Episode update, new show (that will feature “I Love New
York” by Jack Phillips) premieres on WCCA TV this Monday 8th of June,
Channel 194 in Worcester and streams on wccatv.com
“Miracles” is one of those phenomenal compositions and productions which could only have come from another universe and is exactly what the title promises — a miracle. The biggest hit and long overdue vindication for one of the founding members of Jefferson Airplane, Marty Balin’s exquisite voice finds its most perfect setting soaring above Craig Chaquico’s silken guitar lines and Grace Slick’s wonderful vocal accompaniment.
It’s probably the only time Slick and Balin ever made love, their voices pure sex together inside this tune about the potential of that once-in-a-lifetime friendship. The delicate intro so light and airy, with the brilliant statement “if only you believe like I believe,” having faith in both the love affair and metaphysics. When the voices and guitars combine with the saxophone in the instrumental portion of the song, it is pure cosmic joy. Balin said he has a “pocketful of miracles,” and fans can only hope he does, because this composition is as perfect a song as anyone could ever write, with production by Jefferson Starship and engineer Larry Cox as sublime as the melody.
When asked how such an amazing work was put together, Balin said matter-of-factly that they just went in (to the studio) and let it happen. It would have been hard to imagine those counterculture revolutionaries who urged anarchy for all the “volunteers” at Woodstock coming up with not only an album rock classic but an adult contemporary standard; however, Red Octopus was the maturing and refinement of a highly intellectual underground band and evidence that the group should have continued in this art/pop direction. “Miracles” is the antithesis of the latter-day Starship’s masterpiece, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” the difference in the two tunes the difference between the two groups.
Where Diane Warren and Albert Hammond manufactured the Grace Slick/Mickey Thomas 1987 number one hit, Balin penned this gem from the heart, fusing the underground elements Slick and he were such an integral part of with subtle power pop. It’s just a magical effort like Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” a song that doesn’t come along every day and a performance that is one in a million.
The 45, a three-minute-and-30-second version of the six-minute-and-52-second album cut, is edited so cleanly for radio one would think it was the entire tune if not for radio going on the longer track. It got major airplay despite Balin’s revealing and quite descriptive lyrics that the censors would’ve have had a field day with just a half a dozen years prior.
“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond was the third number one hit for Starship, about as far removed as you could get from Marty Balin‘s composition, “Miracles,” which was the biggest hit that emerged from both the Jefferson Airplane and the Jefferson Starship. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” is manufactured pop, but as mature bubblegum endorsed by Grace Slick, it didn’t need the Oscar nomination to validate its brilliance. As far as techno-rock goes, No Protection is a classic of the genre. The opening “Beat Patrol” is fun, and despite the amalgam of producers — Peter Wolf (not the J. Geils singer) on six songs including the beautiful “Set the Night to Music” which ends this disc, Farrenheit producer Keith Olsen on the Top 10 philosophical mantra “It’s Not Over (‘Til It’s Over)” along with two other titles, and Narada Michael Walden‘s aforementioned brilliant gem, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” — it somehow works as they unite for a concise and consistent package. You have only four band members here, drummer/vocalist Donny Baldwin, guitarist Craig Chaquico, and two vocalists, Slick and Mickey Thomas (who, thankfully, kept his sometimes annoying voice to that range of his first hit with Elvin Bishop, “Fooled Around and Fell in Love”), a far cry from the gypsy atmosphere of the Red Octopus days. Like “Beat Patrol,” the all-Mickey Thomas “Girls Like You” is a fun little romp, and more importantly, it is the only band contribution, co-written by Craig Chaquico, Thomas, and Steve Diamond, along with two Grace Slick numbers, also co-written, making this album a really manufactured entity. This is a hip version of the Archies; make no mistake about it. One of the great counter-culture bands evolving into Jerry Garcia‘s worst nightmare. But it works. It is the Archies‘s for adults, some kind of clean pornography. Peter Wolf and Ina Wolf‘s “Wings of a Lie” is good work; Martin Page‘s “The Children” an indicator of how instrumental Page would be to the next phase, Love Among the Cannibals, almost prophesized by Paul Kantner on Winds of Change. It is also important to note that Grace Slick‘s Software album is really a companion piece to No Protection; she took to this format, further giving it credibility. “I Don’t Know Why” is classic Grace Slick; “Transatlantic” from Anton Fig and Slick/Funderburk/Williams’ “Babylon” set up the album for the finale, Diane Warren‘s “Set the Night to Music.” This is as much Warren‘s show — she who helped Aerosmith with their Armageddon title theme — as it is the producers’ puppet. Hey, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” got into both the Mannequin film and its sequel, Mannequin II, and how many themes can claim that? No Protection was the high point for Starship; stripped of the essence of a rock & roll band, it works as a child of Kraftwerk, combining computers and rock music, turning a genius guitarist like Chaquico into a by-product. But one cannot deny that No Protection is brilliant in its embrace of sounds from the cold depths of outer space, a creature Paul Kantner never imagined his “Jefferson Starship” would find.
For those purist fans of the early Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, a song like “We Built This City” took the path the Marty Balin-less group embarked on with “Jane” (a title Balin actually rehearsed with the group prior to his leaving for a solo career) farther into the arena rock wasteland. The four minutes and 29 seconds of “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” were a huge treat on an entirely different level. It’s really more a collaboration between producer/arranger Narada Michael Walden and singers Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas than it is a Starship track. Lead guitarist Craig Chaquico is merely a guest star here, for this is a high-tech quagmire of bells, whistles, strings, and Walden’s vision, building the melody into a rock-solid stomp, but for Starship, it is its zenith. If the song “Miracles” was Jefferson Starship at its most potent and creative, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” is selling out, in a good way. With this tune the band evolved into the counterculture Archies, but Slick remains the Queen of Cool, and she adds a dimension of integrity, even bringing the very best performance out of Thomas, who was all things a singer for Jefferson Starship should not have been. Slick and Thomas work in unison here, not the tapestry that was her marriage with Balin’s voice on “Miracles” but an effortless combination like the guitars of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, a doubling effect which intensifies the sentiment. The song by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren could not be constructed more perfectly or with such refined precision. Walden has to be commended for merging dance-rock with industrial, and for all the contrived elements, anathema to fans of the institution which once crafted “It’s No Secret” and “Plastic Fantastic Lover,” this platter is itself a fantastic plastic march of triumph and overcoming all obstacles. It’s actually a re-working of Balin’s “Miracles” theme, an uplifting accomplishment of love conquering all as the “plastic fantastic lover” in the store window comes to life for the lovelorn hero. Theme to the Twentieth Century Fox motion pictures Mannequin and Mannequin II, it’s a song so nice the studio had to play it twice, to paraphrase the late Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller.
Joe Viglione Nov 3, 1984 with Jeff Hill on drums, Fudge Keegan on guitar, Todd Carnes on bass opening for John Cale of the Velvet Underground…lost Beta tape was found today, 5/4/2020, has to be transferred…
SUBSCRIBEA #19 hit in 1980 on the Billboard Hot 100. Song Review by Joe Viglione at Allmusic.com:
“Three Times In Love” is as exquisite a pop confection as you’ll find, a #1 Adult Contemporary hit for Tommy James which should have ushered in a whole new career for the singer/songwriter in the 1980’s, one that could have had him giving Olivia, Elton, Helen and Barry a good run for their money on the pop charts. Millennium Records single #11785 came at the dawn of that new decade going Top 20 on the singles charts in February of 1980. The guitar strums are even lighter than Nick Lowe’s hit, “Cruel To Be Kind” from the year before, the sentiment a lot more positive than Lowe, a song about falling in love head over heels, not once, not twice, but three times. It’s survival of the fittest from the first love of teen years being a game and and ultimately fading away to the second time around finding the person in question older and wiser, The lyrics take a back seat to the gorgeous hook, a gliding vocal of “three times in love” over cascading acoustic guitars with a stunningly sweet lead right before the bridge. Tommy James made some good records for Fantasy in the ’70’s, including a wonderful re-make of “Tighter, Tighter”, the hit he wrote and produced for Alive ‘n Kickin’. The label change to Millennium Entertainment allowed this title track the opportunity to reach an audience, and it deserved to. Sophisticated adult pop by a craftsman who has the voice and intuitive charm, this number drives politely, swimming in pretty sounds and is a far cry from the garage rock of “Hanky Panky” which launched James’ storied career. Of the 19 chart songs he wrote or performed, there’s something extra special about this one. Co-written by Tommy James and guitarist/bassist Ronnie Serota, the song clocks in at four minutes and nine seconds. A Spanish version was also released, which has become something of a collectors item.” LYRICS: She was all of a lady, you were all of sixteen,
You were king of the mountain, she was your queen.
You played in the sunshine, you danced in the rain,
It was so easy, when love was a game.
But, everybody’s
When Motown had R. Dean Taylor, Meatloaf, and Rare Earth, poppy blue-eyed soul with urban leanings on their Rare Earth imprint, the company also released this disc by Crystal Mansion. Engineered by Brooks Arthur, who went on to produce Crystal Mansion‘s 1979 album on Twentieth Century, Peter Allen, and many middle of the road acts in the ’80s, this disc, by what was once a pop band, is a real strange one. Prior to this album they almost hit with “The Thought of Loving You,” a timeless pop song written by David White and covered by Sonny & Cher, as well as the Manhattan Transfer. Dave White Tricker appears on this disc courtesy of Bell records, contributing three co-written numbers, “Earth People,” “A Song Is Born,” and “Satisfied..” David White Tricker also shows up on Len Barry‘s abysmal Ups and Downs on Buddah the same year, 1972. This album has a better groove than Barry‘s, but it gets mired in the down side of Atlanta Rhythm Section or Rare Earth, the unfortunate non-hit sides of those bands. Why Collectables would re-release this with an additional track, James Taylor‘s “Carolina on My Mind,” is a mystery. There is nothing here as sublime as their little mini-pop masterpiece, “The Thought of Loving You,” and despite having it together better than solo outings by Rob Grill of the Grass Roots or Len Barry, “Peace for a Change” is not the kind of tune you would seek out to play repeatedly, nor would a classic hits music director go out on a limb for “Boogieman.” The cover, featuring bare trees over a blue “crystal” mansion, is the best thing about this disc. The gatefold holds the lyrics, but there are no lost Bob Dylan etchings here, nor words that will be published in volumes of important rock poetry. To be kind, “There Always Will Be More,” ” I Love You,” and the final track, “Earth People,” aren’t bad. “Earth People” is reminiscent of “Calling Occupants,” the hit for the Carpenters and Klaatu. It is the highlight of the album. Let’s call it Crystal Mansion‘s “I’m Your Captain/Closer to Home.” Nice keyboards, good production, great vocals, but the three minutes and 59 seconds seem to drag on, and nothing here is, as mentioned, as stimulating as their signature tune, “The Thought of Loving You,” which, unfortunately, is not on this disc.
The Boston Rock And Roll Anthology Vol. #21 is about to happen!
My flower garden 7:07 pm April 29, 2020 – a daily
The goal is to write on this page daily and keep people entertained and informed. Check out this great rendition of Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny”
Sunny by Bobby Hebb Kit Morgan – guitar Jerry Crozier-Cole – guitar This performance was recorded and filmed on the 8th March 2018 Guitar Extravaganza live at Cedars Hall, Wells Cathedral School. Recording and editing by Dom Balchin see Bobby Hebb Dot Blogspot Dot Com https://bobbyhebb.blogspot.com/2020/04/sunny-by-bobby-hebb-kit-morgan-guitar.html
Another Great “Sunny” Maestro Jerry Crozier-Cole My flower garden 7:07 pm April 29, 2020 My flower garden 7:07 pm April 29, 2020
