200 Lost Gems & Forgotten Diamonds:-->Pt 17



"If it has more
than three chords...it's jazz." 
-Lou Reed-
This personal list of "lost gems & forgotten diamonds" continues.
(A reminder...songs will be from the 70s decade...but not exclusively.)

I strongly encourage everyone to purchase the albums for an even better understanding.

Part 17 - Let's Begin...

40:-->Sweet ---------- "Set Me Free" (3:59) -----------Desolation Blvd. (1974)
"Gagged, ball and chained...
feel just the same.
Heads on the wall,
Maybe you're just playing games."

Great intro with driving guitars and drums. Not glam, this one. Just a banging straight-out rocker. Dynamite ending, as well.


39:-->Kiss ---------------"I Stole Your Love" (3:05) --------------Love Gun (1977)
"I remember the day that we met.
I needed someone, you needed someone too."

Ball-roastin' fireball tears out of the gate like a Belmont death race. Stanley and the boys still sound...hungry!

38:-->Lou Reed ------"Coney Island Baby" (6:35) -------Coney Island Baby (1975)
"You know man...
when I was a young man in high school,
you believe it or not,
I wanted to play football for the coach."

Brilliant groove with Lou's sleepy vocals sharing an epistle about...the early years growing up. Heartfelt. Bittersweet. Cynical at times. With a glimmer of hope dangling like a carrot that you may or may never reach. It gets to me.

37:-->Grand Funk ---------"Trying To Get Away"(3:25) ----------Phoenix (1972)
"I been out on the road with my thumb in the air.
I'm a long way from home but I just don't care."

Mel Schacher's bass and Craig Frost's keyboard drives the bus home. Farner and the rest of Funk sound loose and surprise with a crisp harmonic hook. Turn it up.


36:-->Nick Lowe ----------------"Cracking Up" (2:59) --------------Labour Of Lust (1979)
"And everybody's all around me...
shaking hands and saying howdy."

Skin me Lowe! Cool jangly guitars that shout Fogerty with another short catchy labour of hook. Highly addictive.


35:-->UFO ----------"Bella Donna" (4:27) -----------No Heavy Petting (1976)
"Came from passion, and you gave it a name.
The fingers are poisoned like needles in the drivin' rain."

Michael Schenker was tuned to the nines in the seventies and the understated aching cry he squeezes from his flying V Gibson midway is truly trip. And Phil Mogg's distinctive vocals simply adds candles to this haunting ballad.

34:-->Ten Years After --"Standing At The Station" (7:07) --Rock & Roll Music... (1972)
"As I step out of the carriage...
the station looks the same
as the one I left behind me...
though it has another name."

This one churns and rumbles like a runaway locomotive. A monster track with keyboardist Chick Churchill racing Lee's blistering guitar to the finish line. A favorite.


33:-->Squeeze ----------"Separate Beds" (3:23) -------------Argy Bargy (1980)
"Her mother didn't like me...
She thought I was on drugs.

Universal teenage angst described to the nails. Funny and rather sweet...without being the least bit condescending. Catchy as catfish. Clever as Sherlock.


32:-->Mahogany Rush ---"Talkin' 'Bout A Feelin" (3:04) --Child Of The Novelty (1974)
"People always putting me down.
This feeling that I'm walking on sacred ground."
Guitarist Frank Marino works it out. Definite Hendrix influences abound...but fugetabotit...let the boy play. Outstanding!


31:-->Outlaws ---------"Song For You" (3:32) ----------Outlaws (1975)
"I just can't see what would make you this way.
It's not me, I keep prayin'."
Tasty southern rock song with double lead guitar workage and nice harmonies. Timeless and sentch.

Good stuff.  ...to be continued.

 Casey Chambers
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