"Diamonds" by Herb Alpert featuring Janet Jackson & Lisa Keith

            Hey, friends! This weekend the Dial brings you a former top 10 hit specially selected for the Valentine's Day weekend. Give it up for Herb Alpert and his all star collaboration “Diamonds”!

“You told me you love me... You told me you care...
But when I'm around you... It's like I'm not there.”

The lead single from Alpert's 1987's Keep Your Eye on Me LP, “Diamonds” was Herb's first major pop hit since 1979's “Rise”, a chart topping instrumental that an entire generation of music fans would later come to recognize as the music bed for The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 hip hop smash “Hypnotize”.

Unlike “Rise”, (and a good bulk of Alpert's musical output dating back to the 60s...) “Diamonds” features lyrics, the vocals of which are provided courtesy of Janet Jackson and Lisa Keith. With production by legendary r&b and funk producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, “Diamonds” achieved #5 on the Billboard top 40, and topped the US R&B singles chart. It also placed respectably in the UK at #27. The Alpert/Jackson/Keith/Jam/Lewis supergroup collaboration continued on the follow up single, “Making Love In The Rain”, which reached US #35 and R&B #7.

“I need a reminder... Something I can see...
Something on my finger... Shines so brightly.”

Despite tons of radio and MTV play at the time, not much has been heard from “Diamonds” since it's release, and because of the very high profile of one of its vocalists, it ends up seeming like a lost Janet Jackson track. In fact, most casual listeners identify the song not as Herb's creation, but as a Janet hit. The confusion continues as “Diamonds” doesn't appear on any of Janet's LPs, though it did finally earn a spot on her 2009 Number Ones compilation LP.

Lisa Keith, while not nearly as well-known as her co-vocalist Jackson, nevertheless carved out a respectable niche for herself as a backing vocalist and songwriter. She also managed to place one song of her very own on the Top 40, the Jackson 5 channeling “Better Than You”, which peaked at US #36 in 1993, and may very well get it’s own spotlight from the Dial coming up.

Diamonds and “Making Love...” were Alpert’s last top 40 appearances. Since then, Herb has branched out into expressionist painting and sculpting, Broadway production work, and working with The Herb Alpert Foundation which supports youth and arts education.

“Don't want your money... Don't want your key...
Diamonds, love don't come for free.”

Be sure to check out the amusing music video for the cut, featuring moments in which Herb is mistaken for a certain Latin singer as he exists his car (“Yo Julio!”), and Bucky the club owner taking a bite out of Herb's vinyl record, exclaiming that it...

“DON'T TASTE LIKE NO HIT TO ME!!!” 

Bucky quickly learns to regret this goofy display of disrespect, to be sure.

Be sure to stay dialed into this frequency, friends, as we continue to bring you the best in forgotten former hits. Kyle's Radio Dial, because the more you listen... the more you REMEMBER!

“Don't you know... Diamonds are a girl's best friend...
When you go... They stay with me until the end.”

"Love in the 21st Century" by Glenn Frey

        Hello again, friends! It's time for the Dial to send another overlooked classic track from years hence to your speakers. Tonight, we bring you Mr. Glenn Frey, and “Love in the 21^st Century”.

“Look at all the people lined up outside, this must be the place.
I see beautiful women dressed in black, everyone a pretty face”

From 1992’s Strange Weather LP, “Love…” is Frey’s observations on the challenges of dating in the early ‘90s. He begins his quest for romance by going to a club, but finds that everybody is too superficial and interested solely in appearances rather than personality and compatibility. Though an argument could be made that Glenn's character may suffer from a touch of this as well, as he tells a woman he loves her after laying eyes on her “red lips” and “tight hips”.

Then he tries video dating, which generates a meeting with a young lady, and results in this back and forth between Glenn and his date…

“Do you like to party? (yeah, yeah, yeah) Do you want to settle down? (no, no, no)
Do you like my kind of music? (yeah, yeah, yeah) Do you wanna mess around? (Whoa!, Whoa!, Whoa!)”

And above all he finds the girl doesn’t even look the same as on her video!

Finally, he resorts to an adult phone service line, which of course proves unsatisfying as well. An uncredited female vocalist perfectly nails the kind of dialogue associated with these services. BTW, she answers to “Miss Kittie”, she is sooo lonely, and Glenn sounds like a big, strong man.

Throughout the song, Glenn observes that “something is wrong with this picture”, and he laments that it's a crying shame when a man can't find true love in this world anymore.

“Tell me do I look like a desperate man? Champagne and flowers in my hand.
I don't know her, she don't know me, she's my video date, she's my destiny”

Now, of course, video dating and phone sex lines were fresh, hot topics in the early '90s, but they’ve been supplanted in 2015 by social media, internet dating sites and texting, making the cultural milestones in the song feel nostalgic and outdated now. However, Glenn seems to look forward to our modern times with the line… “We're living in pictures, we want what we see, That's love in the 21st Century”. This certainly works for the era in which Facebook and Twitter is just as likely to generate a relationship than a singles night at a bar.

Despite a happy-go-lucky pop/rock vibe, and an opening guitar riff echoing CCR's 1969 classic “Fortunate Son”, “Love...” was Frey’s final single released to U.S. pop radio, and it barely left a mark, bubbling under the hot 100 at #12.

“It's the same sad story all over this world, every man looking for the perfect girl.
He sees her every day in a magazine, sees her every night on a TV screen.”

By now, I'm sure you are all aware that Glenn passed away on January 18, at the age of 67. His predominant legacy will be as a founding member and contributor to The Eagles. Glenn sang lead on such lasting classics as “Lyin’ Eyes”, “New Kid in Town”, and “Heartache Tonight”, and co-wrote with bandmate Don Henley not only these three songs, but also “One of These Nights”, “Take It To The Limit”, “The Long Run” and their signature song “Hotel California”.

However, his 80s material should not be discounted either. There’s the unquestionable power house mid 80s triumvirate of “The Heat Is On”, “Smugglers Blues” and “You Belong to The City”. All three are soundtrack extractions (“The Heat...” from Beverly Hills Cop, and the other two from Miami Vice), and possess an energy and atmosphere that truly evoke the middle years of the MTV decade. Other noteworthy solo singles include the beautiful and jazzy “The One You Love” (1982), the smooth and playful “Sexy Girl” (1984), and the 1991's friendship-celebrating Thelma & Louise theme “Part of Me, Part of You”.

This has certainly been an inauspicious winter in terms of losing musicians… Scott Weiland, Lemmy, Natalie Cole, David Bowie, and now Glenn. (and as I finish up this article – Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson, both leaving us on the same day, January 28). We certainly hope this sad trend ends soon, as it definitely affects us deeply when someone who reached us through their music leaves this world.

Mr. Frey, you are truly a legend and a master of your craft, and nobody can take that away from you. You provided the soundtrack to so many of our lives, and we are grateful. Much love and respect, Glenn. We'll miss you.

“That's love in the 21st Century. You can get it by mail, you can get it by phone.
You can get it late at night when you're all alone. What does everybody want desperately?
Love in the 21st Century.”

 

"Suddenly Last Summer" by The Motels

       Hello friends! Thanks for checking back with Kyle’s Radio Dial, where we specialize in bringing you great songs that deserve a second listen! Today the spotlight falls on a top ten hit from late 1983, recorded by California based new wave group The Motels. Sit back, and listen to “Suddenly Last Summer”.

Comprising of front woman Martha Davis, Guy Perry, Marty Jourard, Michael Goodroe, Brian Glascock, and Scott Thurston, The Motels are best remembered today for their 1982 US #9 hit “Only the Lonely”. However, “Suddenly”, taken from the 1983 LP Little Robbers, equaled the peak position of the earlier hit, yet has been largely forgotten by current terrestrial radio.

From the moment I first heard it as a nine-year old (my age when the song debuted), I detected a bit of an unsettling and despondent vibe… what exactly happened last summer? Why has it affected this woman so much? Why do the descending tones in the bridge of the song give me the chills? (Yes, even at that age, I was interested in figuring out the stories behind popular songs. Don’t judge me.)

For years I assumed “Suddenly” was simply about a bad breakup, though eventually, and after really listening to the lyrics, my interpretation became that the song is about some sort of physical abuse, quite possibly rape. Consider these lines from verse one.

“It happened one summer… It happened one time… It happened forever… For a short time”

The event only happened once and ended quickly, but was devastating enough to seem like it went on forever.

“A place for a moment… an end to a dream… forever I loved you… forever it seemed.”

She truly loved this other person, and was expecting a sweet and emotional interaction (the “moment”), until the event which changed her forever, crushing any future dreams she may have had with this individual.

Though it’s a bit vaguer, the second verse seems to outline her internal conflict in coming to grips with what happened the previous summer. She goes back and forth between wanting to leave, and wanting to stay, and being frightened and feeling alone. The verse ends with her declaring “and wish that I could…”, without further clarification. I assume this means she wishes she could move past this trauma, but the line is rather ambiguous, as I'm sure it was intended.

Now, it was the chorus which really solidified my interpretation of the song…

“One summer never ends... one summer never begins. It keeps me standing still, it takes all of my will, and then suddenly... last summer”. 

The summer that “never ends” is the one in which the event occurred, the memory of which she revisits in her mind constantly. The summer that never begins, is the summer that should've been – fun, carefree, relaxing, filled with great memories. The aftermath of emotions is crippling her, and then SUDDENLY, she remembers the event all over again. Pretty deep and heavy stuff for a new wave pop song.

It was only recently that I read a quote from Martha Davis in which she explains that “Suddenly…” was not speaking to a specific relationship or event, but the feeling of melancholy and loss of innocence as one reaches adulthood. She goes on to say that the song was inspired by the final visit of the ice cream truck, as the seasons change from summer to fall. The repeating melody throughout the song was an attempt to mimic the song of the ice cream truck.

I am not one to question her, she wrote the song after all, however, I got something different out of “Suddenly”, and I feel that what makes any work of art great. Different listeners, (or readers, or viewers), can take away from the same work of art many different feelings and interpretations that even the creator may not have intended. Bravo, Martha, “Suddenly” is truly a great song for that very reason.

Nowadays, I hear “Only the Lonely” on the radio several times a year, but it's been forever since I've heard “Suddenly...” probably at least 10 years or more, despite it’s equal chart popularity, and being, arguably, the better song.

So give “Suddenly” a spin, and create your own interpretation of this classic track. Leave me a comment if you’d like to compare notes.

“One summer never ends... one summer never begins. It keeps me standing still, it takes all of my will, and then suddenly... last summer”.