One Track Mind: Chicago Transit Authority - Introduction (1969)

While I'm part of what is considered the "second wave" of Chicago fans in that I became a fan of theirs in the eighties when they were riding high on hits like Hard to Say I'm Sorry, You're the Inspiration, Hard Habit to Break, Will You Still Love Me, and to a lesser extent Look Away, it was inevitably their back catalog that held my interest and kept me a fan all these years later. 

I remember, Christmas 1991.  My parents got me my first computer and Chicago's 4 cassette box set, Group Portrait.  I was already intimately familiar with everything Chicago had recorded since 1981 (Chicago 16-21) but I was still rather new to their older material. 

I popped in that first casette and was blown away by the opening track, Introduction, which had been the lead track on their debut album back in 1969.  Terry Kath's soulful vocals and searing guitar, that wall of brass from the horn section, and a tasteful Lee Loughnane trumpet solo that was followed by a fiery Terry Kath guitar solo.  I was hooked!

About a year and a half after that, the summer of 1993, my father took me to my first Chicago concert at the Starlite Theater in Latham, NY.  Latham was about a 3 1/2 hour drive from my hometown.  On that tour they were opening their sets with... Introduction.  The faces and voices had changed somewhat.  Terry Kath had died in 1978, Peter Cetera had left the band in 1985 to pursue a solo career, and drummer Danny Seraphine had unceremoniously and somewhat acrimoniously been fired in 1990.  In their places were Bill Champlin (vocals & keys), Dawayne Bailey (guitar & b/g vocals), Jason Scheff (bass & b/g vocals), and Tris Imboden (drums).  The horn section was still intact though as was original keyboardist/vocalist, Robert Lamm. 

My father & I made the same pilgrimage in 1994 and I had the joy of meeting many of the members of the band including guitarist Dawayne Bailey, bass player Jason Scheff, trumpet player Lee Loughnane, keyboardist Robert Lamm, trombone player Jimmy Pankow, and the 2 guys who were arguably the most gracious with the fans) trumpet player Lee Loughnane and drummer Tris Imboden. 

Since then my knowledge and familiarity with Chicago has grown substantially.  I know their back catalog front, back, left, right, upside down, and inside out.  Some of their material has aged well, some has not.  But Introduction-- no matter how many times I listen to it, it's like hearing it for the first time all over again.  There's a timeless energy to it.  That these guys were in their early twenties when they recorded it.  None of them had even graduated college that they were able to compose and perform material like this just blew my mind. 

And now whenever I hear that song, my mind goes back to those long road trips with my father (my mother joined us when we went to see them in Saratoga Springs, NY with CSN in 1996 and in Toledo, OH in 1997 when they came to visit me while I was working at Cedar Point Amusement Park.  But on both those tours they had dropped Introduction from the setlist).

I opened with a clip of the original line-up of the band performing the song in 1972.  So it seems only fitting that I close with a clip of the band, as I would have seen them in 1993, performing the song in Toronto:

One Track Mind: Jim Steinman - Left In the Dark (1981)

Jim Steinman first came to fame as Meat Loaf's songwriting collaborator on Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album in 1977.  After a rigorous touring schedule Meat Loaf literally lost his voice.  Frustrated and growing impatient, Steinman soldiered on without Meat Loaf recording and releasing Bad For Good in 1981. 

While Left In the Dark was later covered by Barbra Streisand and Meat Loaf, I still prefer Steinman's version over either Streisand's or Meat Loaf's.  Much of this is due to Steinman's spoken word intro which was missing to the later covers.  Steinman's delivery which comes across as menacingly painful.  The sound of a man so hurt and wronged he doesn't know whether to lash out at his lover or curl into a ball and block out the world:

Where did you touch him?
And how did it feel?
How did you let it begin?
What did he whisper?
When did you cry?
And where do you think it will end?
How long did you do it?
Why did you stop?
Did you get to try anything new?
How good was he honest?
And where did you go?
And who made the very first move?

Steinman's version also excels in his vocal delivery.  There's no arguing that he lacks the range of both Meat Loaf and Streisand, often struggling to hit the same notes they both hit with ease.  But his struggles to hit some of the notes come across as emotional pain that add to the song's effectiveness, as if he's struggling to fight back the tears of the cuckolded and jilted lover.

The strings and piano add to the heart-wrenching pain of the lyrics which are some of Steinman's best:

There are no lies on your body
So take off your dress
I just wanna get at the truth

You can hear the struggle between love, pain, and hate expertly conveyed not just by Steinman's brilliant flair for lyrics but in that anthemic over the top delivery that are a trademark of so many of Steinman's songs.

All in all, Left In the Dark, is one of the most emotive and heart-wrenchingly beautifully written and performed songs I have ever heard.  But don't take my word for it, let the song speak for itself.

Song Download from Amazon (note, the song is mislabeled as "Medley" on Amazon.com)

One Track Mind: Dream Theater - Surrounded (song review)

One of my favorite Dream Theater songs is Surrounded. It's off their 2nd album, Images & Words, which is considered by many to be one of their best.

Surrounded
by: Dream Theater (from Images & Words)

Morning comes too early and nighttime falls too late
And sometimes all I want to do is wait
The shadow I've been hiding in has fled from me today

I know it's easier to walk away than look it in the eye
But I will raise a shelter to the sky
And here beneath this star tonight I'll lie
She will slowly yeild the light as I awaken from the longest night

Dreams are shaking
Set sirens waking up tired eyes
With the light the memories all rush into his head

By a candle stands a mirror
Of his heart and soul she dances
She was dancing through the night above his bed

And walking to the window he throws the shutters out against the wall
And from an ivory tower hears her call
"Let light surround you"

It's been a long, long time
He's had a while to think it over
In the end he only sees the change
Light to dark
Dark to light
Light to dark
Dark to light

Heaven must be more than this
When angels waken with a kiss
Sacred hearts won't take the pain
But mine will never be the same

He stands before the window
His shadow slowly fading from the wall
And from an ivory tower he hears her call
"Let the light surround you"

Once lost but I was found
When I heard the stained glass shatter all around me
I sent the spirits tumbling down the hill
But I will hold this one on high above me still
She whispers words to clear my mind
I once could see but now at last I'm blind

I know it's easier to walk away than look it in the eye
But I have given all I could take
And now I've only habits left to break
Tonight I'll still be lying here
Surrounded in all the light

I believe it's the overall vibe of spiritual renewal that permeates the song that hits me like a sucker punch to the soul. Lyrically speaking, it's one of the best songs Dream Theater has ever released. And musically, it's probably one of their most accessible songs. I believe the lyrics were written by keyboardist Kevin Moore who left the band after their 3rd album (Awake) to take his music in a different direction. While their current keyboardist (and Julliard alum) Jordan Rudess has filled the hole on keyboards. I don't think the band has ever fully recovered from the loss of Moore as a songwriter. Of all the members of the band, Moore was arguably the best lyricist.

Surrounded is also one of the most upbeat songs in Dream Theater's catalog. Over the past 9 to 10 years much of their material has trended more towards the metal end of the spectrum. Surrounded however is quite accessible to non-metal listeners.

And normally I'm not a big fan of the operatically trained James LaBrie's vocals, but I find his voice suits this song quite well. He shows uncharacteristic restraint when needed and lets loose on those parts of the song that need that little extra oomph.

It's not a wonder that even eight studio albums and seventeen years later this remains one of my favorite Dream Theater songs.

One Track Mind: Billy Joel - Captain Jack (song review)

There’s always been something about Billy Joel’s music. They capture moods, they paint aural murals to be taken in, savored, and stored away for future enjoyment. Perhaps one of Joel’s finest aural murals is Captain Jack.

At over seven minutes long and chocked full of images it’s easily one of his “busiest” pieces. He sings of what we know, either from our own experiences or because we know or are at least peripherally familiar with the people of which he sings. The thing which makes the song so deeply personal is the level of detail Joel uses whether it’s the “tape deck in your brand new Chevrolet” or whether “they just found your father in the swimming pool” the details are so incredibly specific yet at the same time so universal that Joel is able to “connect” with all of his listeners. He hits that melancholy nerve of ennui that so many of us suffer from and he pulls it all together with the fictitious drug dealer, “Captain Jack.”

We all have our own “Captain Jack”—that someone or something that makes life enjoyable or bearable, that magical thing which gives us our escape from the madness of life. For some it’s drugs, others alcohol, but for many of us its nothing so glamorous or damaging. Simple companionship is the Captain Jack that so many of us long for. So, part of what makes Captain Jack such a well-painted aural mural is that it gives that sense of companionship. In many ways, the song itself is a “Captain Jack.” Because it captures that chord of melancholy and loneliness so well, Billy Joel, is essentially letting us all know that even in our darkest hours, those moments when life has landed you with the mother of all sucker punches… You aren’t alone. Captain Jack is just the reminder we all need from time to time that whenever life gets us down, when we’re at our worst and loneliest. We’re not alone in our experiences.

So now I’m left to ask, who or what is YOUR “Captain Jack?”

Dream Theater - Home

If music were sex, this song would be the orgasm. There's something magical and wonderful about the way Dream Theater seamlessly marries two very distinctly different styles of music-- Progressive rock and heavy metal-- in this song.

Part of their 1999 concept album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory, this song is a piece of a much bigger whole. It's the climax of the tale they're telling through music, but unlike many of the other songs on the album, this song is able to stand alone.

The level of technical proficiency of the 3 former Berklee students (drummer Mike Portnoy, guitarist John Petrucci, and bass player John Myung), 1 former Julliard student (keyboardist Jordan Rudess), and operatically trained lead vocalist James LaBrie is probably more evident on this song than on any other in Dream Theater's long and very accomplished song catalog.

All of the groups I listen to have songs I really love... But there are very few songs that I would use the word "transcendent" on-- Home is one of those few. I don't just love this song for its musical brilliance, I love it because from the first time I heard it, it completely changed the way I listen to music. While I liked Dream Theater before I heard the song-- this was the song that really hit me over the head, turned my musical tastes inside out and made me fall in love with a whole new genre of music I'd never really given a solid chance beforehand.

Home is, in a word, an "eargasm."

One Track Mind: Pat Dailey - Being Me

Awhile back I put this song on one of my mix CDS. One night my wife & I happened to be listening to the CD before bed and this song came on. She asked why I'd put it on the CD. I told her to pay attention to the lyrics.

Being Me
by: Pat Dailey

I never set a clock to wake me up
I leave that to the coffee in my cup
And as the world assembles
I will be the absentee
That's just what it's like being me

I am a man who wants no telephone
I have no need to speak when I'm alone
My friends say I'm reclusive
Well I guess I would agree
That's just what it's like being me

I spend my days thinking of the song
Sometimes all the words just come out wrong
On those days I do nothing
but just sit down by the sea
That's just what it's like being me

One time I tried to throw my heart around
But it wound up in pieces on the ground
Now I make no promise and I get no guarantee
That's just what it's like being me

Nothing lasts forever so they say
And tomorrow is not mine like yesterday
So I hold on to these passing moments most tenaciously
That's just what it's like being me

And I never set a clock to wake me up
I leave that to the coffee in my cup
And as the world assembles I will be the absentee
That's just what it's like being me

When the song was finished she looked at me and said, "that song is so you." She's absolutely right, I've never heard any other songs that I could relate to on the level I relate to this one.

One Track Mind: Chicago - What You're Missing

I've been visiting, re-visiting, and visiting again one of my favorite songs of the 80s.  What You're Missing was the lead single off of what ended up being Chicago's big comeback album. The single, unfortunately flopped but I remember the first time I heard the opening bars of What You're Missing on Chicago 16 and how much I absolutely loved it. There was something so dated, so distinctly early eighties about it. The guitar, the organ... the whole feel of the song.

And each successive song on the album also had that distinctly early eighties feel. Even today when I pop that CD in, I feel like I've been sent back to 1982 with no escape back to the future.

The song was written by Joseph Williams and Jay Gruska. Joseph Williams (for those not in the know) is the son of John Williams as in THE John Williams (composer of the scores to the Star Wars, Jaws, and Indiana Jones film franchises among others). Williams would later go on to become the lead singer of Toto (1986-1988) and has since become a TV score composer for a handful of series (Roswell, LA Doctors, and Early Edition to name a few). At any rate, I stumbled upon the demo version of What You're Missing which features Joseph Williams on lead vocals and a handful of session musicians backing him up.

Chicago enjoyed that demo enough to record it for Chicago 16,  There's a certain level of overblown slick over-produced eighties cheesiness to this that I can't help but love in spite of itself!

I absolutely love that feeling. I remember when I used to visit my sister and her family my nephew and I would play pool in the basement and I'd pop the tape in... And suddenly it felt like I was in a pool hall in the early 80s, cigarette butts and dirt on the floors, a jukebox in the corner, and I was even able to mentally conjure the stench of cigarette smoke and stale beer. There was something adult about it-- and for a 12 year old, there was something decidedly cool about feeling that adult.

Now I'm 29, that nephew I used to play pool with... he's 21. Now we finally are adults and there's that part of me that would much rather be a 12 year old playing pool with my 6 year old nephew in his parent's basement.