Post by erik on Sept 11, 2021 13:19:05 GMT -5
On the 20th anniversary of a terrorist attack on America that led us to vengeance, it is important to remember that a Todd Rundgren-penned anthem told us that it was the exact opposite of that vengeance that was the answer. England Dan (Seals) and John Ford Coley's 1979 recording of that song is in this week's Pop Music Hits Spotlight.
LOVE IS THE ANSWER (England Dan and John Ford Coley; Big Tree; 1979)—One of the most prominent AM Top 40 acts of the 1970’s was the Texas-based duo of England Dan and John Ford Coley. Coley was a Texas folk-rock singer, while “England Dan”, whose real name is Dan Seals, was the brother of Jim Seals (one-half of the similar AM Top 40 duo Seals and Crofts). The pair went through numerous iterations (including Southwest F.O.B. [Freight On Board]) from 1968 to 1975, all without anything more than localized success in their native state. By 1976, however, they got signed to Atlantic Records’ subsidiary label Big Tree, and achieved a pair of big hits with “Nights Are Forever Without You” and “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” (the latter just missing the #1 spot on the Hot 100 in the early fall of 1976). Further hits came in 1977 with “It’s Sad To Belong”, and in early 1978 with “We’ll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again”. But one of their most famous hits, their last Top Ten hit in fact, came from a fairly unlikely source—namely Todd Rundgren, the eclectic rock musician and genius who had already had hits of his own with “We Gotta Get You A Woman”, “Hello It’s Me”, and “I Saw The Light”, and produced, among others, Ian and Sylvia’s 1969 C&W/rock album Great Speckled Bird. The song “Love Is The Answer” was a song that Rundgren had already recorded in 1977 with his band Utopia, but it never reached the Hot 100. But in the hands of England Dan and John Ford Coley, it became something of an anthem of Top 40 AM and even FM rock radio; it reached #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and #10 on the Hot 100 in May 1979. It would remain a sizeable recurring presence on oldies radio well into the 21st century. The duo broke up after 1980, with Seals pursuing a huge career in country music during the 1980’s, achieving eleven #1 hits on Billboard’s country charts.
LOVE IS THE ANSWER (England Dan and John Ford Coley; Big Tree; 1979)—One of the most prominent AM Top 40 acts of the 1970’s was the Texas-based duo of England Dan and John Ford Coley. Coley was a Texas folk-rock singer, while “England Dan”, whose real name is Dan Seals, was the brother of Jim Seals (one-half of the similar AM Top 40 duo Seals and Crofts). The pair went through numerous iterations (including Southwest F.O.B. [Freight On Board]) from 1968 to 1975, all without anything more than localized success in their native state. By 1976, however, they got signed to Atlantic Records’ subsidiary label Big Tree, and achieved a pair of big hits with “Nights Are Forever Without You” and “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” (the latter just missing the #1 spot on the Hot 100 in the early fall of 1976). Further hits came in 1977 with “It’s Sad To Belong”, and in early 1978 with “We’ll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again”. But one of their most famous hits, their last Top Ten hit in fact, came from a fairly unlikely source—namely Todd Rundgren, the eclectic rock musician and genius who had already had hits of his own with “We Gotta Get You A Woman”, “Hello It’s Me”, and “I Saw The Light”, and produced, among others, Ian and Sylvia’s 1969 C&W/rock album Great Speckled Bird. The song “Love Is The Answer” was a song that Rundgren had already recorded in 1977 with his band Utopia, but it never reached the Hot 100. But in the hands of England Dan and John Ford Coley, it became something of an anthem of Top 40 AM and even FM rock radio; it reached #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and #10 on the Hot 100 in May 1979. It would remain a sizeable recurring presence on oldies radio well into the 21st century. The duo broke up after 1980, with Seals pursuing a huge career in country music during the 1980’s, achieving eleven #1 hits on Billboard’s country charts.