Saturday, June 15, 2013

Musical Interlude: Sweet Freedom (1986)

After leaving the Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald forged a solo career, and got off to a relatively good start with "I Keep Forgettin'" in 1982. However, it seemed as though McDonald was destined to detour to the adult contemporary chart, since that's where you're bound to find most of his Motown covers of recent vintage.

From 1986, here is Michael with what would be his last top 40 solo hit of the decade, "Sweet Freedom", from the movie, "Running Scared". The intro with the film's stars, Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines, has been edited off this copy.

4 comments:

magicdog said...

The song was likeable but it was the cameo of Hines and Crystal (along with scenes of the film)that really made the difference.

In fact, the film is still fun to watch!

I've heard McDonald's Motown covers and I must say, they're quite respectable - but there's no subbing for the originals. No shame in being on the AC charts! I think they're closer to what people are actually listening to - at least those out of HS or college!

hobbyfan said...

At least in my area, the Top 40 still gets the most attention, but the DJ's hardly ID the songs anymore, a condition that has been going on for 25 years or better. It's like they expect the listeners to recognize the songs right away.

Since Empty-V doesn't give a rat's ass about music anymore, how would they know if they're a first time listener?

magicdog said...

Some radio stations have websites that list the last 10 songs played, so you could try that.

I can't always identify songs by name or artist either, but I try to track it down using the lyrics. There are several websites which allow you to plug in lyrics to a song, and offer you the song title and artist.

hobbyfan said...

I'm aware of the station websites. I don't surf them that much anymore.