COOL ROCK [2-CD Set]

34 Replies

The relentless Sun cooked Western NY last week. Fortunately, we’ve backed off the 90 degree temps and are hovering around the 80s. Time for some refreshing Summer songs like the ones on Cool Rock.

Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ “Up Where We Belong” always pleases me. Same with the Thompson Twins’ “Hold Me Now.” I remember when Rosette’s “It Must Have Been Love” got heavy airplay on the radio (and on MTV).

Where would Summer music be without Ambrosia’ “Biggest Part of Me” and Toto’s “Africa”? They are mainstays in Hot Weather each year.

I’m a fan of Chris DeBurgh’s “Lady in Red” and Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream About You.” Many of these compilation CDs include filler in the form of One-Hit Wonders or obscure songs. But Cool Rock consists of readily identifiable songs with a Summer vibe. How many of these songs do you remember? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1-1Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes–Up Where We Belong3:55
1-2Naked Eyes–Always Something There To Remind Me3:41
1-3Club Nouveau–Lean On Me3:58
1-4Thompson Twins–Hold Me Now4:42
1-5Glass Tiger–Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone)4:05
1-6Teddy Pendergrass–Love T.K.O.5:00
1-7Kool And The Gang*–Joanna4:22
1-8Christopher Cross–Think Of Laura3:22
1-9Tiffany–I Think We’re Alone Now3:47
1-10Joey Scarbury–Believe It Or Not (Theme From Greatest American Hero)3:11
1-11Roxette–It Must Have Been Love3:51
1-12Culture Club–Time (Clock Of The Heart)3:42
1-13The Motels–Suddenly Last Summer3:38
1-14The Tubes–She’s A Beauty3:58
1-15Ashford & Simpson–Solid5:07
1-16Sergio Mendes*–Never Gonna Let You Go4:15
1-17Wilson Phillips–Hold On4:24
1-18Ambrosia (2)–Biggest Part Of Me4:09
2-1Toto–Africa5:01
2-2REO Speedwagon–Can’t Fight This Feeling4:10
2-3Chris DeBurgh*–Lady In Red4:16
2-4Tina Turner–Private Dancer4:00
2-5Cutting Crew–(I Just) Died In Your Arms4:34
2-6John Waite–Missing You4:27
2-7Little River Band–Cool Change5:14
2-8Corey Hart–Never Surrender4:55
2-9Blondie–Call Me3:32
2-10Spandau Ballet–True5:35
2-11Marty Balin–Atlanta Lady (Something About You)3:27
2-12Mr. Mister–Broken Wings4:45
2-13Vangelis–Chariots Of Fire3:29
2-14Dan Hartman–I Can Dream About You4:09
2-15Taylor Dayne–Love Will Lead You Back4:37
2-16James Ingram & Patti Austin–Baby, Come To Me3:35
2-17Al Green–Let’s Stay Together3:18

34 thoughts on “COOL ROCK [2-CD Set]”

  2. Fred Blosser

    I remember most of them. I like the Al Green, Taylor Dayne, Corey Hart, and Spandau Ballet tracks. Cutting Crew, Spandau Ballet, and Thompson Twins were three of the several male pop groups of the late ’80s who had nearly interchangeable sounds, along with Mister Mister, A-Ha, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

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      1. Todd Mason

        I did take the Motels as a slightly later, more “New Wave-ish” (biut not much) version of such latter ’70s AOR bands as Foreigner, who was probably the best of those “faceless” corporate bands, and much better (as was nearly everything) than the most popular version of Journey.

      2. george Post author

        Todd, a Journey cover band just performed in North Tonawanda to a sold-out crowd. Clearly, that music is still popular.

  3. Jeff Meyerson

    The Al Green and John Waite would probably rank at the top, with maybe the Naked Eyes cover third. And I always liked Sergio Mendes. I know about 2/3 of the songs. Jackie was a big fan of the Greatest American Hero theme song, and had her class perform it at a show back then.

    I’m waiting for Deb’s incisive take. I am positive she knows them all.

    Jerry, you’re always cool to us.

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  4. Deb

    As predicted, I know every single one of these songs (for better or for worse). Favorites include “Time (Clock of the Heart)” (my favorite Culture Club song), “Suddenly Last Summer”, “She’s A Beauty”, “I Can Dream About You” (which I always think is a Hall & Oates song), and “I Just Died in Your Arms”. My least favorite song here (one of my candidates for inclusion on the jukebox in Hell) is the execrable “Lady in Red” 🤢. Most of the others are fine, and I wouldn’t flip to another channel if they came on the radio.

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    1. Todd Mason

      “The Lady in Red” seems like a song that was aimed at Englebert Humperdinck (and not his namesake), indeed. Not the only one on this album I don’t care for.

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  5. Beth Fedyn

    Most of this is otherwise known as Yacht Rock on Sirius XM. All of it takes me back.
    Toto’s Africa is still played everywhere. My personal favorite is True.

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  6. Jeff Meyerson

    Deb, Chris de Burgh supposedly wrote “Lady in Red” for his wife, then got caught screwing the 19 year old nanny while his wife was in the hospital, recuperating from a broken neck! His wife did take him back, much like Stanley Tucci’s late wife took him back after he dumped her for Edie Falco.

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  7. Todd Mason

    This being the decade I’d learn to drive and have the car radio on (and when not listening to the NPR stations in Honolulu and DC, after moving with my family to Northern VA and adding the DC Pacifica station along with having jazz and bluegrass stations to my menu–on Oahu, there was only one consistent Hawiian music station on the local radio, as I recall, and the NPR stations’s musical component was all classical), I’d hear most if not all of these and occasionally catch them on Everyone’s Video Shows (our cable in Kailua didn’t have MTV, and I didn’t flip over there too much from ’84 onward in VA, mostly for their better, less all-hits-video series).

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    1. Todd Mason

      Favorites: “Call Me” (the only one, I think, that I had on vinyl in ’81 or so on the BLONDIE big hits album), “Let’s Stay Together”–I should check to see when that Al Green song was first released; Roxette’s “It Must Have Been Love” (or “Rosette” in your text) was a good song, and a small slew of others were pleasant enough or better, most of the rest at least listenable.

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  9. Jeff Smith

    I like “Africa” by Toto, but my fondness for it is influenced by hearing my brother’s band cover it. In particular, my brother — who was a very inventive drummer — played rings around the original’s tub thumping.

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      1. Jeff Smith

        He’s still alive, but has suffered severe nerve damage and can’t really even hold the drumsticks, much less play them. It’s a struggle to get him places, but we do go to the occasional concert or baseball game.

  10. wolf

    I must have heard most of these songs but remember just a few – of course Up Where We Belong.
    And then of course Private Dancer (a really good story) by Tina.Turner where I have fond memories amd a story to tell ) sorry if I told that before)
    In 1984 I read that Tina was doing a European tour (her first after many years) and I got tickets for Frankfurt, wonderful!
    She was really great, the people wemt crazy and once she had just started “Tonight” when we heard a male voice …
    And then a guy came down a ladder in the background singing – David Bowie!
    And they sang “Tonight” together …

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