"Object of My Desire" by Starpoint

Hey Dialophiles! Tonight, the big ‘ole, bad ‘ole Radio Dial brings you a tasty track all about fantasizing about that person you’ve just met. Crank it up, and feel the groove laid down by Starpoint, and their now-overlooked mid 80s groove “Object of My Desire”!!!

“You glanced my way, I lost all control. Anxiety had taken hold. My body quivered, hot flash just ignited in me…”

Using the well-mined plot device of a lovesick woman, longing for the man who excites her, (reminding me of Animotion’s “Obsession”, among others…) “Object” is marked by Renee Diggs’ powerful vocals, and memorable keyboard and guitar work which creates a sound that is definitely a slice of the era in which it stems from.

The lead single from Starpoint’s 1985 LP Restless, “Object” was one of those songs that I had completely forgotten about until I happened to hear it on the radio again in the late 90s. As soon as that opening synthesizer riff began, I was transported back to ’85, and wondered how I ever forgot this great party track in the first place. I soon purchased a 1980’s compilation disk that featured the track, and proceeded to practically wear it out over the next week or so.

A sextet of musicians comprising of the Phillips brothers, Ernesto (lead guitar), Orlando (bass guitar, keyboards, and saxophone), George (keyboards), and Gregory (drums), all of whom provided backing vocals, along with Kayode Adeyemo (songwriting and lead male vocals), and Renee Diggs (lead female vocals), the Annapolis, Maryland based group charted 24 R&B singles from 1980 – 1990, including 1980’s “I Just Wanna Dance With You” (R&B #19), ‘83’s “Don’t Be So Serious” (R&B #14), and 1988’s “Say You Will” (R&B #18).

“Turn on emotions so strong… passion’s fire burns on and on… my body screams, please make love to me!”

While the lyrics are tame by today’s standards, back when it was new (and I was eleven), I recall thinking the song was quite dirty. Little did any of us know what would be coming down the pike several years later… 2 Live Crew, anyone? (ugh…)

In hindsight, while the song is not exactly subtle in regards to its adult subject matter, (the “fireworks explode deep inside of me” line being the chief example, even though it is left purposefully ambiguous whether these “fireworks” resulted from a fantasy daydream or a real life encounter…), “Object” manages to be playful without crossing the line into filthy territory.

Also, this is a song who’s peak Hot 100 position does not correlate with how much I personally heard it on the radio back then. Much like U2’s “Pride (In the Name of Love)” which seemed to be everywhere on the radio, but only peaked at #33, Starpoint’s jam peaked at a surprisingly middle-of-the-road #25 pop, but it did nail the #8 slot on the R&B singles chart.

I chalk my familiarity with the track to growing up in Southern Maryland, an area in which most major stations were out of Washington D.C., and as such, our Top 40 playlists often featured R&B and early hip-hop jams that may not have gotten play on similar outlets in other cities. When I started researching the Billboard chart positions of songs, I was astonished this only earned a #25, as I was expecting it to have been a top 5 pop hit, based on the amount of times I heard it back in the day. Even as such, “Object” proved to be Starpoint’s biggest pop crossover success, and tied with 1987’s “He Wants My Body” as their biggest success on the R&B singles chart.

So, take a spin back twenty nine years, and loose yourself in Renee’s fervid vocals, as she pines for the man who has excited her passions. Make sure to keep your ears open for that awesome keyboard riff throughout. Ah, how can you possibly miss it? 

“You’re the object… SUGAR!… of my desire… oh baby, ignite my fire! Object of my desire… hey you really turn me on!”

 

"Della and the Dealer" by Hoyt Axton

Every once in a while Dialophiles, I discover a classic song that I’ve never heard before. A tune with a great melody that lodges in my brain and won’t let go, making me wonder where that song has been my whole life. Tonight the Dial brings you a signal containing one of those very tracks… fine-tune your receiver for the best signal clarity as the Radio Dial brings you Hoyt Axton and his 1979 ode to “Della and the Dealer”.

“It was Della and a dealer and a dog named Jake, and a cat named Kalamazoo… Left the city in a pick-up truck, gonna make some dreams come true.” 

I recently heard Axton’s musical tale on an episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, one of the greatest ensemble sit-coms ever, and that’s a fact! In the episode, station receptionist Jennifer Marlowe (played by Loni Anderson) receives an unexpected visit from a suitor from her distant past, “T.J. Watson”, played by Mr. Axton. Seems she made a childhood promise to marry him if neither one of them were hitched by that year. Watson, a guitar strumming songwriter from Texas, has come to collect his “prize”, the beautiful Ms. Marlowe. In her haste, Jennifer ropes DJ Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) into masquerading as her husband to get out of hurting Axton’s feelings, and as they say… wackiness ensues.

At one point, Axton sings a few bars of his song “Jealous Man” to Johnny, containing the threatening, yet comedic lyric… 

“You got the knife… I got the gun… c’mon boy, let’s have a little fun…” 

which earned a big laugh from the studio audience and the Radio Dial home office, alike.

However it was Axton’s performance of “Della and the Dealer” which I’ve been humming ever since I caught that episode.

“Yeah, they rolled out west where the wild sun sets, and the coyote bays at the moon.

Della and a dealer and a dog named Jake, and a cat named Kalamazoo.” 

Featured also on his 1979 LP "A Rusty Old Halo", "Della..." resembles a nursery rhyme, especially as Jake and Kalamazoo are given human characteristics… (at one point, Jake has a gun, and Kalamazoo enjoys a shot of rye), but it’s not a track I necessarily recommend serenading junior to sleep with, given it’s plot of shady characters, and murder, and a not so subtle cocaine reference.

While “Della” is firmly entrenched in the Jim Croce school of musical storytelling, I actually first heard a lyrical similarity to Barry Manilow’s 1978 disco smash “Copacabana (At the Copa)”… both Hoyt and Barry’s tunes deal with a love triangle and a murder in a public place, and both end ambiguously, leaving it up to the listener who survived the deadly assault.

“And the stage was set when the lights went out, there was death in Tucson town. Two shadows ran for the bar back door, but one stayed on the ground.”

Despite the high profile appearance on WKRP, Della only peaked at US Country #17, and did not cross over to the Hot 100. Given that 1979’s pop charts were largely dominated by disco acts like The Bee Gees and Donna Summer, I suppose it’s not too surprising that Axton’s traditional country-folk storytelling didn’t make inroads on the chart. Though Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” was a top 5 pop smash that year, so who knows what exactly held Hoyt’s tune back from realizing it’s deserved potential?

Axton charted fourteen singles on the country chart from 1973 through 1981, wrote the rock classics “Joy To The World” and “Never Been To Spain” for Three Dog Night, and “No No Song” for Ringo Starr, and is best known to children of the 1980s as Randall Peltzer, the well meaning inventor who brings a unique gift home to his son in Gremlins. 

Hoyt left us on October 26, 1999 after a fatal heart attack, but his folksie stories live on, whether he’s singing about Jeremiah the Bullfrog (who was a good friend of his…), or Della and a Dealer, and a dog named Jake, and that cat named Kalamazoo. Thank you, Mr. Axton, we raise a glass of our finest whiskey to you.

“If that cat could talk, what tales he’d tell, about Della and the Dealer and the dog as well.

But the cat was cool, and he never said a mumblin’ word.”