BJ Thomas brought the Bacharach and David song to life
January 23, 2024
A Tuesday Newsday Classic updated
Burt Bacharach, BJ Thomas, and Hal David
The powerhouse team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David churned out hit after hit in the late 1960’s and into the 1970’s. They achieved chart gold the week of January 23, 1970, when BJ Thomas’ dulcet voice brought Raindrop’s Keep Falling On My Head to life. The single, introduced in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was number one on the American Top 40 charts for one week and spent 7 weeks at the top of the Adult Contemporary charts.
From the Infallible Wikipedia:
“It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. The song was recorded by B. J. Thomas in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six. In the film version of the song, Thomas had been recovering from laryngitis, which made his voice sound hoarser than in the 7-inch release. The film version featured a separate vaudeville-style instrumental break in double time while Paul Newman performed bicycle stunts.”
At the time I was not exactly sure what the lyrics meant:
I loved this recording so much that this 45 single was one of the first two records I ever bought. The other was Freda Payne’s Band of Gold.
How the original 45 looked
I actually recall the day I purchased the 45. It was at the ValuMart store in Yakima and I had gone with my Dad. Traditionally, when I went to a store with him he would head off and do his shopping and I would go to the toy department and look over the collection of Barbie Doll clothes, carefully selecting the outfit I most wanted. Sometime between the previous fall and the spring of 1970, however, Barbie had been relegated to her case and stored away and I quit spending my allowance money on Barbie Doll clothes.
When I got home that day and for many days to follow, I played this record over and over and over. No doubt if I were to spin it today it would be a mess of static and skips. But to a budding teenager in 1970 it was everything and, really, which of us girls DIDN’T have a crush on BJ Thomas?
My family had a similar looking console for playing records
Even today, when I hear this song (only the BJ Thomas version!), I am transported back to the living room of the house where I grew up, playing the record on the behemoth stereo, a giant cabinet which looked like a dining room buffet. My mother insisted I wear earphones. Guess the music of ‘us kids’ was just too much.
Ultimately, the BJ Thomas version has been given the nod as a significant song. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:
“In 2004, it finished at number 23 on AFI’s 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2008, the single was ranked 85th on Billboard’s Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and placed 95th in the 55th Anniversary edition of the All-Time Hot 100 list in 2013. Billboard Magazine also ranked the song 15th on its Top 50 Movie Songs of All Time list in 2014.”
As an angsty pre-teen (I was 12 in January 1970) there was just something special about this song and BJ Thomas’ voice which resonated for me. And yet those lyrics haunted me then perhaps, because, I didn’t have enough life experience to understand what they meant.
Now, from the perspective of an adult I think I’ve come to know that ‘raindrops’ – which are troubles – come into everyone’s life. But it is up to each individual to decide how to handle them. We can chose to let our troubles paralyze us and keep us from pursuing what makes us satisfied and fulfilled; or we can vow to continue on, refusing to allow life’s obstacles to stop us from fulfilling our hopes and dreams. I think I prefer the latter option.
This song sat on top of the charts for two weeks in early December 1973. You could say the song sat at the “Top of the World.” It was the second number one song for pop superstars Karen and Richard Carpenter and the only song written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis to reach number one on the Billboard Top 40 singles charts.
A catchy tune, it captured the interest of country singer Lynn Anderson who recorded and turned it into a number one Country hit in the summer of 1973.
According to the Infallible Wikipedia Karen and Richard were a bit unhappy that they had not already released it as a single:
John Bettis (left) and Richard Carpenter met in college and wrote many songs together. Pictured here in the late 1960’s performing at Disneyland.
“Written by Richard Carpenter (music) and John Bettis (lyrics), ‘Top Of The World’ was originally recorded for and released on the duo’s 1972 studio album A Song for You. The song was initially intended to just remain an album cut, however, when Lynn Anderson’s version, released in mid-1973, was a success, the duo was upset that they hadn’t released their version as a single to begin with. The Carpenters’ version was later released as a single on September 17, 1973. Karen Carpenter re-recorded her lead vocal for the single release as she was not quite satisfied with the original. The new version appeared on the duo’s first compilation album, The Singles: 1969-1973.
Following its single release, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in late 1973, becoming the duo’s second of three No. 1 singles, following ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You‘ and preceding ‘Please Mr. Postman.’”
For my generation you would have had to have lived under a rock to not at least recognize this song.
As my readers know, I loved, loved, loved the Carpenters and their music. Was this song my favorite of theirs? Not by a long shot. Ahead of this one were their more soulful songs (which, I think, took better advantage of Karen’s beautiful voice) such as “We’ve Only Just Begun”, “Rainy Days and Mondays”, “Song For You”, and “Superstar.”
The beauty of this song, in spite of it’s decidedly country vibe, are the upbeat lyrics and the eminently memorable tune.
In the fall of 1973, as a junior in high school, we all knew and could easily sing this song. One of the most important parts of my high school experience was being a part of the nearly 100 member choir. Of course our musical selections were of a more traditional sort, having to sing songs written in Latin and other languages. But those were just part of the deal for the opportunity to participate in the annual musical. One of the rules was that you had to be a member of the Cadet Choir. The other was that in order to try out for a speaking or singing part in the musical you were required to ‘try out’ in front of the entire choir during class.
I finally screwed up the courage to do so during my senior year and I chose “Top of the World” as my song. For weeks prior to the audition I practiced and practiced at home, accompanying myself on the piano. Most of the mid range notes I was fine with since I was an alto.
Finally the big day arrived and I can still see how that room looked with nearly 100 pairs of eyes looking at me as I stood in front of them and gave “Top of the World” my best shot. No doubt my voice cracked a few times. I imagine I went off key a once or twice. My knees knocked together. My hands shook. But I made it through.
Mr. Durado, our teacher, did NOT cast me in a singing role. He did not cast me in an acting role. But he did make me the Director’s Assistant, a job which was definitely more in my wheelhouse. I was not destined to become a singing and acting star of the stage.
The 1975 Cadet Choir. The author is the last one seated, on the ground, at the far right
I have never sung solo in public ever again. And I’m good with that. And so is everyone else.
But when I think back on that time in my life, “Top of the World” was sort of anthem. I was 17 years old and life lay before me with unlimited possibilities. Mostly an optimist, I felt as if the lyrics of this song spoke to me and encapsulated how I felt that year:
I suppose that, musically, the song is undoubtedly seen as being a bit simplistic and saccharin. So be it. But I also think that maybe our current society could use a bit more optimism in the world and embrace a feel good song like “Top of the World.”
This week’s Tuesday Newsday is an update from the one I posted on November 14, 2017. At the time I could never have imagined that this artist who was, in 2017, the most successful female recording artist of all times, could soar even higher. Back to that in a minute.
It was on November 14, 2009 when six songs from her album, Fearless, were all in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40.
That artist: Taylor Swift.
She has inspired TWO generations of young women, capturing the angst and emotion of the teenage years through her catchy country tunes, and has since grown up to become a bona-fide pop diva.
Amazing to think, that at the ripe old age of 20, the Fearless album spawned 12 songs which reached the top 40, the most ever for any album.
During her career, she has (thus far) had 52 singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the most of any female performer ever. According to the Infallible Wikipedia, she comes in fifth place as follows:
No doubt that number will increase this week as her latest album, Reputation, was released on November 10th and sold over 717,000 copies on the first day alone. It is expected that by the end of the first week it will have been purchased over one million times.
All of that information was from 2017. What she’s accomplished SINCE then has blown all of that out of the water. Perhaps the most impressive feat is something she achieved that no other recording artist has ever done:
“On the chart dated November 5, 2022, Taylor Swift became the first act to simultaneously occupy all of the top-10 positions, doing so with tracks from her tenth studio album Midnights. Male artists were absent from the top 10 for the first time ever; Swift and Lana Del Rey were the only artists present in the region. It also marked the least amount of artists present in the top 10 (two).”
As I started working on the updates to this article I found myself exclaiming out loud at the accomplishments of this young woman who will turn 34 years old in December.
A few are: Eleven #1 singles and Nine #2 singles. She is second only to the recording artist Drake in the number of top 5 and top 10 singles. Drake has 41 and 76 while Swift has 31 and 49… more than the Beatles at 59 for Top 5 and Madonna with 38 for Top 10.
And just this week, she vaulted back to the top of the chart as follows:
“Taylor Swift’s ‘Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]’ launches at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The track is from Swift’s newest rerecorded album, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which blasts in atop the Billboard 200, becoming her 13th No. 1 set, extending her mark for the most among women.”
My daughter has been a huge fan of the artist since about age 12. During those years, as an advisor for the Rainbow Girls, my car was often filled with Taylor Swift’s music and the girls – along with their chaperone – always would sing along.
Taylor Swift mania reached its peak in our household, though, in 2013 when it was announced the artist would be coming to the Tacoma Dome at the end of August. My daughter sprang into action and sent out the all points bulletin to her network of friends and gathered a group who wanted to attend the concert with her. I bought the 6 tickets (all that were allowed any one purchaser) and then my daughter collected the funds from her friends. At some point prior to the concert, she was entered into a ‘drawing’ for the opportunity to purchase two additional tickets. But these were not just ANY tickets. These were tickets to the Pit, the coveted area at the base of the stage. She won! Now two additional lucky girls were added to the mix.
The picture my daughter took on August 31, 2013 from her coveted ‘pit’ location
The day of the concert, we held a going away party for my daughter, as she was literally leaving to move to Nashville the next day. I drove some of the girls to the Tacoma Dome and the rest rode with my daughter. No doubt that concert was a highlight for all of them.
The next day, on September 1, with the hubby and I in one car and our son and daughter in another, all made our way east on Interstate 90. It was just outside of George when the most amazing thing occurred. The hubby and I came up behind and subsequently passed truck after truck which all bore huge photos of Taylor Swift and were, no doubt, carrying the staging, lights, sound, and other equipment. It became a game to see how many Taylor Swift trucks were on the road. We saw the biggest number in Post Falls, Idaho, late in the afternoon as a six pack of them were parked in a trucker’s lot just to the north of the freeway.
Near Ritzville, Washington September 1, 2013.
We spent the night near Coeur d’Alene and the next day stopped at a rest area just east of the Continental Divide on I-90. There in the parking lot was an unmarked tour bus, its darkened windows a detriment to prying eyes. Was Taylor Swift on that bus? I like to think so. It is highly possible as the next stop on her tour was just five days away, September 6th, in Fargo, ND.
No special tickets for the ‘pit’ at the July 2023 concert at Century Link Field in Seattle. I think they call this the ‘nosebleed’ section.
The tour bus was the last thing we saw that might possibly be related to Taylor Swift before we dropped south to go to Lewis and Clark caverns and Yellowstone National Park. From there me and my daughter traveled on through Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky and, finally, arriving in Tennessee.
July 22, 2023 –My daughter along with a couple of ‘Swifties’ as they call themselves: A co-worker on her left and her cousin on her right.
It was a magical week and a memory worth keeping. In the two years our daughter lived in Nashville, however, not once did she ever see Taylor Swift.
My favorite Taylor Swift song… has to be Teardrops on My Guitar.
As always, a couple links for your further education:
Perhaps the most powerful medium a person experiences is music. After all, I imagine each of us has at least one song we associate with a specific time, event and person. And then there are songs which, although they may not inspire a specific memory, become so much an ingrained part of our culture, they transcend place and time.
One such song spent four weeks at number one the month of October 1982 and, in 2012, made the Recording Industry of America’s list of top songs of the century.
The song starts with the words “A little diddy about Jack and Diane…”
And it continues on to tell the story of two American teenagers trying to figure out life. I think the song resonates because the experience is universal. It matters not if you were a teenager in 1962, 1982, 2012, or 2022, a part of you yearns to break free of that place where you grew up; and a part of you longs to be loved and find that one other person who you can share your life and your love.
Jack and Diane – by John “Cougar” Mellencamp – effectively captures the ambivalence of first love. From the song:
The song was almost never recorded. According to Mellencamp, he struggled with how to perform the song to achieve the sound he desired. From the Infallible Wikipedia:
“Jack & Diane was based on the 1962 Tennessee Williams film Sweet Bird of Youth. He said of recording the song: ‘Jack & Diane was a terrible record to make. When I play it on guitar by myself, it sounds great; but I could never get the band to play along with me. That’s why the arrangement’s so weird. Stopping and starting, it’s not very musical.’ Mellencamp has also stated that the clapping wasn’t supposed to be included in the finished song. It was recorded with the clapping in order to help keep tempo and then it was to be removed. However, he realized the song did not work without it.”
For me, the song does not inspire specific memories but, instead, evokes the emotion of the loss of one’s youth. At 16, 17, 18 years old, there’s nothing quite like that first more serious relationship. It’s a heady time in life when that connection takes control and you think it will always be like that. While there are those who spend their lives with their first love, for most the two individuals involved change and eventually grow apart.
Which is why the youthful memory of a warm summer’s night, a blustery fall day, a walk in the snow, or a soft spring evening, spent with that person evokes such an unexpected melancholy. “Jack and Diane” is like a snapshot into a moment in time which can never be regained. There are no ‘do over’s.’ Life’s experiences are transitory. It’s recognizing these truths which makes the song so enduring.
I know you would all be disappointed if there’s not a link to the Infallible Wikipedia, so here it is:
About six weeks ago I decided I needed to write about this musical group which, in the early 1970’s, was easily one of my top 3 favorites. They first caught my attention with their number one hit, “Make It With You,” in the summer of 1970 and it was one of the first albums I ever purchased. The group: Bread.
Either the first or second album I ever bought… Bread’s ‘Baby I’m A Want You.’ I wore it out.
It was on October 1, 1971, when they released what was to become their second biggest hit “Baby, I’m a Want You.” It would reach number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Bread was the creation of David Gates, Jimmy Griffin, and Robb Royer who met in the music scene of Los Angeles in the late 1960’s. The Infallible Wikipedia does, of course, have something to say about the group got its name. As Gates explained in an interview:
“A bread truck came along right at the time we were trying to think of a name. We had been saying, ‘How about bush, telephone pole? Ah, bread truck, bread.’ It began with a B, like the Beatles and the Bee Gees. Bread also had a kind of universal appeal. It could be taken a number of ways. Of course, for the entire first year people called us the Breads.”
“Make it With You” catapulted Bread to the top of the Billboard charts on August 22, 1970. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:
“For their next single, Bread released a re-recorded version of ‘It Don’t Matter To Me’, a Gates song from their first album. This single was a hit as well, reaching No. 10. Bread began touring and recording their third album, titled Manna (March 1971), which peaked at #21 and included ‘Let Your Love Go’ (which preceded the album’s release and made No. 28) and the Top 5 hit single, ‘If’. As with the first album, songwriting credits were split evenly between Gates and Griffin-Royer.
Royer, after conflicts with other members of the band, left the group in the summer of 1971 after three albums, although he would continue to write with Griffin. (snip)
In January 1972 Bread released Baby I’m-a Want You, their most successful album, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The title song was established as a hit in late 1971 before the album was released, also hitting No. 3. Follow-up singles ‘Everything I Own’ and ‘Diary’ also went Top 20.
The next album, Guitar Man, was released ten months later and went to No. 18. The album produced three Top 20 singles, ‘The Guitar Man’ (#11), ‘Sweet Surrender’ (#15), and ‘Aubrey’ (#15), with the first two going to No. 1 on Billboard’s adult contemporary chart.”
Bread is best known for David Gate’s rich vocals singing heartfelt ballads, appealing to the 12 to 17 year old female Baby Boomers of the day; their songs perfect for slow dances at Homecoming and Tolo dances.
A couple of diary entries from 1971 and 1972 confirm the impact this group’s music had on me. On December 31, 1971 I wrote: “This is a list of songs I like…” and I go on to list six songs. ‘Baby I’m a Want You’ made the cut. In my 1972 diary I specifically note the handful of songs I liked best at the end of each month. The two most consistent groups on that list were The Carpenters and Bread.
In June 1973 the group disbanded.
New songs and groups stepped into the void and I didn’t really think about Bread very much. At least until I started researching for this article. Research often leads me down rabbit holes and such was the case with this article. The article about the group soon lead to articles about the group members and I found myself enthralled with learning about the individual who I think was most responsible for Bread’s success: David Gates. I loved his voice the first time I heard it and marveled at his song writing. After the breakup of Bread, Gates went on to have a successful solo career but eventually retired. Unlike so many successful musical artists, Gates remained married to his wife, Rita Jo, who he married in 1959, and together they raised four children.
And then he and Rita moved to the state of Washington and the community of… checks article… Mount Vernon!
What? One of my musical favorites lives less than six miles from me? Now, of course, I find myself scanning the more ‘mature’ gentlemen I see out shopping. Could one of them be David Gates? The Guitar Man?
A half an hour of David Gates talking with fans from Mount Vernon, Washington
Back in 2016 a fan in town organized an event with Gates and his wife. Oh how I wish I had known about that. Even though I didn’t yet live in Mount Vernon, I would have driven there to attend!
Although I still love all their music, It’s ‘The Guitar Man’ which best encapsulates David Gates and Bread for this teenager in 1972. Some of the lyrics:
Yesterday, after I finished writing this article I headed into the dentist’s office to have a crown placed. I had just sat down in the waiting room when I heard it. Soft music coming over the speakers. A moment later I burst out laughing. David Gates singing “The Goodbye Girl” was the selection.
After my appointment I shared the serendipity of hearing “The Goodbye Girl” with Sheryl (she runs the office!) and and then told her about today’s Blog topic. She had two immediate reactions. Her first was to exclaim how much she, too, had loved David Gates and Bread as a teenager and, the second, was complete surprise to learn that Gates is a member of the larger community.
So now there are at least two of us who would love to meet our famous neighbor and hear what he has to say.
The argument could be made that this group – a made for TV boy band – was like the Rodney Dangerfield of rock and roll: “I don’t get no respect.”
The Monkees always performed a couple of songs every week on their TV show
And now, 51 years after their TV program debuted, one could also argue that perhaps there was a bit more to them then the critics said at the time.
I’m talking, of course, about the Monkees. The TV show premiered on September 12, 1966 and, in combination with the release of their first single “Last Train To Clarksville” was an immediate hit with girls of a certain age. That age would have been from about 8 to 14 years old.
But back to the critics and how the group came to be. The idea was to put together an American based band of four guys in an attempt to capitalize on, and compete with, the success of the Beatles. The four (pictured here clockwise starting top left – Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith – were all musicians and actors. All took themselves seriously in their pursuit of a career. At the time Jones was a somewhat successful actor having played the role of the Artful Dodger in the musical “Oliver” and with his British accent and good looks was already cast for the TV show. An ad was run in the Hollywood Reporter for the rest of the band.
The Dreamy Davy Jones
According to the infallible Wikipedia:
“Madness!! Auditions. Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running Parts for 4 insane boys, age 17-21. Want spirited Ben Frank’s types. Have courage to work. Must come down for interview.
The always smiling Mickey Dolenz
Out of 437 applicants, the other three chosen for the cast of the TV show were Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz. Nesmith had been working as a musician since early 1963 and had been recording and releasing music under various names, including Michael Blessing and ‘Mike & John & Bill’ and had studied drama in college. Of the final four, Nesmith was the only one who actually saw the ad in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. Tork, the last to be chosen, had been working the Greenwich Village scene as a musician, and had shared the stage with Pete Seeger; he learned of The Monkees from Stephen Stills, whom Rafelson and Schneider had rejected as a songwriter. Dolenz was an actor (his father was veteran character actor George Dolenz) who had starred in the TV series Circus Boy as a child, using the stage name Mickey Braddock, and he had also played guitar and sung in a band called the Missing Links before the Monkees, which had recorded and released a very minor single, ‘Don’t Do It’. By that time he was using his real name; he found out about The Monkees through his agent.”
No doubt the four must have felt as though they hit the jackpot. Their success was almost immediate as their music resonated with the pre-teen group especially, catapulting them to the top of the music charts. As it turned out it was their music – and not the zany TV show – which proved to be the foundation for their success.
Visionary Mike Nesmith
The entire Wikipedia article is worth a read if for no other reason than to gain a better understanding of the almost unbelievable story of the Monkees and their quest to be taken seriously: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkees
Monkeemania gripped me when, as a pre-pubescent 9 year old in the fall of 1966, all my friends were enthralled by the group. My mother, however, was appalled and banned my sister and me from watching it. But that didn’t stop us. Somehow we managed to show up at our neighbor Diane’s house at 7:30 p.m. on the appropriate week night to watch the contraband program.
Our little neighborhood group was so gripped by Monkees fever that we even pretended to BE the group. Diane – our ring leader – was Davy Jones; my sister, Susan, wore a stocking cap and assumed the role of Michael Nesmith; our year younger neighbor, Andi, was Micky Dolenz; and, because of my straight blonde hair, I was assigned the role of Peter Tork. I was not thrilled with that assignment as, like most of the girls, wanted to be Davy, THE one we thought was the best. But then again I did get to be a member of the band!
The goofy, yet adorable, Peter Tork
Although the TV show only ran for two seasons, the Monkees music still resonates today. I think you could argue that it was Nesmith who seized the opportunity to make the band more than a silly sitcom. He pushed and fought for legitimacy his entire career. And although there are still naysayers it’s hard to argue with the band’s success:
First music artist to win two Emmy Awards.
Had seven albums on the Billboard top 200 chart at the same time (six were re-issues during 1986-1987).
One of the first artists achieving number-one hits in the United States and United Kingdom simultaneously.
The only recording act to have four No. 1 albums in a 12-month span.
Held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard album chart for 31 consecutive weeks, 37 weeks total.
Held the record for the longest stay at No. 1 for a debut record album until 1982 when Men at Work‘s debut record album Business As Usual broke that record.
Received their star on the Hollywood Walk of fame in July 1989. All 4 members were present for the ceremony.
In 2008, the Monkees were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
In 2014 the Monkees were inducted into America’s Pop Music Hall of Fame.
The Music Business Association (Music Biz)honored the Monkees with an Outstanding Achievement Award celebrating their 50th anniversary on May 16, 2016.
Getting their star on the Holloywood Walk of Fame 1989
As my friend Roger pointed out, the Monkees had great songwriters assigned to the show: Neil Diamond, Tommy Boyce, and Bobby Hart. Like the Monkees, they were under contract and did their part to make sure the music was at the center.
Whatever the combination of talent, it worked, catapulting the Monkees into stardom.
The 1980’s were, in my opinion, one of the best and more diverse decades musically due to the gigantic influence of one artist in particular. That artist was, of course, Michael Jackson.
Were he still alive he would be celebrating his 65th birthday as he was born August 29, 1958.
His talent was apparent from a very young age as he was part of the Jackson 5 beginning in 1964 at the ripe old age of six. The group performed for local gigs in their hometown of Gary, Indiana, and also on talent shows. It was in August 1967 that they won a talent contest at Harlem’s Apollo theatre and caught the attention of Gladys Knight. Although her contacts in Motown did not sign the group at that time they persevered as their father Joe Jackson – the ultimate stage parent – continued to find and book gigs for them to play. In 1969 they were the opening act for the Supremes and, with the mentoring of Diana Ross, were rocketed to fame.
Although the group had tremendous success, no doubt Michael eclipsed his 9 siblings when, at age 13, his solo career started in 1971. His first single “Got To Be There” reached the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his next single “Ben” which sent him to the top of the charts.
It was the release of the album “Thriller” in 1982 which made Michael Jackson a true household name. From the Infallible Wikipedia:
“More success came with Jackson’s sixth album, Thriller, released in late 1982. The album earned Jackson seven more Grammys and eight American Music Awards, including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it. It was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983, and became the best-selling album of all time in the United States and the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 65 million copies. It topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Beat It’, and ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’’. In December 2015, Thriller was certified for 30 million shipments by the RIAA, making it the only album to achieve that feat in the United States. Thriller won Jackson and Quincy Jones the Grammy award for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) for 1983. It also won Album of the Year, with Jackson as the album’s artist and Jones as its co-producer, and a Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, award for Jackson.”
As a performer he brought energy to all he did. It’s fun to go watch the videos he made but I particularly like this clip where he does the moonwalk in a performance for the first time. Enjoy!
On May 8, 1983, the fourth single from the Thriller album was released: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. When I first heard this song it was in the middle of what became a two year stint with a fledgling start-up software company named Microsoft (I was employee #248 if I remember correctly).
Pages 36 & 37 (below right) of the December 26 1983-January 2, 1984 People magazine featuring the 25 most intriguing people of 1983.
Those were heady days for the company. Bill Gate’s star was clearly on the rise and at the end of 1983 he was featured as one of People Magazine’s 25 most intriguing people. But it was at the 4:44 mark in this song which proved to me that Microsoft was on everybody’s, including Michael Jackson’s, mind in 1983. To this day when I hear this song I swear he’s repeating the word ‘Microsoft’ over and over.
Although I’ve never written specifically about Bill Gates, I often tell people he is the most eccentric person I’ve ever met. And I will forever associate this particular Michael Jackson song with a Foresst Gump-like interaction, likely June 1983, when a trio of us from the Microsoft telemarketing crew, had the ultimate adventure with Bill Gates.
Rewind to a couple weeks earlier. Two of my fellow telemarketers, Susie R. and Sue C., really enjoyed playing racquetball at the Bellevue Athletic Club (a perk for employees) and one day they got into discussion with the vice-president of retail sales, Jim S., about the game.
This turned into an argument over whether or not Jim could beat the two of them at racquetball. Soon a bet was proffered: he would take on both of them at once and if he lost, he would take the pair out to dinner; if they lost, they would take him.
The day of the big game occurred and the next day I learned that Jim had beaten the two women.
Soon the planning began for the dinner but the one thing Susie and Sue did NOT want to do was go to dinner just with Jim. So they asked all of the telemarketing group to come along (there were six of us at that time) as well as one of the company receptionists. Beg was a more accurate word in my opinion.
So I agreed and said I would bring the hubby too. Although none of the other telemarketers took them up on the offer the receptionist – a very cute and personable 19 year old named Lisa – did. And, oh by the way, would it be okay if Lisa also asked a friend to come with her?
That ‘friend’ – it turned out – was the 27 year old owner of Microsoft: Bill Gates.
The day arrived and we headed south from Bellevue to the Cliff House restaurant at Brown’s Point near Tacoma. Since the hubby and I planned to go home directly after dinner and we lived in West Seattle, we ended up driving our little brown Honda Civic wagon while the other five piled into Susie R.’s Volkswagen Beetle van.
A 1978 VW Van similar to Susie R’s
The dinner went off without a hitch. Bill G. ordered and drank most of two bottles of wine by himself. We were all feeling pretty happy.
After dinner was over it was decided that we needed to drive back to Bellevue and go dancing at the Red Lion. So the five climbed back into the VW van while the hubby and I followed in our car.
We are on I-5 and somewhere around Fife, Susie pulls up next to us and hands a bottle out the window to our car and then zooms ahead. I will say right up front that what happened next was stupid and foolish. But five of the seven individuals were under the age of 30 and immortal and the other two (in their late 30’s early 40’s) had elevated senses of adventure.
Susie speeds ahead in the van and from our vantage point a few car lengths back, we see the van ‘wobble’ a bit and then slow down. We look over, now Jim S. is driving. Yes, they changed drivers going 55 mph* on I-5.
As we continue north this scenario continues several more times: the van wobbles and then slows with a new driver smiling and waving at us.
It was just after we had gotten onto I-405 when the last switch happens. The van wobbles, slows down, and now Bill G. is the driver. The van shoots away as though possessed. The hubby struggles to keep pace.
When we finally get to the Red Lion about five minutes AFTER the other five, we have a group table and the drinks are already flowing. I have to imagine that Lisa must have had a fake ID because she was there enjoying herself too.
When Bill – who obviously had a thing for Lisa – escorts her out to dance he literally walks up to this knee high gold colored railing which is all around the edge of the dance floor. There are a couple entries, but Bill doesn’t walk around to one of those. Instead he bends his knees and tucks the lower part of his leg up and seems to float over the railing. I’d never seen anything like it and the memory is as clear now as when it occurred 40 years ago.
Fast forward to the 4:46 mark when “Microsoft’ seems to be repeated over and over
Back to Michael Jackson. We all know how the rest of the story went. As often happens, the achievement of fame does not lead to happiness. Jackson was a near daily subject of tabloids and a constant target for paparazzi; his bizarre behaviors and personal life dissected without abatement.
His death, it was ultimately determined, was from cardiac arrest. Like everything else in his life, though, that too swirled in controversy. What we do know is that he was taking a virtual pharmacy of drugs for various issues at the time of his demise on June 25, 2009.
The whole article is worth a read. Jackson’s was an amazing life, surreal in many ways.
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes… How you measure, measure a year?
In January 1996 the song which these opening lyrics are from – along with dozens of other songs – opened off Broadway in New York in the musical Rent. The production turned out to be a big hit, running for a dozen years. The Infallible Wikipedia tells us:
I added some of the lyrics to a photo I took of Mt Adams, Washington at sunset December 30, 2022
“On Broadway, Rent gained critical acclaim and won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Musical. The Broadway production closed on September 7, 2008, after 12 years, making it one of the longest-running shows on Broadway. The production grossed over $280 million.
The success of the show led to several national tours and numerous foreign productions. In 2005, it was adapted into a motion picture featuring most of the original cast members.”
The bigger story, I believe, is about the visionary behind the musical. Composer Jonathan Larson was living in New York City, working as a waiter, when he began collaboration with playwright Billy Aronson. Over the course of the next two years, the pair continued to create the musical. Aronson, however, lost interest in the project and Larson made a proposal. The Infallible Wikipedia continues:
“In 1991, he asked Aronson if he could use Aronson’s original concept and make Rent his own. Larson had ambitious expectations for Rent; his ultimate dream was to write a rock opera ‘to bring musical theater to the MTV generation’. Aronson and Larson made an agreement that if the show went to Broadway, Aronson would share in the proceeds and be given credit for ‘original concept & additional lyrics’.
Jonathan Larson focused on composing Rent in the early 1990s, waiting tables at the Moondance Diner to support himself. Over the course of years, Larson wrote hundreds of songs and made many drastic changes to the show, which in its final incarnation contained 42 songs. In the fall of 1992, Larson approached James Nicola, artistic director of New York Theatre Workshop, with a tape and copy of Rent‘s script. When Rent had its first staged reading at New York Theatre Workshop in March 1993, it became evident that, despite its very promising material and moving musical numbers, many structural problems needed to be addressed, including its cumbersome length and overly complex plot.”
After many changes, the show was deemed ready after its final dress rehearsal on January 24, 1996.
Then tragedy struck. Sometime in the early morning of January 25, the show’s creator and composer, Jonathan Larson, died. It was later determined that he had experienced an aortic aneurysm.
Despite this, the show opened and was an immediate hit, made all the more poignant by the tragic death of Larson.
Seasons of Love – the song referenced at the start of the article – became the de facto theme song for the musical. It ended up being given a place of prominence in the production with the entire cast standing in a single line and singing it at the beginning of Act II. A reminder of not only Larson but also of the transient nature of life. Larson had, literally, invested his life into this one project, leaving behind a legacy.
Opening segment from the movie “Rent”
I first became aware of this song in the late 1990’s and ended up using it for a presentation at the Washington Idaho Rainbow Girls convention in the early 2000’s. It seemed fitting as a reminder that each of us has these same number of minutes to use each year, a message I wished to impart to the young women: that each of them had time which they could use to help other people and promote the organization.
For me personally, however, it prompted the question of how to put those 525,600 minutes allotted each year to good use to reach my own goals and achieve my dreams.
The Jonathan Larson project was formed to bring many of Larson’s never before published works to the public. Link: https://54below.com/events/39697/
Certainly, the sentiment of the song – that we should measure a year in love – is one way. But to do that you must first define love. It can be the love of another person, of family, of friends. But it can also be the love and passion one puts into those things which bring them fulfillment and joy. The thing – or things – I would call someone’s mission in life.
That, ultimately, is what I like to think Larson meant when he wrote the song. Spend your precious minutes doing the things which inspire you and never lose your passion for whatever it is that motivates you. That’s how you should measure a year.
When reading the Infallible Wikipedia about this artist, who was born on September 27, 1947, what comes across is a larger than life personality whose personal excesses drove his incredible success but also his failures.
As a child, Marvin (Michael) Lee Aday*, was the target of other children for his physical appearance. He once stated in an interview that when he was born, he was “ ‘bright red and stayed that way for days’ and that his father said he looked like ‘nine pounds of ground chuck’, and convinced hospital staff to put the name ‘Meat’ on his crib. He was later called ‘M.L.’ in reference to his initials, but when his weight increased, his seventh-grade classmates referred to him as ‘Meatloaf’, referring to his 5-foot, 2 inches, 240 pound stature. He also attributed the nickname to an incident where, after he stepped on a football coach’s foot, the coach yelled ‘Get off my foot, you hunk of meatloaf!’.”
The name stuck and, as a performer, “Meatloaf” became the name by which he was famous. In fact, until I started researching this article, I did not know his real name.
His story, like so many other artists, was one of forming a band and playing every gig he could get. He landed singing roles in several musicals including The Rocky Horror Show and Hair. These successes eventually led to teaming up with Jim Steinman, a composer, lyricist, and producer; together they put together Meatloaf’s most iconic album Bat Out of Hell. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:
The official video for Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad
“Meat Loaf and Steinman spent time seeking a record deal; however, their approaches were rejected by each record company, because their songs did not fit any specific recognized music industry style. Todd Rundgren, under the impression that they already had a record deal, agreed to produce the album as well as play lead guitar along with other members of Rundgren’s band Utopia and Max Weinberg. They then shopped the record around, but they still had no takers until Steve Popovich’s Cleveland International Records took a chance, releasing Bat Out of Hell in October 1977.”
It was a great decision. That album went on to sell an estimated 43 million copies, making it one of the best selling albums of all time. It has spent an incredible 485 weeks on the UK’s Album Chart, only two weeks less than Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors.
Meatloaf with his composer, lyricist, and producer, Jim Steinman
Like many artists, it seems as if his over the top persona was, perhaps, a way to overcome some of the teasing he endured as a child. In an interview he once said, “Being too fat to play with the other children, I had to spend a lot of time alone, which probably has a lot to do with the way I am today. I’m usually alone in my hotel room from right after the show until the next day’s sound check. And I’m never bored; I don’t get bored. Probably because mothers wouldn’t let their kids play with me.”
Sadly, he died suddenly on January 20, 2022 at the age of 74. He’d had Covid several weeks earlier, but no specific cause of death was listed.
Somewhat belatedly Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell album joined my hitchhiker music list when I found the CD at Value Village one day a few years ago. I admit that I had only heard his iconic Paradise By the Dashboard Lights a few times previously, preferring his ballads, particularly Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.
I think that one of the reasons that song resonated with so many of my generation might have been due to the pain which the artist experienced early in life. To listen to his interpretation of the song there is absolutely no doubt that he understands what rejection feels like.
Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad is a song I can listen to again and again, appreciating Meatloaf’s vocal ability and soulful rendition. The year the song charted, I experienced a failed relationship and could truly relate to the words and music.
Rest In Peace Michael Lee Addy. The world was made better by your contributions.
Over the course of the past several years, I’ve developed a list of potential topics for Tuesday Newsday. If something occurred on a certain date, I will sometimes pencil it in ahead of time.
This particular song, which reached the top of the Billboard charts for six weeks starting on July 29, 1972, has been on that list since the beginning. But each year at this time, there were other topics which resonated more.
I can’t explain why, exactly, except to say that while I liked this song as an angsty 15 year old, there wasn’t any particular tie in for me. Until now.
First, about the song.
Alone Again (Naturally) was written and sung by a young artist by name of Gilbert O’Sullivan. From the Infallible Wikipedia:
“The single spent six non-consecutive weeks at no. 1 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, which ranked it as the No. 2 song for 1972. In Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 of the 1970s, ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ ranked as the fifth most-popular song of the decade (Debby Boone’s ‘You Light Up My Life’ was no. 1). It also spent six weeks at no. 1 on the easy listening chart, and reached no. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. (snip)
‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ is a melancholy, introspective ballad. In the first verse, the singer contemplates suicide after having been left ‘in the lurch at a church’; in the second, he wonders if there is a God; finally, he laments the death of his parents. O’Sullivan has said the song is not autobiographical: for example, his mother was alive during its composition, and he was not close to his father, who was cruel to his mother and died when the singer was 11 years old.
The song received extensive radio airplay in the months after its release, and was critically praised. O’Sullivan commented that ‘Neil Diamond covered ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ and said he couldn’t believe a 21-year-old wrote it, but for me it was just one song I had written.’ Neil Sedaka stating when he covered the song in 2020 that he wished that he himself had written the song, because its complexity was more typical of someone much older than 21.”
The complex lyrics tugged at the heartstrings of anyone who had ever suffered through a break up or questioned their faith or lost a parent. When I was 15 I had not experienced enough life to truly appreciate how profound the song is. What I do know is that I loved the song as somehow it spoke to something deeper.
And yet, when it came to including in my blog, I never did and was not going to again this week. Then, on July 29, something changed.
That something was the dreaded phone call, this time from the hubby’s younger sister, to let us know that my 96 year old father-in-law had passed a short time earlier.
To be clear, it was not unexpected. He had been struggling with ill health for quite some time. But dying, for those who have not been through it with an elderly loved one, is often a multi-week, if not months, long process. The steps are incremental.
For the family, however, his was above all else, a love story.
At the ripe old age of 20 in the autumn of 1945, he was on a Navy ship. Yes, he saw battle in WWII. But the particular day we always heard about was the day his ship was stationed in Seattle and, with a bit of shore leave, had disembarked.
In the crowds there to greet the young men, was an 18 year old girl from West Seattle. At the time, that’s what the young women would often do, go down to meet and greet the sailors who came to port.
It was a rainy day (of course it was, it was Seattle in October). My mother-in-law has always told the story that she saw him through the crowd and knew she wanted to meet him. He had ‘earrings’ on his ear lobes. Not real earrings, but droplets of water which clung to the bottom of his lobes just like the real thing.
Plus, I’ve seen the pictures of them from that time and they were both ‘lookers.’
I have no idea how long he was in port, but it was long enough for them to fall in love. They were married only five months later on March 20, 1946.
Photo taken a couple years ago with their wedding photo from 1946
This past March they celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary!
Through the years there were, no doubt, disagreements and times of challenge. But truly, theirs was a testament to the enduring power of love and commitment. Four children, six grandchildren, one great grandchild. Daughter and Son-in-laws. Heartache and joy. And being each other’s best friend for 76 years.
barbaradevore.com 