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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.
Richard Challen
Aug 3, 20209 min read
1,076 views
10 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jul 17, 202010 min read
1,255 views
6 comments
Pat Benatar – “Heartbreaker”
“Heartbreaker” is easily the heaviest song of Benatar’s whole career. I’m not sure another comes close.
Richard Challen
Jul 13, 202011 min read
1,750 views
21 comments
Toto – “99”
“99” is adult-rock at its most immaculate and expensive. Everyone plays with a light touch; even the syncopations sound like laughter.
Richard Challen
Jul 10, 20209 min read
2,159 views
9 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jul 6, 20205 min read
1,030 views
6 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jun 26, 202010 min read
903 views
7 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jun 22, 202016 min read
1,156 views
9 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jun 19, 202011 min read
1,273 views
8 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jun 12, 20207 min read
914 views
7 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jun 8, 20205 min read
603 views
8 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Jun 5, 20207 min read
882 views
4 comments
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.
Richard Challen
May 22, 202010 min read
829 views
9 comments
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.
Richard Challen
May 18, 20208 min read
1,216 views
15 comments
Neil Diamond – “September Morn’”
Diamond treats “September Morn’” like a talented actor approaching a bad soap opera script.
Richard Challen
May 11, 20205 min read
1,072 views
9 comments
Dan Fogelberg – “Longer”
“Longer” unravels like a strand of gossamer, almost too delicate to actually touch.
Richard Challen
May 1, 20205 min read
1,434 views
17 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Apr 20, 20208 min read
1,285 views
12 comments
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.
Richard Challen
Apr 1, 20208 min read
1,248 views
14 comments
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