The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten Facts

[skybluesky]

Dreamboat Annie - Heart

"Magic Man" and "Crazy on You" may have brought Heart chart success, but the true heart of the band's debut album was its title song, "Dreamboat Annie." This elegant, primarily acoustic song proved the band had more to offer than hammer-headed rock fare by giving it a solid vehicle for its skill at mixing pop hooks with a folk music feel. The gently poetic lyrics present a sympathetic portrait of a girl who escapes the drudgery of everyday life through daydreaming: "No one knows the lonely one whose head's in the clouds/Sad faces painted over with those magazine smiles/Heading out to somewhere, won't be back for a while." The music captures the combination of melancholy and dreaminess in the lyrics through a melody that pairs verses with a warm yet slightly sad feel to a chorus that pushes this combination to ethereal heights. Heart's recording of "Dreamboat Annie" anchors the song with steady drum work and hypnotic acoustic guitar lines that give the song a backbone without ever overpowering the melody. It also adds an unexpected banjo line and a rich background vocal arrangement that fleshes out the melody in a dreamy fashion. Ann Wilson tops it off with a gentle vocal that avoids the flashy operatics that pervade Dreamboat Annie's hit rockers in favor of a smooth, mellow alto tone that is just what the song requires. The result was probably a little too dreamy to become a hit, but it managed to peak just outside the pop chart Top 40 as a single. More importantly, "Dreamboat Annie" lent an element of much-needed variety to the album's sonic style. The band members obviously liked it because they re-arranged the song two times elsewhere on the album: it provided a brief acoustic bridge between "Magic Man" and "Crazy on You" and was also reprised at the end of the album with a string arrangement to create an elegant coda.

"Dreamboat Annie" is a song written and recorded by the rock band Heart. It is the title track from their debut album Dreamboat Annie and was released as its third single in 1976. The song had originally appeared as the B-side to Heart's debut single "Crazy on You" earlier that year.

There are three different versions of the song "Dreamboat Annie" on the Dreamboat Annie album:

Track 2 - "Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child)" - 1:10

Track 5 - "Dreamboat Annie" - 2:02

Track 10 - "Dreamboat Annie (Reprise)" - 3:50

The version released on the single was 2:59 and is not included on the album. The single is a variation of Track 5, with the intro to "Crazy On You" grafted onto the beginning of the single. This version remains unreleased on any Heart album. It's assummed this was done to increase the playing time of the single to the more standard 3 minute format.

"Dreamboat Annie" became Heart's third U.S. chart entry, peaking at number forty-two on the Billboard Hot 100. Being markedly softer in sound than the other singles Heart had released previously, the song was also Heart's first entry onto the U.S. Adult Contemporary singles chart, where it reached number seventeen (Heart's highest-charting AC hit until "These Dreams" in 1986).

[edna]

Shannon I'm glad you came back full of energy

[edna]

"No One To Depend On"

Santana

Written by Coke Escovedo, Greg Rolie and Mike Carabello.

A track of their third album, "Santana", released in september 1971.

It' s also the second single issued and it had much airplay on the FM radio stations. It's still one of the most popular Santana songs and it was released as a single in 1972.

Neal Schon -15 years by then- plays guitar.

Allmusic said:

A brilliant combination of commercial instincts and exploratory, progressive, Santana's "No One To Depend On" became another in a series of the band's F.M radio staples (still played extensively today), and showed the band's growth on their third album. Intrinsically blues-based, the song's title sounds as if it could have come from an old Willie Dixon track, and is filled with resignation. However, the similarity also ties in with the chord progression and Greg Rollie's soulful lead vocal. A two part song, the Latin heat of the song runs all the way through and becomes a full-on psychedelic jam in mid-song, whenCarlos Santana breaks into a funky, soul-fried riff and then takes off on a wah-wah'd guitar solo that surely must remain one of his finest and wildest studio performances. A wise inclusion on 2002's The Essential Santana.

[edna]

"Boredom"

Buzzcocks

Written by Howard Devoto/Pete Shelley.

Recorded in 1976 and released in 1977 as a track of a four-tracks EP, "Spiral Scratch", their debut record. It is considered as the first punk record to be released by the band themselves instead of a record company. The edition name/number is "New Hormones ORG1", so it could somehow be the first "indie" in the UK. It was recorded, produced and released with the £500 the band had to borrow to make this EP. It was released again by the end of 1979 and it made the Top 40.

Wikipedia says that

"Boredom", probably the EP's most well-known song, announced punk's rebellion against the status quo while templating a strident musical minimalism (the guitar solo consisting of two notes repeated 66 times, ending with a single modulated seventh.) At the same time the lyrics already showed boredom with punk itself ("You know the scene is very humdrum" and "I'm already a has-been!") - indeed Howard Devoto left the band on the eve of the record's release, saying "I get bored very easily and that boredom can act as a catalyst for me to suddenly conceive and execute a new vocation." He added that punk rock had already become restrictive and stereotyped.

Richard Boon, the band's manager, asserts that "Boredom" was a satirical song.

The song was placed at Number 11 in Mojo magazine's list of "100 Punk Scorchers" in 2001.

Allmusic considers the whole EP as every bit as important as the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK" in the establishment of the U.K. punk scene. And playing those two cultural artifacts back to back two decades later, it is the Pistols' effort which sounds more like the museum piece. Spiral Scratch's hand-pressed, blurry black-and-white sleeve housed four tracks -- each one a uniquely compelling experience, marrying raw, youthful zest with belligerent intelligence. The EP's release achieved several things at once. It opened up the independent scene, making D.I.Y. labels the natural springboard for aspiring musicians. It gave the punk scene a second regional base in Manchester, and it expanded punk's vocabulary beyond the outright nihilism evinced by London bands. And, even at this stage, the band's musicianship was a joy to behold, particularly the uninhibited drumming of John Maher. This was also, bootlegs apart, the only chance to hear Howard Devoto front the band before he left to form Magazine. For more of the same, check out the Time's Up album, a classic bootleg of the group's early days which has seen official release.

[edna]

"Too Much Time On My Hands"

Styx

Written by Tommy Shaw. Released as a single in 1981, it charted #2 at the Hot Mainstream Rock list and reached #9 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It's also a track from their famous 1980 album "Paradise Theatre" and is played very often on classic rock radio stations.

From allmusic:

Paradise Theater started Styx off on the right foot as they entered the 1980s. Following 1979's Cornerstone album, which heralded their first number one single in "Babe," Paradise Theater had the band sounding more rock & roll-ish, with greater emphasis on Tommy Shaw's guitar work and John Panozzo's drumming. Vocalist Dennis De Young sounded fresh and revitalized, and after the lush-sounding "The Best of Times hit number three on Billboard, Styx came right back with "Too Much Time on My Hands," a straight-ahead chug-a-lugger with a heightened chorus and crisp keyboards -- a refreshing break from their last three Top 40 hits, which were all ballads. The song peaked at number nine in March of 1981 and remained on the charts for 13 weeks. Paradise Theater stayed three consecutive weeks at number one, ending up as Styx's fourth platinum-selling album while reaching number eight on the U.K. album charts. "Too Much Time on My Hands" spoke volumes about the '80s "me" generation, as Shaw stated his case while "sitting on this barstool/Talking like a damn fool." It's clearly the album's best rocker, fitting in perfectly with radio's three-minute formula, which was so crucial back in the early '80s. OnCaught in the Act, a double-live album recorded in 1984, the song is performed in a rather entertaining improvisational fashion, with even more explosive guitar work from Tommy Shaw and James Young.

[Lea]

Shannon I'm glad you came back full of energy

My sentiments exactly

[blind-fitter]

"Boredom" - Buzzcocks

This song is referenced in "Rip It Up" by Orange Juice, which reached #8 in the UK singles chart in 1983. Orange Juice singer Edwyn Collins (later a successful solo artist) croons these lines:

"And there was times I'd take my pen

And feel obliged to start again

I do profess

That there are things in life

That one can't quite express

You know me I'm acting dumb-dumb

You know this scene is very humdrum

And my favourite song's entitled 'boredom'"

This lyrical passage is followed by a stylised reprise of "Boredom"'s infamous two-note guitar solo.

The lead vocal on "Boredom is by Howard Devoto; Pete Shelley, who would soon take over as the band's lead singer, following Devoto's abrupt departure from the band, can be heard singing backing vocals on the chorus of "Boredom".

Howard Devoto subsequently formed the influential post-punk combo, Magazine. Magazine recorded a slowed-down and more sinister-sounding version of "Boredom" for a session to be broadcast on the John Peel Radio Show. This version can be found on the Magazine 3CD collection "Maybe It's Right to Be Nervous Now (2000) and on a separate album entitled "The Complete John Peel Sessions" (2008).

[edna]

Thank you, BF!

[blind-fitter]

"Boredom" - Buzzcocks (cont'd)

Lyrics

You know that I say what I mean

I say what comes to my mind

You see I never get around to things

I'm living in a straight, straight line

You know me - I'm acting dumb and

You know the scene - very humdrum

Boredom - boredom

Boredom

Now I'm living in this movie

But it doesn't move me

I'm the man that's waiting for the phone to ring

Ring-a-ring-a-ring-a-f*cking-ding

You know me - I'm acting dumb and

You know the scene a - very humdrum

Boredom - boredom

Boredom

You can see there's nothing that's behind me

I'm already a has-been

Because my future ain't what it was

Well I think I know the words that I mean

You know me - I'm acting dumb and

You know the scene - it's very humdrum

Boredom - boredom

B'dum, B'dum

I've taken this extravagant journey

So it seems to me

I just came out of nowhere

And I'm going straight back there

You know me - I'm acting dumb

You know the scene is very humdrum-drum

Boredom - boredom

So I'm living in this movie

But doesn't move me

So tell me who are you trying to arouse

Get your hand out of my trousers

You know me - I'm acting dumb

You know the scene is very humdrum

Boredom - boredom

Ahhh

Mancunian journalist / commentator Paul Morley wrote, of Devoto and "Boredom" in the New Musical Express (NME), (July 30th 1977):

"Devoto used to be the singer and lyricist for The Buzzcocks, Manchester's first new wave band, but he discovered that he is perhaps more a dramatist than a performer. Typifying his skilful, almost absurdist dialogue technique with lyrics is "Boredom"; surely a genuine classic. The song is a curious assimilation of the central force behind Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting For Godot", which, equally curiously, relates to the initial idealism of punk / new wave; that the pattern is desperate and yet the movement paradoxically hopeful."

Link to Paul Morley's 1977 NME article on punk scene in Manchester.

[Lea]

Hugs, kisses and many, many thanks to everyone that helped collect the facts this week. You all rock .

[edna]

Great info about "Boredom" BF!

[Lea]

The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #188

This week there are only 2 songs needing facts.

Lover Of The Bayou - Mudcrutch (2008)

Laughing - The Guess Who (1969)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you.

[Farin]

"Lover Of The Bayou" is a cover of a song by The Byrds, isn't it?

[TheLizard]

Yup.

[edna]

"Laughing"

The Guess Who

Written by Bachman/Cummings. From their 1969 album "Canned Wheat"

Released as a single, it made #1 in the Canadian charts and #10 in the US.

Line Up:

Randy Bachman (guitar, sitar, background vocals), Burton Cummings (vocals, organ, harmonica, piano, guitar, keyboards, flute), Jim Kale (bass, background vocals),Garry Peterson ( drums, percussion, conga, tabla, background vocals)

[Lea]

"Lover Of The Bayou" is a cover of a song by The Byrds, isn't it?

As a rule I would just tell Carl it's a cover and he would decide how to list it. We've talked about this kinda thing and how to submit it on the main.

In this case, even under The Byrds there are no facts for it.

So feel free to submit facts for it please

[phil]

Lea, The story of Lover On The Bayou is pretty interesting. Here's some information on the song.

For most of 1969, The Byrds' leader and guitarist, Roger McGuinn, had been developing a country-rock stage production of Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt with former psychologist and Broadway impresario, Jacques Levy.[10] The musical was to be titled Gene Tryp, an anagram of the title of Ibsen's play, and would loosely follow the storyline of Peer Gynt with some modifications to transpose it from Norway, as in Ibsen's original, to 19th century south-west America.[2] The musical was intended to be a prelude to even loftier plans of McGuinn's to produce a science-fiction film named Ecology 70, starring former Byrd Gram Parsons (no relation to Gene) and ex-member of The Mamas & the Papas, Michelle Phillips, as a pair of intergalactic flower children.[2] Ultimately, Gene Tryp was abandoned and a handful of the songs that McGuinn and Levy had written for the project would instead see release on The Byrds album, (Untitled) and its follow-up, Byrdmaniax.[1]

Of the twenty-six songs that were written for the musical,[11] "Chestnut Mare", "Lover of the Bayou", "All the Things" and "Just a Season" were included on (Untitled),[12] while "Kathleen's Song" and "I Wanna Grow up to Be a Politician" were held over for The Byrds' next album.[13] "Lover of the Bayou" would later be re-recorded by Roger McGuinn in 1975 and appear on his album, Roger McGuinn & Band. Despite not being staged at the time, Gene Tryp was eventually performed in its entirety by the students of Colgate University in 1992.[14][2]

More Information

The opening track of the live LP is "Lover of the Bayou", a new song written by Roger McGuinn and Jacques Levy for their aborted Gene Tryp stage show.[21] The song is set during the American Civil War and portrays the eponymous hero of the musical as a smuggler, bootlegger and gun runner for both the Confederacy and the Unionists.[21] McGuinn explained in a 1970 interview with journalist Vincent Flanders that the song wasn't actually intended to be sung by Gene Tryp but by another character, a witch-doctor named Big Cat.

And still more.

The (Untitled) album is notable for being the first official release of any live recordings by The Byrds and also for being the first album by the Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, Gene Parsons and Skip Battin line-up of the band.[2]

Lots of editing to do, but hope this helps.

Edited October 17, 2009 by Guest

[Lea]

Thank you edna Farin, Phil, and Tim for taking the time to post those facts

You guys rock

[Farin]

yeah, my post took probably up to 30 seconds to write

[Lea]

Your point?

You still deserve a nice thank you as does Tim

Help is help doesn't matter the size of it

[TheLizard]

Yup.

[Lea]

The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #189

This week there are 5 songs needing facts.

Harmony - Elton John (1973)

Low - Cracker (1993)

Reminiscing - Little River Band (1978)

April Come She Will - Simon & Garfunkel (1966)

Little Willy - Sweet (1972)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

As always the Songfish thanks you.

[skybluesky]

April Come She Will - Simon & Garfunkel (1966)

Utilizing the changing seasons as a metaphor for the capriciousness of a girl, "April Come She Will" was used very effectively in the film The Graduate and its soundtrack. Written in England in 1964 following a brief affair that Paul Simon had during his stay there, the lyrics were inspired by a nursery rhyme that the girl in question recited. The sense of yearning in this song would later be beautifully echoed in one of the Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme masterpieces, "For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her." Like that song, it is very brief, yet the shortness of the song adds to the effectiveness and economy of both the lyric and melody.

[skybluesky]

Reminiscing - Little River Band (1978)

"Reminiscing" is a 1978 song written by Graeham Goble, and performed by Australian rock group Little River Band. It remains their biggest hit in the United States, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year. The song is about a couple reminiscing about the past, with certain music (such as Glenn Miller or Cole Porter tunes) bringing back certain memories. Fellow Australian band Madison Avenue, covered the song. The single was released in 2001 and certified Gold by ARIA.

[pinkstones]

The Songfactors' Choice Top Ten #189

Little Willy - Sweet (1972)

"Little Willy", written by Nicky Chinn and Scott Chapman, peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 after a re-issue in 1973, becoming the group's biggest American hit. It also peaked at #4 on the UK Singles chart.