"Dream A Little Dream" by Mickey Thomas

    Hello friends! A Jefferson Starship vocalist, two teen idols with the same first name, and a modern cover of a pop standard that should have been a top 10 hit, yet never was released as a single. That’s the recipe for today’s spotlighted tune, Mickey Thomas’ 1989 soundtrack contribution “Dream a Little Dream”.

“Stars shining bright above you… night breezes seem to whisper ‘I love you’…”

“Dream a Little Dream” (the movie), starring the two Coreys (Haim and Feldman…like you didn’t know that), the beauteous Meredith Salenger, and Hollywood icons Harry Dean Stanton and Jason Robards, was one of many teen comedies of the ‘80s involving people swapping bodies. This is to mean that person A’s personality was transferred to person B’s body, and vice versa. In fact, “Vice Versa” was another movie of this genre, along with “Freaky Friday”, “Like Father, Like Son”, and “18 Again”!

“Dream a Little Dream” (the song), is an American pop standard written in 1931 by Gus Kahn, Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt, possessing sweet, poetic lyrics which harken back to a classier time which placed greater emphasis on etiquette and romance than in today’s often crass society. The first version of this timeless tune appeared in the same year as its composure as recorded by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra, with Ozzie being best known to folks of my generation through repeats of the classic sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” – thanks Disney Channel!

The only charting versions to date were a pair of competing recordings released in 1950 by Frankie Laine, and Jack Owens (whom hit #18, and #14, respectively), and then by the oddly credited “Mama Cass with the Mamas & the Papas” (when it was actually a true M&P group recording), which hit #12 in 1968.

“Say ‘Good Night’ and kiss me… just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me…”

“Dream a Little Dream” (the soundtrack), featured two versions of this classic tune, the first recorded by (Jefferson) Starship vocalist Mickey Thomas as a solo recording, and the other as a duet between Thomas and swing jazz legend Mel Torme, a.k.a. “The Velvet Fog”. The solo Thomas version sounds much like his Starship material of the time... minus vocals from Grace Slick that is. The duet version is taken at a slightly slower tempo, and has more of a jazz influence befitting Torme, though it is still unquestionably a pop/rock rendition contemporary with late 80s pop sounds.

Given that pop radio was very receptive to remakes in the late 80s, (remember big hits like Simply Red’s “If you Don’t Know Me By Now”, The Bangles “Hazy Shade of Winter”, Cheap Trick’s “Don’t Be Cruel”, and Poison’s “Your Momma Don’t Dance”), and the fact that the soundtrack already produced a #1 hit single in Michael Damian’s cover of David Essex’s 1973 hit “Rock On”, “Dream” should have been a natural choice for a follow up single. A missed opportunity by the record label to be sure.

Had “Dream” been issued a single, and amassed some decent chart success, it would have joined the ranks of Falco's "Puttin’ on the Ritz", and David Lee Roth's "Just A Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody" as classic pre-rock era songs that become hits again in the ‘80s. But alas, ‘twas not to be.

“Stars fading, but I linger on, dear… still craving your kiss.”

Below I’ve posted both versions so you can decide for yourself which one would have had a better shot at top 40 success. For now, we’ll just have to enjoy them here, and wonder what could have been.

And from all of us here at the Radio Dial, Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for checking in on our little parcel on the internet from time to time, we really appreciate YOU! And save a little bit of the cranberry sauce for us… that stuff is killer!

“Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you… sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you…

But in your dreams whatever they be... dream a little dream of me!"

  

 

 

 

 

 





"Eyes without a Face" by Billy Idol

   Happy November, friends! Today, the Dial turns its receiver to capture a signal containing a huge hit from one of the ‘80s most dynamic rockers, a song that seems to have been forgotten by current radio programmers, at least in my personal experience. Turn the calendars back to 1984 for William Michael Albert Broad (we know him as Billy Idol), and his “Eyes without a Face”!

“I’m all out of hope… one more bad dream, could bring a fall…”

“Eyes” was the highest charting single extracted from Idol’s third LP, 1984’s Rebel Yell, reaching US #4 pop, US #5 rock, and UK #18. It would also prove to be Billy’s third biggest hit in the US overall, following 1987’s live rendition of “Mony Mony”, and 1990’s “Cradle of Love”, #1 and #2 pop hits, respectively.

With lyrics concerning a collapsing romance, “Eyes” introduces the listener to a man whom is accusing his lady of being deceitful. He admits he is still in love with the woman he used to know (and that she used to be), even as he acknowledges that the love has gone from her eyes. Even still, the woman continues to have a kind of mental and emotional hold over him.

Eventually, he snaps, and makes some very questionable choices, involving robbery, car theft, drinking and using drugs, and reading what he terms to be “murder books” (!!!), which culminates in him threatening the woman by repeating the line “Say your prayers…” ominously. And all of that happens in the bridge section of the song! *shudder*

“When I’m far from home… don’t call me on the phone… to tell me you’re alone.”

Billy’s expert blend of synthpop and hard rock possesses a brooding and mysterious tone, which is echoed in Idol’s resigned delivery, and a spooky call and response section in the chorus from Perri Lister, Idol’s girlfriend of the time.

In fact, concerning that call and response… Perri is singing a line in French, “Les Yeux Sans Visage”, which is the exact translation of “Eyes without a Face”.

However, for years, I misheard the line as this English sentence…

“Last year’s all we’ve got.”

Since I didn’t own the album, or the lyrics sheet, nor did I hear any disc jockeys mention that the woman was singing in French, my ears interpreted the French words into an English line that seemed to fit the content of the song.

I was sure this meant the woman was trying to let Billy’s character down easy by stating that their time as a couple was in the past, and that they have no future together. Even now, when I listen to “Eyes”, I still hear the line as my original interpretation… old habits die hard, I suppose.

Anyway, I consider “Eyes without a Face” to be Idol’s greatest single, but I rarely catch it on the radio, hence the Radio Dial spotlight. However, I've noticed that it is starting to pick back up on my local Columbus Ohio classic hits and classic rock radio stations. It's still not a common song to hear, but it's nice that it's added back into the playlists.

“Now I close my eyes and I wonder why… I don’t despise…
Now all I can do, is love what was once, so alive in you."

So, take a flashback to one of the more unique sounding top 10 hits of ’84, and click the video below. And while you watch that, consider this… reportedly due to the harsh conditions of the music video shoot, Billy’s contact lenses fused to his eyeballs (!!!!), which necessitated surgery to remove them! This left his eyes bandaged for three days, creating an easy joke regarding how “Eyes without a Face” resulted in a “Face without Eyes”… but I shall take the high road here. (Except I really didn’t… Sorry.)

Anyway, stay tuned to the Dial later this month for a contemporary pop treatment of a 1930’s American standard, featured as the theme song to a late ‘80s teen movie!

Kyle’s Radio Dial… The more you listen, the MORE you remember!

“Eyes without a face… got no human grace… your eyes without a face.”