For My Sunday Song #289, we are going deep with a cut called “Memories of You” from a band Jeff Scott Soto was in back in 1988 called Kuni. Soto was able to land a gig with the Japanese guitar virtuoso, Kuni, after his stint with Yngwie Malmsteen. The rest of the band included Mike Terrana on Drums, who played with Yngwie and Beau Nasty, as well as Douglas Taylor Baker on Bass, who also wound up playing with Beau Nasty. The album was called “Lookin’ For Action’ and that album had plenty of action on it.
The song is sad as our singer sits with a picture in his hand of a love gone wrong. They loved so deeply and he doesn’t understand what went wrong and why their love died. But it did and all he is stuck with is his memories. He is wondering if she feels the same way. Is she feeling the pain he is feeling. Is she missing him as much as he misses her. We don’t ever get the answer, just a beautiful song.
This is one of my favorite songs on the record (and there are a lot on this album), “Memories of You”, was written by Cary Sharef. It also might be Jeff’s best performance on the album. It is a power ballad or as close as you can get with Kuni, maybe a little heavier than what you’d expect for one, but works like one as the chorus is hooky and layered with tons of backing vocals. Soto shows off his range here and hits notes that will shatter glass. And don’t worry, every power ballad has a killer guitar solo and this one is no different. It starts off slow and then Kuni rips you a new one. He is a brilliant player and could shred with the best of them. This is also a big part of why I like this song.
This version of The Original vs. The Cover is going to be 3 songs. The song is the classic “Without You” and we will kick it off with the original by the band Badfinger. Now, I have to admit, I thought the original was by Harry Nilsson and didn’t realize his was a cover. So, Harry is up next. Lastly, we will throw in one of the most successful covers by the great Mariah Carey. The song was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans from the band Badfinger.
Pete Ham was originally writing a song called “If It’s Love”, but the song didn’t have a good chorus. When he was getting ready to leave the studio one day, Tom Evans stopped him and said he had an idea for a song. Peter was supposed to go out with his girlfriend, well his girlfriend knew him well and knew he would not be able to focus so she made him stay behind. Tom was working on a song with the chorus “Can’t live if living is without you”. The two parts were like chocolate and peanut butter. Apart they are good, but together they are perfect. The two didn’t think much of the song but apparently it has now been covered by over 180 artist.
On a side note and after effect of the song, Both Ham and Evans later committed suicide due to legal and financial reasons. Evans reason for the suicide seemed to be related to the royalties on this song which makes it a pretty sad tale.
BADFINGER
The Badfinger song came out on November 9, 1970 and was on their album ‘No Dice’. It is was a guitar ballad and had some heavy bass and both electric and acoustical accompaniment. Ham and Evans both take on lead vocal duties. It has that classic 60’s/70’s rock vibe to it and there is a punch to as the song progresses. There is a yearning to the vocals and you can feel the pain of that broken heart. It is a rather effective song and why I wasn’t overly familiar with it before I have no idea.
HARRY NILSSON
Harry Nilsson covered the song a year later on his 1971 album ‘Nilsson Schmilsson’. The song was released on October 11, 1971 and the song went all the way to #1 on Billboard Charts. Harry’s version turns the song in to a piano ballad giving it it an airy atmostpheric feel. The bass groove that lies just behind the lyrics is impactful and soulful. And when the chorus explodes it is so much more dramatic and he owns the pain and sorrow in those vocals. It is almost cathartic and you know he feels better after singing it. The song might be even more effective than the original and he even shaved a minute off the song. Harry truly owns this one and has probably the most recognizable version…at least for 20+ years.
MARIAH CAREY
Then on January 24, 1994, Mariah Carey releases her version of the song from her 1994 album ‘Music Box’. A whole new generation would now be introduced to the song which only went to #3 on the Billboard Charts. Mariah’s version is based off Harry’s as it is mostly a biting piano song with some heavy, heavy bass added to it. Almost too much bass. Her vocals soar and hit notes that Harry would only dream of, however, her vocals, though beautiful, don’t capture the emotion of the song. I feel she is singing it, but not feeling it.
THE VERDICT
Based on the above, I am torn between Badfinger’s version and Harry Nilsson’s version. As I said Mariah, she sings it beautifully but she doesn’t feel the song. And if I am basing on who “feels” the song and makes it believable, I guess I would go with Harry Nilsson’s version. He truly owned it and made it his own. Changing it to a piano based song really turned up the feels and you believed he felt the pain and sorrow of those lyrics. Badfinger is a very close second as I do love the guitar and bass work on the original. I hate they didn’t get the recognition they truly deserved for creating such a beautiful and powerful song.
I am really interested in hearing what everyone else thinks of these two songs. Let me know which version you like the best and why. Feel free to leave a comment and talk about the song and tell me how right or wrong I am on this one. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
LYRICS:
“Without You”
Well, I can’t forget this evening And your face when you were leaving But I guess that’s just the way the story goes You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows Yes, it shows
Well, I can’t forget tomorrow When I think of all my sorrow I had you there, but then I let you go And now it’s only fair that I should let you know What you should know
[CHORUS:] I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore I can’t live, if living is without you I can’t live, I can’t give anymore
Well, I can’t forget this evening And your face when you were leaving But I guess that’s just the way the story goes You always smile, but in your eyes your sorrow shows Yes, it shows
Happy Friday! Welcome to a huge list of New Releases just for you. There is so much on here that I believe there is something for everyone even if there is nothing I am running out and buying. I will listen to a few when I have a chance and maybe I’ll end up getting later. Take a look and let me know what you’d like to hear or what I may have missed as it does happen. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Band of Horses – Things Are Great – (Huger Lewis & the Dudes / BMG)
Stereophonics – Oochya – (Stylus Records / Ignition Records)
In 1989, Marcel Jacob had label interest but no band. You remember Marcel, he was in Yngwie Malmsteem’s Rising Force with Jeff Scott Soto. Although the two didn’t hit it off at first as their musical upbringing were so different. Marcel was a European music snob and Jeff was simple uncultured American. Over time, they became friends and Marcel needed help from his friend for a project he was working on that had no singer. He asked Jeff to sing the songs for the album.
Marcel’s project was originally called Guitars on Fire, but after the songs were completed and mixed, the name changed to Talisman. But the album almost didn’t happen. At the time of recording the album, Jeff Scott Soto was in a band called Eyes and his contract had him exclusively which means, Jeff can’t do anything outside of Eyes. At the time, Jeff was broke, and I mean flat broke. He needed money fast. So Jeff talked to his label, begged and pleaded and made them understand that this album is a one-off and wouldn’t compete with Eyes. It would have limited release only in Sweden so they had nothing to fear. And you know, they bought it.
Jeff went to Sweden and recorded the album with Jacob in 1989. For the album, you had Marcel Jacob on bass, drums (except for two tracks), keyboards and guitar. Jeff Scott Soto handled the vocals, Christopher Stahl on guitar, Mats Lindfors on guitar, Mats Olassaon on keyboard, and Peter Hermansson on drums for the two tracks Marcel didn’t play on.
Back in 1984, Aerosmith left Columbia Records and signed with Geffen. The great thing for Columbia was that despite them leaving the label, the new deal with Geffen still allowed the release material as they still had control of the bands earlier work. They took full advantage of that by releasing ‘Classics Live!’ in 1986 and ‘Classics Live! II’ in 1987. Then the bands new found fame was with the song “Walk This Way” and their smash album ‘Permanent Vacation’, Columbia records didn’t miss another opportunity to capitalize on that success. This time around they went for another greatest hits compilation package called ‘Gems’ which was released on November 15, 1988.
The great thing about this greatest hits compilation is that there are no repeats from the band’s first Greatest Hits album from 1980. Columbia purposefully delivered a much heavier set of songs that were extremely popular with fans even though they might not have all been huge hits. They were “gems”. All but one song on the release are basically the album cuts so no real reason to buy except for one. The album contained the studio version of the song “Chip Away The Stone” which had never been released prior except as a live version on ‘Live! Bootleg’. That gave reason enough for the serious fan to grab hold of this release. It didn’t do that great, only going to #133 on the Billboard Album Chart, but it has since been certified Gold.
The first track, “Rats in the Cellar” (off ‘Rocks’), was Steven’s answer to the hit song “Toys in the Attic”. The song was frantic in pace and was pretty much about the disaster of the band that was going on behind the scenes with the drugs and arguing as well as it being inspired by the death of their drug dealer. The song is a total blast with its maddening quick tempo and then Kramer’s drumming was incredible on this one as well. You get a harmonica solo and a full on jam section. It is the closest thing to heavy metal you are going to get from the band.
While at a Record Show here in Charlotte, I came across some really great singles and here is the first of 3 I found at the show that were in phenomenal shape. The first is from the band Ratt and it is the first single off their 1990 album ‘Detonator’ called “Lovin’ You’s A Dirty Job”. The song never made the Top 40 but did go to #18 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. The song was written by Stephen Pearcy, Juan Croucier, Warren DeMartini and Desmond Child who also produced the song and the album.
My version of the single is actually the UK version with “What’s It Gonna Be” as the B-Side. It was also the B-Side of the US version as well. Both songs appear to be the album version and not the Radio edits, but honestly, “Lovin’ You’s A Dirty Job” is such a short song already at 3:14 that no edit is really needed.
February is over so it is time for our monthly round-up of what 2 Loud 2 Old Music got their hands on this month and it was another banner month. It all started with a trip to the antique mart called Sleepy Poets. My daughter loves that place and I don’t mind because there are records and I found a couple good ones. One was the only early Stryper album I was missing and the other was one of my mother’s favorite bands Air Supply so I had to buy it. I miss her a lot so it will be something in my collection that when I am really, really missing her I can pull out and play.
Then the following week, my daughter wanted to hit more antique shops as she loves to find old vintage clothes at not a too ridiculous of a price. The first place we hit in Mathews said it was an antique place, but really it was a record store and now I have another great place to go buy albums!! Yeah me!! I found some great vinyl, CDs, singles and cassettes…they had it all. First are the albums, which are an early pressing of Mariah Carey’s debut on vinyl and a Billy Idol 12″ Single of Mony Mony.
For My Sunday Song #288, we are going to tackle another song from the band W.E.T. This time around we are going to discuss “Watch the Fire” which is the opening track off their 2018 album ‘Earthrage’. If you remember from the earlier post, W.E.T. is comprised of Robert Sall of the band Work of Art, Erik Martensson of the band Eclispse and Jeff Scott Soto from the band Talisman. Take the first initial of each band and you have W.E.T. It also has 2 other members Magnus Henriksson and Robban Back. All are on the label Frontiers Records who brought the super group together.
The song was written by Johan Becker, Miqael Persson and Erik Martensson. It is a dark song in that the person the song is about has been burned bad by either a girlfriend or it could be anyone as it doesn’t really delve into the who or what actually happened. All we know is the person has been deceived, lied to and hurt this person badly. The person is angry and telling those that hurt him that their day will come. Karma will catch up and when it does, he will be there to watch the fire and watch them burn. Doesn’t sound like he will throw any water on them to help them out, just gladly watch them burn. I would say he is pissed.
Musically, it is a hard, melodic rock song and what I love about it is that the vocals are shared with Erik and Jeff whose voices compliment each other so well. It is a catchy chorus and and when you hear Soto you instantly connect and find yourself singing along instantly. The guitars are crunchy, the keyboards give it an even more melodic feel and the drums pound throughout. It is a modern rock song that is drenched in the old 80’s sound and I feel this could’ve been huge back in the day. Soto’s vocals are always on point with W.E.T. and I love the range he shows and how smooth his vocals can be. They are enticing and downright amazing in my book. One of my favorite groups he has been in as they are all so talented and the music is melodic which is what I love.
In my digging, whether vinyl or cd, I like to find things I hadn’t seen before and this was one of those items. It was a Limited Edition CD Single from Creed for their song “With Arms Wide Open”. The release was to help promote and fund the With Arms Wide Open Foundation that was started by the band. $3 from the sale of each single went to the Foundation.
The CD has 3 separate versions of the song. It has the Strings Version, the Acoustic Version and the Rock Version. There is also a video of the song as well. So if you like the song, you get a nice variety of versions for the song and that usually makes every collector happy. I will be honest, vocally each version of this song is feel exactly the same. The only difference is they layered in strings for the String Version and acoustic guitars for the Acoustic Version. The Rock Version has all instruments at full force but is around seconds shorter.
What I loved about the CD single is the fact it was transparent. Yes, you get a picture disc as well with the crossed hands of the father and child, but you can see right through the disc. I don’t think I’ve seen one like that before so I had to grab it. And I do like Scott Stapp so there was that as well.
Join me tonight on The LeBrain Train as we go through our Top 5 Ballads!! See what Mike Ladano says about his show below…
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike & Friends
Episode 99 – Top Ballads…Remastered
On July 3 2020, we did the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Ballads on the LeBrain Train with six sets of lists. And it was great! We had lists from Meat, Harrison, Holen, Darr, and Len Labelle. Unfortunately due to Facebook Live and a bad internet connection, I find this show impossible to watch today. Harrison and I have been trying to talk Meat into doing a “remastered” version of the show in the new Cinco De Listo format for a long time, and we finally twisted his arm. The new panel tonight:
“X”? That’s right. This week’s show is not just a list show. There will be a sixth panel member, and that member’s voice and likeness will be obscured for the whole countdown. It will be up to the others to figure out who “X” is, and they have five songs with which to do it.
I love a mystery and I’m really looking forward to this! Tune in tonight for six lists of awesome ballads, and a little Friday evening mystery too. Where’s Mulder when you need him?
Band of Horses – Things Are Great – (Huger Lewis & the Dudes / BMG)
Stereophonics – Oochya – (Stylus Records / Ignition Records)
2 Loud 2 Old Music 