Steve Winwood - Talking Back To The Night (1982)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette, later replaced by a CD.

With lots of moody keyboards, Winwood spends this whole album trying to recapture the magic of his 1981 hit, While You See a Chance. That's okay with me - I love that song. This album is either underrated, overlooked, or I simply just listened to it a lot more during my junior year of high school than it deserved. Or all of the above. If you like Winwood's synthpad music and soulful singing, then it's all good. Of the four albums Winwood released in the '80s, this was his least successful, but I still dig most of it.

Press of the time:

• Billboard: "finds his blue-eyed r&b inflections as strong and seamlessly delivered as at any point in his career."
• CashBox: "a stunning performance"
• Musician: "Winwood's decision to continue the format of playing all of the instruments and producing himself...ultimately works against him."
• Rolling Stone (★★½ ): "sounds perfectly unambitious"
• Robert Christgau: C
• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #28
• Billboard Rock: #6
• CashBox: #28
• Rolling Stone: #12

Tracks:

1. Valerie: Opening the album with its best song - a tried and true method. And if you like to sing along as much as I do, you quickly realize that Winwood possesses an incredible voice and it's useless to keep up but fun to try. Lots of syncopation and a fun synth solo using the same preset he used on "While You See a Chance" (if it aint' broke...). As a single, this peaked at #70 pop, #13 rock. A remixed version released in 1987 peaked at #9 pop, #2 adult contemporary, #13 rock.
2. Big Girls Walk Away: Like the first track, this one seems to me to relentlessly push forward (to what, I couldn't tell ya). Fantastic chorus and an even better bridge.
3. And I Go: Winwood slows the pace and pulls out the Hammond B-3 for this one. And it's just not doing anything for me.
4. While There's a Candle Burning: a mediocre verse gives way to a redeeming chorus in which the upward movement of the music attempts to move the positive lyrics in the same direction. I would've liked a bridge or solo to mix things up, but this is the shortest song on the album, so I'm outta luck.
5. Still in the Game: the most obvious attempt to replicate the success of "While You See a Chance" almost lifting the backing tracks from that hit. I'm relieved that we've returned to the feel of the first two tracks, but again, there's no solo or bridge (yet there's room for a 80 second fade-out vamp at the end). I dig the chorus, though. As a single, this peaked at #47 pop, #8 rock. 
6. It Was Happiness: And again, we start off with the hi-hat figure that appears throughout the album. The verse is just okay, but Winwood's vocals save it. Then we head into a bouncy, cheesy chorus that could only come from the '80s.
7. Help Me Angel: Finally a different sort of syncopated keyboard groove under the familiar hi-hat pattern. The lyrics are a bit simplistic, but Winwood's pleading for help somehow works. And we get a solo on this one. That ending, though. Sheesh.
8. Talking Back to the Night: A moody ode to people's problems as they move about the night. I prefer the subtle verse to the high-flying chorus. The best part of the thing might be the keyboard licks Winwood inserts between the vocal phrases the second time through the verses and on through the vamp at the end. Good stuff. Not released as a single in '82, but remixed and released in '87 when it peaked at #57 pop, #7 AC, #17 rock, and was used as part of a "The Night Belongs to Michelob" ad campaign.
   
   
9. There's a River: Yawn. 

Let's rank 'em!

1. Valerie
2. Talking Back to the Night
3. Big Girls Walk Away
4. It Was Happiness
5. Still in the Game
6. Help Me Angel
7. While There's a Candle Burning
8. And I Go
9. There's a River

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Because it was generally uneventful, I don't remember many details about prom at the end of my junior year, but artifacts from my personal papers indicate it was held on Saturday, April 23, 1983 and the chosen theme was "Stairway to Heaven" (God help us). I wasn't dating anyone at the time, but Vicki, a co-worker at my Burger King job agreed to go with me and we had an acceptable, platonic evening. The most memorable part of the prom may have been my attire. As I wrote in this post:

I've always been a bit of a contrarian and for the prom my junior year, I decided to be different by wearing tennis shoes with my tuxedo (special thanks to my date for allowing it). I realize that wouldn't so much as raise an eyebrow these days, but in 1983, it garnered several condescending eyerolls from members of my immediate family and, amidst the rice fields of rural south Texas, it was quite the trendsetting statement.

I borrowed my father's car because it had a working air conditioner whereas my car did not. I grabbed this tape to play as pleasant but unobtrusive background music for the evening. Since there weren't any hits from the album, I was unsure if Vicki would be familiar with any of the music. Heck, I didn't even know what kind of music she preferred. But less than five minutes into our date, there was Vicki, belting out the chorus to Valerie right along with Stevie. It surprised me enough that I obviously remember it all these years later.

* * *

It is traditional for one generation to bad-mouth the music popular with the generations that follow. I swore I'd never do it, yet I did and caught myself doing it just the other day (in my defense, the song on the radio was just three notes repeated over and over for 4 minutes). I guess dismissing others' opinions makes us feel better and a little superior. In any case, my mother was riding with me in my car in late '82/early '83 and made such a comment about the music my peers and I enjoyed. The dig cut a little deeper than it should have except for the fact I was a moody, angst-ridden 16-year-old kid who found solace in music. I popped this cassette into the deck as I attempted to prove to her that "my music" had melodies as good as any tune from the '50s. I doubt my tactic worked and if it did, I have no memory of it. But there are some good melodies on this album, no?

Previously revisited for the blog:
Roll With It (1988)
Back in the High Life (1986)
Arc of a Diver (1980)

Steve Winwood - Roll With It (1988)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

In which Mr. Winwood attempts to get back to his '60s R&B roots. It's not his best album (that honor still goes to Arc of a Diver), but Roll With It was his biggest-selling album. FWIW, I like it slightly better than its predecessor, Back in the High Life.

Nominated for several Grammy awards, including Album of the Year, it only won one: Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #1 (one week, August 20, 1988)
• Billboard Pop CD: #1
• Billboard R&B: #93

Tracks: The title track is fantastic organ-drenched R&B (so much so that publishing rights organization BMI later had songwriters Holland-Dozier-Holland credited with co-writing the thing). The title track also had an extended 12" remix because eighties.

Also good are Holding On, Put On Your Dancing Shoes, and Hearts On Fire. I don't know what to say about Don't You Know What The Night Can Do other than it was a very successful beer jingle (#6 Pop, #1 Rock, #2 AC) and the drums are way too hot in the mix.

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox,
go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

I usually skip the slower tunes The Morning Side and One More Morning (I see a pattern here).

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: You might be getting tired of hearing about it, but the title track from his album was a very big part of the Lost Summer of Mark, particularly an ill-advised couples trip to a beach house.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Back in the High Life (1986)
Arc of a Diver (1980)

Steve Winwood - Back in the High Life (1986)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

Until this point, Steve Winwood's solo albums were very dense synth-driven music. I'm a fan of both albums that preceded this one, Arc Of A Diver (1980) and Talking Back to The Night (1982). This 1986 album was different than those two, bringing in influences and instrumentation new to Winwood's repertoire. The new sounds led to commercial success, but I preferred the older sound. Still, even though I usually pull out Arc Of A Diver, there's some good songs on this album and I enjoy hearing it every now and again.

Press of the time:

• Smash Hits (3 out of 10): "ideal American rock background for perfecting paella or getting the rigatoni to separate properly."
• Billboard: "worth the wait"
• CashBox: "a soulful rock and roll masterpiece"
• Rolling Stone: "his finest work"
• Stereo Review: "it's great to have him back"
• Robert Christgau: C

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #3
• Billboard Pop CD: #1
• Billboard R&B: #46
• CashBox CD: #1
• Rolling Stone: #1

Tracks:

Song	Hot 100	AC	Rock
Higher Love*	1	7	1
Freedom Overspill	20	-	4
The Finer Things	8	1	5
Back In The High Life Again	13	1	19
Split Decision	-	-	3
Take It As It Comes	-	-	33
*Winner of 2 Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male

My favorite tune on the album is the mandolin-led title track. The other singles (Higher Love, The Finer Things, and Freedom Overspill) are enjoyable, but I prefer the Joe Walsh collaboration Split Decision to those because Walsh sounds fantastic and Winwood hits the B-3 hard. The second track, Take It As It Comes, is clearly the forerunner of Winwood's later R&B-driven hit, Roll With It. The final track, My Love's Leavin', is filler but I enjoy the song because it, like the title track, harkens back to Winwood's previous sound. Despite a halfway decent chorus, I usually skip Wake Me Up On Judgement Day.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  This album is closely tied to the summer of 1986. I was head over heels in love with the girl who would become my wife three years later. My parents had moved to San Antonio the previous winter and when I came home from college for the summer, I washed dishes part-time at a Sizzler steakhouse and spent the rest of my time exploring that wonderful city.

I spent most of my Sizzler earnings at malls, in particular Windsor Park Mall (which is now the corporate headquarters of Rackspace) and North Star Mall (where the Texas-sized cowboy boots are located).

photo from RoadsideAmerica.com

I also spent a good deal of money at the city's Sound Warehouse locations, which is probably where I bought my cassette copy of Back In the High Life.

Apart from dishwashing, I have fond memories of that time.  Other albums I closely associate with that summer:

• Yellowjackets - Shades
• Genesis - Invisible Touch
• Sting - Bring On The Night
• Steps Ahead - Magnetic
• Joe Jackson - Big World
• Billy Joel - The Bridge
• R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant
• Peter Cetera - Solitude/Solitaire
• Wayne Shorter - Atlantis

Previously revisited for the blog:
Arc of a Diver (1980)

Steve Winwood - Arc of a Diver (1980)

This is truly a solo album. If my information is correct, then Winwood had his hand in writing every song as well as playing all the instruments, singing, and producing. As a result, there are a lot of keyboards on this disc, many dense layers of keyboards. While I've always considered Winwood to be a keyboard player, his bass and guitar playing isn't bad at all. While some of the songs are upbeat, the overall feeling of this release is very moody and midtempo. It's a solid record.

Steve Winwood is one of the few elder statesmen of Rock and Roll that has aged gracefully. That said, I haven't listened to much of his new music since the late '80s.

Press of the time:

• Robert Christgau (B-): "lulling British-international groove"
• Smash Hits (5 out of 10): "what he gains in precision he sacrifices in friction and immediacy"
• Rolling Stone (★★★★): "his finest work since Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die"
• Billboard: "jazz and r&b-tinged pop"
• CashBox: "celestial keyboard figures around insistent funk rhythms"
• High Fidelity: "If there is still such a thing as romantic elegance in rock, 'Arc of a Diver' is its epitome."
• Record Mirror (★★★★): "underrated brilliance of a sixties soul survivor"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #3
• Billboard Pop CD: #14
• Billboard Rock: #3
• CashBox: #4
• CashBox CD: #25
• Rolling Stone: #1

Tracks: While You See a Chance is such a great song. It always puts me in a good mood. The title track, Night Train, and Spanish Dancer are also very good. I could do without Slowdown Sundown, which becomes a dirge while attempting to be a R&B/soul/pop song, even with an uptempo middle section.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: When I was in high school, I found my friend Jim in a bad mood one day. When I asked him what was wrong, he replied that he had broken his Arc of a Diver LP that morning. He liked this release so much that he was depressed all day because he had accidentally broken his record. Ah, high school.