samsung 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)
Music Monday: Victim Of Love (Eagles) 1976
For the New Year, I will be doing some blog-housekeeping. I have a tendency to stretch myself thin with headings and posts. I will be doing some consolidating. Song Sunday, News of the Day (NOTD) & Word of the Day (WOTD) are gone. I jettisoned some other headings about a year, ago. On to the show…~Vic
Returning to my Samsung playlist, submitted for your approval…
“Tell me your secrets, I’ll tell you mine…”
The second track, on side two, from the album Hotel California, Victim of Love was never released as a single. It was the B-Side to New Kid in Town, released December 7, 1976 and did get some airplay as an album track over the years.
By the time the Eagles reached the mid-1970s, they were on top of the world. They had been sorting their way through every rock trope they could think of and the album One of These Nights spawned three different singles. With success also comes pressure, though and the band had their backs against the wall when it came time to make Hotel California. When talking about making the concept for the album, Don Henley mentioned wanting to say something about the state of Hollywood, saying, “There’s a fine line between the American dream and the American nightmare.” The rest of the band were more than willing to comply, with Joe Walsh coming up with the original lick for Life in the Fast Lane on a whim.
Walsh had claimed to use the lick as a warm-up exercise but, it turned into its own piece once Glenn Frey got the title for the song. While guitarist Don Felder came up with the main chord progression for the title track, he had his sights on another song that he wrote for the album. Midway through recording, Felder said that he wanted to sing the track Victim of Love, which he claimed to have written by himself. As Henley remembers, what Felder presented the band with was just a collection of riffs, which was then turned into a song by Frey and J.D. Souther.
After one butchered take after the next, the band told Felder that it would be better if he didn’t sing the song, only for Felder to put his foot down. The band acquiesced and let Felder do his own take on the song but, they were also keeping a close eye on their manager as well. As the sessions were winding down, the band gave manager Irving Azoff a job…take Felder out to dinner while they re-recorded the entire track. When Felder found out that he was being erased from the song, he mentioned feeling betrayed…”It was like Don was taking that song from me. I had been promised a song on the next record.”
While Henley, to this day, disputes that there were no promises made to Felder, this started the dividing line between the band. As the touring got bigger and bigger, Felder started to get more resentful towards Frey and Henley for getting all of the songwriting royalties. By the time the band pulled into Long Beach for a benefit concert, Felder took it one step too far after making an off-handed remark to Senator Alan Cranston about the free show. Compared to the petty squabbling behind the scenes, there was audio taken of the infamous gig, which led to Frey and Felder threatening to kill each other onstage. When the house lights went out that night, Felder took his guitar, smashed it and drove off, never to be heard from again.
Once bassist Timothy B. Schmidt called Frey about the next rehearsals, he confirmed the worst. The band was history. The Eagles’ music may have reeked of California sunshine but, their final days ended with plotting, resentment and some of the worst drama a band could ask for.
Victim Of Love: The Song That Broke Up The Eagles
Tim Coffman
Far Out Magazine UK
February 12, 2023
♦The Treacherous Feud (Far Out Magazine UK/Arun Starkey/September 24, 2022)
Song Sunday: Unchained Melody (Righteous Brothers)
Returning to my Samsung playlist, submitted for your approval…
“I’ll be coming home, wait for me…”
This song is older than I am. My dad liked the Righteous Brothers and their music was in my house, growing up. This is one of my favorites. It has an interesting background. Composed by Alex North in 1955 (a song he’d written in the 1930s), the lyrics were written by Hy Zaret. It was the theme to the movie Unchained, a film about a convict in a medium-security prison, wanting desperately to escape and go home to his wife. This was the movie’s “Melody.” Todd Duncan was the singer for the soundtrack.
There are over 1,500 recordings of this song, with the most notable being the Righteous Brothers’ version. Recorded by the duo in 1965 for Philles Records, Bobby Hatfield won a coin toss to sing it solo on their fifth album Just Once In My Life, according to Bill Medley. [Note: According to the Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Google Books), Just Once In My Life is listed as their fourth album. This reflects, otherwise.] Hatfield changed the song a bit during recordings. He decided to sing “I need your love…” in the final verse much higher than previous singers.
Ken Sharp: “Bobby’s vocals on Unchained Melody […] are stunning. Did he recognize his gift?”
Medley: “I don’t think he knew how good he was. I don’t think either one of us were thinking…are we good or not? I think we were just saying…thank God people enjoy what we’re doing. We admired so many other people and we certainly didn’t feel we were above anyone but, Bobby was sensational.
I happened to produce Unchained Melody. I know a lot of people think Phil (Spector) did it but, I produced and arranged it. I had the arrangement all done and, Bobby came in, sang it twice and that was it. I played piano and sang vocal background on it. [If] I knew that it was gonna be a hit, I certainly would have brought in a better piano player [laughing].”
Soul & Inspiration: A Conversation With Bill Medley Of The Righteous Brothers
Rockcellar Magazine [Web Archive]
Ken Sharp
May 6, 2014
Recorded on the “B” side of the single Hung On You from the album Back To Back, radio DJs weren’t interested in it and flipped the record over. Per Medley, producer Phil Spector was so pissed off, he began calling the radio stations to make them stop playing the wrong song. Thankfully, he was unsuccessful and the song made it to #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100, the week of September 4, 1965. It re-appeared in the Billboard charts in 1990 when the movie Ghost was released July 13. Two versions of the song wound up in the charts at the same time, the original 1965 version and a new recording by Hatfield. [They] became the first act to have two versions of the same song in the Top 20 at the same time.
I had no idea that Elvis Presley did his own version. The first track from the album Moody Blue, it was recorded June 21, 1977 and released in March 1978. It peaked at #6 on the US Hot Country Songs chart.
Cover Me: The Stories Behind The Greatest Cover Songs Of All Time (WorldCat Library)
The Time Of My Life: A Righteous Brother’s Memoir (Google Books)
Bobby Hatfield Memorial (Spectropop)
Song Sunday: Take A Chance On Me (ABBA)
Returning to my Samsung playlist…submitted for your approval. ~Vic
“My love is strong enough to last when things are rough, It’s magic…”
I have loved ABBA since their music showed up on the radio. Their first album in 1973 didn’t make it to the US. They finally got noticed, here, with their second album in 1974. I clearly remember hearing Waterloo during the summer after second grade (I was seven). I was permanently hooked. I still love them and I am in my middle 50s.
The second track from the album ABBA: The Album, released in December 1977, Take A Chance On Me peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 & #9 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary, in July 1978 and, #5 on Cash Box in April 1978. Written and produced by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, the song was one of ABBA’s first singles in which their manager Stig Anderson did not assist with writing the lyrics […]. In the UK Charts, it was number #1 and, of ABBA’s Top 20 biggest songs, this song is #4. It was a #1 hit in Austria, Belgium and Ireland. It was certified Gold in Canada, Denmark, the UK & the US.
English duo Erasure did a version of the song, released in June of 1992. It was the third track on their album Abba-esque. I am not fond of the remake but, I am including two videos, below.
I was also lucky to come across an actual live version of them singing this on a 1978 Olivia Newton-John television special. Most “live” videos are them lip-synching.
Official Video
Olivia’s Show
Erasure Version
Erasure Top of the Pops
Song Sunday: Sail On (Commodores)
Returning to my Samsung playlist…submitted for your approval. ~Vic
“I know it’s a shame but, I’m giving you back your name…”
Written by Lionel Richie and, produced by James Anthony Carmichael & the Comodores, this was released on July 27, 1979. I was 12 years old and it was the summer before 8th grade. I loved it as soon as I heard it on the radio.
The 8th track from the album Midnight Magic, it was the first single released from the album and it entered the Hot 100 on August 11, peaking at #4. It did very well in the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK. Richie re-recorded the song with Tim McGraw for his tenth album Tuskegee.
Additional:
♦ The Commodores~Sail On (Saved on the Internet Archive)
♦ Cash Box: A Sparkling Ballad (World Radio History/August 11, 1979)
♦ Billboard: A Surprising Country Flavored Ballad (World Radio History/August 11, 1979)
♦ Record World: A Beautiful Country-Colored Ballad (World Radio History/August 11, 1979)
♦ Real Reason Why Richie Left (Grunge/A. C. Grimes/March 30, 2020)
♦ The Commodores (Encyclopedia of Alabama/Ben Berntson/July 3, 2012)
♦ Commodores Official Website
Full Version
Richie & McGraw
Song Sunday: Painless
“Well yesterday was years ago and you have nothing more to show…”
Returning to my Samsung playlist on this fine Sunday morning… ~Vic
I posted a Baby Animals song, previously, in 2020. Painless is the 3rd track from their same debut album and the third single, released in November of 1991. I remember hearing this on Rock 92 out of Greensboro. This was the only single to make it onto Billboard’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, peaking at #29.
Song Sunday: Oblivion Theme
“But our love was a song, sung by a dying swan…”
This Sunday evening’s Samsung playlist submission comes from the movie Oblivion. I never saw the movie at the theater but, caught it on HBO at my uncle’s house (I was dog-sitting). It is a fascinating movie and very sad. It is visually stunning with a unique cast and Tom Cruise loves to play the action hero. At the end of the movie, as the credits roll, this song kicks in. It immediately gave me chills and made me cry.
Director Joseph Kosinski chose French electronic band M83 to compose the soundtrack for the movie and brought in Joseph Trapanese to co-write the score. He’d used Daft Punk for Tron: Legacy but, wanted a different sound for Oblivion.
Written by Anthony Gonzalez and Susanne Sundfør, Sundfør handled lead vocals. She has a stunning voice. Released as a single on March 26, 2013, the only chart that the song shows up in is the French SNEP singles chart. It debuted at 114 the week of April 20 but, only lasted for three weeks. Sundfør made her US television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on April 17.
“Don’t forget to stick around for the credits that are set to M83’s brilliant title song, Oblivion featuring Susanne Sundfør.”
Movie Review: Space Survivors Battle Oblivion
The Express Tribune
Ameer Hamza Ahmad
May 6, 2013
“Also, the film’s closing credits track, also called “Oblivion” and featuring vocals by Susanne Sundfor, might be the best theme song since “Skyfall.”
Oblivion Review: 10 Things You Should Know
Moviefone
Drew Taylor
April 18, 2013
“…and now we get to hear “Oblivion,” a slow, stately and gorgeous six-minute collaboration with the Norwegian singer Susanne Sundfør.”
M86 – “Oblivion” (Feat. Susanne Sundfør)
Stereogum
Tom Breihan
March 26, 2013
Additional Reading:
M83 Enter ‘Oblivion’ With Tom Cruise (Rolling Stone/Steve Baltin/February 13, 2013)
US Debut
Main Theme Music
Song Sunday: Natural One
“Your world is falling down, you may as well crash with me…”
Returning to my Samsung playlist for this Sunday evening submission, I present Natural One by The Folk Implosion. Written by Lou Barlow and bassist Wally Gagel of Orbit, it was the seventh song on the soundtrack album from the 1995 movie Kids, though it wasn’t actually played in the film. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #54 on December 9, 1995 and peaked at #29 on February 3, 1996. It peaked at #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart on December 16, 1995 and peaked at #21 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart on February 17, 1996. I hope you enjoy. ~Vic
How Lou Barlow Soundtracked 1995 (Vice/Cam Lindsey/03-21-2017)
Instagram Account
Bandcamp Account
Song Sunday: Machinehead
“Leaning on my conscience wall…”
This Sunday’s song submission, from my Samsung playlist, is Machinehead by the British alternative grunge rock band Bush, formed in London, England, in 1992. The seventh track from the album Sixteen Stone, it was the fifth and final single from their 1994 debut. Released April 9, 1996, it was written by lead singer Gavin Rossdale. It reached #1 on the Canada Rock/Alternative chart, #3 on the UK’s Rock & Metal chart and, #4 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay & Mainstream Rock charts.
The song won the MTV Movie Award for Best Song from a Movie (1997) and was nominated for the MTV Music Video Awards Best Video from a Film (Fear 1996).
Rossdale’s dog, Wilson, makes an appearance in the video.
Media Appearances
Bush Official (Website)
Song Sunday: Fade Into You
“I think it’s strange you never knew…”
Sunday evening’s playlist submission is Fade Into You by alternative band Mazzy Star. Released April 12, 1994, it is the first track on the album So Tonight That I Might See. Written by Hope Sandoval and David Roback, it was a surprise hit, peaking at #44 on Billboard’s Hot 100, #19 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, #3 on the Modern Rock Tracks (Alternative Songs, now) chart and #48 on the UK Singles chart. It was Mazzy Star‘s only single to make to make the Billboard Hot 100. It has been used, frequently, in movies, most notably Starship Troopers, Lord of War, Burlesque and Thank You For Your Service plus several TV shows.
I’d never heard of Mazzy Star or heard this song when it originally came out. I am late to the party finding this, just discovering them a few years ago. Sadly, David Roback passed away February 24, 2020, from cancer.
Mazzy Star Official (Facebook Page)
MTV Version
Monochrome Version
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: Desperate But Not Serious
“If you don’t stop, you will go blind…”
Rolling down the Samsung playlist for a Sunday evening submission, we come to Adam Ant or, Stuart Leslie Goddard and Desperate But Not Serious. The fourth track from the album Friend or Foe, it was co-written by Goddard and Marco Pirroni and, released November 19, 1982, the third single from his solo debut. This is the album that brought us Goody Two Shoes that went to number #1 in Australia and the UK. Desperate didn’t fare as well peaking at #33 in the UK and #66 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
I bought the album as a cassette and nearly wore it out. This is what I term as eclectic music. It’s different, it’s catchy, Goddard has a crazy voice that he plays to the hilt and the writing is very coy and, tongue-in-cheek. He will be at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas, April 28, 2021. I’ve been to that venue many times. I would love to see him there. ~Vic
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
Cosmic-Observation 