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Bonnie Pointer – “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)”
Bonnie made four albums with her siblings, and then, in 1977, she went solo—just as the remaining Sisters went nuclear.
Richard Challen
Jul 27, 20209 min read
704 views
7 comments
Nicolette Larson with Michael McDonald – “Let Me Go, Love”
Nicolette Larson had talent. She had connections. She was in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, all of that isn’t quite enough.
Richard Challen
Jul 24, 20209 min read
1,712 views
9 comments
Electric Light Orchestra – “Last Train To London”
“Last Train” flits casually between disco and new-wave, combining the bubbly pulse of the former with the mechanical remove of the latter.
Richard Challen
Jun 1, 20206 min read
1,120 views
5 comments
John Stewart – “Lost Her In The Sun”
“Lost Her In The Sun” brought an end to a remarkable commercial blip in an equally remarkable career.
Richard Challen
May 29, 20208 min read
1,014 views
5 comments
Commodores – “Wonderland”
“Wonderland” eventually redeems itself with a great, loose, freewheeling funk jam in the closing moments, but it’s too little, too late.
Richard Challen
May 25, 20205 min read
565 views
5 comments
Rufus & Chaka – “Do You Love What You Feel”
Sadly, the world never got a true Thriller-style match-up between Chaka and Quincy. But we did get “Do You Love What You Feel.”
Richard Challen
May 15, 20208 min read
586 views
3 comments
Cheap Trick – “Voices”
“Voices” winds up being pretty but vacant, an oddly faceless turn portending further facelessness to come.
Richard Challen
May 6, 20209 min read
1,004 views
4 comments
Santana – “You Know That I Love You”
How do you go from “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen” to a song as faceless as “You Know That I Love You” in less than a decade?
Richard Challen
May 4, 20205 min read
596 views
6 comments
Styx – “Why Me”
If “Why Me” didn’t exactly save Styx, it certainly delayed their demise for a good half decade.
Richard Challen
Apr 29, 20207 min read
1,274 views
8 comments
Anne Murray – “Daydream Believer”
Was Murray filling an unspoken need? Did radio listeners collectively forget about the existence of “Daydream Believer” in one decade?
Richard Challen
Apr 27, 20207 min read
839 views
11 comments
Led Zeppelin – “Fool In The Rain”
Strip away all the classic rock baggage, and “Fool In The Rain” might be the band’s most gutsy—and successful—stylistic swing ever.
Richard Challen
Apr 24, 20209 min read
1,572 views
6 comments
Queen – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
Queen had never attempted to record a rockabilly song. But damn if they didn’t nail a perfect approximation on their very first try.
Richard Challen
Apr 17, 20208 min read
758 views
7 comments
The O’Jays – “Forever Mine”
Its impeccably arranged universe gets completely laid out within the opening seconds, and from there, "Forever Mine" simply wallows.
Richard Challen
Apr 15, 20204 min read
912 views
3 comments
Steve Forbert – “Romeo’s Tune”
The great paradox of “Romeo’s Tune” is how much work it took to create something that sounds so effortless.
Richard Challen
Apr 3, 20204 min read
1,429 views
6 comments
Dionne Warwick – “Déjà Vu”
“Déjà Vu” is an odd marriage between two competing strands of late ‘70s pop: deep burgundy soul and schlock-heavy soft-rock.
Richard Challen
Mar 27, 20205 min read
728 views
10 comments
Fleetwood Mac – “Sara”
The mystery surrounding “Sara” isn’t a barrier to entry. The mystery is what makes “Sara” a masterpiece.
Richard Challen
Mar 20, 20208 min read
2,231 views
11 comments
Isaac Hayes – “Don’t Let Go”
A chewy morsel of glitter-ball silliness that returned the soul legend to the Top 40 for the first time since 1973.
Richard Challen
Mar 18, 20205 min read
467 views
3 comments
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Don’t Do Me Like That”
It's as clean and direct as anything in Petty’s notably clean-and-direct catalog, buoyed by an arrangement that’s all accents.
Richard Challen
Mar 13, 20206 min read
852 views
4 comments
Kenny Loggins – “This Is It”
Its streamlined surface practically defines the entire “yacht” aesthetic, even as its subject matter threatens to blow up the whole marina.
Richard Challen
Mar 9, 20207 min read
1,267 views
4 comments
Eagles – “The Long Run”
"The Long Run” is competence without passion, hooks without heart. It sounds like a million bucks and leaves zero lasting impact.
Richard Challen
Feb 24, 20203 min read
773 views
10 comments
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