June 7, 2015

Another entry in the reconsidering-the-70s series.

Last week, you may remember, Meade pushed me to reconsider America. The band, America. I scoffed, because I scoffed back in the 70s. Today — on my own, unprompted by Meade, just based on hearing this song on the satellite radio — I want to take you back to the utterly douchey charming music of Loggins and Messina:



"Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup/Drink it up..."

ADDED: I'd heard this song many times, but for some reason it was a complete surprise to me that it was called "Danny's Song." Somebody should make a list of songs with titles that don't pop up anywhere in the lyrics. Speaking of lyrics, there's a line "Seems as though, a month ago, I was Beta Chi/Never got high." What's Beta Chi? A fraternity? Googling I got to the amusing Urban Dictionary definition: "a word used by kenny loggins in his version of 'danny's song.'" There's a second definition, and it's twice as down-voted as up-voted so I won't quote it. Ah, a little more searching and I get a message board discussing the lyric and somebody says: "Dan Loggins was my fraternity brother in Beta Chi at Cal State University in Los Angeles in the mid 60's. Hope this sheds some light on this subject."

YEARS LATER: I confuse Kenny Loggins with Dave "Please Come to Boston" Loggins

60 comments:

Gahrie said...

I'd much prefer to listen to this than to some angry Black man shouting into a microphone over a drum machine about all the drugs he's going to use, bitches and hos he's gonna fuck and cops he's gonna kill.

Beth said...

I was born in 1968, and yet it's this cheesy music from the 70s that I still love. I would give anything to have a radio that played all of the stations from Dallas radio in the 70s, the disco, the country, the rock, the soft rock. I don't believe there's a better decade of music in terms of diversity or musicianship.

Emil Blatz said...

I saw Loggins and Messina at State Fair Park in West Allis, in 19 and 74. They set up a stage roughly on the finish line of the Milwaukee Mile and played to the grandstands. I though it was pretty good, but then I was 17 at the time.

Tim said...

Geez Language Gahrie;

True, Danny's Song is so syrupy it oozes out of the speakers, but they make up for it with "Your Momma don't Dance and Your Daddy don't rock n roll"
Fav Lyric is, of course, "Just about to groove, and your thinkin' its a breeze, there's a light in your eye and then some guy yells,
OUTTA THA CAR LONGHAIR!!!"

Happened to me one hot summer night, while en Flagrante at a park.
(Never got to the Delicto part)

HoodlumDoodlum said...

"your shitty music made me barf, Loggins" (3:02)

Michael The Magnificent said...

I would give anything to have a radio that played all of the stations from Dallas radio in the 70s, the disco, the country, the rock, the soft rock.

1) Get a Pandora account.

2) Search for pre-existing stations that meet each of your requirements and subscribe to them.

3) Create your own stations to fill the voids.

4) Click on "shuffle", and spend a few months giving songs thumbs up and thumbs down, and you'll train those stations to play the kind of music you want.

5) ???

6) Profit!

Will Cate said...

Sadly, they are not as well-remembered for several excellent, lengthy jams they recorded. Here are a few, for your consideration:

Pathway To Glory

Angry Eyes

Vahevela

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks, Hoodlum Doodlum. That was excellent. Sorta.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks for the Pandora prompt.

I just lazily started a station based on nothing but "Danny's Song."

I'm getting "Dancing in the Moonlight," by King Harvest.

chickelit said...

I want to take you back to the utterly douchey charming music of Loggins and Messina:

Face it folks, Meade isn't going to give this up until he gets Althouse to go full-on Seals & Croft douchey:

Summer's Eve, makes me feel fine...
...blowing through the jasmine in my mind

Will Cate said...

Also: Danny's Song was a big hit for Canadian singer Anne Murray. Sung by her it sounds somewhat less douchey.

Ann Althouse said...

Next up: "Take Me Home, Country Roads."

This could be dangerous to the human mind.

Ann Althouse said...

"Also: Danny's Song was a big hit for Canadian singer Anne Murray. Sung by her it sounds somewhat less douchey."

I don't want to hear a lady sing it.

What does she do about the girl with the paper cup? Drink it up?

Beth said...

Michael The Magnificent, thanks! I use Pandora just for that sort of thing! The funny thing is, my iPod is all music from Texas artists and from later years in life. Now my four year old son has his playlists and it's stuff like the new Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift that he hears on the radio. I did manage to get him to like Back In Black and No Doubt and some Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Beth said...

One of my favorite feel good songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDCADtJIo70 Let Your Love Flow by the Bellamy Brothers.

chickelit said...

If you're going to go all '70's AM radio, at least pick something with some nuance and double entendre:
Rockin' Chair

dwick said...

Boy... Althouse must have been a real prize back in her salad days.

Gahrie said...

Can you be a hipster retroactively?

Tim said...

Well now this is curious. Miz. Ann, what Did you like to listen to in the 70's? You don't seem to much like Pop/rock such as Kenny Loggins, You are equally dismissive of John Denver apparently so folk/rock is off the table.
Where does that leave us? Metal? glam?

When I was travelling a bit during those days I had cassette tapes of Cat Stevens and Black Sabbath (among many others) in my car: I could listen to War Pigs or Peace Train with equal aplomb.

Laslo Spatula said...

This is all just a lead-in to Althouse's upcoming stroll through Seventies' Steely Dan.

Althouse Don't Lose That Number.


I am Lasslo.

Gahrie said...

Althouse was a Dylan hipster.

I bet she hated the Eagles and Supertramp too.

George Grady said...

Somebody should make a list of songs with titles that don't pop up anywhere in the lyrics.

You will probably not be too surprised to find that tvtropes has got you covered.

Big Mike said...

Regarding "Beta Chi," better keep looking professor. The Beta Chi Theta fraternity was founded in 1999, so no one named Loggins could have pledged it in the 1960s without a handy time machine.

the gold digger said...

"Douchey?" Really?

Elektratig said...

Bob Dylan's "Percy's Song" is another title that both does not appear in the lyrics and has that "(blank)'s song" format. Can't be too many of those.

MarkW said...

"Where does that leave us? Metal? glam?"

Despite their reputation, the 70s was a great decade for music. The early 70s were really just a continuation of the 60s. For example, Exile on Main Street and Sticky, Fingers were both released in the early 70s as were nearly all of the Allman Brothers classic albums. Reggae was a 1970s phenomenon first with The Harder They Come and then Bob Marley. And by the end of the decade, Punk and New Wave were going full bore. Of course there was a lot of regrettable and forgettable crap, but there always is.

Ann Althouse said...

What did I like when I was in college? Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Laura Nyro, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, Tim Buckley, Tyrannosaurus Rex, The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The Mothers of Invention, The Beatles, Richie Havens, The Band, the Incredible String Band...

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tim said...

Miz A. was in college in the 60's. That would splain a lot, as I have heard scientists say that people remember best the music they grew up with in their teen years, generally 14 to 18. When I was that age my father was playing Blood Sweat and Tears, Herb Alpert and Henry Mancini. I didn't have a radio or record player of my own.

Peter G. said...

Songs with titles not mentioned in the song itself ... For a start, there's John Denver's "Annie's Song". And Paul Simon's "A Simple Desultory Phillippic". And many many Bob Dylan songs, such as "Rainy Day Women #12 & #35", "Outlaw Blues", "Positively 4th Street", "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" ... and that's just for starters.

Gahrie said...

Actually it has a nice structure, but it is way too gay,

Party foul.

Tank said...

T Rex ???

Holy s

I think it was the two of us. I never heard anyone else mention them.

Bay Area Guy said...

Great song! Enjoyed it during the " just-married"' years.

Anthony said...

Next up to reconsider: Bread. Very good lyricists (IMO):

I found her diary underneath a tree
And started reading about me
The words began to stick and tears to flow
Her meaning now was clear to see

The love she'd waited for
Was someone else not me. . . . .

steve uhr said...

The Guess Who .. These Eyes ... No Time ... Share the Land ... American Women

Janette Kok said...

I'm guessing you really love this one:

https://youtu.be/Yl_XQVKe6So

Ann Althouse said...

"T Rex ???"

Before it was just T.

Thar album "Unicorn."

Ann Althouse said...

Here's the whole album. Be careful with it.

Ann Althouse said...

I didn't write "thar" on purpose. But if I had it would have been very weird.

SteveR said...

Angry Eyes is a very good song.

jr565 said...

America > Loggins Messina > Seals & Croft

Gahrie said...

how about this?

https://youtu.be/qxbSQxbpchk

Gahrie said...

I thought I liked T Rex...until I listened to that album you linked. turns out I just like a couple of songs of theirs. Since they're the mainstream hits, I bet you hate them and think it is their worst work.

Bay Area Guy said...

@ Jr565: America > Loggins Messina > Seals & Croft

Summer breeze, Makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine of my mind

eddie willers said...

Jim Messina was they guy who made it work. As you can tell, Kenny can get awfully treacly, but when Jim takes lead, he becomes the Lennon to Loggin's McCartney.

Best concert by an "oldie" group I have ever seen.

Get it through your Amazon portal...it will make a believer out of you.

Loggins and Messina Live - Sittin' in Again at Santa Barbara Bowl

William said...

I have an iPod nano. It has about 1600 songs on it, Sometimes a Rolling Stone song will come along and I'll click to another song. I don't have that kind of energy very often. I regret the fade out of the person who bonded with those songs......I don't have any Loggins & Messina, but I've got a couple of songs by Donovan. I think he had the original moist guitar. I'll frequently pass over the Donovan songs too. I don't regret the passing away of the guy who liked Donovan. He was way too sappy......Mozart is the best soundtrack for old age. He never gets carried away with his emotions. Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson are also pretty good. Just the right mixture of resentment and regret.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jason said...

Danny's song is lovely. Written as a gift to Loggin's brother, whose wife was about to have their first child.

The fiddler was Al Garth, who also played saxophone, and who recorded and toured a bunch over the years as a member of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and as a hired gun for The Eagles.

David Begley said...

Sirius satellite channel 7:The 70s.

tim in vermont said...

Many of these 70s bands, Seals and Crofts, Logins and Messina, Bread, are simply not rapey enough.

Robert Cook said...

I hated pretty much all the 70s music that was wildly popular at the time...the singer/songwriter/folkie stuff, (such as Loggins & Messina, Seals & Crofts, etc.), disco, "bloozy" rock, (Zeppelin, Foghat, Aerosmith), etc.

Now, whenever I hear those songs and those musicians, I like them tremendously. Part of it must surely be nostalgia for those days--which, at the time, seemed torpid, but which were the days of my youth, nonetheless--but I think it is mostly because, hearing it out of the context of its day, I can appreciate the qualities of the music: good musicianship, good melodies, good singing.

tim in vermont said...

I started a Bread channel on Pandora, and soon realized I like Bread a lot more as an occasional treat rather than as fare for a channel. I am certain it is about nostalgia.

who-knew said...

What Eddie Willers said. Loggins needed Messina, just listen to his post 'and Messina' stuff for proof. The whole 'Loggins and Messina' album with Angry Eyes and Golden Ribbons is excellent.

Ann Althouse said...

"Regarding "Beta Chi," better keep looking professor. The Beta Chi Theta fraternity was founded in 1999, so no one named Loggins could have pledged it in the 1960s without a handy time machine."

These are just Greek letters. There is a Beta Chi Theta that you note, but there are other Beta Chis.

Big Mike said...

@Althouse, not according to Google or Wikipedia. There are Beta Chi houses of national fraternities, but none that start out with those two Greek letters other than Beta Chi Theta.

Graham Powell said...

Speaking of songs with names, there's the similarly-named "Annie's Song" by John Denver. I've been hearing that song since I was a kid in the 70s, but never knew the name or who sang it until a couple of weeks ago.

Mid-Life Lawyer said...

Would it make any difference if the girl drinking out of the paper cup had a penis?

gerry said...

T Rex ???

BANG A GONG!

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

Found myself reading the Loggins & Messina Wiki page a coupla weeks ago... can't remember the sequence of events that led to that... but anyway, turns out they weren't a duo until a record label made them one. Messina wanted to be a producer... he was mated with the artist Loggins... a suit heard the demos and turned them into a duo... the suit was right in this case, as they sold millions upon millions of records, performed thousands of dates and delighted millions of fans. And, from what I recall, parted not particularly as friends, but at least not as mortal enemies.

JMW Turner said...

Beta Chi is, no doubt,the chapter name of a particular national fraternity. Many, many moons ago,I was a brother in an Alpha Tau Omega, ATO, chapter, Eta Beta. People who ridicule the recent past are woefully blinding themselves to the wonderful mix of the beautiful, the amazing, and the absurd. My tastes are pretty extensive, but I particularly like the Rolling Stones period from Beggars Banquet to Exile on Main Street. But, I also loved Fleetwood Mac,The Eagles, and Steely Dan. Anything from the 70s is superior to the crap released by today's so called artists.