"Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" by Miami Sound Machine

      Hello friends! Thanks for tuning into Kyle's Radio Dial, the blog that reintroduces you to songs that you loved in years past! Tonight's selection is a mellow platter from the biggest Latin-pop crossover act of the '80s, (perhaps even the entire rock era), Florida based Miami Sound Machine! Time to jog your memory with “Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)”!

“Two of hearts, lace and satin... something in the air,

Feel like another crook that's been captured by your stare.”

The fourth and final extraction from MSM's breakthrough 1985 “Primitive Love” album, “Falling” was the Machine's first single not to land in the U.S. Top 10, stalling instead at #25 in the spring of '86. This chart decline was rather unexpected, as “Falling” followed the monster dance hits “Conga” and “Bad Boy” (US #10, and #8), and the ubiquitous love ballad “Words Get in the Way” (US #5).

It's hard to say exactly why this one didn't click as well as the previous three singles. It's certainly not a high energy dance track like “Conga”, or “Bad Boy”, and it's nowhere near as romantic as “Words...”, but it's an excellent mid-tempo soft rock entry that tells the story of a woman falling in love with a former flame (again...), despite her own misgivings about her situation.

Maybe the frequent “uh-ohs” throughout the song were a little too redundant for the average radio listener, or perhaps all the MSM fans already had the full Primitive Love LP by this time, so they weren't purchasing the “Falling” single, thus pushing it to a lower chart position overall.

“Jealous feelings, reappearing, such a wicked dare...

I'm just so damned confused, and I wonder, do you care?”

This was also the final single credited solely to the collective band name, before Gloria started receiving top billing under the revised moniker “Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine”. Of course, even later, as Gloria's star rose, she became marketed as a solo artist, even though MSM continued to be her backup band.

I remember this tune quite fondly from it's original chart run, and it seemed to disappear from radio playlists much quicker than the other three hits from the LP. When I eventually recorded it off of my local “light rock” station in the early '90s, I felt like I had just snagged a forgotten musical treasure, as it had been at least 5 years since I'd heard it over the airwaves.

Also, it wasn't until recently that I learned the chorus contains the line... “falling in love again... and I don't want to, no, no, no”. All this time, I interpreted those words as the slightly different “I don't want to know, know, know”, as if the woman is accepting her amorous feelings toward this man from her past once more, and she's decided that she'll let it happen without over-thinking the consequences. Turns out the real lyrics are simpler, and I was the one over-thinking it, not Gloria! 

So check in with Miami Sound Machine, and revisit this great single from three decades hence. Maybe it will catch your ear in such a way that you will fall in love with it... again... Uh-oh.

“Uh-oh, uh-oh... falling in love, falling in love again... 

Uh-oh, uh-oh, and I don't want to, no, no, no”

A RADIO DIAL EXTRA: "Friday I'm In Love" by Natalie Imbruglia

   It’s a rare occurrence when a modern recording catches our ears here at Kyle’s Radio Dial, and this time, it’s a cover which recasts an iconic early 90s alternative hit with bouncy folk pop sensibilities, a creative country & western arrangement, and melodic female vocals. Give a listen to Australia's Natalie Imbruglia and her rendition of The Cure’s 1992 hit “Friday I’m In Love”.

Natalie is best known state side for her monster 1997 pop smash “Torn”, and while she was relegated to one hit wonder status in America (though she scored many hits in the UK, Italy, and her native Australia), she continued to record, releasing five LPs from '97 through last year.

“Friday” is taken from her most recent offering, 2015’s “Male”, in which she covers material by male songwriters across a very diverse musical landscape. In addition to her cover of The Cure, you can also hear her treatment of tunes by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Pete Townshend, The Zac Brown Band, Daft Punk, Modern English, and Iron & Wine, among many others.

I discovered “Friday” when I took my 4 year old daughter (the youngest Radio Dial Kid) to the library back in March. While walking through the music section, Natalie’s “Male” CD caught my eye, as I wasn’t aware she had released anything recently. Being a big fan of “Left of the Middle” (the album from which “Torn” was the hit), I checked it out, and queued up “Friday” as my first selection for the drive home.

Despite this particular library visit falling on a Saturday (and not a Friday), I instantly fell in love with Imbruglia's sweet vocals, and the bluegrass style banjo blew me away! My little girl started clapping along with the hand claps around the 1:00 point, and said… "Daddy, I like this song, turn it up!”

Check it out, and see if you agree with her! So far, in her four years on this planet, she’s demonstrated a good ear for quality tunes, however, you’ll understand if I am just a little biased.

“I don't care if Monday's blue, Tuesday's gray and Wednesday too…
Thursday, I don't care about you, it's Friday, I'm in love”

 

"We are the Young" by Dan Hartman

          Hello friends! It’s time once again to revisit a great track from the past, a song that has been overlooked for far too long. Tonight, the Dial brings you Dan Hartman and his 1984 pop-rock single “We are the Young”!

“We’re the ones with the runaway eyes… we’re the ones who can improvise…”

Hartman had quite the interesting chart career. As a member of the Edgar Winter Group, he wrote and sang the 1973 rock hit “Free Ride” (US #14), and also played bass on their 1972 instrumental classic “Frankenstein”. A few years later, Dan released his solo disco classic “Instant Replay”; a US #29 hit that also reached the top of the US Dance chart in 1978. Then after releasing a few albums that garnered minimal attention, he enjoyed an MTV-fueled career comeback with his monster 1984 hit “I Can Dream about You”.

The title cut and lead single from his LP of the same name, “I Can Dream…” was also featured on the soundtrack to the cult classic film “Streets of Fire”. Hartman’s comeback tune peaked at US #6 on the Hot 100, and reached #7 and #8 on the US adult contemporary and dance charts, respectively.

This great lead-in paved the way for the follow up single “We are the Young” to be a big smash as well, but Dan’s follow up fell surprisingly short of expectations. An anthemic call to the younger generation to join together and improve the world condition, “We are…” only reached US #25 on the Hot 100, but it did earn the #1 slot on the US Dance singles chart.

“Every street is an arcade of dreams… uptown, downtown, explodin’ at the seams…”

Back in the day, I wore out my cassette of the I Can Dream about You album, not only due to the hit title cut and “We are the Young”, but also because the entire LP contains excellent mid 80s pop rock that draws from Motown, new wave, and funk. I was especially fond of “Rage to Live”, a great rocker that clocks in as the final song on side A.

“With lights and sounds and the soul parade… white and blue collar promenade.”

Unfortunately, we lost Dan on March 22, 1994 due to an AIDS related brain tumor. His final album was the posthumously released Keep The Fire Burnin’, which contained remixes of his hit songs, and covers of the aforementioned “Free Ride”, and James Brown’s 1985 hit “Living in America”, which Dan co-authored with Charlie Midnight.

While Dan was never exactly a household name, radio stations still play Free Ride, Frankenstein, and I Can Dream about You rather frequently nowadays, insuring that his musical contributions live on. I find it disappointing that “We are the Young” doesn’t get similar attention, so that’s why I’m giving Dan’s forgotten top 40 climber a shout out here on the Dial.

“We are the young… with the modern attitude… Breakin’ down the walls, breakin’ all the rules, tomorrow comes, and we might blow away… So we don’t worry about the price we pay.”