Friday, July 8, 2016

YOU GOTTA LOVE IT





I was a kid when Melissa Manchester released her first hit, "Midnight Blue," and I must confess that I still love that melody-one of those guilty pleasures I wouldn't admit to liking to my high school friends but I'd hum along to when it came on my mom's radio station.

I found it funny that she (Melissa, not my mom) was awarded a Grammy for what I considered a throwaway 80's piece of fluff ("You Should Hear How She Talks About you") but not for the aforementioned song or for the two movie songs that were nominated.




I stumbled across Melissa Manchester's latest effort in the blues (?) bin at a local store, and thought I'd give it a listen.




"You Gotta Love The Life," Manchester's first record in more than a decade, is pretty darn good-not a piece of filler on the album, a collection that includes blues (check out "Feeling For You" below, on which Keb Mo' lends a hand) jazzy pop stylings (the title track) and her obligatory ballads ("Big Light," with Al Jarreau guesting).



The album is full of guests, as noted above, and it is a showcase of what I would call her strength-songwriting. Manchester teaches a course of the craft at a Southern California college.




This album will probably not make a splash, and Manchester will undoubtedly continue to come up as a punch line to the "Where Are They Now" discussion, but the lucky ones who try this disc on will not be disappointed.






4 comments:

  1. I didn't recognize Melissa's hit by its title, 'MIDNIGHT BLUE', but as soon as it began playing, I knew it immediately. And, yes, sir, I've always really liked that song, too.

    Wasn't that song later used in a commercial or some other type of TV setting?

    LC, I have a song on a recent album by a very obscure guitarist whom I discovered on a Phoenix radio station. This guy became my favorite living guitarist. He plays mostly instrumental Jazz and Blues now.

    Anyway, I got a copy of his 2012 release and was listening when this song comes on and this female singer blew me away! I'm thinking: Oh, my God! What a voice this woman has!

    I checked the liner notes and was shocked to see: MARIA MULDAUR.

    Wow! Apparently her voice got more powerful with age. If I can find a recording of the song that I think can even remotely compete with it, I'll eventually use it in BOTB.

    The problem is that this guitarist has so many covers I want to use in BOTB some day.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    'Loyal American Underground'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought I'd posted about one of her blues records-I saw her a couple years ago at the MIM and she was awesome. "Oasis" was not even close to the high point of the show.

      Are you gonna tell me the guitarist's name?

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    2. Oh, yeah, LC, I recall that post about Maria, now that you've jogged my geezer memory.

      Yeah, I'll send you an E with the guitarist's name and some suggested listening. I don't want to say it here because I've found a couple good covers for a righteous BOTB someday.

      ~ McDogG

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    3. Muldaur has somewthing like 30 albums, most of them blues, and she's known for that one song from 1970-sh...a good song, but her blues work is stellar (in my opinion). Look forward to hearing about this guitarist. See-you got at least that from your exile in AZ!

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