"I Think I Love You" by Voice of the Beehive

Hey Dialophiles!

We’re so delighted you’re joining us this evening to “plug in” to the latest song from the not-so-distant past. Tonight the Dial beams a signal direct to your speakers containing Voice of the Beehive’s “I Think I Love You” from their 1991 “Honey Lingers” LP.

Being a man who enjoys a good cover tune, this track really jumped out at me. Not only because it was an alt-pop cover of a sunshiny ‘70s pop classic, but also because this was the first time I noticed a remake of a song explicitly created for a television show. Of course, this practice wasn’t new… take a listen to any of the numerous covers of “The Peter Gunn Theme” released throughout the years for proof of that, but this Partridge Family re-do was the first one that really captured my ears. I could just picture Keith, Laurie, Danny and the rest rocking out to this modern incarnation in their maroon pants suits.

The Honey Lingers LP spun-off three singles, “Monsters and Angels” (US #74, #8 US Modern Rock, & UK#17), “Perfect Place” (UK #37), and ITILY, which peaked at UK #25, but wasn’t released to American radio at all, neither top 40 or college/modern rock stations. Damn shame too, I believe if it had gotten the right push, (perhaps through frequent airing of its "Rocky Horror-esque" music video), this offbeat little cover could’ve landed a similar peak position in the U.S., possibly even top 20.

Voice of the Beehive’s discography is filled with charming and bouncy alt-pop courtesy of vocalists and songwriters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland. Drawing equal influence from new wave, 70s pop, and 80s modern rock (B-52s, Strawberry Switchblade…) their music served as a nice balance to the traditional gloomy vibe of U.S. college radio at the time.

Give it a listen, and see if you don’t think you love this take on this iconic pop classic! And Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays from all of us here at Kyle’s Radio Dial!

“I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of ?

I’m afraid that I’m not sure of, a love there is no cure for.

I think I love you, isn’t that what life is made of ?
But it worries me to say… that I’ve never felt this way…”

"Lawyers in Love" by Jackson Browne

Good Evening Dialophiles!

Tonight’s selection from airwaves (and jukeboxes) past is a catchy little ditty that skewers American materialism while also tossing in jabs at religion and the Cold War. Sit back and enjoy as the Dial proudly presents Jackson Browne’s 1983 hit “Lawyers in Love”!

“Lawyers” was a tune I completely forgot about until around 15 years after its release, when I caught its music video on an eighties themed segment on VH-1. As soon as the opening rhythm began, memories of hearing the tune at the age of nine flooded back to me. Once I started really examining to the lyrics, I was greatly amused at its sarcasm and condemnation of the materialistic American persona, something I certainly hadn’t grasped upon first listen. Shockingly, the song really has nothing to do with lawyers, whether in love, or otherwise…

Observing Browne’s near-transfixed state, at eating his TV dinner while watching events unfold on his set, holds just as much sardonic weight now (late 2012 going into ’13), as it did on that late ‘90s viewing, and during its original release. It’s clear that some things never change.

Of course, given that I was watching this very video on TV (while enjoying some sort of a snack, myself), the irony wasn’t lost on me. Was I no better than Browne’s TV junkie? It’s an unsettling thought, but I sure was humming the melody, complete with catchy “oooooh – sha la la” refrain for days afterwards.

“Lawyers” served as the first single from Jackson’s “Lawyers in Love” LP. The scathing song peaked at #13, making it his fourth most successful top 40 hit, behind…”Running on Empty”, “Doctor My Eyes”, and the “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” soundtrack contribution “Somebody’s Baby”.

So spin this underplayed chart hit, and pay close attention to the main character in the video… see if he doesn’t remind you of some people you may know...

“I can’t keep up with what’s been going on… I think my heart must just be slowing down… Among the human beings, in their designer jeans…

Am I the only one who hears the screams… and the strangled cries of…

Lawyers in Love”

"We Don't Talk Anymore" by Cliff Richard

Hey Dialophiles,

Let the Dial ease your start-of-the week blues with the latest entry in our continuing study of former hits that rarely pop up on terrestrial airwaves these days… Cliff Richard’s 1979 smash “We Don’t Talk Anymore”.

The lead single from the LP Rock ‘n’ Roll Juvenile, “We Don’t..” peaked at US#7, UK#1, and topped the singles chart in Germany for five weeks!

This melodic melding of pop, soft rock, and disco details a romance on the downslide, a fact that doesn’t seem to bother Cliff. You see, his woman has already pulled away emotionally, so as the blame can rest on her shoulders, he’ll sleep with no guilt.

In fact, it is that last point that leads me to confess to a quick misheard lyric from my childhood.  For years, I thought the chorus contained the line…

“My ankles’ asleep… and I ain’t got it cheap!”

The real verse is “But I ain’t losing sleep, and I ain’t counting sheep.”

Hey, when you’re five years old, you can’t possibly be expected to hear every lyric correctly!

After running its course on top 40 radio by the middle of the following year, Richard’s pop nugget all but disappeared from the airwaves.  Fast forward to 1987, when I grew strongly nostalgic for the music I listened to earlier in my youth. The hits I fondly remembered from the late ‘70s through about ’85 seemed to be in “radio limbo” at the time, as they were too old to be on “current” stations, but too new to be considered “oldies”.

Once I discovered that lite rock stations had become a repository for many of these “in limbo” songs, I spent much of my free time taping them off the radio. Great tracks like Hall & Oates’ “You’ve Lost That Loving’ Feeling”, Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without A Face”, Paul Davis’ “’65 Love Affair”, and yes, “We Don’t Talk Anymore”. I remember it took several weeks of patience, my fingers hovering over the record button, before I happened to snag Cliff’s 1979 hit on my beloved TDK D90 cassette.

And here’s a little historical notation… Richard’s pop ditty was the 6^th music video aired on MTV’s first day, August 1^st 1981. It followed “Video Killed the Radio Star” (The Buggles), “You Better Run” (Pat Benatar), and tracks by Rod Stewart, The Who, and Ph.D.

The Dial invites you to enjoy this great radio classic, from a truly simpler time.

“Well, it really doesn’t matter to me, I guess your leaving was meant to be. It’s down to you now… you wanna be free…”

"Romeo's Tune" by Steve Forbert

Happy Sunday, Dialophiles!

After enlightening you all with a month of relatively obscure songs, the Dial now beams a warm, nostalgic signal to your speakers containing a ditty that was all over American Top 40 radio in late ‘79 going into 1980. Tonight, we are pleased to feature Steve Forbert with “Romeo’s Tune”.

Taken from 1979’s Jackrabbit Slim LP, and peaking at #11 in February ’80, Forbert’s upbeat, playful melody is accentuated with poetic lyrics, (“Let me smell the moon in your perfume…”) creating a joyous, romantic vibe that sidesteps the typical overwrought,  schmaltzy clichés found in your average love song.

Forbert was undeservedly a one hit wonder, despite being lauded in critical circles as the “next Dylan”. He continues to release albums on small independent labels every few years, and his lone top 40 track has seen a 2007 revival by country artist Keith Urban.

I remember humming along to “Romeo’s Tune” on the radio (WPGC FM) while getting ready for first grade on chilly Maryland mornings. As Steve never actually sings the title in the song, for years I misidentified the song as “Meet Me in the Middle o’ the Day” after the opening lyrics. A similar issue plagued my early recollection of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” which for a time, I called “Thunder Only Happens”. By the time my high school years begun, I had immersed myself in the history of the pop charts, and learned the proper titles of both songs.

It’s been at least ten, possibly even twenty years since I last heard Forbert’s tune on the radio, so I’m going to give it a spin, sit back and let the nostalgia waft over me. Come join me, won’t you?

“Meet me in the middle of the day, let me hear you say, everything’s okay. Come on out beneath the shining sun. Meet me in the middle of the night, let me hear you say, everything’s alright, sneak on out beneath the stars and run, yeah.”