There’s a scene in one of my favorite TV shows, Arrested Development – specifically, the episode entitled “Good Grief” – that manages to be both hysterical and sad at the same time (which, of course, is exactly the point). And I just happen to have a clip available (the Internet is so wonderful).

[youtube]RFDVBXzfoaY[/youtube]

I mention this clip because it’s what I think of when I hear today’s Mellow Gold song. In fact, remove Guaraldi’s “Christmastime Is Here” from the scene altogether; replace it with this gem.

Michael Johnson – Bluer Than Blue (download)

This Mellow Gold classic comes to us courtesy of Robert, our frequent, prolific commentator (check out his blog, Mulberry Panda 96, for more great writing). Robert knows his Mellow, and found this song on Volume 21 of the Have A Nice Day: Super Hits Of The ’70s compilation. Let’s not ask him if he has 1-20.

Michael Johnson has had quite the career, even before the success of “Bluer Than Blue.” He picked up the guitar after contracting a severe case of pneumonia at the age of 13. Confined to a hospital bed set up in his family living room, Johnson taught himself how to play the instrument, and as soon as he was well, began playing gigs around his homebase of Denver. As a college sophomore, Johnson entered and won a nationwide talent contest; the prizes were a reel-to-reel recorder (which was broken) a two-week engagement at a well-established Chicago coffeehouse (for which he wasn’t paid), and a contract for one record under Epic Records (“Hills,” from a song written at age fifteen, for which he earned a total of eleven cents for 23 copies sold). What a deal, huh? However, the experience was invaluable – the coffeehouse hired him (for pay, this time) for about 20 weeks, and Johnson became passionate enough about his guitar to move to Spain for a year, learning classical guitar from Graciano Tarrago.

Johnson missed singing, however, and soon moved back to the States. There, he joined the Chad Mitchell Trio, along with David Boise and some guy named John Denver. (Beats me.) The group toured as “Denver, Boise and Johnson” (since, y’know, no original members of the trio were still involved), but soon disbanded. (You can see a rare clip of the trio performing here.) Johnson continued to perform (including a part in the Off-Broadway revue Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris), and in 1973 was signed to Atco, under Atlantic Records, as a folk artist. His first album, There Is A Breeze, was produced by Phil Ramone and Peter “I, Too, Am Torn Between Two Lovers” Yarrow, and featured Johnson’s friend Leo Kottke.

Johnson recorded two other albums with limited success, and began to look in different directions. He even contemplated joining a trio – in fact, here’s a rare picture of him rehearsing with none other than Mary MacGregor! (And Mark Henley! And Mark Henley’s dog! Mellow Gold is so exciting!)

I know what you’re thinking: they’re the two lovers!

Anyway, in search of his new, hopefully more mainstream direction, Johnson went to Nashville and recorded a two-song demo to shop to the labels. One song was “Almost Like Being In Love” from the musical Brigadoon, and the other was “Bluer Than Blue,” written by Randy Goodrum (who has penned, among other songs, “Oh Sherrie” and Chicago’s “If She Would Have Been Faithful”). Chosen from a number of demos by Johnson and his producers, Johnson was initially skeptical about the mainstream appeal of a song lamenting the end of a long-time relationship. However, he was dead wrong: EMI America (then a new label) picked Johnson up immediately, and released the single without any changes to the original demo. “Bluer Than Blue” shot up to #1 on the AC chart, and reached #12 on the pop charts in the Spring of 1978.

Does any song live up to its title more than this one? “Mas Triste Que La Tristeza” “Bluer Than Blue” sure packs one hell of an emotional wallop on a number of levels. Musically, the instrumentation couldn’t be any more depressing – the plaintive piano, the gentle guitar, the soft drums, and those oh-so-woeful strings. It sounds like every single musician had his or her head hanging as low as possible while recording. In fact, it’s a wonder that one of the musicians didn’t try and stick his bow straight through his heart after this session. Did they have Zoloft in ’78? How did these guys leave “Bluer Than Blue” and not attempt suicide?

Somehow, though, the music is the kind of depressing that doesn’t necessarily make you feel worse. Instead, it consoles you when you’re actually feeling this way. And let’s talk about the vocal: Johnson may not have had any formal acting experience before joining the cast of Jacques Brel, but clearly he learned something: the sadness that he imbues in his lead vocal is damn near heartbreaking.

Lyrically, this song is a little different from other Mellow Gold hits we’ve covered – but you’d never know it if you went straight for the chorus. It’s true that it doesn’t get any mellower than “Bluer than blue/Sadder than sad/You’re the only light this empty room has ever had.” A chorus such as this only makes you feel bad in that “why don’t you go call Dan Hill or something and leave me alone” kinda way. But Goodrum gives the song a little twist in each of the verses: each one is our protagonist trying his darndest to be optimistic in the middle of a heartbreaking moment.

After you go
I can catch up on my reading
After you go
I’ll have a lot more time for sleeping
And when you’re gone
It looks like things are gonna be a lot easier
Life will be a breeze, you know
I really should be glad

And let’s not forget this important point: she hasn’t actually left yet! This, of course, leads us to the question of what’s sadder: when she’s actually gone, or when she’s still there, and you know it’s over…yet, it’s not over? It’s a matter of opinion, but I’m going with the latter. And all of this – the false optimism and the underlying heartbreak – is there in Johnson’s vocal.

Y’know, if I were to make a video for this song, it’d have Johnson lying on the couch in an empty apartment, that book that he’s been dying to read in his hands, sadly staring at the ceiling…ooh, and then the choruses would have a split-screen: one side with him in the apartment, and the other with him singing directly to camera! Oh wait….that was the video:

[youtube]Y5H9eOzrSuo[/youtube]

I’ts unlike most Mellow Gold videos: for one, it’s not just a live performance of the band playing the song. But more importantly, Johnson doesn’t ham it up or overact to try to get his point across. He sings to the camera as simply as he sings into the microphone. And it works. I’m not saying he’s Pacino or anything, but the guy’s got some acting skills.

When Johnson’s producers first played him “Bluer Than Blue,” he couldn’t believe that nobody else had recorded it already. Once Johnson recorded it, a number of other artists followed suit, including Barry Manilow and (who sounds quite similar to Johnson), Livingston Taylor (who makes the song way more depressing).

Johnson wasn’t a one-hit wonder; I’m sure you’ll tell me about your memories of his other hits in the comments, but I can tell you his other big AC hits were “Almost Like Being In Love,” “This Night Won’t Last Forever,” and his hit in the Orthodox community, “Jewer Than Jew.” (Okay, maybe he didn’t do that last one.) In the mid-’80s, Johnson moved from the light pop genre to country, where he had a number of smash hits, including the #1s “Give Me Wings” and “The Moon Is Still Over Her Shoulder.” And, like many of our Mellow artists, Johnson pulled a Mardones and re-recorded a number of his hits for 1997’s Then And Now. However, the re-recording isn’t too bad – and by replacing piano with delicate guitar fingerpicking, it proves that Johnson’s year in Spain with Tarrago wasn’t a waste.

Bluer Than Blue (re-recorded, 1997) (download)

You might recognize some of the musicians adding their talents to the song: Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Ron Block…it’s pretty much Michael Johnson + Union Station. Speaking of Krauss, Johnson co-wrote a song for her album Forget About It. His collaborator?

These days, Johnson keeps actively musically as the touring guitarist for Nanci Griffith, who included a cover of “Bluer Than Blue” on last year’s Ruby Torch release. I encourage you to check out his official website it’s pretty comprehensive (where else could I find a picture of the Spanish “Bluer Than Blue” 45?), and traces his long, interesting path through the music biz.

And with that, I bid you a fond, wussy farewell, and hope to see you next week for another edition of Adventures Through The Mines Of Mellow Gold!

Welcome back, friends, to another edition of CHART ATTACK!  Well, maybe I shouldn’t say "friends."  I don’t think you’ll like me very much after you review this week in music.  I have affection for lots of early ’90s music, and I’ve defended it in previous posts, but there’s really not much to defend here.  But they can’t all be winners, can they?  So suck it up and let’s review the charts of January 27, 1990!

10.  Another Day In Paradise – Phil Collins  Amazon iTunes
9.  I Remember You – Skid Row  Amazon iTunes
8.  Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul with The Wild Pair  Amazon iTunes
7.  Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty  Amazon iTunes
6.  Just Between You And Me – Lou Gramm  Amazon iTunes
5.  Two To Make It Right- Seduction  Amazon iTunes
4.  Everything – Jody Watley  Amazon iTunes
3.  Downtown Train – Rod Stewart  Amazon iTunes
2.  Pump Up The Jam – Technotronic Featuring Felly  Amazon iTunes
1.  How Am I Supposed To Live Without You – Michael Bolton  Amazon iTunes

10.  Another Day In Paradise – Phil Collins  Well, no better way to start of Chart Attack! with a downer, huh?  I guess you can’t expect much more from a man who titled his album …But Seriously, and was serious about it.  The song, which vividly depicts the life of the homeless, definitely sends a good, strong message, but part of me can’t help but wonder a) if we needed to be beaten over the head with the point, and b) if we did, did this song change anything?  Other than putting some bucks in David Crosby’s pocket?  (No, you assholes, Crosby was a backing vocalist.  He just looked homeless.)

Completely random note, but Bach tried out for Velvet Revolver, apparently, and was turned down because with him in the lead spot, the band pretty much sounded just like Skid Row.

8.  Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul with The Wild Pair  How did we not predict "The Crazy Years," people?  It’s Paula Abdul duetting with a fuckin’ cartoon!  I mean, it’s true that the country was still all nuts over that rascal Roger Rabbit, but…wait a minute – that’s not even true!  Who Framed Roger Rabbit was released two years prior – so what was Abdul thinking?

I was telling Mike how I really didn’t know what to say about "Free Fallin’" (although I encourage you to check out the Wiki, which has a few interesting facts) and he encouraged me to watch the video (which I haven’t seen since around this time, I imagine).  It’s true, I did enjoy the slap fight between the two opposing gangs as they were in separate cars (and I think this would have been a very funny recurring gag), and the spandex worn by both male and female skateboarders was quaint.  But I felt the same way about the video that I did about the song – I just kind of wanted to turn it off.

What a shitty way to end the week, huh?  Sorry, folks, they can’t all be winners.  Let’s cross our fingers and hope for better luck next Friday on CHART ATTACK!

This post is going to be a bit mushy, so if you don’t stick around, I understand.

I don’t think either of us intended to start a serious relationship, and if somebody had told us we’d be where we are today, we both would have run.  But we didn’t.  Instead, we took it day by day.  And we sang together.  A lot.  I’d drive her from the North Campus (my dorm) to the South Campus (her dorm), and we’d sing at the top of our lungs.  She taught me "Birdhouse In Your Soul" by TMBG, I taught her "Baba O’Riley" by The Who, and together we learned songs like "I Love My Boss" by Moxy Früvous.  Late at night, we’d put on Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (which we both believe is the last good Sarah McLachlan album), and she’d softly sing "Good Enough" by Sarah McLachlan as I was falling asleep.

Music continued to be an important part of our relationship.  I made more mix tapes.  We learned songs to sing to each other to keep us entertained, like the night in Belgium where we waited in the freezing cold forever for a train to Switzerland, and belted out "Never There" by Cake on the empty platform.  We went to concerts.  Lots of concerts.  We drove two hours in a snowstorm to Syracuse to see Früvous (the drummer shot us a dirty look as we smooched during one of his songs).  We’ve seen Barenaked Ladies a dozen times together.  I even dragged her to The Who, and she didn’t complain once.  We’ve seen Indigo Girls a dozen times as well.  We decided, like many, I’m sure, to make "Power Of Two" our song, and got a smile from Emily Saliers as we slow-danced in the second row.  We even sang it together during our wedding ceremony.



We still share a lot of our musical tastes.  These days, we sing together to songs like "Does He Love You?" by Rilo Kiley and "If You Were Gay" from the Avenue Q soundtrack.  (We’re more than a little warped.)  She puts up with the music I force on her, still gets angry the minute I play "What A Fool Believes," and I swear I heard her humming "Magnet And Steel" the other day, though she would never admit it.  Just the other week, I learned for the first time that she knows the lyrics to about 15 Helen Reddy songs, and there is something oddly satisfying in hearing her softly sing "it’s so nice to be insane, no one asks you to explain" from "Angie Baby."  She encourages me to sing and play whenever possible, even when it means she has to listen to the same guitar and piano parts for days on end as I try to play them correctly.  When I play gigs with Mike, she’s always in the front row, singing loudly along, even when she only vaguely knows the words, which always cracks me up.

Oh, Wednesday morning, you gave me no warning. Instead, you just showed up and offered me the wussiest music imaginable. So I suppose I’ll do my duty and present you all with yet another one of our Adventures Through The Mines Of Mellow Gold!

Alan O’Day – Undercover Angel (download)

May Emasculysus, the God of all things Mellow, bless and keep those who recommended “Undercover Angel” for Mellow Gold.

Alan O’Day had minor success when he first joined the music business in the early ’60s. As part of a rock ‘n roll trio named Alan, Bob and Denny, he performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1965. (Doesn’t have the same ring as “Peter, Paul and Mary,” does it?) He had also released an album with Dunhill Records and performed for troops in the Far East in the late ’60s. By 1969, however, he was burned out as a performer, and opted to concentrate solely on songwriting, like many of our Mellow artists. When he signed with Warner Brothers Publishing in 1971, he had his first hit, handing “The Drum” to Bobby Sherman.

Other songwriting hits followed, such as “Rock And Roll Heaven,” performed by The Righteous Brothers, and most notably, “Angie Baby,” which became Helen Reddy’s biggest-selling single, and her third #1 hit. In 1976, O’Day signed with the Pacific Records label. Pacific Records was a small boutique label set up by some of the WB publishers to allow their songwriters to record and release their own music, instead of giving it to the larger artists.

Read that above sentence again. Ahhh, the ’70s. So innocent.

Pacific Records, which distributed under Atlantic, released “Undercover Angel.” It was their first release from their first artist, and they didn’t really expect it to go anywhere. To everyone’s surprise, on July 9, 1977, “Undercover Angel” hit #1 on the Billboard charts. Nobody knew what to do. O’Day didn’t even have an album prepared. He went out on the road and publicized the hell out of the song, and “Undercover Angel” wound up selling two million copies.

Without knowing anything about the song, you might think this is a tale of suspense – one of a beautiful woman going undercover to solve a mystery. But this is Mellow Gold, people, and such deep plot points are against the rules (unless you’re Rupert Holmes).

No, “Undercover Angel” is a song that O’Day describes as a “nocturnal novelette.” In the song, a beautiful, wondrous vision (most likely in the form of a girl with big hooters) appears to him while he’s lying in bed. He describes the experience in the chorus:

Undercover angel, midnight fantasy
I never had a dream that made sweet love to me, oooh

Methinks Alan O’Day skipped puberty.

Anyhoo, the apparition convinces O’Day that maybe he should stop masturbating and find a real woman. Okay, that’s not exactly what’s said in the song, but that’s what I’m taking from it. Read between the lines, people.

As for the other lyrics in the song, they’re fantastically Mellow. Witness the phrase “Wonder is your night light/Magic is your dream.” That’s all I’m gonna say. They don’t write ’em like that anymore. There’s probably a good reason, but I digress.

In terms of music, I’ve been listening to this song for a few weeks now, and I smile every time I hear it. Not in the “oh god, this is so pathetic” kind of way, but in that “I can’t believe a song this goofy did as well as it did” way. It’s got a bunch of great things going for it, though: strong, keyboard-based instrumentation (some of it actually sounds – dare I say it – Stevie Wonder-esque?), a bit of funky guitar, and some awesome female backing vocals. No sax solo, but you had better believe there’s a Mellow Gold key change.

The shining moment of “Undercover Angel,” however, is the pre-chorus.

I said “what?”
She said “oooohweee”
“I said ‘All riiiight!'”
She said “love me, love me, love me!”

If this doesn’t seem impressive, it’s because you haven’t listened to the song yet. In fact, I’m so in love with this pre-chorus that I’ll even excerpt it here for those of you bastards who will download but take three weeks to listen to it (Michael, I’m looking in your general direction):

[audio:http://www.wwmmd.net/tunes/inline/undercover1.mp3]

Alan O’Day channels John Travolta, film at eleven.

I’m not joking: I erupt in giggles every single time I hear this pre-chorus. Even better is the final pre-chorus. Listen for the heavy-breathing “undercover, ah, undercover!” in the left speaker, and if you listen closely, you’ll even hear a hint of the key change (I’m such a tease):

[audio:http://www.wwmmd.net/tunes/inline/undercover2.mp3]

I’m giggling right now. It’s dangerously close to a cackle. Is there anything Mellower than the “all riiiiight,” I ask you? Especially when you consider that it’s being sung to a woman that doesn’t even exist?

O’Day had some international hits after “Undercover Angel,” specifically a song entitled “Skinny Girls” which was an Australian #1, and “Your Eyes” which was a chart-topper in Japan. You probably didn’t hear much of his music in the U.S. after his big song…that is, unless you were a kid in the mid-’80s: O’Day and songwriter Janis Liebhart wrote over 100 songs for “Muppet Babies.” In 2001, “Undercover Angel” was used in the movie version of Charlie’s Angels.

I’ve read a number of interviews with Alan O’Day over the past couple of weeks, and I’ll say this: he seems like a genuinely intelligent, nice man. He doesn’t seem deluded about his place in music history like Benny some other artists we know, and he seems genuinely content. Okay, so he looks like the substitute teacher that Walter Egan actually is, but whatever.

So yeah, consider me an Alan O’Day fan. In fact, I figured I really didn’t have anything to snark about in this Mellow Gold entry…until I saw the following on his website:

NEW!!! To hear or purchase my CD “UNDERCOVER ANGEL 2001”, CLICK HERE

Oh no, I thought. Alan O’Day did not just go all Mardones on me. Please tell me he didn’t do what I think he did.

He did.

I’m not saying another word. Click on the above link and listen to a snippet of “Undercover Angel 2001.” Count how many things are wrong with this remake. We could make a list.

My first thought was “oh my god, this is the most horrible thing I’ve heard since Mellowmas.” But then I listened a couple more times, and…nope, still horrible.

But on the fourth listen, I took all the things I now know about Alan O’Day (anybody wonder how I’m still married?), and began to smile. The man has his tongue planted firmly in cheek, and is clearly having fun – not taking it seriously like Benny some other artists we know. Plus, if you read around his site, you’ll find out two interesting things: 1) he really loved his mother (and I’m a mama’s boy, so I can appreciate this), and 2) he set up a scholarship fund in her name, with all proceeds from “Undercover Angel 2001” going to the scholarship. (Okay, the first 500 copies, but let’s just say I’m not convinced 500 have been sold of a CD with a song entitled “WWW Dot Lonely.”) The scholarship gives money to underprivileged graduates of his high school who wish to pursue teaching. So maybe it’s the Mellow talking, but I’m having a hard time finding anything really sarcastic to say – I just find everything about Alan O’Day silly, in a good way.

However, that doesn’t mean you are all exempt from snark in the comments. So enjoy “Undercover Angel” (and don’t enjoy “Undercover Angel 2001”), and I look forward, as always, to reading your thoughts. And we’ll see you next week for yet another edition (dear god, will it ever end?) of Adventures Through The Mines Of Mellow Gold!

(PS: ¿Hola baby, que paso?)

It’s Friday, and here we are again for another edition of CHART ATTACK!  As I’ve said before, 1988 is my favorite chart year of the ’80s; I know each of these songs (as well as songs 11-20, I’m sure) by heart.  So let’s take a look at the charts as they appeared on January 16, 1988!

10.  Is This Love – Whitesnake  Amazon iTunes
9.  Faith – George Michael  Amazon iTunes
8.  Tell It To My Heart – Taylor Dayne  Amazon iTunes
7.  Candle In The Wind – Elton John  Amazon iTunes
6.  Hazy Shade Of Winter – Bangles  Amazon iTunes
5.  Could’ve Been – Tiffany  Amazon iTunes
4.  Need You Tonight – INXS  Amazon iTunes
3.  The Way You Make Me Feel – Michael Jackson  Amazon iTunes
2.  So Emotional – Whitney Houston  Amazon iTunes
1.  Got My Mind Set On You – George Harrison  Amazon

And that’s the end of another Top 10!  Join me next week for yet another edition of CHART ATTACK!