It's a very-rare 4-day weekend for me, so I actually had time to listen to some Casey (recorded via Dar.fm). It's strange listening to this stuff, mostly because the bulk of this music never really left the radio. But there's always a song or two that I distinctly remember not remembering. And it's interesting for me to see what my now-refined musical palate thinks of the stuff I listened to as a teen. I didn't make note of exactly what week this show was from (but it was the week that Barry Manilow had his "third Number One hit," "Looks Like We Made It"). As usual, I skipped over about half the songs, including the aforementioned. The few notable songs from the playlist:
Slave, "Slide". Slave was a funk band from Ohio that I had never heard of. Their hit from that week, "Slide," sounds as solid as any funk song from that seminal period, and I can't believe that it was not more of a crossover. I don't remember hearing this song, ever. I've added it to my Amazon Prime funk playlist. Thank you, Casey, for that one.
Another song that caught my ear was the one-hit wonder, "Ariel," by Dean Friedman. There's a sort of Billy Joel vibe going with this hippy-dippy song that could only have come from this decade. (Billy Joel has lately been critically reevaluated, though not entirely redeemed.)
My recording of this show included the "musical extra" of "Boogie Nights," by Heatwave, one of my fav tracks of the decade. (In the '80s or '90s I bought a white-label promo 45 with an extended mix.)
Honorary mention: "Smoke From A Distant Fire" from the Sanford-Townsend Band. I was too young to truly appreciate the lyrical nuance of that song in 1977, though it perfectly resonates now.
(There was also a Helen Reddy song in the countdown. I don't remember the name of it, and I mention it solely because I mistakenly thought that it was a Toni Tennille song that I'd never heard, which would indeed be a surprise. I've always quite liked Toni Tennille, for reasons I can't fully articulate.)
all the above must have slipped between nomad days and no radio/ no electricity. two living conditions not propitious to music appreciation..but names are familiar, some nostalgic..do i hear the baritone announcer pouring hot honey on a background of reason? i heard him on car radios in the middle of the desert several times and enjoyed his sound of integrity. when time allows, i'll search for the ones i' ve missed.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Casey Kasem during my teen years. I sought out the original vinyl masters sent to the radio stations years later. They were much sought after back when. To hear these shows, now, is to be transported back almost 40 years. There aren't many surprises--except for the music that I completely ignored then, but find significant now. It's my personal experiment with revisionist history.
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