Taking Sides: "Back in the New York Groove" by Ace Frehley vs. "Native New Yorker" by Odyssey

(The Odyssey one is not at all bad though)

supposedly none of their other songs sounded like that!

"back in the NY groove" never did much for me -- sorry, alex.

Several different songs with that title.

"If You're Looking For a Way Out" was in partly the same ballad vein, and IMO their best ever moment.

That's where Ace met his dealer, no? (Not using "ecstacy" literally, mind.)

Stopped at third and forty-three, exit to the night -- it's gonna be ecstacy, this town was meant for me

jody, you're pretty right, none of their other songs sound quite like this. it's way slicker and, i dunno, sentimental?

i've actually never given kiss a chance before, but heard somewhere that they did a bit of disco beat type stuff. what other tracks should i check out?

Well, their much-maligned "disco" album is Dynasty, which was so poorly received that they sort've moved away from it with haste (though I suppose a bit of that sort've vibe remains on the equally loathed Unmasked). Their 'big disco hit" was "I Was Made for Loving You", which you'd probably recognize if you heard it (didn't someone cover it not too long ago?)

This was an inspired thread, if I do say so my damn self.

no doubt.

i'd never heard that odyssey song before. it's great! i think i like it even better than ace's song which goes w/o saying is pretty brilliant as well.

i like this youtube video of "native new yorker" because instead of people that put up a song lame homemade picture displays and stuff, this person just filmed their record player spinning the actual record...seems more appropriate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9wbyGV7ie4

Stopped at third and forty-three, exit to the night -- it's gonna be ecstacy, this town was meant for me

I thought the convention for native New Yorkers is to name intersections by giving the avenue first. So shouldn't that be "Stopped at forty-three and three"? (As in "53rd & 3rd.")

Ace isn't the brightest hammer in the sack, but as noted above, the song was written by a Brit.

There aren't many very appetizing things that rhyme with "third"

Even if he didn't write it, "Groove" is such a perfect Frehley song. I can't see Simmons or Stanley singing it. Simmons would probably be more apt to sing a song about ringing the opening bell down on Wall Street.

Bahahahahaa

"Third and Forty-Three" exists in the same universe as "East California" - the world where British songwriters try to evoke Americana.

If I were Ace, I'd have pocketed that "fistful of dollars." 1970s NYC was no place you wanted to flaunt your cash on the street.

By the way, both of these tracks were rollerskating jams in the NJ hinterlands.

True'dat.

Kinda neat: Ballard wrote the song while in NYC for the mastering of Daltrey's Ride A White Horse, for which he wrote three songs.

http://www.russ-ballard.com/mylife.htm

In the song he's riding in a Cadillac - isn't the Chrysler building right around "third and forty-three"?

Yes, 42 and Lex I believe

So he's taking his car back to the mothership!

Caddys are GM, not Chrysler

Another dumb theory down the drain.

Don't sweat it, it was a sweet effort.

native new yorker is such a great song, still

so is NY groove

You're no tramp, but you're no lady....

Hello's version is totally thwompy! Definitely more straightforward glam than disco, but it still mops the floor with Frehley's version.

I am prepared to fight, with fists and knees in the time-honored manly fashion, to defend this statement.

Having not heard it (the Hello version), I cannot engage in combat with you in good conscience.

Youtube makes comparisons easy. I'd love to pretend that Hello's version is better, but my ears say differently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7XBDaodo1g&feature=related

Ooh!

Hello sure had a goofy ass logo!

Hello's version is totally thwompy! Definitely more straightforward glam than disco, but it still mops the floor with Frehley's version.

Thwompy, yes. Groove? No. Frehley's vocals also sound a lot more convincing, like someone who's actually lived that lifestyle. When he sings "I feel so good tonight... who cares about tomorrow?" it's like FUCK YEAH! Meanwhile Hello's singer (the one that looks like Suzi Quatro?) sounds like he's reading a travel brochure.

Bump.

And baby, you'd better believe...

i fucking love both of these songs.

Hello version of "New York Groove" is totally cool and all, but Frehley's really does have something to it, even with a couple of real hammy moments ("And BABY!"). Maybe it's because he's so convincingly a millionaire fucking around in the scummy parts of the city, shifting comfortably between top-down highway Cadillac drive and strutting up the line to Studio 54. Also that little dingle-dingle guitar part that comes in the last minute.

Listening to "Native New Yorker" for the first time now. Smooth, world-wise. I'm digging it.

Got a copy of the Odyssey album with "Native New Yorker" today at an overpriced record store in the town I grew up in (where I head back to every Christmas). $10, great shape, which was fine--I no doubt saw it a million times in dollar bins through the '80s, but that was then, etc. I may or may not recognize the song when I get around to playing it; I did recognize the title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkGPK6wUk6A

Or even https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GD-tMMBh08