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

John Ford Coley, one half of the 1970s duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, performed Feb. 22, 2019, at the Sellersville Theatre 1894 in Sellersville, PA. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

John Ford Coley, one half of the 1970s duo England Dan & John Ford Coley, performed Feb. 22, 2019, at the Sellersville Theatre 1894 in Sellersville, PA.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

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 in Louie Shelton, a seasoned session musician who had worked with the likes of Simon and Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, and the Monkees. He also produced the first couple of England Dan & John Ford Coley albums, and brought in Jeff Pocaro and David Paich, later of Toto, to cut a demo tape of “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight.”

Joseph then took the tape to Atlantic Records, and it made it into the office of Bob Greenberg, Vice President at Atlantic Records, where it was played for the record executive.

Greenberg was not impressed.

Immediately after the tape had been played, there was a knock on Greenberg’s office door. Sitting in an adjacent room were Doug Morris and Dick Vanderbilt, executives of Big Tree Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic. Founded by Morris, he had sold Big Tree to Atlantic Records in 1974. Morris would eventually go on to become co-chairman of Atlantic before it closed its doors for good in 1980.

But at that moment, Morris and Vanderbilt were interested in “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” because they had heard the demo tape through the thin walls of Greenberg’s office.

John Ford Coley greets fans after his show Feb. 22, 2019, in Sellersville, PA. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

John Ford Coley greets fans after his show Feb. 22, 2019, in Sellersville, PA.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

According to the story as related to Coley by manager Susan Joseph, Morris asked Greenberg if he was interested in recording the song.

“Well, Bob, what do you think of that record? You like that? You gonna take it?” Susan Joseph recalls Morris saying to Greenberg.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t think this one’s got it. We’re going to pass,” Joseph remembered Greenberg saying. “And Morris said, ‘We’ll take the song.’”

The single would become the biggest hit that England Dan & John Ford Coley ever had, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. It would also go on to anchor the Nights are Forever album, also released in 1976. The title track, “Nights Are Forever,” also written by McGee, was the second single released from the album and it reached No. 10 0n the Billboard singles chart.

“We only had a singles deal with Atlantic, and [executives] were talking about possibly doing an album if the single took off,” said Coley. “And Dan and I were kind of unhappy because we were writing songs all the time, and now some other writer [McGee] comes in and he’s written the song that everybody wants.

“And then we got our first royalty check, and I was like, ‘OK, where are some more songs that other people had written? I think up to that point I had made about $1.98 on the songs I had written all those years.”

So Seals and Coley brought in session musicians and began building an album around “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight.”

“We began to cut this thing, and the players were so great,” said Coley. “Dan and I were so low-key and laid-back. I remember the drummer saying, ‘Man, I just love these low pressure sessions.’ He’d play something and say, ‘What about this?’ And we’d go, ‘Yeah, that sounds good. Just do that.’ The musicians, they weren’t accustomed to that.”

The album, produced by Kyle Lehning, was recorded at the Studio by the Pond — the home of recording engineer Lee Hazen — at Old Hickory Lake near Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Between sessions, Coley and the musicians played a lot of ping-pong, while Seals oftentimes relaxed by fishing in the lake.

“Everything just kind of came together. We had a lot of good players,” said Coley.

Even Dan’s brother, Jim Seals, of Seals and Crofts, played on the album.

“There was a good friend who we used to play with back in Texas named Shane Keister, and he and I doubled up in a band we were in. I played organ and he played piano and Dan was one of the singers.

“So when we came into town, there were certain things that I didn’t want to play. And we pulled Shane in and he did such a wonderful job for us,” said Coley.

A signed "Nights are Forever" album, first released in 1976. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

A signed “Nights are Forever” album, first released in 1976.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Nights Are Forever was the duo’s fourth studio album and their highest charter, peaking at No. 17 in the United States. Two subsequent albums, Dowdy Ferry Road in 1977 and Some Things Don’t Come Easy in 1978 broke into the Top 100. Dowdy Ferry Road featured the single “It’s Sad to Belong,” which reached No. 21; and Some Things Don’t Come Easy featured “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye,” which became the band’s second-best charting single, reaching No. 9.

The Nights are Forever album cover features Seals and Coley in mid-1970s-style leisure suits.

“Dan and I were blue jeans kind of guys, so they wanted us to wear these suits,” said Coley. “And I’ll be doggone if we didn’t wear those suits for like two years.”

Coley said there are actually two versions of the album cover. Once the album began to take off, some “alterations” were made in the cover photo of the two, and the album was re-released as sales continued to increase.

“Well, they straightened out my collar, they removed a mole off my chin, they removed a sprig of hair, and they took two pimples off Dan’s face and straightened up his shirt collar,” said Coley. “The record went gold, so they just straightened up a bunch of stuff on it and made it a little bit more professional.”

Coley said one of the interesting comparisons about the duo made in the 1970s, was when they were compared to Seals and Crofts.

“Jimmy Seals is Dan’s brother, but they were so diametrically opposed temperamentally that it was staggering,” said Coley. “People would compare Dan to Dash Crofts — both were extraordinarily laid-back. Dan was one of the funniest people you’d ever want to meet in your life. He kept me laughing so much. He was also a very wise man. He was like a gentle giant. Then people would compare me to Jimmy, because Jimmy was quick-tempered and would be down your throat in a New York-minute. And I was right there with him. I’ve mellowed over the years, but it was really an interesting comparison.”

England Dan & John Ford Coley were together as a duo from 1965 to 1980. Dan Seals died in 2009 after a battle with mantle cell lymphoma.

Coley said that becoming a star was never the primary goal for himself and Seals.

“We just loved playing and would go out and play everywhere,” said Coley. “We really didn’t look at it as going as far as it actually did. I thought probably it might last a couple of years and then I would grow up and go off and be as boring as all my friends were. It didn’t work out that way. God kind of has different plans for you.

“I’m still kind of surprised when people say that we made history,” said Coley. “And I go, ‘OK, really?’ For me, I was just having fun. I loved it. I had the best time of my life.”

The author and John Ford Coley after the show. (Photo by The Blonde Accountant)

The author and John Ford Coley after the show.
(Photo by The Blonde Accountant)

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

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons performed Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, N.J.  (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons performed Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City, N.J.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

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 family has now joined the ranks of all things Jersey — Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt (Sopranos character Silvio Dante), Jon Bon Jovi — why wouldn’t there be the possibility of seeing some famous faces in the audience for this show?

That made sense to me. Valli appeared in seasons five and six of The Sopranos as the character Rusty Millio, a capo in the Lupertazzi crime family who is referred to in the series as “The Mayor of Munchkinland” because of his short stature. Valli’s character is eventually whacked in his own driveway in a hit contracted by Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini).

Frankie Valli drew a packed house to the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Frankie Valli drew a packed house to the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Now at 84 years old, Frankie is still worth seeing. His show has a chill-inducing, historical video lead-in of the original group before he and the modern version of The Four Seasons — who by the way are simply fabulous — and the killer nine-piece band take command of the stage and the audience.

About two-thirds of the way through the show, Frankie introduced the members of the band, after which he said, “There’s one other person in the audience I’d like to acknowledge . . . .”

Wait. What? Ah, somebody is here. Who is it?

“I’d like to introduce you to my fellow Sopranos cast member, Tony Sirico,” said Frankie. And right there center stage in the front row, there was Paul “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri, dressed impeccably (like his character) in a sharp suit. He stepped up to the edge of the stage and shook Frankie’s hand, turned and briefly acknowledged the cheers from the crowd, and sat back down.

Ha! It’s Paulie Walnuts! The soldato, capo regime and underboss of the fictional New Jersey DiMeo crime family, a stone cold gangster and one of Tony Soprano’s closest friends.

It was a perfect segue into Frankie’s next comment: “How many of you have seen Jersey Boys?” As was to be expected from a Jersey-centric crowd, there was a big applause. “How many of you have seen Jersey Boys more than once?” Another big response. “How many of you have never seen Jersey Boys?” A handful of claps from the upper regions of the venue.

“Get their names and numbers and give them to Paulie Walnuts,” said Frankie, which of course drew the biggest applause of the entire bit.

I love it when show business and real life interact like that.

One of Frankie Valli's stage costumes that he wore during the 1980s, on display at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

One of Frankie Valli’s stage costumes that he wore during the 1980s, on display at the Hard Rock Casino in Atlantic City.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The original Four Seasons — Bob Gaudio, who wrote many of the Four Seasons greatest hits, including “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like A Man” and “Rag Doll” — Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi (who died in 2000), were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.

One of my concerns before the show was that the Jersey Boys Broadway production might be better than the real thing. But seeing Jersey Boys and seeing Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons is seeing two different shows. There’s more storytelling in the Broadway production and more music in Frankie’s show. Both are very good and very entertaining in their own right.

In the lead-up to this show, I had watched several YouTube videos of recent Frankie performances, mostly to see if he still had the voice, the one that could hit those trademark high falsetto notes. I’ve seen artists in the past whose voices didn’t stand the test of time — some of my favorites of all-time like Brian Wilson, Art Garfunkel and John Sebastian. It does not bother me that they don’t sound the way they did on the records from the 1960s and 1970s. They’ve made the necessary adjustments the best they can and I just appreciate the opportunity to see them perform.

But many of the comments on those YouTube videos, as well as some comments from friends that I received privately, suggested that Frankie has been lip-syncing at his live shows for a while now. I can’t speak authoritatively on that. My seats for this show were too far back to be able to tell, and at those times I was watching the big video screens, I could not discern if it was live or if it was Memorex. Frankie definitely had a live mic, but I am unfamiliar with the technology that allows the seamless blending of live and pre-recorded sound into a show that for all intents and purposes looks and sounds live.

I will say this, though: If Frankie was lip-syncing, he’s very good at it.

So the quintessential New Jersey event ended up being exactly that. It was pure Jersey and it was a kick to experience. Go see the show if you get the chance.

Like Frankie says, you’ll come away thinking the exact same thing as I did: Oh, what a night.

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