I’ve been an advocate for Andrew Curry’s project “Drink A Toast To Innocence – A Tribute To Lite Rock” for a while now, and the time is here to get this huge 28 song collection performed by a “who’s who” of power pop artists. What is “Lite Rock?” Well if you’re over 30, I guarantee you’ve heard most of these songs which were big hits in the late ’70’s and early 80’s. These newly recorded versions definitely make them fresh and re-discoverable to younger audiences.
I wanted to highlight some of my favorite tracks, as this collection is packed with great material. Opening with the masterful Michael Carpenter he slowly builds up “We Don’t Talk Anymore” from a single bass line to a layered, lush chorus. Lisa Mychols digs deep to give us the obscure hit by David Soul (of Starsky & Hutch fame) “Don’t Give Up On Us Baby,” and she makes it her own. David Myhr (Merrymakers) pulls out all the stops on his version of 10cc’s “The Things We Do For Love” and Kelly Jones turns “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” into a top notch ballad that changes the song’s point of view.
Mike Viola’s version of “Steal Away” has that deceptively simple hook and The Sonic Executive Sessions imbue the Stephen Bishop tune “On and On” with heartfelt vocal precision. Out of all the faithful song re-creations, Paul Bertolino’s version of Firefall’s “Just Remember I Love You” even manages to outshine the original. A few tracks don’t hit the mark, but they are the exception here not the rule. This is so far the best music compilation of 2013, so don’t miss it.
Agree to disagree. A hit is a hit and the fact that it still garners airplay is all that really matters. 🙂
I’m not quite sure what makes a number one record in both America and the United Kingdom obscure but David Soul’s “Don’t Give Up On Us” sold over a million records and was a solid hit (it even ranked number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts). It still gets airplay on a number of oldies stations and seventies focused radio formats around the United States. That’s being stated, this is an album that I look forward to blasting in my car back and forth to work. Cool review, Power Popaholic. 🙂
one single week on the charts at #1 is still considered a “blip” on the radar — thus the oxymoron “obscure hit” was applied.