playlist
Music Monday: Wait (Sarah McLachlan) 1994
Returning to my Samsung playlist, submitted for your approval…
“You know if I leave you now
It doesn’t mean that I love you any less
It’s just the state I’m in
I can’t be good to anyone else like this…”
The second track from the album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, the song was never released as a single, so there is no chart data. The album, itself, reached #5 on the Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM), #6 on the Canadian Albums (The Record), #50 on the US Billboard 200 and #102 on the Australian Albums (ARIA) chart.
The song “Wait” by Sarah McLachlan is a deeply emotional and poignant composition that delves into themes of love, loss and the passage of time. With her heartfelt lyrics and soulful melodies, McLachlan pulls at the heartstrings of listeners, conveying a raw sense of vulnerability and longing. The song explores a complex range of emotions, offering a profound reflection on the bittersweet nature of human connections.
BeatCrave
Bob Larson
October 9, 2023
This was a great album in totality. She is touring for the album’s 30th anniversary.
Lyrics (and meanings)
Song Sunday: Early Warning
“Too young to know, too old to listen…”
Sunday evening’s playlist submission is Early Warning by Australian band Baby Animals. The second track from their debut album Baby Animals, it was released on April 21, 1991, as their debut single. Written by Suze DeMarchi, Dave Leslie and Eddie Parise, the song was nominated for Single of the Year and Song of the Year in 1992 by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The album was awarded Album of the Year at The Arias Awards.
I discovered this band when their third track Painless was released in the US in November 1991. Suze’s voice is stunning and powerful and, her band is as hard rocking as any from Downunder. I bought the CD and there’s not a bad song on it. It deserved Album of the Year. They broke up in 1996 but, reformed in 2007. They continue to perform and record.
Baby Animals Channel From 1992
MTV’s Video From 1991
Song Sunday: Call Me (Blondie)
Returning to my phone playlist, I submit for your approval on this chilly Sunday night, Blondie‘s Call Me, the theme from the 1980 movie American Gigolo. I was 13 when this film came out and, with its “R” rating, I wasn’t allowed to see it (I caught it on HBO, later, tho…). The drum beat opens the movie as Richard Gere cruises in a black Mercedes. This movie was so bad-ass (to a teenager) and Siskel & Ebert gave it a decent rating but, the rest of the critics panned it. Oh, well. This was the movie that put Gere on my radar (I hadn’t seen Looking For Mr. Goodbar).
Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder, he originally approached Stevie Nicks to assist in composing and performing a song for the soundtrack but, she was prevented by contract to another company. Moroder then asked Debbie Harry and she fashioned lyrics, and the melody, in a few hours.
The song made it to the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 and stayed there for six weeks. It also made it to #1 in Canada, the UK and in Record World magazine. There are 20 covers of this song with Blondie re-recording it in 2014 and, a live cover done in 2002.
Movie Opening
Single
Extended Version
Song Sunday: Baba O’Riley
“It’s only teenage wasteland…”
It’s another visit to my Samsung phone playlist.
A blending of two names, Meher Baba and Terry Riley (philosophical and musical mentors to Pete Townsend), Baba O’Riley was introduced to the world in August 1971 and was the lead track on the album Who’s Next. Written by Townsend, it was originally intended for his Lifehouse rock opera, a future follow-up to Tommy. That never came to pass but, a Lifehouse Chronicles box set was released in 2000.
The song was never released as a single in the UK or the US but, was certified platinum in the UK, anyway. It was chosen as the main theme for the TV series CSI: NY. The album peaked at #1 in the UK and #4 in the US.
Sadly, Keith Moon passed away seven years later.
Song Sunday: Africa (Toto)
Update:
The blog continues to evolve and Song Saturday has changed to Song Sunday. ~Vic
“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you…”
Changing things a bit. I’ve got Music Mondays and I’ve had Tune Tuesdays (I may return to that) that showcase music by release date, in five year increments (if I can). Early on, I listed number ones, only. There was also my jump into the 30-Day Song Challenge back in December 2018. Now, I’m stretching Saturday out a bit for some music, too…an idea I got from the Nostalgic Italian. I might even stretch it to Sunday, if I take a notion to. It just depends upon my mood. All blogs evolve and, I’m always looking for new and different things.
This is a song on my playlist on my phone. I have a lot of music on my phone…things that I love to hear when I go out for my afternoon and evening walks or, just sitting in my Adirondack chair, watching the sunset. ~Vic
This song came out in the US in October 1982 and is the tenth track from the album Toto IV. Written by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, it made it to number one for one week in February 1983.
From Mix Online:
Paich recalls writing Africa on his living room piano.
“Over many years, I had been taken by the UNICEF ads with the pictures of Africa and the starving children. I had always wanted to do something to connect with that and bring more attention to the continent. I wanted to go there, too, so, I sort of invented a song that put me in Africa. I was hearing the melody in my head and, I sat down and played the music in about 10 minutes. And, then, the chorus came out. I sang the chorus out as you hear it. It was like God channeling it. I thought, ‘I’m talented but, I’m not that talented. Something just happened here!'”
Paich, then, proceeded to work on the lyrics for another six months. He brought the skeleton to drummer Jeff Porcaro with the idea of having percussion being an integral part of the composition.
“Jeff got out African sticks with bottle caps that his dad (Joe Porcaro) and Emil Richards (both percussionists) used on National Geographic films. He brought in a marimba and a wooden xylophone kind of thing. This was pre-synthesizer. We didn’t have samples back then. You’re hearing bass marimba, that other instrument and you’re hearing, probably, one of the first loops that was ever done.”
Sadly, Jeff Porcaro passed away nearly ten years later.
Cosmic-Observation 