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Song Of The Day – “We Can Work It Out” by Stevie Wonder

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steviewondersignedsealedHe was no longer little…but he was not yet big either…

By 1970, Stevie Wonder had grown restless with the constraints that Motown Records put upon his creativity. Rather than continue to create commercial fodder that was sure to climb the charts, Wonder wanted to dig deeper by addressing social concerns with his music, and exploring different instrumentation on his records. On his 1970 album Signed, Sealed & Delivered, he began to spread his musical wings and display a newfound maturity in his songwriting and his singing, particularly on songs like “I Can’t Let Heaven Walk Away,” “Something To Say” and “Never Had A Dream Come True.”

Sure, he still had the ability to give Motown what they wanted, but Wonder craved more control over his recordings, and for this album he wrote or co-wrote seven of the tracks and received full production credit for the first time. (In reality, he actually only produced two of the tracks and co-produced three more.)

Along with the hit title track (#1 R&B, #3 Pop), the album also featured the singles “Heaven Help Us All” (#9 Pop), “Never Had a Dream Come True” (#11 R&B) and Wonder’s cover of The Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out” (#13 Pop). Wonder’s version of the Beatles classic announces its intention right from the get-go with one of the most succinct and exciting organ intros ever to grace the Motown label. From there, it’s a non-stop soul fest compete with Wonder’s exuberant lead vocals over funky harmonica riffing flying around the mix. The recording earned Wonder his second Grammy Award nomination, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, while the album hit #25 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and also climbed to the #7 spot on the R&B Albums chart.

The song was credited to Lennon and McCartney; however the lyrics were primarily written by McCartney and were about his relationship with then girlfriend Jane Asher. The Beatles’ recorded it during the sessions for Rubber Soul, and released it as one side of a double A-sided single with “Day Tripper” on the flip.

Wonder’s version was heard playing over the closing credits of the 2005 film Kicking And Screaming. He also performed his version of the song at The White House to honor Paul McCartney in 2010 when McCartney was awarded the Gershwin Prize by the Library of Congress.

While the release of Signed, Sealed & Delivered was a somewhat tentative step toward full-blown maturity on vinyl, It did bring Wonder one step closer on the road to world class albums like Music Of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs In The Key Of Life.

Song Of The Day – “Sail Away” by Bobby Darin

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bobbydarinBy 1972, Bobby Darin was long past his “Splish-Splash” rock ‘n’ roll beginnings and the supper club success that followed. He’d moved from his successful home at Atco records to the new confines of Capitol records where the supper club hits began to dry up.

The late ‘60s was a turbulent time in our country and, especially in Darin’s life. He was deeply dedicated to supporting Bobby Kennedy in his 1968 bid for the presidency, and was present at the Ambassador Hotel the night he was assassinated.

Shortly thereafter, he was told that the girl he thought was his sister was actually his mother, and that he’d been brought up by his grandparents and not his parents. If you find this scenario confusing, you can imagine how much it blew Darin’s mind, sending him into seclusion.

With his personal issues as a backdrop, Darin launched his own Direction Record label in 1969 whose goal was to release records with messages that reflected his political views and supported the direction he thought the country should be going in. During his live shows of the time he refused to take requests for “Mack The Knife” and his other hits, choosing to perform his own original folk songs. Needless to say, his Direction Records period turned Darin’s career in the wrong direction…

Darin’s health was also failing. As a child, he suffered from rheumatic fever which severely weakened his heart muscle, making him see his whole career as a race against time. He underwent surgery in 1971 in an effort to improve his condition.

During the early 1970s, Motown Records was also in transition, moving its headquarters away from Detroit to California where Berry Gordy was directing Diana Ross in the film Lady Sings The Blues. Darin signed with the label in 1970 with the hope of moving in a more soulful direction to revive his career, and was also soon back on TV again hosting The Bobby Darin Amusement Co. variety show on NBC.

Motown recorded Darin in concert for a planned and then shelved album release called Live At The Desert Inn and instead chose to release two non-LP Motown singles (including a cover of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” released as a B-side). In 1972, the label released his eponymously titled debut album for Motown featuring several original tunes, as well as some well-chosen covers including Cat Stevens’ “Hard Headed Woman,”  and Randy Newman’s “Sail Away” (today’s Song Of The Day), which were both coupled together for a single release that ultimately failed to chart.  A second single, “Average People” b/w “Something in Her Love” met a similar fate as did the album, which quickly faded into obscurity.

The album was the last Bobby Darin record to be released during his lifetime. In 1973, Darin contracted sepsis after a dental visit that weakened his system, sending him into the hospital where he underwent two surgeries to repair both artificial heart valves. He died during surgery on December 20th 1973 at the age of 37.

The Radio Way

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I’m Uncle Marty, this is the 521st gathering of The Award Winning 3D RadioActivity, as we are having our Radio WAY, closing out our eleventh year of finding common musical denominators, so if you feel alone, no worries, anyone can be a Long WAY From Home.

Download here:
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_20200209-TheRadioWay.mp3
or click to play:

As I mentioned early on, we are closing out eleven years of featured fun, and we plan on continuing the run because not only is it The Cowboy Way, The 3D Radioactivity feels it is ours too. There are close to a thousand of you folks who follow the show online, and I am grateful to all of you, while a few friends like Radio Dave, Okee, Ken, John, Mark crazy cat ladies, and all those who bark have a special place in my heart, you know who you are. Speaking of which, we will begin our Dozenth with a favorite focus. We’ve played crazy, lyin, cheatin, heartbroken, leftover, Lonely & Lonesome infidelities on our Valentines Massacre, so we will apologize next time with a SORRY selection of shameful sounds, as there’s plenty of WAYs to express remorse. I’d like your thoughts and maybe a story of why if you care to tell me by sending  email or via a message on our Facebook page which has links to the archives of all the earlier episodes and original show artwork in the photo section.  Tell all your circle of best friends and family to look for uson  Theacidflashback.com; http://www.villageconnectionmagazine.com/ in Long Island, New York; Denver’s MileHiRadio;  TuneIn and  InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, Always Rock On!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

…Marilyn Monroe

Song Of The Day – “Simple Game” by The Four Tops (with The Moody Blues)

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fourtopsToday’s Song Of The Day could have only happened in that strange and mystical place where the worlds of The Moody Blues and The Four Tops intersect.

“Simple Game” was originally the B-side to the Moody Blues’ 1967 single “Ride My See-Saw.” The song was written by Michael Pinder, and didn’t appear on a Moody Blues album until the two record compilation This Is The Moody Blues in 1972.

Moody Blues’ producer Tony Clark went to see the Tops in England and approached them with a demo of the song. The group didn’t know who Clark was, but liked the song and agreed to record it in England with Clark producing. The track was recorded on May 5, 1970, and The Four Tops’ backing band on this record was none other than an uncredited Moody Blues!

Two other tracks were recorded during the session with The Moody Blues backing, including “You Stole My Love” (another Moody Blues tune co-written by Tony Clark and Justin Hayward) and “So Deep Within You.” Neither track saw a U.S. release until The Four Tops box set Fourever in 2001; however “So Deep Within You” was used as the B-side to today’s Song Of The Day in England.

The single was arranged by Arthur Greenslade who had much success arranging hits for Dusty Springfield and Tom Jones. It climbed to #34 on the R&B charts and #90 on the pop charts, but did much better in England where “Simple Game” was a #3 hit single.

Strange bedfellows make great music, indeed.

Song Of The Day – “Creepin’” by Stevie Wonder

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Stevie WonderToday’s Song Of The Day is from Stevie Wonder’s 1974 album Fulfillingness’ First Finale which was released shortly after a car accident that almost took his life, making the album an all-the-more-important part of his canon. While on tour in North Carolina in August of 1973, Wonder’s car smashed into the back of a logging truck, and the bed of the truck crashed into the windshield of his car. Wonder suffered head injuries that left him in a coma for four days. He also partially lost his sense of smell and temporarily lost his sense of taste.

The brush with death had a great impact on the tone of the album, bringing a renewed spirituality and an awareness of his mortality to the lyrics. During the first interview he gave at the hospital several days after the accident, Wonder had this to say: “I was unconscious, and that for a few days, I was definitely in a much better spiritual place that made me aware of a lot of things that concern my life and my future, and what I have to do to reach another higher ground.”

At the time of its release, Fulfillingness’ was seen as somewhat of a disappointment following nearly-perfect records like Innervisions and Talking Book. It also didn’t help that his next record was 1976’s Songs In The Key Of Life which was a critically acclaimed double album, leading most people to gloss over this record.

However, upon closer inspection, Fulfillingness’ is a first rate collection of songs that finds Stevie Wonder in transition, but still stands mighty tall amongst his other releases. And any album that can sport classics like “Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away,” “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” “It Ain’t No Use,” “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” “They Won’t Go When I Go” and “Please Don’t Go” betters most of the records on the musical landscape circa 1974.

Like on his previous albums, Wonder played almost all of the instruments here, enlisting  first class help from Michael Sembello on guitar, Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel,  James Jamerson and Reggie McBride on bass, and on background vocals The Jackson 5, Minnie Riperton, Deniece Williams, Paul Anka, Syreeta Wright, The Persuasions, Shirley Brewer and Jim Gilstrap.

The album was his first to top the Billboard album charts and it spawned two big singles including the funky “Boogie on Reggae Woman” (#1 R&B/#3 Pop) and his indictment of the Nixon administration, “You Haven’t Done Nothin'” (#1 R&B/#1 Pop) featuring background vocals by the Jackson 5. It also won three Grammy Awards for Best Male Pop Vocal, Best Male Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance (for “Boogie On Reggae Woman”), and Album of the Year.

When it comes to a vibe, today’s Song Of The Day has it all: dreamy atmosphere, lush melody and deeply romantic lyrics. The song features Wonder on lead and background vocals, Fender Rhodes, harmonica, drums, Moog bass and T.O.N.T.O. synthesizer. Crucially, the vibe comes down to the T.O.N.T.O. (The Original New Timbral Orchestra) synthesizer that was the first and largest multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer in the world. It was brought into the fray by Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff and used on Wonder’s three previous albums. The female background vocals on the track were supplied by Minnie Riperton, and the song was also covered by Luther Vandross and Kenny Rankin.

Bottom line: the run of records Stevie Wonder released from 1971’s Music Of My Mind through 1976’s Songs In The Key Of Life are an essential part to any comprehensive music collection!

Well, it seems that Stevie Wonder’s recording of “Creepin’” has been blockedon YouTube by thought police (or is that the thoughtless police) at the record companies. So if you have Spotify or this Stevie Wonder album, I recommend that you cue it up and enjoy it while reading this…and if you don’t have it, buy it immediately…and you can thank me later.

Song Of The Day– “Dancing Machine” by The Jackson 5

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jackson5They were growing up…and the world liked their Jacksons young.

By 1973, The Jackson 5 were becoming somewhat of a spent force around Motown. It had been a few years since the group scored a bona-fide top ten hit, and there was plenty of dissatisfaction to go around.

Brother Michael was no longer the pint-sized dynamo that he once was. He was now a pimply 15 years old geek with a much deeper voice. Motown had been grooming him as a solo star much to the detriment of his singing brothers, and between 1971 and 1973 he scored several substantial solo hits including the top five smash “Got To Be There,” “Ben” which was a chart topping hit about a rat from the movie Willard, a cover of the Bobby Day hit “Rockin’ Robin” which climbed to the #2 position on the charts and “I Wanna Be Where You Are,” which went to #16 on the pop charts and #2 on the rhythm and blues charts.

Meanwhile, some of the other brothers were also branching out. Jermaine released a solo record in 1972 that included a cover of the Shep & The Limelites’ hit “Daddy’s Home” which rose up to the top ten of the charts, and Jackie also released solo record the following year. All of this activity was beginning to play on the dynamic within the group in negative ways.

What the group collectively craved most was more control over what they recorded, and more involvement in the making of their records. While they were writing, producing and playing songs in their home studio, Motown wouldn’t let them play on their own records insisting that they use the Motown house band, The Funk Brothers, or The Wrecking Crew (for West Coast sessions). Not only that, they were only allowed to record songs that were chosen for them by “The Corporation.”

Changes needed to be made, and it was within this atmosphere of disillusion that the group’s father and manager, Joe Jackson began to look for a new record deal for his charges.

The group’s 1973 album, GIT: Get It Together, was the first Jackson 5 album to feature lead vocals by each brother.  The album also found the group dipping their collective toes into disco waters by segueing all the songs together in order to provide a non-stop mix of music for dancing.

By far, the best song of the album is today’s Song Of The Day, “Dancing Machine.” The song was an “automatic, systematic” call to the dance floor featuring syncopated funky rhythms and terrific vocal interplay between Michael and the rest of the group who traded off lead vocal lines and sang backup on the track. It was also one of the first songs that Michael employed the vocal hiccup that would end up being one of his lasting trademarks.

Like “Billy Jean” and the moonwalk, “Dancing Machine” also benefitted by an accompanying dance move which helped propel it up the charts.  When the group appeared on Soul Train to promote the album, Michael Jackson was seen doing the robot dance resulting in a spectacle that left fans wanting more.

The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, but lost out to Rufus’s hit “Tell Me Something Good.” While the other seven tracks on the record were less commercial, the title track was a moderate hit that charted at #28 on the singles charts, and “Hum Along and Dance” became a popular favorite in the group’s live act.

Shortly after the release of the album, the group found themselves riding high in the charts again as background vocalists on Stevie Wonder’s 1974 single “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” from his album Fulfillingness’ First Finale.

The group signed with CBS/Epic Records in 1975 and had to change their name to The Jacksons, since Motown owned the rights to the Jackson 5 name. Jermaine chose to stay on at Motown since he was married to Berry Gordy’s daughter, and was replaced by the youngest Jackson brother, Randy.

While the group’s commercial prospects at CBS weren’t much better, Michael eventually scored a huge hit with the 1979 album Off the Wall, and then came Thriller and The Victory Tour, and Jackson mania swept the world again…

Above High RadioActivity 🎼☢️

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I’m your Uncle Marty, as The 3D RadioActivity hits the 502 mark as this time our aim is to see how far we can get ABOVE HIGH RadioActivity!  ☢️ 🎶 😎

Download:
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_20190929-AboveHighRadioactivity.mp3
Or play here:

Some people aim low, we were positive by going HIGH in the show, after we passed ABOVE too, so BEYOND will be the natural segueway for us on our next sonic celebration.  What’s on your mind?  Send your ideas, cute pet stories, and suggestions to me by  email or leave a message on our Facebook page where you can give us a Like, and you can find hyperlinks to all of the earlier episodes and graphics in the photo section.  Tell all your circle of best friends and family to look for us on Theacidflashback.com,  http://www.villageconnectionmagazine.com/ Long Island, New York;Denver’s MileHiRadio, TuneIn and InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, Always Rock On!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

…Marilyn Monroe

Song Of The Day – “Only A Lonely Man Would Know” by Marvin Gaye

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marvingayempgThe Marvin Gaye albums What’s Going On, Let’s Get It On and Here, My Dear are considered to be his finest by fans and critics alike, and it would be hard to argue the contrary with what’s in the grooves. But it mystifies me that the critics fail to mention the album M.P.G. in the same breath as the others.

M.P.G. came out in April of 1969, and was one of Marvin Gaye’s last records before he took the control of his career away from Motown, and began calling the shots himself. That said, M.P.G. (for Marvin Pentz Gaye, not miles per gallon) was his most consistent release up to that point. It was also his first solo record to make the top 40 of the Billboard Pop album charts, peaking at #33, mainly due to the singles “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” (#1 R&B/#4 Pop), originally recorded by The Temptations, and “That’s The Way Love Is” (#2 R&B/#7 Pop), also a remake originally recorded by The Isley Brothers.

But it’s the lesser known songs on the album, that are equally as good as the singles, like “It’s A Bitter Pill To Swallow,” “More Than A Heart Can Stand,” “Seek And You Shall Find,” “The End Of Our Road” (a cover of a Gladys Knight & The Pips song) and today’s Song Of The Day, elevating this record head and shoulders taller than the rest of his sixties output.

Of course, much of the Motown magic comes from The Funk Brothers, Motown’s ace studio band, who backed so many artists on their albums, including this one. While there are no musician credits on the record, one can guess that the band was made up of some, or all, of the following musicians: Johnny Griffith and Earl Van Dyke on piano; James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt on bass; Benny “Papa Zita” Benjamin, Uriel Jones and Richard “Pistol” Allen on drums; Robert White, Eddie Willis, Dennis Coffey and Joe Messina (guitar); Paul Riser on trombone; Jack Ashford on percussion; Jack Brokensha on vibraphone and marimba; and Eddie “Bongo” Brown on percussion. Background vocals were undoubtedly provided by The Andantes: Marlene Barrow, Jackie Hicks and Louvain Demps.

And then there’s marvelous Marvin. Plaintive, soulful, emotive, spiritual, seductive, dark and moody…all wrapped up into song, like no one that came before him, and none that have come since.

The 3rD Away

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I’m your Uncle Marty, music is what we play on The 3D RadioActivity‘s chapter 494, where we’ll weigh an array from ballet and cabaret to reggae as we survey wordplay to rockaway your day with a tuneful essay that will take you AWAY.

Download here:
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_20190804-3DAway.mp3
or click to listen:

OVER and OUT are the next two summertime seconds.  Abbie Hoffman once said that sacred cows make the tastiest burgers, and since there’s a lot of beef in those proverbial meals, we will revisit them for the fourth time on our next pair of get togethers.  Send me your thoughts like Dave, Catherine, and Steven did this week.  If you’ve got ideas or requests, tell me by sending email or leave a message on our Facebook page where you can give us a Like, and you can find hyperlinks to all of the earlier episodes and graphics in the photo section.  Tell all your circle of best friends and family to look for us on  Theacidflashback.com,   http://www.villageconnectionmagazine.com/ Long Island, New York; Denver’s MileHiRadio, TuneIn and InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, Always Rock On!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

…Marilyn Monroe 

Run With 3D Again

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I’m Uncle Marty, we are off and Running on the 491st chapter The 3D RadioActivity.  Jim in Novato suggested that we make sure that we give equal time to the opposite direction, so we will be moving to and fro this time with hits from Motown, The Blues, Oldies and a Super Group or two  with their renditions of some timeless classics.

Download here:
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_20190714-3DxxxxRun.mp3
 or click to play!

We sure have been RUNNING all over the place with you this time, on our next get together, we will return to the files to feature the GOING idea for the fourth time, as there are plenty to choose from!  We love to play what you want to hear, so send those suggestions by email or leave a message on our Facebook page where you can give us a Like, and you can find hyperlinks to all of the earlier episodes and graphics in the photo section.  Tell all your circle of best friends and family to look for us on  Theacidflashback.com,   http://www.villageconnectionmagazine.com/ Long Island, New York; Denver’s MileHiRadio, TuneIn and InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, Always Rock On!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

…Marilyn Monroe