Worth Another Listen - Walter Egan

Aside from my graduating from high school, another notable happening in 1978 was the release of the Walter Egan song, Magnet & Steel. The song, co-produced by the amazingly talented Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac, scampered it's way up to charts to a high of #8, big news for an unknown artist, and something that will forever hold him as a one hit wonder in fine standing. I remember the song, and it played at the prom, and almost every other event that year. I have many fond memories attached to it.



Egan continued putting out music, but never again achieved the heights he did with Magnet & Steel. He still plays when he can, although he also settled in Tennessee where he is also a substitute teacher at Centennial High School in Franklin. You can find out more about Egan at his official website here.

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Worth Another Listen - Peter Frampton

The year was 1976, and I was a in my sophomore year of high school. I might have been a theater geek, had short hair and wore clothes that were not the latest fashions, but I was listening to the biggest thing that year, Frampton Comes Alive. This was the 'time of the live album' with others like Cheap Trick's Live At Budokan going crazy with sales, but nothing was a sensation. It eventually was certified Platinum six times over. It spent 10 weeks in the top spot on the US charts.




Frampton was so sexy in that floppy-haired, toothy-smiled, rocker-lite way. I was quite smitten. I heard it all the time, from at friend's houses to on the radio, there was no escaping. But I loved it. Yes, it clashed with my collection of Barbra Streisand albums, and was lighter than my Led Zeppelin fascination. Damn, that boy was hot. The first single was Baby, I Love Your Way, a lovely power ballad that was a must slow-song at every dance in Smyrna for years. For some reason, this song topped out on the charts in 12th.



The next single was Do You Feel Like We Do, the hardest of the three singles. While it had little support on the Top 40 stations, it still managed to climb up to the Top 10.



That was followed by Show Me The Way, a mid-tempo rock song that also burnt up the airwaves. FM-Rock stations, Top 40-AM stations, they all were playing it. The use of the 'voice box' effect could be seen as a precursor to the auto-tune effect that seems so damn rampant now. Show Me The Way turned out to be the highest charting of the singles, hitting number 6 on the charts.



Sure, Peter Frampton had albums before this, and albums after, but in 1976, everything was all about Frampton Comes Alive. So many memories, some good, some not so good, like most kids in high school, come back when listening to these songs.

You can find out more about Peter Frampton at his official website here.

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Worth Another Listen - Tom Robinson

Tom Robinson is a British singer/songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Tom Robinson Band, a rather politically active rock/punk band in the 70s and early 80s. He is most likely best known for the song (Sing If You're) Glad To Be Gay, the 1978 hit single. For a long time, it was thought that Robinson was gay sheerly because of his open support of the community, but later he maintained he was bisexual, falling in love and marrying a woman. This upset some gay rights activists, and became a bit of a joke to the press. Too bad, because as far as I knew, there is a 'B' in LGBT. To this day Robinson is still active in promoting tolerance and acceptance for the LGBT community.



Robinson also had a career as a songwriter, including a period of collaboration with Elton John. The Tom Robinson Band had another hit in the UK, called 2-4-6-8 Motorway. During the time they were together, the TRB worked with producers such as Ray Davies [of the Kinks fame] and Steve Lilywhite.



Eventually Robinson went on to be a host/presenter on BBC radio, as well as work on some other projects. One was a radio documentary, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, examining the LGBT music scene. He also had a series on men and masculinity, entitled The Locker Room. You can find out more about Tom Robinson on his website here.

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Worth Another Listen - The Undertones

God, I loved The Undertones. Hitting the airwaves in the late 70s and hitting their stride in 1980, The Undertones were everything I though Punk music should be about. They were raw, bold, brash, not pretty, taking the best of the 60s rock bands and bringing a drive and beat matched with testosterone. The put out four albums before giving up the ghost in 1983.



Here is another 'live' performance on British television of Here Comes The Summer.

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Worth Another Listen - Sylvester

Sylvester was the Grand Dame of Disco, and few would even try to compete. The bitch could sing, and out drag anyone. She was wicked, gorgeous and talented, and there wasn't anyone who could tell her any differently. She was spectacular at a time when no drag queen was supposed to be.



Sylvester worked with a San Francisco based group called the Cockettes, described as a psychedelic drag troupe, a flamboyant group of hippies. She was part of the group in the early 70s, and usually performed Bessie Smith songs. Soon, Sylvester went out solo, and released the first album in 1973. In 1978, Sylvester released You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) which was a smash hit. Do You Wanna Funk followed it with another hit, and was featured in a movie I posted about - Longtime Companion.



Of course, who could miss the double entendre of a drag queen singing about feeling mighty real? How fierce was that!



Although I was never lucky enough to catch a live performance, they are legend in their greatness. One song Sylvester often performed was You Are My Friend, a ballad. Due to corporate issues, I couldn't find any copy but this one, with a slide show of pictures with the live audio.



Sylvester left us way too soon. He passed on December 16, 1988, following a battle with AIDS. But she was one drag queen who paved the way for so many to come, like Boy George, Pete Burns, RuPaul and others. And how about the boy songbirds with a falsetto, like Jimmy Sommerville, or even str8 boys Robin Thicke? Without those 41 years on this planet, who knows what the LGBT landscape would look like. Thank you, Sylvester.

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