. They had an extraordinary five #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966, and three chart-toppers (of three single releases) in the UK, plus a cover of their Michelle by the Overlanders. Their commercial dominance was achieved with a range of styles: folk-rock, pop, ballad, psychedelia and a children’s singalong. The Beach Boys, meanwhile, matched them artistically when the astonishing Good Vibrations was released late in the year.

Soul was a defining force in the US. Motown enjoyed a golden year, with The Supremes scoring two US No 1s (My World Is Empty Without You and You Can’t Hurry Love), while acts like the Four Tops, Martha and the Vandellas, The Temptations, The Marvelettes and Stevie Wonder were ever-present on radio, as were other soul acts like Wilson Picket, James Brown, Robert Parker, and Percy Sledge.

In the Billboard Top 20 of 1966, a quarter of the entries were soul acts: Jimmy Ruffin (What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted, #3), Four Tops (Reach Out I’ll Be There, #5), The Supremes (You Can’t Hurry Love, #13), Bobby Hebb (Sunny, #14), and Lee Dorsey (Working In The Coal Mine, #19).

Across both markets, folk-rock flourished. Simon & Garfunkel’s The Sound Of Silence, a late 1965 hit in the US but still charting high as 1966 broke, had opened the door for more introspective songwriting in pop (they had a big hit in ’66 with I Am A Rock), while Bob Dylan’s influence was felt even in records he did not make. Folkie Bob Lind features here with Elusive Butterfly, a #5 hit in both the US and the UK. In Britain, a concurrent cover of Elusive Butterfly by Val Doonican also reached #5.

At the same time, novelty (including right-wing stuff like The Ballad Of The Green Berets) and light pop had not disappeared: Petula Clark, Herb Alpert, Jim Reeves and even Frank Sinatra still found room in the upper reaches of the charts — as did Sinatra’s daughter Nancy, with These Boots Are Made For Walking (she features here with a hit she had towards the end of the year).

The mix ends with a Monkees song written by Neil Diamond, and one of Diamonds earliest hits, I’ve Got The Feelin’ (Oh No No). Unlike I’m A Believer, the follow-up to his first big US hit, Cherry Cherry, peaked at only #16.Links for all past mixes in the series are up. As with other Any Major Hits mixes, the sequencing is roughly chronological, in this case based on their appearance in the US charts. The mix is timed to fit on a standard CD-R and includes home-groovied covers and the above text in a PDF. PW in comments.

1. Lou Christie – Lightnin’ Strikes
2. The Supremes – My World Is Empty Without You
3. Bob Lind – Elusive Butterfly
4. Bob Kuban & The In-Men – The Cheater
5. Deon Jackson – Love Makes The World Go Round
6. The Righteous Brothers – (You’re My) Soul And Inspiration
7. The Rolling Stones – 19th Nervous Breakdown
8. The Young Rascals – Good Lovin’
9. The Lovin’ Spoonful – Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind
10. The Mindbenders – Groovy Kind Of Love
11. Walker Brothers – The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
12. Syndicate Of Sound – Little Girl
13. The Beatles – Paperback Writer
14. Dusty Springfield – You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
15. The Association – Along Comes Mary
16. The Capitols – Cool Jerk
17. Crispian St. Peters – The Pied Piper
18. The Happenings – See You In September
19. Donovan – Sunshine Superman
20. Lee Dorsey – Working In The Coal Mine
21. The Temptations – Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
22. Four Tops – Reach Out I’ll Be There
23. Count Five – Psychotic Reaction
24. Johnny Rivers – The Poor Side Of Town
25. James & Bobby Purify – I’m Your Puppet
26. Brenda Lee – Coming On Strong
27. Nancy Sinatra – Sugar Town
28. The Monkees – I’m A Believer
29. Neil Diamond – I’ve Got The Feelin’ (Oh No No)

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Any Major Hits from 1944
Any Major Hits from 1947
Any Major Hits from 1961
Any Major Hits from 1970
Any Major Hits from 1971
Any Major Hits from 1972 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1972 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1973 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1973 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1974 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1974 Vol. 2
Any Major Hits from 1975 Vol. 1
Any Major Hits from 1975 Vol. 2

A Year in Hits
More CD-R Mixes

The year 1986, forty years ago, has a reputation as one of the worst years in pop music. And if I look at the chart-toppers in the UK charts, about half are songs I’ll be delighted never to hear again. But the tastes of the masses don’t define a year. It was actually a pretty good year.

In 1986, pop music was in a transition. The teen-dream acts and their fans were maturing — Wham! split up, Duran Duran were reduced to a trio, Spandau Ballet were growing up (neither of the latter two were in contention for inclusion here).

But exciting new acts appeared on the scene, led by the Pet Shop Boys. Hip hop was also breaking through commercially, with Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa and the Beastie Boys releasing albums that crossed over; and in the UK, the dance revolution started with house hits charting, particularly the superb Love Can’t Turn Around by Farley “Jackmaster” Funk (British readers may recall singer Darryl Pandy’s explosive performance on Top of the Pops).

The album-buying clientele had enough quality on the shelves to be kept entertained. Here we have my favourite 20 albums of 1986. As always, these are the albums of that year I enjoy the most — not the best, not the most influential, not the most notable.

Nobody else in the world will have my exact Top 20, so it is unique. Before we look at what made my 20, let’s have a quick look at what didn’t. Paul Simon’s Graceland, all debates about boycott-busting aside, is in many ways a great album, maybe the best of the year. And with all the South African musicians on it, I should love it — but somehow I don’t. I don’t like Nick Cave much, so Kicking Against The Pricks wasn’t in contention.

I do like a bit of Bon Jovi from time to time, but not a whole album of it, so no Slippery When Wet. For some reason I don’t mind Phil Collins’ solo stuff, but can’t do with Genesis, even though In Too Deep from Invisible Touch is a lovely ballad. I liked a-ha’s debut album, but 1986’s Scoundrel Days just didn’t touch me, other than the superb Manhattan Skyline.

A few albums scratched at the door for inclusion: Cameo’s Word Up!, The Redskins’ Neither Washington Nor Moscow, Freddie McGregor’s All In The Same Boat, and Prince’s Parade. The latter suffers from not being another Prince album; I simply never listen to Parade. One of these actually got bumped at the last minute when I realised that a particular album was released in 1986, not ’87.

Of my Top 20, most albums I owned at the time, so nostalgia might have blinded me to possible deficiencies on some of them. Only four albums here I got into at a later point: Van Morrison’s No Guru, No Method, No Teacher just a couple of years later, and Steve Earle’s Guitar Town much later. I knew most of Peter Gabriel’s So at the time — my friends played it often enough — and I bought two of the singles, Don’t Give Up and In Your Eyes. But I hated Sledgehammer, so never bought the LP. Listening to So later revealed to me its excellence. I still skip Sledgehammer though.

And the David Sanborn & Bob James Double Vision album I bought in 1988, when I first heard the magnificent Maputo. They feature here with a lovely cover of Since I Fell For You, with vocals by Al Jarreau.

I’m not a huge Madonna fan, but True Blue is a masterful pop album. It includes five hit single releases — and if La Isla Bonita was the last of these, then the album did something right. I’ve picked the one ballad from the set, a truly great vocal performance by Madge. It was a hit at around the same time as another ballad with truly great vocals, George Michael’s A Different Corner. The two artists should have done a duet…

On past Albums of the Year mixes I excluded live albums. I couldn’t do that for 1986, when two of my all-time favourite live sets were released: Bruce Springsteen’s Live 1975-1986 box set and Maze’s Live In Los Angeles. The latter might have seemed superfluous, coming just five year’s after the outstanding Live In New Orleans album, but Maze Featuring Frankie Beverley are best enjoyed live.

Walk Like An Egyptian puts The Bangles at risk of being reduced to a novelty act, but that would be an injustice and an act of ignorance. Even that slightly annoying song is very well put together. So is the rest of the Different Light album. The gorgeous If She Knew What She Wants featured in A Life In Vinyl 1986 Vol. 1.

The Pet Shop Boys’ Suburbia featured on A Life In Vinyl 1986 Vol. 2. That was the great “The Full Horror” remix; here we have the album version of my favourite PSB song.

For some people, Janet Jackson’s Control is 1986’s best album. They might be right: it’s one of the few albums of the year that signposted the future. This doesn’t mean that the future turned out great — Janet Jackson pioneered the endless choreographed dance interludes in dance-pop music — but for the moment, Control was a self-assured work of joy.

Some might regard The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead as the best of 1986. I’m not among them, but I would rate it as their best, speaking as somebody who went through and survived an intense period of Smiths fanship. But the album’s genius resides not so much in Morrissey’s lyrics and vocals, but in Johnny Marr’s guitar and — often forgotten — Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce’s rhythm section.

Of course, Morrissey came up with some great lyrics, especially on the rightly much-loved There Is A Light That Never Goes Out and the beautifully morose I Know It’s Over. But then there are the stupidly-punning Vicar In A Tutu, the bile-shooting Frankly Mr Shankly, the unnecessary Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others… Morrissey wasn’t always as hilarious as he thought. Some might add the dyslexic Cemetry Gates as a crime against lyrics, but I like that one. Still, none of those are Girlfriend In A Coma, which would come a year later.

A lesser-know act here is Hipsway, who didn’t reach stardom despite my enthusiastic advocacy. The Scottish band had on solitary UK Top 20 hit, the irresistible The Honeythief (also on A Life In Vinyl 1986 Vol. 1), and four other singles tickled the Top 75. The featured track reached #55. It, and the band, deserved better. But for inadequate promotion and line-up changes, Hipsway might have become big, even without my enthusiastic promotion.

The most obscure artist here though is the excellent soul singer Tashan, and his inconspicuousness in the annals of 1980s soul is a real shame.  His Chasin’ A Dream album (which I might have bought in 1987) was released on Def Jam. While it was very much a soul affair with no rapping or scratching, the air of hip hop is discernible. Disappointingly, it was not a commercially successful album. Tashan went on to release three more albums between 1989 and 2002; none of them made him the star he deserved to be.

I don’t suppose that for many people, a playlist of music from 1986 would open with Janet Jackson’s funkiest number and close with a show tune. But I can listen to the soundtrack of Little Shop Of Horrors at any time. Of course, I love the initially panned film as well — more than the stage show because I actually like the film’s denouement. Because who doesn’t like a happy ending?

And if there was only one album I may keep from 1986? I think it would be the Springsteen live box set (if that’s not allowed, I take the Anita Baker album). So, what are your albums of 1986?

This mix won’t fit on a CD-R but I’ve made covers anyway, and the above text in PDF format. PW in comments.

1. Janet Jackson – Nasty (Control)
2. Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia (Please)
3. The Bangles – Walking Down Your Street (Different Light)
4. Hipsway – Long Black Limousine (Hipsway)
5. Madonna – Live To Tell (True Blue)
6. Anita Baker – Same Ole Love (Rapture)
7. Tashan – Ooh We Baby (Chasin’ A Dream)
8. Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly – Back In Stride (Live in L.A.)
9. Crowded House – Something So Strong (Crowded House)
10. The Housemartins – Flag Day (London 0 Hull 4)
11. The Smiths – I Know Its Over (The Queen Is Dead)
12. Depeche Mode – A Question Of Lust (Black Celebration)
13. Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes (So)
14. Bruce Springsteen – Bobby Jean (Live 1975-1985)
15. Steve Earle – Down The Road (Guitar Town)
16. Van Morrison – Foreign Window (No Guru, No Method, No Teacher)
17. Luther Vandross – See Me (Give Me A Reason)
18. Freddie Jackson & Melba Moore – A Little Bit More (Just Like The First Time)
19. Bob James & David Sanborn feat. Al Jarreau – Since I Fell For You (Double Vision)
20. Rick Moranis & Ellen Greene – Suddenly, Seymour (Little Shop Of Horrors OST)

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Previous Albums of the Year mixes:
1971 Vol. 1
1971 Vol. 2
1972
1973
1974
1975
1982
1983
1984
1985

More Albums of the Year
More CD-R Mixes