The Stone Poneys – Different Drum
“They’re not oldies,” she said. “They’re classics.”
Songs that open albums in my parents’ record collection, part thirty-seven. AM gold.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Kate & Anna McGarrigle – Kiss and Say Goodbye
I grew up with Kate & Anna McGarrigle. “Kiss and Say Goodbye” is the first track on their 1976 self-titled debut, and one of my earliest musical memories. Being raised in proper Canadian nationalist style, we had no, say, Fleetwood Mac records; instead the McGarrigles were never far from the record player and this was the first thing you’d hear if someone put them on.
This song is about a visiting lover and it’s impossible for me to be impartial about it. I don’t mind the saxophone solo, the backup vocals, I don’t even mind the truck driver’s gear change. Ten seconds of the perfect piano / snare intro and I’m back in the living room, peering my nose over the steadily spinning vinyl and dimly aware that somewhere in the room, my parents are dancing.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
