Paul Carrack "Love Will Keep Us Alive"

I wrote about Squeeze earlier this week, and it prompted me to write about Paul Carrack yesterday.

I'd had no idea that his resume was so extensive.

One of the most interesting stories, is that he did some sessions for a record with former Eagles Don Felder and Timothy B Schmidt.

However, the album was never completed, because "Hell Freezes Over," The Eagles surprising and/or inevitable reunion album happened.

But one of the songs from the Carrack/Felder/Schmidt session made it to The Eagles record.

"Love Will Keep Us Alive," co-written by Carrack, was the most-played song in America in 1995.

He was tapped again, when The Eagles put out "Long Road Out Of Eden" in 2007. Carrack's song "I Don't Want To Hear Anymore" was part of that hugely successful double album.

That's good mailbox money!

Here's Carrack, singing the song that The Eagles scored big with.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Ace "How Long"

I wrote about Squeeze earlier this week, and as I was writing the post, I was listening to "Tempted" over and over, for the billionth time in my life.

And in watching the video, I was reminded that the bulk of the song is actually sung not by Chris Difford or Glenn Tilbrook, the main songwriters of the band. "Tempted" was sung by Paul Carrack, who was only briefly part of Squeeze.

I was really enjoying his vocal performance, how soulful and warm it is, and I starting thinking, "Why didn't this guy do more?"

I mean, I remember the band Mike & The Mechanics. "The Living Years" was sincere, but kinda sappy. And I knew he had a few solo hits.

But I didn't realize that "this guy" couldn't possibly have done more.

He was a member of Roxy Music for their late 70s/early 80s albums.

He was part of Noise To Go, which was a band put together by Nick Lowe, to back Lowe on his solo records, as well as Lowe's wife-at-the-time Carlene Carter. And they back Carrack on his solo projects.

Noise To Go changed it's name to Nick Lowe's Cowboy Outfit, and that band backed John Hiatt on his "Riding With The King" record.

He was a sessions musician for The Smiths and The Pretenders.

And Roger Waters recruited him as a player and singer for both an early solo record, and the massive "The Wall Live In Berlin" show.

Then there was the aborted album he was making with Timothy B Schmidt and Don Felder of The Eagles, which I'll write about tomorrow.

But it all started with this tune, which I'm sure you remember.

I'd forgotten that Carrack was the singer in the band Ace, who had this hit.

Nice resume!


See the video on Youtube.

Squeeze "Tempted"

No one likes a Know-It-All.

This was one of those life lessons that I had to learn the hard way as a kid.

Someone would say "Why this?" and I could usually answer, "Because that."

I was a bright kid. I read a lot. I asked a lot of questions. And I retained an inordinate amount of information.

This has served me well in my career, where people are always asking me, "Do you know that song about the lighthouse keeper that jumps off the lighthouse?" or some such question about some forgotten details of a half-remembered song.

Yes. Yes I do know the answer to your question.

But when you're a teenager, knowing the answer to everything isn't always an asset.

Sometimes it makes you just sound like an asshole.

I was home from my first year of college on a rainy Friday night. Hanging out with my high school friends. We were shooting pool and drinking not-very-cold beer from cans in someone's basement. The radio was on.

"Can you imagine that?" one of the guys asked.

"What?"

"Your wife leaving you for another woman?"

"Huh?"

"You know. This song."

Squeeze, "Tempted" was on the radio.

"Huh?

"This song. It's about his wife leaving him for another woman."

"I don't think that's right," I said.

"Well," he said, "'Tempted by the fruit of another.' That's got to be about a lesbian."

"I don't think that's right," I said.

Now the other two guys had stopped playing, and were listening.

"I think he's just singing about her cheating on him. I don't think it has anything to do with lesbians."

He became a little more insistent. But I could also tell he was now a little unsure.

"I think it even says it somewhere in the song. At the end. I think he whispers, 'Lesbian, Lesbian.'"

I knew the lyrics. It doesn't say anything like that in the song.

But I also knew that the conversation had hit a point where I was either going to have to slam the door shut on him, or let him save face.

I looked to the other two guys for a split-second. Who were they ready to back up, the guy who offered an opinion, or the guy who shot him down?

I made my call.

"I gotta take a piss."

I headed out the slider into the cold night air, to pee into the shrubbery.

I can't really remember why we weren't using the bathroom in the house, but I remember looking back through the glass, the guys circling around the pool table, back in the swing of the game.

I knew I was right. Did it matter to me that I make everyone admit I was right?

In the past, that had been all the mattered to me. Knowledge was something that I was good at. It was my skill. It was my talent. And it was my priority.

But it was also something that could put a big, thick sheet of glass between me and other people when I chose being right, at the expense of all else.

It's tempting to choose to use your "upper hand," but sometimes lifting yourself up means pushing someone else down. For better and worse, companionship, friendship, love, basic human interaction, requires some amount of concession.

Where was I willing to give? Were the lyrics of a pop song so sacrosanct that I was willing to stay out here in the cold?

It was warm back inside. The radio was on. We played pool.


I totally forgot about the awesome "backup singers" in the video!

See the video on Youtube.

Squeeze “Black Coffee in Bed”

From time to time, I'm inviting other voices to contribute to Every Day I Write The Blog, to speak on their area of expertise. So without further ado, here's the All Time Top 5 Songs Mentioning Coffee, written by Guest Blogger Alex Scofield of Coffee Hero . . .

Let’s begin with the obvious. This is the Alpha and the Omega of coffee songs, probably the first one that comes to mind for rock fans who think of “coffee tunes.” The title alone seems to speak volumes. Someone is clearly a serious coffee drinker – no cream, no sugar, and hard-up enough to drink it in bed.

Oddly enough, I’ve never been a huge fan of this song. Running down the checklist, this is the type of tune I should like; everything is there:

* ‘80s new-wave/Brit-pop song? Check
* Beloved by several friends with rock-solid musical taste? Check.
* Revered, but not overplayed? Check.
* Top-notch cameos? Check – Elvis Costello and Paul Young sing backup vocals on the studio version.
* Unquestionable coffee bona fides? Check.

Instrumentally, though, “Black Coffee in Bed” doesn’t sound like the work of a coffee fiend. The song is leisurely-paced, and just a bit too perky and bright – the kind of stuff that’s tough for me to stomach until after having downed a morning coffee cup or seven.

After scrutinizing the lyrics, I figured something out: This isn’t a song about somebody who drinks coffee in bed; it’s a song about somebody who used to drink coffee in bed – or, merely someone whose ex used to drink black coffee in bed.

There’s nothing of your love
That I’ll ever miss
The stain on my notebook
Remains all that’s left
Of the memory of late nights
And coffee in bed

So that’s why this song wields neither pre-caffeine grumpiness, nor post-caffeine wired-ness. Black coffee is drunk only in a memory, not in the present. The song essentially tells an ex, “I’m over you, and I’ve moved on,” although the truth of this is debatable. If coffee stains on a notebook dredge up such strong memories, is he really over this relationship?

Alex Scofield is a freelance writer who lives in Bourne, Mass. He is a contributor to CoffeeHero.com