Corazon Espinado by Santana featuring Mana  

       Nothing in the world is as certain or as confusing as change. One day a band or a genre might be popular and soon thereafter it might disappear or perhaps even go up in flames.  Remember Disco Demolition night in Chicago?  Despite the ill fated  Chicago White Sox publicity stunt Disco had gone from being the most popular musical genre to the junk heap in the blink of an eye.  On the other hand some musical genre's seem to thrive over time.  They might wax and wane like the cycles of the moon but they tend to stay popular against the ravages of time.  
       One such genre is the latin/rock/jazz fusion made popular by such acts as Los Lobos, War, Ritchie Valens, Jennifer Lopez,  Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, & Ricky Martin.  Of course none of these acts, including Lopez, or Estefan, has managed the popular long term success or total coolness of Carlos Santana.  Born in Mexico, he moved to San Francisco at a young age and embraced the Haight Ashbury hippie culture. While there he was accidentally discovered by promoter Bill Graham of The Fillmore fame.  Santana's guitar playing was born of the blues and heavily influenced by Latin jazz.  This unusual, and very original fusion found it's voice in unique cover versions of Willie Bobo's Evil Ways and Fleetwood Mac's Black Magic Woman.  In fact the Santana cover versions were, by far, better sellers and are still considered the definitive versions of these songs.
       In 1999 Santana returned to international fame with his album Supernatural .  The big hit from that record was Smooth which was co-written and sung by Rob Thomas from the band Matchbox 20.  Smooth spent 12 weeks at number one on Billboards top 40 with a 30 week stay in the top 10  culminating in 3 Grammy awards in 2000.  It was also Santana's first chart topping single since Black Magic Woman in 1971.  The album featured collaborations with rock icon's Eric Clapton, & Dave Matthews plus an outstanding collaboration with the Mexican rock band Mana.  The song written and sung by Mana front man Fher Olvera called Corazon Espinado  received limited US airplay because it was performed in spanish.  But it is, in my opinion the best song on the album. 
       The song opens with piano and the Santana signature latin percussions.  Santana's virtuoso unique guitar sound and fills create an extraordinary counter point to Olvera's plaintive singing.  Corazon Espinado translates to "pierced heart" and Carlos's guitar drives that point home between the vocal line's.  The idea of latin romantic passion has been a prime literary subject for centuries and this strongly song delivers on that point wrapped in a rock and roll sensibility that will still sound as fresh and exciting in 40 years as Black Magic Woman still sounds today.
       

Black Or White by Michael Jackson

        As the world entered the Reagan era old guard bands like the Rolling Stones, Queen, & the Who were still at the top of their game but things were about to change.   A cable TV station called MTV started broadcasting on August 1, 1981 and it quickly became very popular with the young adult crowd.  Record companies and the artists started designing their music around the short film.  Frequently these films were a way for young testosterone driven male bands to preen and pose with scantily clad models and dancers with big hair & breasts.  

       The power of a well made video could turn one hit wonder's into international sensations and sometimes a short film could even break ground on social issues.   Cindy Lauper's True Colors changed the way the world viewed the AIDS epidemic and was the impetus behind the rainbow becoming the national LBGT symbol.  Madonna's raw and frank sexuality portrayed in Like A Virgin was liberating to an entire generation of young woman.  But the undisputed heavy weight champion of MTV was also was the undisputed King of Pop.
       Michael Jackson turned the music world upside down.  The video's he created and starred in from the Thriller and Bad albums were as ground breaking as the music itself.  Jackson's dancing and singing plus his writing and arranging abilities defined popular music the way Elvis and the Beatles did in their generations.
       In 1991 Jackson gave us the song Black Or White which was his statement about racism and hatred vs. multiculturalism, & inclusion.  Jackson declares emphatically "I'm not gonna spend my life being a color".  Yet he also recognized the insidiousness of racism and the anguish of it's victims with the lyric "Don't tell me you agree with me when I saw you kicking dirt in my eye"  
      Ironically, despite the song being about acceptance and inclusion, many radio stations refused to play it because it didn't fit comfortably within the increasingly tight formatting of corporate controlled FM radio.  The Bill Botrell guitar riff was to hard for easy listening, but didn't fit with the popular grunge or alt rock formats.  The LTB rap section was edited out completely in many markets and the rock and roll sensibilities of the song didn't fit well in others.  In spite these difficulties Black Or White found it's audience on MTV.  It went on to become a quadruple platinum selling record and one of the most successful songs of the decade. 



       

   

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic from The Police

       The Police first came together as a band in London 1977 in the middle of the New Wave movement.  This genre of music is best exemplified by the Talking Heads, the Pretenders, Blondie, and the Cars.  These bands had their roots in punk, glam , reggae, and prog rock.  They combined synthesizers with guitars over pop rock rhythms.  Songs like Blondie's the Tide is High, or Elvis Costello's  Pump It Up best exemplify what was happening at the time and why this was considered a new branch in rock's evolution.
        On their first record the Police were heavily influenced by punk & reggae which found a voice best exemplified by the international hit Roxanne.  The main songwriter for the Police was a guy named Gordon Sumner that went by the nickname Sting, which you have to admit is much cooler than Gordon Sumner. His songs were introspective and in many ways disturbingly self absorbed.  I Can't Stand Losing You, King Of Pain, & Don't Stand So Close To Me all feature lyrics that tell a story of a manically obsessive man teetering on the edge of insanity.  The song Every Breath You Take sounds like a love song but it chronicles the emotions and actions of a man feverishly stalking the lover that jilted him.  It states quite emphatically "you belong to me" & I'm watching every step you take.

       Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic isn't really one of those songs. It does walk up to the border of obsession but it is saved by the innocence & sadness of unrequited love. It tells the story of a painfully shy man who has fallen for a woman who is only marginally aware of his existence.  He wants desperately to tell her how he feels but he just can't do it and as a result she never learns the truth and he is forced to live with his shyness and frustration.
     It's a really poignant lyric wrapped in a new age/New Wave rock rhythm.  The piano, synthesizer, blend in the first half of the song gently convey's the depth of emotion the singer evokes while still hitting a strong pop groove.  The song builds towards it's climax and ends with a mixture of a Brian Wilsonesque "ee oh" chant overlaying a guitar organ mixture that is reminiscent of the Tubes She's A Beauty.  I can't think of another song that combines new age, pop, & punk.  I think this is the best song in Sting and/or the Police's repertoire and worthy of being a Monday morning eye opener.


   

Sunday Bloody Mary Sunday

       So you enjoyed last nights concert?  That's great because there isn't many things in life more satisfying than seeing your favorite singer or band live.  But the rock and roll lifestyle can leave you tired and perhaps a bit hung over.  So while your remembering the fun you had with your companions you are also craving a bit of quiet time for recovery.  You search through your music collection to find something that will help you relive last night but might be a bit more soothing than the old time rock and roll that almost set the stage on fire when you find this gem:

You'll Accomp'ny Me by Bob Segar

Saturday Night Live

       The music industry's success, like almost every other industry, depends upon it's ability to sell a product. Before a band gets paid for making records they have to prove that they have something that might sell.  The proving grounds are the stages where musicians hone there skills in front of live audiences. Rock and roll might be immortalized in the recording studio but it's beating heart is exposed under the lights of the concert stage.
       Saturday is the night the music halls open their doors and we cram ourselves into the pit or climb up to the balcony to see and hear the music that fires our imaginations.  Almost every band eventually publishes a live recording and they tend to chronicle specific era's in an act's development.  Often times those live recordings capture the character of an act even better than their studio work.  That is why I've chosen Saturday to feature the live recordings from some of the greatest artists of the rock era.

Today's feature:
Still The Same Live by Bob Segar

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ACDC Night Prowler

       In 1978 the Australian quintet calling themselves ACDC was still under the radar in America but gaining altitude quickly.  In the fall of that year they released a live album called If You Want Blood You've Got It.  The album cover was a blurred picture of Angus Young and Bon Scott in a classic rock and roll stage pose except Young was impaled through the front by a guitar. The picture was macabre and yet compelling enough to get me to buy the record.  This record chronicled the bands early years and pointed the way forward both musically and lyrically.

       ACDC is a pretty straight forward rock and roll band except they're thunderously loud.  Back then the singer was a guy named Bon Scott whose voice shrieked like it was being dragged behind a car.  But the real driver behind this over-driven music was a frenzied guitar wielded by a guy in schoolboy short pants, jacket, and short billed cap named Angus Young. Behind Scott and Young was one of the most powerful rhythm sections in rock history.  Malcom Young, Angus's older brother, is one mean rhythm guitar player & is still considered one of the best side men in rock history.  He was accompanied by Cliff Williams on bass and Phil Rudd on drums.  Rudd's drumming is a classic example of power drumming.  The fills are, direct, and effective without being simplistic.
       The following summer the album Highway to Hell showed up in the stores and I bought it (on 8 track).  The album was a giant step forward for the band.  The song writing was better, the music was better performed, produced, and recorded and yet maintained the same drive and themes featured on Blood. 
        The record opened with the classic rock song Highway to Hell.  That song, despite peaking at only 47 on the charts, put the high school kids on notice that this was a band to watch.  The reason the song, and the record, peaked lower than, at least I expected, is because it scared parents, radio program directors and their sponsors with it's references to hell and it's thematically violent under-toe.  But the kids knew that this was just plain great hard rock and it would not, could not be denied.  
       The album ended with a blues song called Night Prowler, featured here, that confidently strutted through the dark and dangerous streets made famous by the Rolling Stones with such classics as Jumping Jack Flash, Street Fighting Man, and Sympathy for the Devil.  Night Prowler comically ends with Bon Scott saying "shazbat nanu nanu" which came from the Robin Williams tv show Mork and Mindy which was popular at the time.  It was the last sounds committed to record by Scott.  
       Night Prowler, despite getting almost no radio airplay, helped to drive the bands rise to fame when a deranged serial killer claiming to be a satanist named Richard Ramirez, dubbed ironically the "Night Stalker" by the press, claimed the song as one of his inspirations for his crimes.  The band was naturally horrified and denied the song meant what Ramirez claimed.  But the negative press coverage helped to keep ACDC's drive to the top of the rock and roll mountain alive. 
       Sadly Bon Scott died shortly after recording Highway to Hell from alcohol poisoning. His replacement was a screamer named Brian Johnson and it's Johnson's voice that helped to make the rest of ACDC's career Hall Of Fame worthy.  The next 2 records, Back In Black, and For Those About To Rock, became certifiable rock classics.  But it's Bon Scott's voice that introduced ACDC's music to American audiences.  And the song Night Prowler best exemplifies Scott's power as a singer and ACDC's way forward towards super-stardom.

Tell Me Something Good by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan

       Every now and then a song will come along and grab you by the imagination and not let go.  These are frequently referred to as one hit wonders and might be the only song we know from a particular band.  A great example of this is Wipeout by the Surfaris.  It is easily one of the most recognizable songs ever and has found a comfortable place on every oldies station as well as being covered about a million times by every garage rock band that's ever rattled the china cabinet.

        In 1974 at the age of 12 I lived in a sheltered suburban white neighborhood and wasn't prepared for the song that grabbed me by the ears and drove my libido into high gear.  The song is called Tell Me Something Good by a racially mixed band out of Chicago named Rufus. They were fronted by one of the greatest female singers in history Chaka Khan.  Khan was (still is) an incredibly beautiful woman with a sex appeal that Aretha, Diana Ross, or even the gorgeous Marilyn McCoo couldn't come close to matching.  After you quit looking at her, which I admit I had a very tough time doing, and listened to her voice that was when your eye's really flew open.
     Tell Me Something Good came out at a time when black music (that was popular with white kids) was changing from Motown driven hits to a more urban funk sound personified by Sly & the Family Stone & later by Earth, Wind, & Fire.  Rufus jumped in with a major hit that took the nation by storm.  It featured one of the first published uses of the Talk Box made popular by Peter Frampton, 2 years later, with the tour de force Do You Feel Like We Do.  That guitar combined with Khan's sexy, playful voice, a strong bass-line, an unusual time signature, and a heavy breathing break between verse and chorus drove the song to the top of the charts.
      I remember seeing Rufus perform on either the Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin Show and I couldn't believe my eyes or ears.  The guitar player for Rufus, at that time was Al Ciner who matched a Gibson ES335 with the futuristic talk box and created a sound as rude and vibrant as any ever recorded in electric guitar history.  The song itself was written by Stevie Wonder and produced by Bob Monaco.  Wonder needs no introduction, but Monaco's producing credits include the Drifters, Three Dog Night, Tina Turner, & Wild Cherry.
       You may have heard it before but I'm willing to bet not lately.  So without any further ado, fresh from the bottom of my steamer trunk Tell Me Something Good by Rufus featuring Chaka Khan

 Don't Try to Hide It by the J. Geils Band

        By 1973 the J Geils Band was really hitting their stride. In 1972 they released an album called "Live" Full House. It chronicled the early portion of the bands career in much the same way as Live Bullet did a few years later for Bob Segar. The album spawned the hit Lookin' For A Love and perhaps one of the greatest instrumental rock/blues songs ever recorded Whammer Jammer. The introduction to Whammer Jammer featured singer Peter Wolf at his fast talking funkiest, funniest best. Later his 'rap' would become famous with the ingenious introduction to Musta Got Lost on the rollicking Blow Your Face Out album.  The band had performed well in the studio but it was their live shows that, up until now, had propelled their rise to fame.  Soon the bands studio performance would catch up with their charismatic stage show eventually culminating with the multi-platinum Freeze Frame Album
       After Live Full House and 16 years before the song Centerfold became a world sensation,  the band went back into the studio and created "Bloodshot".  An album that is one of the greatest and yet most overlooked studio performances in R&R history. It featured the hit songs House Party, Southside Shuffle, and Give It To Me. Somehow the band managed to capture the power of their live performance on vinyl. Unlike their earlier efforts the songs on Bloodshot sounded spontaneous and loose.  If you compare the studio version of Whammer Jammer with the live version on Full House you'll hear the difference I'm talking about.  The studio version is amazing and fresh but the spontaneity and power is somehow polished over.  The live album version grabs you by the throat and screams in your face.    

   The Bloodshot album bridged the gap between virtuoso studio performance & their satisfying, sweaty stage show. Squeezed in amongst the rowdy rock songs, funky dance grooves, & mid tempo doo-wops powering this classic album is an oompa track called Don't Try To Hide It. It is one of the funniest R&R songs ever recorded, and perhaps the best oompa song ever committed to vinyl in the classic rock era.  It comically features great lyrics, a New Orleans style jazz jangle, and a Tuba in an unusual duet with Harmonica.  Near the end of the song you'll be amazed at the riotous breakdown that illustrates the bands sense of humor and stage charisma. The song did receive some radio airplay but it was never truly a hit.  I've dusted off this incredible recording and want to spin it for you and I am 100% sure you will enjoy it.

"Better Things" by The Kinks

Better Things by The Kinks

In 1981 the British invasion band The Kinks were riding a wave of popularity. They were selling out arena's and theaters all over the world.  In fact, within a year I saw 2 sold out Kinks shows.  The first was at Boston City Music Hall and the second was at the old Boston Garden.

People remember them as the band that, in 1964, revolutionized garage rock with the songs You Really Got Me & All Day and All of the Night.  But then a US touring ban short circuited the Kinks rise to world fame.  They made some great records that sold quite well in England but not so well in America.  By the late 60's their music had become thematically introspective and nostalgic which doesn't hold a lot of interest for the more forward looking American teenage music buyer.

But then in 1970 they captured the worlds attention with the hit song Lola.  This song became an FM radio staple for the next 2 decades.  A few years later in 1978 Van Halen hit with a cover of  You Really Got Me which featured a frenetic virtuoso guitar intro by Eddie Van Halen.

At that moment the Kinks were in the middle of a strong creative period. Before the Van Halen release They had achieved strong radio play and sales for the songs Sleepwalker, Juke Box Music, Father Christmas, & Rock & Roll Fantasy which was already raising the US national awareness of this former British invasion band.

After the Van Halen cover the Kinks had success with the songs Superman, Catch Me Now I'm Falling, Destroyer, Low Budget, & live versions of both Lola and You Really Got Me.  This fueled strong record sales and even stronger concert ticket sales and finally brought the Kinks the connection with American audience and fame  they never enjoyed before.

In the middle of all this the band released a song called Better Things, which is one of the finest songs the Davies Brothers ever recorded.  It wasn't a big seller and it only received modest radio airplay.  But it featured a nice Elton John style piano intro and a Pretenders inspired guitar sound.  The Pretenders themselves had a hit covering the Kinks Stop Your Sobbing. 

With the lyric "I hope tomorrow you find better things" Ray Davies is telling the world that while yesterday may have been shit that doesn't mean tomorrow will be. It is unusual and touching that a band would write lyrics that reads like a well wishing letter or perhaps even a prayer to a friend who happens to be you.  Please give it a listen I think you'll really enjoy it...

Welcome To Off The Charts Daily Dose of Rock & Roll

 Hi,
       Welcome to Off the Charts the place to go for your daily dose of forgotten Rock & Roll.  When I was a little kid I remember hearing rock music playing on the am radio in my family's kitchen every morning even before I was old enough to tie my shoes.  Back in those days you could hear The Everly Brothers and the Beatles sandwiching a Frank Sinatra croon placed in between the news, car commercials, and the overly glib DJ's with the golden pipe voices that seemed to believe they were  funnier than they actually were.
       My eldest sister worshiped the Beatles and late 50's early 60's top 40, and my middle sister listened to Crosby Stills & Nash, The Who, Donovan, The Stones, Sly & the Family Stone & anything else that seemed cutting edge in rock and roll.  They started my appreciation for the music that would eventually become the classic rock and even oldies of today but it didn't end there.
       My first memory of rock music was hearing Elvis on that kitchen radio sing Hound Dog. The song had a nervous energy that seemed to leap out of the radio and demand to be heard.  After that I started collecting songs in my mind like butterflies and gold coins.  Eventually I noticed that after most songs shelf life expired on the charts they'd disappear from the radio altogether possibly never to be heard again. So a band like the Beach Boys that had several #1 hits and dozens of songs that charted in the top 40 eventually had their radio repertoire whittled down to 4 or 5 songs getting semi-regular play on oldies stations.  Some bands are completely forgotten about altogether despite recording lots and lots of great songs & records.
       My goal is to drag the steamer trunk out of the back of the closet and pull these dust covered classics out and put them back in the spotlight again if only for a moment.  I will present them here and hopefully accompany them with an interesting story or observation about the band or artist that created the song in the first place.  I am open to suggestions and if you want me to feature a song please feel free to email me at offthechartsblog@gmail.com

I hope you find something here you like.
Thanks,
Jay