Steve Winwood "Higher Love"

The 80s were not good to the our favorite keyboard players.

I hadn't really thought this through until I heard Steve Winwood mention something in an interview.  He was talking about his early 80s hits, and how some people write them off as too commercial, compared to his work with Traffic or Blind Faith.

He suggests that there really isn't a difference between the songs and the songwriting of those two phases of his career.  The difference is in the production.

I wish I could prove him right, because mvyradio would play more Winwood if we could.

But 1980s production just doesn't hold up, especially in the case of piano/keyboard artists.

Think about it.  What are some of the most reviled works of Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel?  They are the records where these great players lean heavily on terrible-sounding synthesizers.  Couple with the use of drum machines and other synthesized instruments, the music of that era sounds painfully, embarassingly cheesy.

I'm sure I don't really have to convince you of this---the 80s don't exactly have a great reputation.  But it IS instructive to listen to "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" versus "Part Time Lover," "Tiny Dancer" versus "I'm Still Standing," and "She's Always A Woman" versus "Pressure."  (All songs are posted below)

Don't the older songs actually sound more contemporary, or timeless, or, at a minimum, hold up much much better?

What's a little harder to be convinced of---though I think I believe it---is that tunes like Winwood's "Higher Love" and "Roll With It" and "Back In The High Life," if they were stripped of their 80s production, would hold up as equals to Winwood's earlier songwriting and playing.

I had this extended conversation with morning DJ Laurel a few months back.  She'd just gone to see Winwood live, and was enthusing about his playing and his songs.  I started thinking about his presence on the station.  We play 60s and 70s Winwood.  And we play more recent Winwood.  But we pulled the 80s songs out of rotation a good 10 years ago, because they just sounded dated.

I set Laurel on a task---to find some live or re-recorded Winwood material, where he plays those songs without the 80s trappings.  And like an Unplugged record.  Or a solo live performance.  Or a classic-rock-guy-revisits-his-old-songs record like Randy Newman and Loudon Wainwright have done.

But Laurel reported back that she couldn't find anything like that.

So here we wait, for Steve Winwood to prove this theory correct...

In the meantime, get a glimpse of how a synthesizer-less Winwood 80s track might sound, by checking out the James Vincent McMorrow cover of "Higher Love," below.


Hear Steve Winwood on Youtube.



Hear James Vincent McMorrow on Youtube.



Hear 70s Stevie Wonder on Youtube.



Hear Stevie Wonder in the 80s on Youtube.



Hear Elton John in the 70s on Youtube.



Hear Elton John in the 80s on Youtube.



Hear 70s Billy Joel on Youtube.



Hear 80s Billy Joel on Youtube.

Robbie Robertson "Fear Of Falling"

Because the process of putting a song into regular rotation on mvyradio is so competitive, I don't give myself much room for regret or second guessing. I try to only choose songs that I feel certain are going to work for the station and our listeners.

I am never 100% right in my choosing, but even the songs that end up not quite working or catching on, I can usually deem worth the effort of giving a shot.

But I have had this creeping feeling about a new song on mvyradio, and I'm hoping my sense in not confirmed down the road.

LOVE Robbie Robertson. Love him.

Love the new record.

And when the second single, "Fear Of Falling" was released, it seemed like a no-brainer.

Hell, it's even got Eric Clapton AND Steve Winwood on it. So now it's not one but three guys who are older, but still capable of making great, great records.

So I added it.

But now I've been hearing it on the air for a couple of weeks and . . . I've got that creeping feeling. That feeling that I didn't make the right choice.

And I can tell you exactly when that feeling started.

It was the moment when I realized that this tune sounds a little too much like a particular Clapton song.

Oddly enough, it is one of Clapton's biggest hits. But it's also his song that I find the least interesting, the most generic.

"Change The World."

That track is fine. I'm not offended by it. It's just kind of middle-of-the-road-pop-craft boring. Co-written by Babyface, it's a cake baked for mass-consumption.

Clapton can still kill it on guitar. Winwood's voice is still in top form. And Robertson has complete mastery of his atmospherics/production, and can still write incredible lyrics.

So maybe I've set the bar too high, if I find this song a little generic?

And maybe, like "Change The World," it will be a huge hit, in spite of, or because of, its accessibility.

Of course, as always, the real answer rests with you, the audience, to embrace or reject it, and let us know what you think, so we can continue to fine-tune our programming ears to bring you what you want to hear.


See the video on Youtube.


See the video on Youtube.