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daveinprogress3 uploaded a new video
(3 hours ago)
Another voice from my youth. The husky and familiar sounds of Jon Englis...
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Another voice from my youth. The husky and familiar sounds of Jon English were a part of the soundtrack of Aussie culture of the 1970's and part of the next 2 decades as well. Actor. Singer. Writer. Host. Panelist - he did it all. Clocking up more than a dozen hit singles and several albums during these retro years, Jon won industry awards and was a small screen mainstay thanks to his regular appearances on Countdown as well as acting in mini series and comedy shows.
Jon's stature and distinctively dark eyes, made him an iconic force in showbiz. It was a golden age for Aussie male vocalists - with Richard Clapton, Ray Burgess, Marty Rhone, Daryl Braithwaite, John Paul Young, Ted Mulry and others dominating the scene. His biggest local success would arrive near the end of the 1970's with "Get your love right" and "Six Ribbons". I have chosen "Lay it all down" as it is vintage Jon English - those lived in vocals and textured but soaring range on show. Entering the Top 100 in March 1977, it narrowly missed out on a Top 40 placing. I think it is one of his best performances. Interestingly it is written by Will Jennings and Barry Goldberg, the former a Grammy and Oscar winner for songs such as "Up where we belong" and "My heart will go on". Cilla Black also recorded a version of this song. Jon's version has the right amount of rock and soul combined!
Presenting as an affable and down to earth chap, Jon seemed to enjoy a much respected place in Australian entertainment, and that endures 4 decades later. Enjoy!
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daveinprogress3 uploaded a new video
(3 days ago)
1977, and Bob Seger's classic "Night Moves" is released in Aus...
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1977, and Bob Seger's classic "Night Moves" is released in Australia. The song would become a Top 30 hit - and begin a fond affection that Oz had with the raspy singer/songwriter and rocker. His distinctive voice would become part of rock n roll culture for the next decade and a bit. Australia even named a late night rock show after this song, and it ran for several years, into the next decade.
When i was researching my images for "Night Moves", i discovered that Seger had recorded not one but two versions of the Tina Turner classic "Nutbush City Limits", one of my favourite soul tracks from the decade, and was therefore curious to check it out, and decided it was a more interesting choice to post on youtube! Seger recorded a studio version (this one) on his 1975 LP "Beautiful Loser" and again the following year on the live album " Live Bullet".
The song was recorded by Ike and Tina in 1973, but was not a hit downunder until 1975, and again in the early 90's when Tina re-recorded it.
My introduction to Mr Seger was courtesy of my older sister, who was a fan at the time and owned the Bob Seger Collection (seen in this clip) which was an Australian/New Zealand issue only. My favourite tracks on it being "Still the same" and "Hollywood nights". The LP wasa huge seller in Australia, reaching #1. It acquainted music lovers with this most rootsy and soulful rocker.
Enjoy Seger meets Nutbush!
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daveinprogress3 uploaded a new video
(4 days ago)
1977 was to be the year that Abba finally achieved a #1 hit in America w...
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1977 was to be the year that Abba finally achieved a #1 hit in America with "Dancing Queen". Europe and Australia had embraced Abba with great vehemence for the 2 previous years with a multitude of hit singles and albums. This year would see them tour Australia for the one and only time performing stadiums etc. A movie of their travels downunder would be released later in the year, along with their first LP of new material in 18 months - Abba The Album.
1977 would, ironically be a quieter year on our charts, compared to 1976. "Knowing me" entered the Top 100 in early March of 1977, and backed with "Happy Hawaii" a reworking lyrically of another "Arrival" track "Why did it have to be me", climbed into the Top 10. A #1 hit in Britain, Germany, Ireland and South Africa, and a success in most other centres, it is one of their best loved and more serious tracks - spookily pre-empting the break up of the two marriages at the core of Abba.
"Knowing me" was not the only ABBA song released at that time. Scanning the Top 100 charts, i found that the same week that this track began its ascent, so did an older one from "Abba" - "I've been waiting for you"! I had no idea it was even released as a 7" single. It could only reach #94, and was gone within 3 weeks. It would be November, and the release of "The Name of the Game" that would see the super Swedes return to our Top 40.
Some creative soul has created an extended version of "Knowing me Knowing you" and i have used that as the audio bed for this posting. Enjoy!
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daveinprogress3 uploaded a new video
(5 days ago)
Two versions of a blatantly sexual pop confection written by Harry Casey...
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Two versions of a blatantly sexual pop confection written by Harry Casey (KC & The Sunshine Band) and Rick Finch. Brendon, whom i thought was a group, was a British glam singer: Brendon Dunning, who scored a Top 15 hit at home with his version of the song in early 1977. The track found its way onto an Australian compile - Explosive Hits 1977 - an EMI set of recordings. I could find no record of "Gimme Some" having entered the Top 100 here in Oz, but thanks to that LP, it became part of my soundtrack in my early teens, and still gets me moving, when i hear it all these years later. Complex, it is not - an unabashed horny plaintively performed mantra.
I came across Jimmy Bo Horne's version many years later. The song had been released a couple of years earlier than Brendon's and has a more disco-soul style of production. Bo Horne was best known for "Dance across the floor"in 1978, another simplified disco track, also penned by Casey-Finch.
Sometimes simple is good! There were so many feel good pop gems from the era, that were often one hit wonders. For collectors and devotees of the decade, these tracks are still with us, for others they have long been forgotten. I hope this brings back some find memories.
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"@jeablek glad you got something from it - beautiful song!"
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