EMOTIONAL RESCUE
EPISODE 6

From Studio C Chicago this is “Emotional Rescue,” a tuneful tapestry of all things 1970 to 1980, with plenty of air time given to pop, soul, funk, postpunk, classic rock, New Wave, film music, jazz, disco, and much more. I’m Andy Miles, and this is David Bowie.

David Bowie “D.J.” (1979)

Althea & Donna “Uptown Ranking” (1978)

Robert Palmer “Hey Julia” (1974)

The Staple Singers “Love Is Plentiful” (1970)

The Staple Singers, “Love Is Plentiful.” It was included on the top 10 soul album album “The Staples Swingers,” released on Stax Records in 1971. “Love Is Plentiful” was also issued as a single. Backing on the song comes from The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section with horns by The Bar-Kays.

Robert Palmer’s “Hey Julia” before that, a song that sometimes gets radio play sandwiched between “Sailin’ Shoes” and “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley,” the funky medley that opens the 1974 album “Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley.” The English singer Vicki Scott backs Palmer on the track; that same year she backed acts as diverse as Bryan Ferry and Nazareth on albums they released, and in 1975 appeared as a nurse in The Who musical “Tommy.” In her career she also sang behind Elton John, Small Faces, Eric Burdon, George Harrison, and Olivia Newton John. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, she sang with Pink Floyd on “The Dark Side of the Moon” tour and years later joined the band for their “Momentary Lapse of Reason” tour.

We heard the Jamaican teenage duo Althea & Donna with the 1978 single “Uptown Ranking,” a U.K. chart topper that got virtually no airplay in the United States.

And David Bowie at the top of the set, “D.J.” from the “Lodger” album, produced in collaboration with Tony Visconti and Brian Eno. Eno also co-wrote the song with Bowie and guitarist Carlos Alomar, who plays rhythm guitar on the track. 1979 was the year. We’ll hear more from Brian Eno at the end of the show.

And you’re listening to “Emotional Rescue” from Studio C Chicago. I’m Andy Miles. Thanks for joining me. Lots of good stuff on the way, including Steely Dan, Pharoah Sanders, The Doobie Brothers, Roy Ayers, XTC, Patti Smith, and this from Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce Springsteen “Hungry Heart” (1980)

The Fuzz “I Love You For All Seasons” (1971)

Roy Ayers “Red Black & Green” (1973)

Steely Dan “Kid Charlemagne” (1976)

The song is “Kid Charlemagne,” fading out with the lead guitar of Larry Carlton, who called the solos he played on the song his claim to fame, which is quite a statement considering the credits he racked up as session guitarist. The mid-song solo was the end product of two hours of attempts, Steely Dan being a notoriously fussy and exacting studio band. It didn’t deter Carlton, though; he actually played on four Steely Dan records, as well as Donald Fagan’s solo debut, “The Nightfly.” “Kid Charlemagne” was the lead track on “The Royal Scam” album, and its lead single. The ubiquitous Michael McDonald sings backup.

Before that was Roy Ayers, “Red Black & Green,” the title track from his 1973 Polydor Records LP release.

We heard The Fuzz, “I Love You For All Seasons,” the female trio’s second single, and the first to chart. It went top 10 on Billboard’s R&B chart in 1971.

And “Hungry Heart” at the top of the set, one of my favorite 45s way back in 1980, when it was a top five gold single for Bruce Springsteen. It was only the third top 40 single at that point in Springsteen’s career, and only “Dancing in the Dark” charted higher, if you look at all of his career singles. And did you know that he wrote the song for The Ramones but decided to keep it for himself?

From Studio C Chicago, this is “Emotional Rescue.” I’m Andy Miles, and this is Olivia Newton-John.

Olivia Newton-John “Have You Never Been Mellow” (1975)

Al Massrieen “Sah” (1980)

Pharoah Sanders “Astral Traveling” (1971)

The Doobie Brothers “Minute By Minute” (1978)

It was the Doobie Brothers’ follow-up single to the 1979 chart-topping hit “What A Fool Believes,” “Minute by Minute,” a song that had the distinction of losing to “What A Fool Believes” for a 1980 Song of the Year Grammy, which couldn’t have been considered much of a loss if you were a Doobie Brother that year. It was also the title track of a triple-platinum number one album.

Pharoah Sanders before that, “Astral Traveling,” a piece written by Lonnie Liston Smith, who joined Sanders on the track playing piano, electric piano, claves, and ring cymbal. A couple years after that 1971 recording, Smith recorded it under his own name for an album called “Astral Traveling.”

We heard the Egyptian synth pop group Al Massrieen in that set, their 1980 track “Sah.”

And a chart-topper at the top, Olivia Newton-John’s 1975 single, “Have You Never Been Mellow,” also the title track of a number one album. It was the second of three consecutive number one singles Newton-John had on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart in the mid-’70s, and her second consecutive Billboard pop chart number one, following on the success of “I Honestly Love You” the year before. Surprisingly, “Have You Never Been Mellow” only reached number 10 in her native Australia.

And you’re listening to “Emotional Rescue” from Studio C Chicago. I’m Andy Miles. Next up, XTC.

XTC “Ten Feet Tall” (1979)

Shuggie Otis “Things We Like To Do” (1977)

Gary Wright “Love Is Alive” (1975)

Patti Smith “Kimberly” (1975)

“Kimberly” is the song; Patti is the singer. Patti Smith, of course. It was the opening track on side two of her debut record, “Horses,” released in 1975. Kimberly was Smith’s younger sister.

Gary Wright before that, “Love Is Alive” from the 1975 “Dream Weaver” album, released just a few weeks after Smith’s “Horses” record. It had two singles, “Love Is Alive” and “Dream Weaver”; they both reached the number two spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

We also heard Shuggie Otis with a 1977 track called “Things We Like To Do.”

And XTC at the top of the set, “Ten Feet Tall” from the 1979 New Wave classic “Drums and Wires.” The song was said to have been inspired by Nick Lowe’s “Cruel To Be Kind,” which had come out on Lowe’s “Labour of Lust” record the very month that XTC went into the studio to start recording “Drums and Wires.”

And you’ve been listening to “Emotional Rescue” from Studio C Chicago. I’m Andy Miles. Thanks for joining me. I’m going to go out with a Beatles cover from the English band 801, which included ex-Roxy Music members Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno, who takes the lead vocal on this live track. 1976 was the year, the 10th anniversary of the original release of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” shortened here as “TNK.”

801 “T.N.K. (Tomorrow Never Knows)” (1976)

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