top of page
Search
Richard Challen
Aug 3, 20209 min read
Tommy James – “Three Times In Love”
This slice of soft-rock cheese serves as a cautionary tale for fellow aging artists: Never sell your soul for one ruthlessly bland trifle.
1,044 views10 comments
Richard Challen
Jul 17, 202010 min read
Chuck Mangione – “Give It All You Got”
“Give It All You Got” might be the only official Olympic song that makes more sense playing over the opening credits of a ’70s cop show.
1,239 views6 comments
Richard Challen
Jul 13, 202011 min read
Pat Benatar – “Heartbreaker”
“Heartbreaker” is easily the heaviest song of Benatar’s whole career. I’m not sure another comes close.
1,704 views21 comments
Richard Challen
Jul 10, 20209 min read
Toto – “99”
“99” is adult-rock at its most immaculate and expensive. Everyone plays with a light touch; even the syncopations sound like laughter.
2,064 views9 comments
Richard Challen
Jul 6, 20205 min read
Rupert Holmes – “Him”
It’s all in service of an absurdist character study, presenting a portrait of a man not nearly as clever as he thinks he is.
988 views6 comments
Richard Challen
Jun 26, 202010 min read
Linda Ronstadt – “How Do I Make You”
“How Do I Make You” is the sound of SoCal’s prom queen letting her hair down—or, more accurately, chopping it all off.
898 views7 comments
Richard Challen
Jun 22, 202016 min read
Pink Floyd – “Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)”
An improbable blockbuster that distilled one man’s psychodrama down to three minutes of pseudo-disco performed by schoolchildren.
1,148 views9 comments
Richard Challen
Jun 19, 202011 min read
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Refugee”
“Refugee” is a fight song with the potency of a powder keg, a love song with serrated edges, an anthem in the shape of a bruise.
1,240 views8 comments
Richard Challen
Jun 12, 20207 min read
Shalamar – “The Second Time Around”
This is discofied pop at its buoyant best, fizzy and funky in a way that epitomizes the whole of its parent album’s title, Big Fun.
896 views7 comments
Richard Challen
Jun 8, 20205 min read
Barry Manilow – “When I Wanted You”
Like soap scum, Manilow’s Eighties work lingers in the grout of the Billboard Hot 100, no matter how hard you try to scrub it away.
597 views8 comments
Richard Challen
Jun 5, 20207 min read
Andy Gibb – “Desire”
“Desire” is honestly just a great lost Bee Gees song, which means it works for three simple reasons: Barry, Robin, and Maurice.
858 views4 comments
Richard Challen
May 22, 202010 min read
The Spinners – “Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me, Girl”
Working My Way Back To You” is a rare example of a modern remake eclipsing the original in popularity and cultural recognition.
813 views9 comments
Richard Challen
May 18, 20208 min read
Donna Summer – “On The Radio”
“On The Radio” is a goodbye, but it’s also a love letter to the genre, a final example of how intoxicating disco when done right.
1,197 views15 comments
Richard Challen
May 11, 20205 min read
Neil Diamond – “September Morn’”
Diamond treats “September Morn’” like a talented actor approaching a bad soap opera script.
1,044 views9 comments
Richard Challen
May 1, 20205 min read
Dan Fogelberg – “Longer”
“Longer” unravels like a strand of gossamer, almost too delicate to actually touch.
1,374 views16 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 20, 20208 min read
The Dirt Band – “An American Dream”
The Dirt Band didn’t have to overly sweeten Rodney Crowell’s song to make it work for Top 40 radio; they just needed to nail the marketing.
1,224 views12 comments
Richard Challen
Apr 1, 20208 min read
Teri DeSario with K.C. – “Yes, I’m Ready”
Pure chemistry, but not the sexual kind. Theirs is closer to platonic puppy love, a first crush rendered in overwhelming Technicolor.
1,203 views14 comments
bottom of page