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captain america and billy
Old Love
907 Posts |
 Posted - 11/10/2012 : 16:20:41
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| As much as I've always mainly been a devotee of far more outreaching socio-political popular music,I also have been wooed by many an artist or group of more of an adult contemporary persuasion such as Bread,America,and the subject of this posting,the 5th Dimension.I've been recently listening to,and duly mesmorized by the November 1969 Billboard no.1 "Wedding Bell Blues".Purely from the standpoint of composition,I think it posseses an absolutely inherent melodical charm as well as it seems to have been produced with a great deal of inspiration and depth for a piece obviously aimed at the top forty audience of the day.This was indeed a valuable lesson in how to write hit songs in that period.I also am equally enthralled with "Last Night(I Didn't Get To Sleep At All)a similarly captivating top ten record from 1971,which we all know here as the year of Carole King and "Tapestry",another adult contemporary masterpiece. |
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markk
Old Love
USA
803 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2012 : 00:31:12
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I don't know about guilty pleasures, its just music my friend.
But I actually met this group(5th Dim) about 5 years ago, and spent almost 2 hours with them in a hotel lobby. West coast type of people, friendly, casual and down to earth. In particular i was smitten with Florence LaRue, light skinned black female singer and former beauty queen. Wow. I loved chatting with her.
She's the one on the left and she knows how to surrey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMBVOinCeiQ |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9880 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2012 : 15:30:01
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Right, mk. Guilty pleasures impies that it would be a bit embarrassing to admit we like 5th D or Bread. Some great tunes from those acts...period.
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Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
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captain america and billy
Old Love
907 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2012 : 16:46:12
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| I'm not all embarrassed by mentioning these acts here on this site simply because I can sense I'm cyberchatting with many an expert on the subject of truly great,even deeply affecting pop fare.And of course,I'm not about to take ANY BULL&^%$ from any of these Lady Gaga,Chris Brown worshippers who seem to feel that the age of a good piece has ANYTHING TO DO with HOW GOOD A RECORD IS!All my life I've been dealing with these boorish cretins who will do anything they deem necessary to seem "cool" and "hip" just to be a part of the perverbial "in crowd".What exactly is the message here?Following this highly convoluted logic,one would be automatically dismissive of the truly great composers anywhere from Billy Joel,Elton John,Paul Simon,Bob Dylan in his prime(not to say the recent Dylan is necessarily any less intriguing) and,of course,Lennon and McCartney and ,why not,the sheer genius of the better known classicalcomposers.What alot of these youngsters don't seem to realize is that the best works of these revered songsmiths WILL indeed someday BE classical music!The lack of TRUE music admiration is desparingly at all time low. |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9880 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2012 : 17:24:25
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Other great acts of the 60's & 70's that i love....some that don't get the respect they deserve--Underrated or under-respected
Jackson Browne
Joan Armatrading
Donovan of course
Monkees we know!
Bread
Billy Joel early 70's
Elton john through Yellow Brick Road
Iain Matthews...always and forever
Linda Ronstadt--highly underrrated...no one selected or covered others better
Poco
Spanky & Our Gang
The Association
Steely Dan
Doobie brothers
Marshall Tucker Bnad
Tom Rush
Eric Andersen!!
and the late great Dan Fogelberg...RIP.
I'll add more as we go.
WARREN ZEVON...brilliant rebel
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Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find money cannot be eaten.
~ Cree Prophecy |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 13/10/2012 18:02:55 |
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captain america and billy
Old Love
907 Posts |
Posted - 13/10/2012 : 17:54:17
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| Fogelberg's "Longer" is one of the prettiest ballads I've ever heard.And let's not forget just how many people are STILL not aware of Arthur Lee and Love.Another lost catalog,Gary Puckett and The Union Gap! |
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John9
Old Love
United Kingdom
2154 Posts |
Posted - 14/10/2012 : 12:08:03
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Going back to the 5th Dimension - during the 60s they were my favourite all vocal band and I've got everything by them up until 1972 on CD. I first heard them on one of those radio shows that would play American chart hits. The Johnny Mann Singers' Up Up and Away was really big in the UK - much more so than Frank Ifield's version. But when I heard those heartbreakingly beautiful west coast harmonies on the 5th Dimension's original, I became a lifelong fan. For me they were unsurpassed interpreters of both Jim Webb and Laura Nyro compositions....and I would heartily recommend The Magic Garden concept album from 1967.
Sadly, Ron Townson (who I think was at school in Memphis with Arthur Lee) passed away in 2001 whilst husband and wife team, Billy Davis Jnr and Marilyn McCoo still perform. Florence still heads up a current but ever changing lineup....and I assume that these were the people that Mark was so fortunate to meet up with.
We Can Fly, We Can Fly  |
Edited by - John9 on 14/10/2012 12:10:58 |
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captain america and billy
Old Love
907 Posts |
Posted - 15/10/2012 : 17:13:45
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| I remember watching Marilyn McCoo when whe hosted the syndicated pop hit show "Solid Gold".Her and Billy Davis' Billboard number one "You Don't Have to Be A Star" usuallky invokes wonderful childhood memories,just as so many other marvelous tunes do for ao many others... |
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Guilty Pleasure Department
