24. Christopher Cross by Christopher Cross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdRPtf-mxE4&list=OLAK5uy_mAmb-9kDUBKm3aiAUHnHPfBSGIWPAtGDc&index=1
Yes, dammit, I like yacht rock!
And you can't get much more yachty than Christopher Cross (both the album and the artist). The flamingo on the cover of this eponymous album pretty much sums up that yacht rock vibe--just chillin' out in the water, lookin' pretty in my pink shirt, waitin' to watch Miami Vice later tonight.
RECORD OF THE YEAR--SailingALBUM OF THE YEAR--Christopher CrossSONG OF THE YEAR--SailingBEST NEW ARTISTBEST ARRANGEMENT ACCOMPANYING VOCALIST(S)--Sailing
His feat of winning those first four Grammys all in one night would not be repeated for 40 years until in 2020 when Billie Eilish managed to win them all.
Christopher Cross (the album) even beat out Pink Floyd's The Wall for 1980's Album of the Year, which, as much as I like Christopher Cross (the album and the artist), I think is crazyballs! But it just goes to show what kind of gentle power yacht rock had back in 1979 and 1980. Christopher Cross (the artist) had a follow-up hit in 1981 with "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)," which won an Oscar for Best Original Song. That particular song also achieved another major milestone in music history when it got added to the Marsh Valley Pep Band playlist. With an award-strewn start like that, it seemed like Christopher Cross (the artist) was destined to become one of the most popular and successful musicians of his generation.
Then came MTV.
And Christopher Cross (the artist) didn't have a made-for-MTV face that the youngsters liked back in 1981.
Yes, back in those days, video really could kill the radio star. But in fairness, I think his face would have faired much better with the smartphone-video-hungry youngsters 40 years later. My proof? Ed Sheeran.
"Sailing," along with the other hits on the album--"Ride Like the Wind," "Never Be the Same," and "Say You'll Be Mine"--are some of the best yacht rock you'll ever hear. Some of the other non-hit songs on the album are pretty good too.
"I Really Don't Know Anymore" is an excellent song that, like "Ride Like the Wind," features back-up vocals by another famous yacht rocker, Michael McDonald, who in my opinion is the doobiest of all the Doobie Brothers. I always wondered why this song didn't get released as a single, because I think it's every bit as good as, or even better than, "Say You'll Be Mine."
"Spinning" is a bit of yawner, but then there's this nice little jazz trumpet solo during the bridge at about 2 minutes and 20 seconds into the song, and I'm a sucker for a nice little jazz trumpet solo.
Musically speaking, I think that "Poor Shirley" is the weakest link on the album. But the lyrics about overcoming the pain of loneliness through the hope of love are pretty damn good. Julie mentioned the other day about how she was so shy back in middle school, especially around boys. She said to me, "You just don't understand how painful it is to be that shy during middle school." I had to admit that I didn't. But I did have a super-awesome friend in middle school that was really shy, and I tried to make damn sure that whenever he was around me that he always knew he had a friend willing to go to the mats for him. I played the clown around girls a LOT during my middle school years, and sometimes I'd do it just so that he'd be able to shed the shyness a little bit and take part in the fun. And my greatest regrets from that period of my life are the few times that I poked fun at him for being shy. I just never should have done that. Also, I should have been kinder to the shy girls in school. If I could travel back in time and do things over again, I'd try to be much less of a jackass. But honestly, I don't think I could totally eliminate my jackassishness. My excuse? I'm related to Spencer, who is the King of Jackasses, so it's got to be at least partially caused by genetics. But let's not get wrapped up in talk about The Spence's many acts of jackassery. Let's get back to the album.
"The Light Is On" is slow groove yacht rockin' song perfect for chillin' out during a light rain storm nestled all warm and comfy on the pink couch inside the cabin of your yacht.
"Minstrel Gigolo" is a kind of tribute song to all of the early rockers from the 50s and 60s--think Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones--that would have the girls go nuts for them on the black and white telly. What I really like about this song is the guitar solo. Yes. That IS Christopher Cross playing the guitar on this song--and the rest of the album. Most people think of him as a singer because...well, that voice is so damn distinctive...but I have to give him props for his guitar playing too. He even got Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan fame) to invite him to play guitar on an album with him.
Which leads me to an observation about my favorite song off the album, "Ride Like the Wind." It's my favorite for a number of reasons. The orchestration with strings is mighty fine--not as good as ELO, of course, but still really good. It's also got some nice trumpet parts mixed into the orchestration. Plus, it's got bongos a-plenty! If you want to hear an example of how bongos can make a great song even better, this is it. But as good as the song is, I think it could have been even better if Christopher had let his guitar work come into the forefront at the end of the song. You can hear him jamming at the end of the song, but it's in the background covered up by Michael McDonald's back-up singing, and Christopher is not letting loose with the guitar as much as I'd like. That's right. Besides jazzy trumpet solos and bangin' bongos, I also like a little rockin' guitar solo in my yacht rock! If you're wondering what I'm talking about, here's a video of Christopher playing live at the end of "Ride Like the Wind." (Yes, the guy with the white hair is the doob Michael McDonald.)
https://youtu.be/iYofDL0QnBE?t=274
See, now THAT'S some mighty fine yacht rockin'!
Nardo
#24: Christopher Cross—Christopher Cross. I know this is a Christopher Cross album, but I’m going to use this moment to talk about Michael McDonald. Why? I really don’t know. I really can’t say.
ReplyDeleteActually, when I saw the cover for this album on your list, the first thing I thought of was my favorite song from the album, “Ride Like the Wind.” And the very next thing I thought of was the classic SCTV skit where Rick Moranis portrays Michael McDonald rushing to the studio to sing his backup parts. (You can watch it here: https://www.thisismyjam.com/song/christopher-cross-with-michael-mcdonald/ride-like-the-wind-sctv-version)
(In fact, here’s a link to an article where McDonald recalls the first time he saw the skit, when he was so high he started questioning reality: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/michael-mcdonald-sctv-sketch/.) (I like the fact that Rick Moranis is such a nice guy that he looked up McDonald and apologized to him for the skit.)
One of the reasons I bring up Michael McDonald (besides the great backup singing he provides on this album) is because of the horrible joke I’ve made to you about not being able to tell the difference between Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. Having now seen your Top 10 albums, which are 20% Steely Dan adjacent, I imagine it’s similar to if you were to joke to me about not being able to tell the difference between ELO and the Moody Blues. And for that, I blame: A) my general unfamiliarity with the music of Steely Dan, and 2) Michael McDonald. You see, the fact that Michael McDonald is associated with both Steely Dan AND the Doobie Brothers has conflated the two bands in my mind. I’m sorry. (I guess it’s more like getting “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Return of the Jedi” confused because of Harrison Ford.)
Anyway, back to Christopher Cross. It’s a damn fine album in general, and probably the best yacht rock album ever. As stated, “Ride Like the Wind” is my favorite. I like “Sailing,” but probably not as much as I should, since I’ve long proclaimed my love of “flying and floating” songs. The problem here is because of the subject matter, it’s more “floating” without the “flying,” and in the back of my mind I guess that makes a difference.
I think “I Really Don’t Know Anymore” is my next favorite song, mostly because of the Steely Doobie connection. And “Never Be the Same,” and “Say You’ll Be Mine” are good, too. The rest of the songs are mostly just decent background muzak to me, but I do find “Minstrel Gigolo” amusing for the sheer audacity of the title and the lyrics—apparently Christopher owns all of the women’s hearts because he sings to them.
Actually, I had never thought of Christopher Cross in terms of his guitar playing, so that has definitely been a revelation to me. It’s like he’s a big, round-faced cross between Barry Manilow and Eddie Van Halen. How is that possible? I really don’t know. I really can’t say.