to answer your question, i heard it through a friend of a friend, maybe at a record store ? it was very random and i wasn't expecting most people to be familiar
had always loved the song, wendell's vocal delivery really seals the deal imo
― budo jeru, Thursday, 16 May 2019 17:53 (five years ago) link
like many americans i was familiar with the naked eyes version via radio since childhood
― budo jeru, Thursday, 16 May 2019 17:54 (five years ago) link
^ roy ayers version was on my ballot
― budo jeru, Thursday, May 16, 2019 12:51 PM (four minutes ago)
Crap -- the total points are right but the version breakdown should include Ayers, sorry about that.
― WmC, Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:02 (five years ago) link
B.J. Thomas should be 292 pointsRoy Ayers, from Ubiquity (1970), 26 points — https://youtu.be/8gHPNshin1g
― WmC, Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:06 (five years ago) link
similar to "Wives & Lovers," the megahits of the late '60s are so familiar to me, some I know as well as the Beatles' records. They were ubiquitous on TV variety as well as radio.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:10 (five years ago) link
ubiquitous on TV variety
I don't think the Youth of Today realize how many hours of variety shows were on every week back then. The music clearances situation, I assume, makes it almost impossible to collect these on home video or streaming. I can't see a picture of Glen Campbell without thinking of him coming onstage in his series and doing the "HI! I'M GLEN CAMPBELL!" bit.
― WmC, Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:21 (five years ago) link
Some of those shows *have* gotten the boxed set treatment. Cash, Smothers Brothers, Sonny & Cher (I think)....
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:24 (five years ago) link
Speaking of which, recent Ben Monder album has versions of both “The Windows of the World” and “Galveston.” (He’s a big Jimmy Webb fan)
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:26 (five years ago) link
UK variety shows tended to be slightly different from what i remember - less of them based around a single personality, at least by the 70s, tho i'm sure Cilla and Lulu had shows. They were just as ubiquitous tho.
If anything these songs are so familiar to me because tapes of Dionne and Dusty were two of my dad's car favourites, and he didn't have many favourites.
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:37 (five years ago) link
not to mention the decades channel xp
― budo jeru, Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:40 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/wIwOUsb.jpg
17. Any Day Now — 403 Points, 8 VotesLyric: Bob HilliardElvis Presley, 1969 b-side of "In the Ghetto," 249 points — https://youtu.be/bgM0yxh9DlcChuck Jackson, 1962 Wand Records single, 154 points — https://youtu.be/RPgE991VDwMreally good Elvis alternate take minus the sweetening — https://youtu.be/xg0D_E1WLn8
― WmC, Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:45 (five years ago) link
omg yes to that elvis alt take, so good
― budo jeru, Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:48 (five years ago) link
First underdog in the top 20? Not sure I know it.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:48 (five years ago) link
btw can you imagine trying to do the Vandross "House Is Not a Home" at karaoke?
I always find that kinda over-the-top streeeeetched-out R&B inescapably funny, not sexy
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:54 (five years ago) link
Thought awhile about which version to go with, ended up going with Elvis in my #7 spot. Hadn’t even heard the alternative take, thanks for that.(xp)
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 May 2019 18:56 (five years ago) link
the epistemology of the "House" lyrics is already borderline farcical
a chair is not a house
a room is not a house
what else ya got
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:04 (five years ago) link
Don’t ask me, that’s why I voted for as much Bob Hilliard as I could, although I overlooked one.
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:07 (five years ago) link
I think I overlooked all of em.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:08 (five years ago) link
this goddamn ingrown toenail is not a housemy car keys -- nope, my car keys aren't a house either
― WmC, Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:08 (five years ago) link
I like this Burt "Alfie"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKt4IWKy1mU
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:11 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ptOWuCZkk8
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:12 (five years ago) link
"Any Day Now" was a big Country hit for Ronnie Milsap in the 80s as well.
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:13 (five years ago) link
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius),
just want to say this is very surprising -- in my memory it was big...I know I'd heard it many times before I got the Rhino box in 1998 but now I can't say where.
xp I remember that Milsap version! I should have thought of it when I was putting together the big spotify playlist.
― WmC, Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:16 (five years ago) link
I'd cut Hal David a break on those "Royale" end-credits lyrics... clearly meant to be a throwaway, and I'm sure most of the audience had long fled.
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:25 (five years ago) link
The Milsap one was on my ballot before I cut the song
― L'assie (Euler), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:25 (five years ago) link
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:28 (five years ago) link
or The Odd Couple lyrics
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:30 (five years ago) link
OK, last one for today -- tomorrow the big finish, full orchestra, backup singers, everything.
― WmC, Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:47 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/UrjhRtj.jpg
16. Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa — 409 Points, 10 VotesLyric: Hal DavidGene Pitney, 1963 Musicor single, 250 points — https://youtu.be/jIjUaxP7PPEDusty Springfield, from A Girl Called Dusty (1964), 89 points — https://youtu.be/ne9UuzivW1ABurt Bacharach, from Plays His Hits (1966), 70 points — https://youtu.be/5qaR6-iZe-Q
The graphic has Dusty's points wrong, it's 89 for her.
My number 4, a bit of an outlier for Bacharach i think but it's a classic for a reason. The lyric absolutely works.
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 16 May 2019 19:58 (five years ago) link
I gave this one a lot of points, but settled on Burt's wordless version as I enjoyed pretending it was the score to a western or something.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 16 May 2019 22:12 (five years ago) link
The lyrics are good though. It's somewhat tangled up with "By The Time I Get To Phoenix" in my mind. No doubt due partly to the specific place names, but also the way travel, separation and guilt are handled in each. I seem to like the idea of the USA as a land of endless highways with people being sad, or at least contemplative, in distant hotel rooms, as "Check Out Time" involves something quite similar! :)
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 16 May 2019 23:16 (five years ago) link
promise us anything
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 May 2019 02:52 (five years ago) link
"Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa" has this weird, mesmerizing beat that I also associate with "Down in the Boondocks," but I can't think of any other songs that have it. Dusty edged out Gene for me to come in at #10.
― Careless Love Battery (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 May 2019 10:34 (five years ago) link
Good morning, top 15 today! At least until tomorrow, I'll never run a poll again!
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 11:36 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/HfUoDp6.jpg
15. (They Long To Be) Close To You — 426 Points, 12 VotesLyric: Hal DavidThe Carpenters, 1970 single, 410 points — https://youtu.be/iFx-5PGLgb4Gwen Guthrie, 1986 single, 16 points — https://youtu.be/VRMYxp86mOU
Extended version of the Gwen Guthrie version, I guess this was on the 12" single — https://youtu.be/l0VWo8g5Y_o
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 11:40 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/8etQvsO.jpg
14. Wishin' and Hopin' — 441 Points, 11 VotesLyric: Hal DavidDusty Springfield, 1964 single, 441 points — https://youtu.be/gAdTsAKvVTUDusty and Martha Reeves duetting on "Ready Steady Go - The Sound of Motown", 1965 — https://youtu.be/CXP7tt7TQUk
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 11:53 (five years ago) link
My #2
― Jeff W, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:00 (five years ago) link
Are there any gender swap versions of this? Trying to decide if that would work or not.
― Jeff W, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:04 (five years ago) link
Dusty was a great girl with a really soulful voice, but she was very hard to record. We were both perfectionists but Dusty was much harder on herself than she needed to be and I think that if we had ever tried to do an album together, we would have destroyed one another.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:05 (five years ago) link
xp - The Merseybeats do a version. They're gonna wear their hair just for her.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:08 (five years ago) link
Also The Bad Boys, a weirdly slow version.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:13 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/2o9xCag.jpg
13. Don't Make Me Over — 495 Points, 10 VotesLyric: Hal DavidDionne Warwick, b-side of "I Smiled Yesterday," 1962, 467 points — https://youtu.be/LEgxuE7WD6USybil, 1989 single, 28 points — https://youtu.be/fvb6ovTNQPk
Dionne live tv version, 1967 — https://youtu.be/nFvLcCDvdEA
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:28 (five years ago) link
Fun fact: I have no recollection of hearing "Close To You" before Kim Gordon chose it in a Desert Island Discs type segment on radio here in the early 90s. I don't remember hearing Bacharach at all earlier in childhood, with exactly two exceptions: "Raindrops..." and one other that's presumably coming up soon. I'm not sure how I managed this lack of exposure.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:42 (five years ago) link
Burt on "Don't Make Me Over" --
We cut the song at Bell Sound, and when Hal and I brought it to Florence Greenberg, she cried. Not because of how much she liked the record. Florence cried because of how much she [i]didn't like it. Both of us were really taken aback by her reaction but there was nothing we could do or say to make her change her mind. She wound up putting out "Don't Make Me Over" as the B-side of "I Smiled Yesterday," a song we had cut at the same session.[/i]
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 12:53 (five years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/RixxQlU.jpg
12. My Little Red Book — 523 Points, 10 Votes, 1 first-place voteLyric: Hal DavidLove, 1966 single, 434 points — https://youtu.be/f-SuGfLhqo4Manfred Mann, 1965 single, 89 points — https://youtu.be/se7Ywa668aw
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 13:02 (five years ago) link
Don't Make Me Over was my number 2, would be number 1 some days
The way Dusty sings "you will be his" on Wishin' is absolute joy
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 13:03 (five years ago) link
if Don't Make Me Over has any flaw it's that the first two lines are the peak, really
― Doctor Nu (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 May 2019 13:04 (five years ago) link
Hadn't thought of that, but it really does announce itself from the start.
― WmC, Friday, 17 May 2019 13:11 (five years ago) link