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Richard Challen
Jul 27, 20209 min read
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.
697 views7 comments
Richard Challen
Jul 24, 20209 min read
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.
1,678 views9 comments
Richard Challen
Jun 1, 20206 min read
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.
1,079 views5 comments
Richard Challen
May 29, 20208 min read
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.
974 views5 comments
Richard Challen
May 25, 20205 min read
Commodores – “Wonderland”
“Wonderland” eventually redeems itself with a great, loose, freewheeling funk jam in the closing moments, but it’s too little, too late.
553 views5 comments
Richard Challen
May 15, 20208 min read
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.”
570 views3 comments
Richard Challen
May 6, 20209 min read
Cheap Trick – “Voices”
“Voices” winds up being pretty but vacant, an oddly faceless turn portending further facelessness to come.
956 views4 comments
Richard Challen
May 4, 20205 min read
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?
585 views6 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 29, 20207 min read
Styx – “Why Me”
If “Why Me” didn’t exactly save Styx, it certainly delayed their demise for a good half decade.
1,215 views8 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 27, 20207 min read
Anne Murray – “Daydream Believer”
Was Murray filling an unspoken need? Did radio listeners collectively forget about the existence of “Daydream Believer” in one decade?
821 views11 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 24, 20209 min read
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.
1,526 views6 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 17, 20208 min read
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.
752 views7 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 15, 20204 min read
The O’Jays – “Forever Mine”
Its impeccably arranged universe gets completely laid out within the opening seconds, and from there, "Forever Mine" simply wallows.
874 views3 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 3, 20204 min read
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.
1,311 views6 comments
Richard Challen
Mar 27, 20205 min read
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.
715 views10 comments
Richard Challen
Mar 20, 20208 min read
Fleetwood Mac – “Sara”
The mystery surrounding “Sara” isn’t a barrier to entry. The mystery is what makes “Sara” a masterpiece.
2,187 views11 comments
Richard Challen
Mar 18, 20205 min read
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.
458 views3 comments
Richard Challen
Mar 13, 20206 min read
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.
842 views4 comments
Richard Challen
Mar 9, 20207 min read
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.
1,228 views4 comments
Richard Challen
Feb 24, 20203 min read
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.
764 views10 comments
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