The Vinyl Dialogues Blog

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

The vision of Art Garfunkel planted in our brains still remains

When Judy was a little girl in the 1970s – maybe 10 years old or so – her parents used to take family camping trips. Judy’s dad had gotten a trailer that he hitched to the back of the family’s station wagon, and off they’d go, sometimes staying in their home state of Pennsylvania and sometimes venturing as far west as Illinois and Missouri.

Judy, a confessed girly girl, didn’t much like these camping trips. She preferred the comforts that civilization afforded her, which, among other things, included indoor plumbing. Judy was then, and is now, a big advocate of indoor plumbing, which puts her at odds with much of the camping experience.

It was on these trips that her father, equipped with 8-track players (who remembers those?) in both the station wagon and the trailer, subjected his family to his favorite music: Simon and Garfunkel.

“He played those tapes … Read more

Here’s the lowdown on Boz Scaggs: He’s still smooth as silk

When Bobby Caldwell had a hit with “What You Won’t Do For Love” in 1978, one of his label-mates at TK Records was Boz Scaggs.

And officials at TK Records recognized the similarities between the two artists.

“Disco was burning out. But don’t forget, three years prior to me releasing my first album, Boz Scaggs had the ‘Silk Degrees’ album. That kind of like almost ushered in that type of path for me. And TK Records took full advantage of that,” said Caldwell in an interview I did with him for “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume III: Wax On,” due out this summer. “I did recognize myself that there were some similarities between myself and Boz, especially in the music we grew up on.”

Many of us had Scaggs’ “Silk Degrees” album in 1976. It went to No. 2 and spent 115 weeks on the Billboard 200 albums charts. The album … Read more

Lost in the love of Air Supply for three decades

Lisa Shetler is a huge Beatles fan. She saw Elvis in concert a couple of times and Tom Jones live a half dozen times. She’s seen The Moody Blues, Pat Benatar and Neil Sedaka and she’s liked them all.

But her favorite band was always Air Supply, the Australian soft rock duo of Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock. And by the summer of 1986, Air Supply had racked up an impressive number of hits, including “Lost in Love,” “All Out of Love,” “Every Woman in the World” and “Here I Am.”

So when Lisa saw that Air Supply would be in concert near her upstate New York home at the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center on Aug. 29, 1986, she knew she had to go. And that she wanted to take her three children, 15-year-old daughter Lydia and two boys, 9-year-old Jim and 5-year-old Mat.

“I remember the weather forecasters … Read more

In the spirit of ELO, The Orchestra offers some not-so-strange magic of its own

One can get a pretty good critique of a concert in the men’s room immediately after the show. This is particularly true of bands that have been around for decades because generally, the crowds tend to be older and nature has a way of catching up with all of us at some point. Especially if we’ve had a few cocktails before and during the show.

Such was the case Jan. 2 at a concert by The Orchestra at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. As I was leaving the men’s room, another gent was staring at the wall, saying to all within earshot: “When they broke into ‘Telephone Line,” it was like I was back in my bedroom as a kid, listening to records.”

As much as I wanted to, I resisted the urge to answer, “Dude, that’s what The Vinyl Dialogues series is all about. The back stories behind … Read more

As it should be: Whitford St. Holmes blows the doors off Havana New Hope

It was around around 3 a.m. on a Saturday in 1971, and Derek St. Holmes had just arrived home. The high school senior was in a band called “Scott,” and it had a Friday night gig that had kept him out late, something that his parents usually weren’t too happy about.

The St. Holmes family lived in Riverview, Michigan, known as “down river” from Detroit. St. Holmes’ sister, two years his senior, was off to college, which was a break for St. Holmes. Her bedroom was bigger than his, and when she left, Derek got to move into her room and claim it as his own.

On this night, though, his parents were asleep by the time St. Holmes got home. He got to his bedroom without waking them up, but he was still hyped up from the band’s performance.

So with his guitar in hand, he sat on the … Read more

Ringo very good at being Ringo – and at getting by with a little help from his All-Starr friends

Before the show Friday night at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia, people were gravitating toward the stage to take pictures of Ringo Starr’s drum set.

It was the day before Halloween, but the only sign of that was a jack-o-lantern that was sitting on the riser alongside the drum set. On the pumpkin was an image of Ringo. I recognized it right away. It was the way Ringo was drawn for the Beatles Saturday morning cartoon series that ran on ABC from 1965 through 1969. It was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid and I watched it every Saturday.

The image on the pumpkin immediately reminded me of my childhood and a much simpler time. And it reminded me that it’s pretty universally agreed upon now that Ringo was in a pretty good band in the 1960s, a band that was big enough to have its own Saturday … Read more

A minute and 10 seconds with Dionne Warwick . . . thanks to The Geator

You gotta love Jerry Blavat, the iconic Philadelphia radio and television personality. The Geator with the Heater knows how to work a room. He has a great sense of style and a big smile that lasts a while.

Plus, he’s got a memory for faces. In particular, my face.

That’s how I got to meet Dionne Warwick. Jerry recognized my face and made the introduction.

The Boss With the Hot Sauce and Ms. Warwick were among the stars who attended the Philadelphia Music Alliance’s 2015 Walk of Fame gala Oct. 26 at the Fillmore Philadelphia, the city’s newest music venue.

The honorees this year included the late, great jazz singer Billie Holiday; The Roots, the band for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon; The Trammps, of “Disco Inferno” fame; Ray Benson, founder of the Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel; Andrea McArdle, Broadway’s original “Annie”; 1980s glam metal and … Read more

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