The newest feature in my Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era is this gem from ABBA. It was included on The Album, but never released as a single.
No smiles, not a single word at the breakfast table
Though I would have liked to begin
So much that I wanna say, but I feel unable
You leave and slam the door
Like you've done many times before
And I cry and I feel so helpless
One man, one woman
Two friends and two true lovers
Somehow we'll help each other through the hard times
One man, one woman
One life to live together
One chance to take that never comes back again
You and me, to the end
Outside I can see the sun through the open window
Inside everything feels so cold
What's wrong, what is happening, where did all our love go?
Sometimes when I just can't cope
I cling to a desperate hope
And I cry and I feel like dying
One man, one woman
Two friends and two true lovers
Somehow we'll help each other through the hard times
One man, one woman
One life to live together
One chance to take that never comes back again
You and me, to the end
Daydreams of a better life, but I have to wake up
The sound of the key in the door
You smile and I realise that we need a shake-up
Our love is a precious thing
Worth the pain and the suffering
And it's never too late for changing
One man, one woman
Two friends and two true lovers
Somehow we'll help each other through the hard times
One man, one woman
One life to live together
One chance to take that never comes back again
You and me, to the end
You and me, to the end
1954: Elvis Presley was at Bellevue Park in Memphis, Tennessee. (Note: some websites claim the show was at the Eagle's Nest in Memphis. According to the official website for guitarist Scotty Moore, Elvis played at Bellevue Park on this date.)
1957: The Big Record debuted on CBS-TV, with Patti Page hosting. 1959: The first Dick Clark Caravan of Stars tour began with Paul Anka, the Coasters, Lloyd Price, Duane Eddy, the Coasters and Bobby Rydell at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. 1960: The Tab Hunter Show premiered on NBC-TV. 1960: Frankie Avalon was given $600,000 on his 20th birthday as earnings accumulated when he was a minor. 1963: The Patty Duke Show premiered on ABC-TV. It would last three seasons. 1964: The Beatles performed at Dallas Memorial Auditorium in Texas. 1965: A new group was introduced to us as the Vogues first charted on this date with their first single "You're the One". 1965: James Brown reigned on the R&B chart for the sixth week with "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag Part 1". 1965: We Five were on top of the Adult chart for a third week with the great song "You Were On My Mind".
The Turtles were crawling up the chart...
1965: The Beatles made it three consecutive weeks at #1 with "Help!". Barry McGuire edged up one spot closer with "Eve Of Destruction" while Bob Dylan slipped with "Like A Rolling Stone". We Five had "You Were On My Mind" and the Dave Clark Five moved from 13-5 with "Catch Us If You Can". The rest of the Top 10: The instrumental "The 'In' Crowd" from the Ramsey Lewis Trio, the McCoys slipped into the Top 10 with "Hang On Sloopy", the Turtles were moving slower with "It Ain't Me Babe", Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe" came in ninth and the Yardbirds reached the list with "Heart Full Of Soul". 1966: The Doors and the Seeds ("Pushin' Too Hard") were in concert at Bido Lito's in Hollywood, California. 1967: The Beach Boys released the album Smiley Smile. (Note: the Internet is all over the map on the date of release, with dates of September 5 and 11 reported. The books 'Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever' by Scott Schinder and Andy Schwartz, 'Heroes and Villains: Essays on Music, Movies, Comics, and Culture' by Steven S. Gaines, and Keith Badman's book 'The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band On Stage and in the Studio' clear this up for them by confirming our report that the album was released September 18.)
1967: The Doors released the single "People Are Strange". (Note: some sources incorrectly report the release date as September 25, the same day as the album 'Strange Days'. It is quite common for the release date of singles to predate album releases. Also, since "People Are Strange" first charted on September 23, that reported date of 9/25 is physically impossible. A song cannot make the Singles chart if it has not yet been released as a single.) 1968: Having returned from India, the Beatles recorded 20 takes of the track "Birthday" at Abbey Road Studios in London, with Mal Evans, a roadie, producing the handclaps and Patti Harrison and Yoko Ono on backing vocals.
1970: Jimi Hendrix died in his apartment from an overdose of sleeping pills in London at the age of 27. Hendrix was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary Abbott's Hospital in London. Hendrix had left a message on his manager's answering phone earlier in the evening--"I need help man." Indeed. 1971: The Bobby Sherman show Getting Together premiered on ABC-TV.
1971: Pink Floyd became the first rock act to appear at the Classical Music Festival (Festival de Musique Classique) on September 18-19 at the Pavilion de Montreux in Montreaux, Switzerland, performing songs from their album Atom Heart Mother. (Note: many sources incorrectly report the year as 1970. Even though Pink Floyd's tour began in June of 1970, the Montreux dates were in 1971, as the album cover above clearly shows.) 1971: The Who, the Faces, Mott the Hoople and Lindisfarne performed at Goodbye Summer, a fundraiser for famine victims of Bangla Desh, at the Oval Cricket Ground in Kennington, London. (Note: many sources incorrectly report the year as 1972, but first-hand accounts from members of the Faces and famous photographers who took pictures on that day indicate the year as 1971.) 1971: The Who scored their only #1 album in the U.K. with Who's Next. 1971: Joan Baez remained on top of the Easy Listening chart for the third week with "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down". 1971: Stanley, Idaho's Carole King dominated the Album chart once again as Tapestry was #1 for the 14th week in a row. The Moody Blues remained in the runner-up spot with Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Rod Stewart was next with Every Picture Tells a Story. Who's Next was next followed by Ram from Paul & Linda McCartney. The rest of the Top 10: The self-titled Carpenters, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon by James Taylor, the Soundtrack to "Shaft" by Isaac Hayes, Black Sabbath with Master of Reality and the epic What's Going On by Marvin Gaye. 1974: John Lennon was a guest DJ on WNEW-FM in New York City. 1976: The second annual Rock Music Awards, presented by promoter Don Kirshner, were televised on CBS. Fleetwood Mac won awards for Best Group and Best Album (for their self-titled release).
1976: Olivia Newton-John set a chart record that still stands when "Don't Stop Believin'" hit #1 on the Easy Listening chart. That gave the incredible Australian songstress seven consecutive #1 songs in that format, surpassing the record of six set by fellow Australian Helen Reddy in 1975 and equaled by the Carpenters in 1976. 1976: K.C. and the Sunshine Band returned to #1 on the R&B chart with "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty".
1976: The Spinners were shooting up the chart with "Rubberband Man", which moved from 84 to 62 on this date. 1976: Newcomer Wild Cherry reached #1 with "Play That Funky Music", meaning K.C. and the Sunshine Band had a short stay at the top with "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty". England Dan & John Ford Coley were up with "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight". Walter Murphy had song #4 with "A Fifth Of Beethoven" while Lou Rawls dropped after peaking at #2 with "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". The rest of the Top 10: "Lowdown", the great song from Boz Scaggs, Cliff Richard, who had enjoyed dozens of hits in his native England, notched his first big hit with "Devil Woman", War's ode to "Summer" came in eighth, Chicago registered their 11th Top 10 with "If You Leave Me Now" and the Bee Gees' former #1 "You Should Be Dancing" came in #10.
1978: KISS members Ace Frehley, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss all released solo albums. 1978: Neil Young & Crazy Horse performed on the first of two nights at the Pine Knob Music Theatre on Sugar Mountain in Clarkston, Michigan. (Note: numerous sources incorrectly report the 'Rust Never Sleeps Tour' as starting September 18 at the Cobo in Detroit. Young only performed at the Cobo in 1973, 1983 and 1986. A review of Neil's show at the Pine Knob can be found in 'The Michigan Daily' on September 21.)
1979: The Eagles released the single "Heartache Tonight". 1980: The Paradise Club in Amsterdam hosted a two-day festival to celebrate the life of Jimi Hendrix on the 10th anniversary of his death. 1,100 fans showed up each night. 1981: Gary Numan ("Cars" from 1980) attempted a trip around the world in a single engine Cessna, beginning his ambitious trip taking off from London. He was later forced to land in India and was arrested on suspicion of spying. Gary Numan a spy? You can't make this stuff up! 1982: "Private Investigations" by Dire Straits was #2 in the U.K., beat out only by "Eye Of The Tiger" from Survivor.
1982: Chicago landed at #1 for a second week with "Hard To Say I'm Sorry", holding off "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band for the moment. Survivor's #1 smash "Eye Of The Tiger" was third and John Cougar (Mellencamp) was on a roll with "Jack & Diane". Melissa Manchester was up to 5 with "You Should Hear How She Talks About You". The rest of the Top 10: Air Supply and "Even the Nights Are Better", Fleetwood Mac's "Hold Me", John Cougar (Mellencamp's) "Hurts So Good", the Alan Parsons Project and the great "Eye In The Sky" and Sir Paul McCartney was at #10 with "Take It Away".
1983: KISS released the album Lick It Up. That same day, members appeared on MTV without makeup. 1989: Bob Dylan released the album Oh Mercy. 1991: Rob Tyner, lead singer of MC5, died of a heart attack at the age of 47 close to his hometown of Berkley, Michigan. 1992: Earl Van Dyke of the Funk Brothers, who played keyboards on songs by the Temptations and the Miracles, died of prostate cancer at age 62 in Detroit, Michigan. 1993: Meat Loaf reached #1 in the U.K. with the album Bat Out of Hell II. 1993: SWV (Sisters With Voices) owned the top song on the R&B chart with "Right Here/Human Nature". Blind Melon's top five album...
1949: Kerry Livgren, songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist of Kansas, was born in Topeka, Kansas. 1951: Dee Dee Ramone (real name Douglas Colvin), bass guitarist of the Ramones, was born in Fort Lee, Virginia; died of drugs June 5, 2002 in Hollywood, California. 1961: Martin Beedle, drummer of the Cutting Crew, was born in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. 1962: Joanne Catherall, singer with the Human League, was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. 1966: Ian Spice ("Spike"), drummer of Breathe ("Hands To Heaven"); died in 2000. 1967: Ricky Bell of Bell Biv Devoe and the New Edition was born in Boston, Massachusetts. (Some websites naively say Bell was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. While Roxbury was once a city, it was annexed into Boston in 1868, nearly 100 years before Bell was born, and it is now simply a neighborhood. Bell was born in Boston, and you will never see Roxbury listed as his City of Birth on an official birth certificate.)
This song by Bread carries the message of loving to the fullest and never taking anyone for granted. It has relevance as a song about romantic relationships but its deeper meaning is evidenced by the fact that the song was written by David Gates about his father after he had died.
"Everything I Own"
by Bread
Words and Music by David Gates
You sheltered me from harm
Kept me warm, kept me warm
You gave my life to me
Set me free, set me free
The finest years I ever knew
Were all the years I had with you
And...
(Chorus:)
I would give anything I own
Give up my life, my heart, my home
I would give ev'rything I own
Just to have you back again
You taught me how to love
What it's of, what it's of
You never said too much
But still you showed the way
And I knew from watching you
Nobody else could ever know
The part of me that can't let go
And...
(Repeat chorus)
(Bridge:)
Is there someone you know
You're loving them so
But taking them all for granted?
You may lose them one day
Someone takes them away
And they don't hear
The words you long to say (Repeat chorus) Just to touch you once again
