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On a Desert Island with Bruce

Every Little Kiss

0 votes

The Way It Is

3 votes

On the Western Skyline

2 votes

Mandolin Rain

2 votes

The Valley Road

2 votes

Look Out Any Window

2 votes

Across the River

1 votes

A Night on the Town

0 votes

Other (write in)

0 votes

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 28 2015 11:37 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 28 2015 01:31 PM

It's 1986. Space Shuttles are exploding, we're joining hands across America for some reason, Diego Maradonna is leading Argentina to World Cup Glory, Crocodile Dundee is showing us what a knife is, the Mets are winning, Reagan's trading arms for hostages and America has gone crazy for Bruce. Bruce Hornsby, that is. On his way to destroying Nu Schooz in the Best New Artist category the mellow pianoman from David Wright Country cranked out an unexpected buttload of jingling bright hits that were 1 part Mellancamp, 1 part Henley, 1 part Winwood. Which of the following makes it onto your Desert Island Mix? (most of the chart "hits" from the Range-era Bruce are represented but feel free to nominate a write in). Remember, even if dated 80s mellowness complete with fake drums aren't your thing, you still have to include a selection on your mix tape or else you spend an eternity in solitude with only a copy of his unpopular 3rd album. Every Little Kiss [youtube:2o9qc7zr]PPmyYs92GDs[/youtube:2o9qc7zr] The Way It Is [youtube:2o9qc7zr]cOeKidp-iWo[/youtube:2o9qc7zr] On the Western Skyline [youtube:2o9qc7zr]PHjq52hFSKo[/youtube:2o9qc7zr] Mandolin Rain [youtube:2o9qc7zr]bDgOwX72fLI[/youtube:2o9qc7zr] The Valley Road [youtube:2o9qc7zr]KfKIq1Pmc8Q[/youtube:2o9qc7zr] Look Out Any Window [youtube:2o9qc7zr]cBSeEcFiTWA[/youtube:2o9qc7zr] Across the River [youtube:2o9qc7zr]fmIJ-q9uCq0[/youtube:2o9qc7zr] A Night on the Town [youtube:2o9qc7zr]wryWVJSPcs0[/youtube:2o9qc7zr]

cooby Oct 28 2015 11:41 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Pretty stuff. How long do we have to decide?

cooby Oct 28 2015 11:41 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Pretty stuff. How long do we have to decide?

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 28 2015 11:51 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Whenever you feel up to it I suppose. Bruce is in no hurry, just listen to those intros.

Edgy MD Oct 28 2015 01:12 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Hornsby is a great choice for a poll. The 1987 Grammy Award for Best New Artist is a poll in itself. [list:o38g3qiq][*:o38g3qiq]Bruce Hornsby and the Range[/*:m:o38g3qiq] [*:o38g3qiq]Glass Tiger[/*:m:o38g3qiq] [*:o38g3qiq]Nu Shooz[/*:m:o38g3qiq] [*:o38g3qiq]Simply Red[/*:m:o38g3qiq] [*:o38g3qiq]Timbuk3[/*:m:o38g3qiq][/list:u:o38g3qiq]

Frayed Knot Oct 28 2015 01:21 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

I have never in my life heard of 'Glass Tiger' - and I'm pretty sure I was alive that particular year. Thought about being boring and going with 'The Way it Is' but opted instead for 'Mandolin Rain', a song which might or might not beat out Rod Stewart's 'Mandolin Wind' for best ever song with mandolin in the title.

G-Fafif Oct 28 2015 01:25 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 28 2015 01:34 PM

Yet you never hear much about Wilmer Flores and the range. Love as well for latter-day Hornsby, when he was coaching for Casey. [youtube:2hbnylyp]ItWifrJKom8[/youtube:2hbnylyp] [youtube:2hbnylyp]SAQbs7FlxKs[/youtube:2hbnylyp] [youtube:2hbnylyp]EKv-dRwWAZE[/youtube:2hbnylyp]

El Segundo Escupidor Oct 28 2015 01:29 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

"The way it is" is great, great song.

Edgy MD Oct 28 2015 01:32 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Me wife is a big fan of "The Valley Road." He used to perform epic-length versions of it during his tenure with the Grateful Dead, and I must confess that may be part of the reason I've never invited the song within arm's length of my heart. Hornsby, despite his relatively low profile through the years, is one of those artists indelibly linked to American geography, as attached to the landscape of the upper South from the Piedmont of North Carolina to coastal Virginia as Springsteen goes with the Jersey shore, as Creedence goes with the delta swamps, as Steve Earle goes with the Texas flatlands, as Leadbelly goes with the cotton fields of the deep south. In that spirit, I'm going to tentatively break with the wife and go for "Look Out Any Window" (and its poetic title recalling the Hollies "Look Through Any Window"), a plea for the honest, common, subsistence laborer over "TVR," a plea for the honest poor boy in love with a girl out of his reach. Stop interfering with farmers' and fishermen's livelihoods, you men in suits in high towers! Someday I may learn to trust the Dead, but today is not that day. I did, however, once own a cassette with a lovely version of "TVR" that Hornsby did with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Maybe they need a Desert Island Poll someday.

TransMonk Oct 28 2015 01:38 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Edgy MD wrote: Hornsby is a great choice for a poll. The 1987 Grammy Award for Best New Artist is a poll in itself. [list][*]Bruce Hornsby and the Range[/*:m] [*]Glass Tiger[/*:m] [*]Nu Shooz[/*:m] [*]Simply Red[/*:m] [*]Timbuk3[/*:m][/list:u] I had a thing for that Nu Shooz song back in the day. [youtube]kGBvuaPV5g0[/youtube] Give me "Mandolin Rain"...I probably need a shower on this island anyway.

Edgy MD Oct 28 2015 01:59 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Glass Tiger were a lite, working-class-oriented non-metal hair band. A Canadian Hooters if you will. Hooters the band, not Hooters the respectable family eatery. They cracked the AT40 four times, the top ten twice, and went all the way to #2 with "Don't Forget Me While I'm Gone." But this list of nominees sure seems to be setting up a blowout victory for Hornsby and the Range. Best New Artist, apart from frequently being a career killer, is sort of like Best Supporting Actor, in that it tends to go to women on the young and frivolous side, and men on the mature and grave side, relatively speaking.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 28 2015 02:52 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Here's some Bruce Hornsby Facts You Might Not Know: * Was a fair basketball player in his day. * FOT (Friend of Tony LaRussa) * In addition to a stint with the Dead, also collaborates with country star Ricky Skaggs and Spike Lee -- he writes music for all his films. * Huey Lewis helped to persuade record labels to sign him; Bruce later gave him "Jacob's Ladder" which he turned into a Top 10 hit. * Was a sideman for lots of acts prior to breakthrough including Sheena Easton (he can be seen on her "Sugar Walls" video) and even more post-breakthru. Elton John thinks Bruce is the best pianist out there and that guy knows his pianistes. * Father of identical twins who themselves are good athletes. One runs track at Oregon; the other is a Div 1 hoops player.

Frayed Knot Oct 28 2015 03:20 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Here's some Bruce Hornsby Facts You Might Not Know: * Was a fair basketball player in his day. He's like 6' 5".

Edgy MD Oct 28 2015 03:20 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Man, that processed, no-slide, slidey guitar sound at the top of "LOAW" sure sounds like that guitar/sax electronic hybrid sound all over Steve Winwood's music from 1978 to 1990, don't it? Two things I know about Hornsby: (1) raised a Christian Scientist, and is believed to have continued to practice as an adult; (2) plays a Steinway piano, but the voicing is very uncharacteristic of the Steinway sound, with a bright fast attack characteristic of Yamahas favored by jazz dudes.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 28 2015 05:39 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: * Was a sideman for lots of acts prior to breakthrough including Sheena Easton (he can be seen on her "Sugar Walls" video) and even more post-breakthru. Is that song about what my inner 13-year-old thinks it's about? This guy is, like, ALL over my local CVS' shopmusic.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 28 2015 05:41 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

* Co-wrote "The Age of Innocence" with Don Henley and I'm sure he plays on it too. * His family are all big shots in Williamsburg, where the Hornsby's go back to Colonial times. His dad was a real estate developer and established an endowment at William & Mary; mom has a school named after her -- once led an effort to prevent condemned football bleachers from being "donated" to a black school there. * Here's Bruce with his brothers Bobby and John (not sure who's who). This poll was inspired because his first album came up today on the list of albums I challenged myself to listen to. Very evocative of 1986 to me; the guy in the dorm room next-door to mine took a lot of pride in having "discovered" Hornsby before any of us did and was always playing this. (I was like that with REM, what insufferable dicks sophomores are, but that's just the way it is).

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 28 2015 05:43 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: * Was a sideman for lots of acts prior to breakthrough including Sheena Easton (he can be seen on her "Sugar Walls" video) and even more post-breakthru. Is that song about what my inner 13-year-old thinks it's about? Let's have a sample of the lyrics to be sure: Blood races to your private spots Let me know there's a fire You can't fight passion when passion is hot Temperatures rise inside my sugar walls Nope. It's a song commissioned by OSHA about safe working conditions at a candy factory.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Oct 28 2015 05:48 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Well, you've got to be mindful of heat expansion in your industrial confectionery's sugar walls, as the 1947 SweetSaltyBalls Co. shaft explosion in Upper Colon, PA taught us.

HahnSolo Oct 29 2015 06:59 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Frayed Knot wrote: I have never in my life heard of 'Glass Tiger' - and I'm pretty sure I was alive that particular year. They pretty specifically asked you not to forget them when they were gone.

HahnSolo Oct 29 2015 07:00 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

I went with On the Western Skyline. Not sure why; his songs always felt a little interchangeable to me.

Edgy MD Oct 29 2015 07:30 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: This poll was inspired because his first album came up today on the list of albums I challenged myself to listen to. So, Joan Baez is next?

Mets – Willets Point Oct 29 2015 08:45 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

As some of you may know, I went to William & Mary in Williamsburg, Bruce Hornsby's hometown. Bruce spottings were pretty common, and usually folks were pretty starstruck because my time there coincided with the peak of his popularity. His father ran a major real estate company in the area and his mother was the Christian Science chaplain at W&M (she was also a bit of a space cadet in my encounters with her). I saw Bruce Hornsby with and without the Range 3 or 4 times in concert and he puts on a great show. Definitely on my list of artists who are far better live than on record (the live album "Here Come the Noise Makers" does a good job of capturing that). And he most definitely had a live drummer not a drum machine.

Mets Guy in Michigan Oct 29 2015 09:08 AM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

I'm a big Hornsby fan. I've even had the chance to meet him a couple times and he was very, very nice. One of the coolest shows I ever attended was Brice appearing at a book store of all places. The had a big grand piano and people were just able to sit or stand around it. He played all kinds of things, told stories, answered questions, took requests and then took time to meet everyone and sign autographs. I love that he gives away tons of music on his website. Lots and lots of concerts there for sale and for free,

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 29 2015 01:07 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

Edgy MD wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: This poll was inspired because his first album came up today on the list of albums I challenged myself to listen to. So, Joan Baez is next? Knocked off Joan last night. Not a real big fan but it was OK. Tackling this thing has been inspiring and surprising at times and an absolute chore at others. If I had any sense I'd have blogged it all as I did it and never run out of material. Among my main impressions is that, man, we could have done without the 90s. I mean, almost all of it. PS, I voted for "Valley Road" but mainly becasue it's a hit you don't hear too much any more. I agree with MGIM, Bruce is pleasant but his songs are so interchangable. There's nothing wrong with him but he's a little, samey-samey.

Edgy MD Oct 29 2015 02:28 PM Re: On a Desert Island with Bruce

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Knocked off Joan last night. Wow! You'd figure this would have been in the papers by now. John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Among my main impressions is that, man, we could have done without the 90s. I mean, almost all of it. I could have saved you SO much time. My old Park Slope acquaintance, Dave Hamburger, who plays on Freedy Johnston's first album, is Joan's regular guitarist these days.