Stories behind memorable albums of the 1970s as told by the artists

Month: February 2019

Were it not for thin walls, England Dan & John Ford Coley’s biggest hit wouldn’t have happened

Sometimes, thin walls can be a good thing. For England Dan (Seals) & John Ford Coley, thin walls were responsible for making “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” a hit single.

After being dropped by A&M Records in early 1976, the duo wandered for a year or so, not because they were lost, according to Coley, but because they were perfecting their craft in the hopes of landing another record deal. And then their manager, Susan Joseph, brought them the song, “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight,” written by Mississippi-based songwriter Parker McGee.

“We really didn’t want to do it,” said Coley in an interview for The Vinyl Dialogues Volume I, which features a chapter on the making of the duo’s 1976 album, Knights are Forever. “We thought it was more of a female song. But our manager said, ‘Please try it,’ so we did.”

They brought … Read more

Seeing the original Jersey Boy Frankie Valli live: Oh, what a night!

While sitting around killing time, people watching and shooting the breeze before the Frankie Valli concert Saturday night, Feb. 9, at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, it occurred to me that we were about to witness a quintessential New Jersey event.

Here was the original Jersey Boy performing at a casino in the state’s premiere entertainment town, a town in which he’s played for nearly 60 years. It’s as classic a scene as the Rat Pack playing the Sands in Las Vegas in the early 1960s. If you’re gonna see Frankie Valli live — especially for the first time like we were — what better place than at a casino in Atlantic City, N.J.?

So I said to The Blonde Accountant, “Why wouldn’t the cast of The Sopranos show up tonight to support one of their own?” Given that the iconic HBO series about a New Jersey crime … Read more

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