If You're Only Going to Buy One Greatest Hits Set From... Dan Fogelberg

Just wanted to see if you’re paying attention.  Seriously, Dan Fogelberg got kind of a bad rap over the peak years of his career, which has slowly faded away since his death from prostate cancer in 2007.  As far as I can tell, his career had three distinct phases:

1. The album artist years (1972-1979), in which Fogelberg released five studio albums (one a collaboration with flutist Tim Weisberg).  The albums all went platinum or better (admittedly, they backlisted well – his first album Home Free is now platinum even though it never cracked the top 200  on the Billboard charts), but he had less luck with singles – only two made the Hot 100, neither of which climbed above #24.
2. The hit singles years (1980-1983), in which two studio albums and a greatest hits set yielded eight top 30 pop hits.  Admittedly, this was a period of retrenchment on top 40 radio after the disco era drove a giant wedge between its listeners, but also a bunch of major rock acts were breaking up (Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, The Who), and radio PDs tend to be conservative.
3. The rest of the time (1984-2007), in which his next album, Windows and Walls, yielded one top 40 hit, and it was a long downward slide after that.  Of course, Fogelberg, having written a couple of standards (“Longer,” “Leader of the Band”) had done so well at that time that he could pretty much record and release records he wanted to at his own pace.  (It’s the songwriters that rake in the really big bucks, kiddies, and if you write a wedding standard, you’re golden.)

Anyway, Fogelberg has had a number of best-ofs released over the years, which means pointing everyone in the right direction is a good idea.  And although I don’t really consider myself a big fan, I realized this week I have 40 percent of his studio albums (counting the two Weisberg collaborations, and discounting a Christmas album) plus a box set, so I’m probably better equipped to write this than I thought.

Quick note:  Fogelberg was on Epic/Sony for the vast majority of his career, but he also released the Christmas album and a live album on the band Chicago’s short-lived label (they eventually decided it wasn’t worth the bother and moved their back catalogue to Rhino), the second collaboration with Tim Weisberg on Giant (his manager Irving Azoff’s short-lived label), and one studio album on his own label, distributed by Jimmy Buffett’s record company.  You won’t find any of that stuff on the greatest hits sets, partially because Sony probably didn’t want to pay to lease any of the music, and partially because none of the songs were hits.

In any case, here’s the best option:

The Very Best of Dan Fogelberg (2001)

17 songs clocking in at over 74 minutes, and the only major hit missing from the compilation is “The Power of Gold,” done with Weisberg.  (Two guesses on why it might be missing:  either Fogelberg wanted it to be a pure Fogelberg-only compilation, or he was a little ticked off at Weisberg, who sued him in 1997 for alleged breach of contract and fraud over their followup collaboration No Resemblance Whatsoever.)  Anyway, all of the major hits from the early 1980s are here, along with some misses from the late 1980s and early 1990s – and that’s not a claim most of the other single-disk sets can make. (I might have chosen to put something on from Nether Lands, his 1977 hit album without any hit singles, but it’s not a deal breaker.)  Plus the price is right - $6.99 for the disk and $8.99 for the download on Amazon, $9.99 for the download on iTunes.

I’m going to take a detour here to make a point clearly that I’ve made in passing before – if the price of the disk is as cheap or cheaper than the download, for God’s sake buy the disk.  You’re getting the liner notes (assuming there are some) as well, and even if the shipping is an issue, you can usually find enough other stuff you need or want on Amazon to bring it down to free shipping.  And, as many articles have pointed out, you don’t actually own what you download – it’s like a long-term lease with no option to buy.

Off the soapbox.  Here are the other Fogelberg options (links go to Wikipedia when they’re available):

Greatest Hits (1982) – Perfectly reasonable hits set released at the peak of his career; doesn’t miss any of the hits to that point, and it’s actually the biggest seller in his catalogue.  Minuses:  having been released in late 1982, it only represents half of his career overall, and the stupid cover design, which was done to accommodate a new display record stores briefly tried out.  I guess Sony is trying to put this one out of print - it's not available for download, and the disk itself is $15.98 on Amazon.  Still, if you come across it at a used CD store it's a perfectly good choice.

Love Songs (1995) – I hate these things with a blind fury, and even Fogelberg’s makes no sense – which seems odd, given love songs represented about 90 percent of his output.  But not every one of his songs belongs to a set that seems designed to set a mood, which is obvious given the disparity between the wedding standard “Longer,” the loving tribute to his father “Leader of the Band,” the letdown song “Hard to Say,” and the bitter post-divorce epic “Seeing You Again” – all of which are included here.  Still thinking about getting your freak on after hearing those on shuffle play?  Mercifully out of print on disk, $8.99/$9.99 for the download on Amazon/iTunes.

Portrait (1997) – Four CDs worth of music after Fogelberg left Epic in the mid-1990s, which is probably too much for most fans, although it does have a few songs not available elsewhere.  Organized into four themes – Hits, Ballads, Rock & Roll, Tales & Travels – with notes on each song, personnel notes, and a lengthy biography.  This is the one I have – bought from BMG Music Service at a time when they marked box sets way, way down.  Unfortunately, the physical box set is out of print (maybe not completely unfortunate – the box design is terrible, and all of the disk holders arrived broken, so I have to be very careful removing the set from the shelf), so you can get the music for $29.99 off either Amazon or iTunes, but not the liner notes.

Promises (1998) – To be filed under “Greatest Hits Sets for Schmucks.”  10 songs, two chart hits with a mishmash of other stuff, apparently for those who already had Greatest Hits but couldn’t afford Portrait.  Bargain priced at the time of release, it’s now $16 on Amazon.  Not available for download.

Super Hits (2001) – Another bargain set, this one has three top 40 hits among its 10 songs, so you’re getting a bunch of “hits” that weren’t.  Oddly, available for download at $5.99 on both Amazon and iTunes (most of Sony’s Super Hits sets aren’t downloadable), $7.99 for the disk on Amazon.

The Essential Dan Fogelberg (2003) – I guess when Sony started releasing these things, Dan was only worthy of a one-disk set.  14 songs, reasonable selection (“The Power of Gold” is here), but since this is shorter than Very Best for the same price (actually, it’s a buck more on Amazon for the download; the disk itself is out of print), why would you bother?

Playlist: The Very Best of Dan Fogelberg (2009) – This is actually a perfectly reasonable, slightly cheaper alternative to Very Best of.  At 14 songs, it’s three songs shorter, but it does have all of his 11 top 40 hits (including “The Power of Gold”).  $5.99 for the disk, $7.99 for the download on Amazon (iTunes doesn’t have it, however).  If you want to go cheaper, this is a fine option; at the very least it’s infinitely preferable to Super Hits.

The Essential Dan Fogelberg (2014) – Ooh, it’s Déjà Vu All Over Again.  Eleven years later, whoever was running Sony’s reissue program decided Fogelberg was worthy of a two-disk set in the Essentials series – but they didn’t pull the one-disk Essential set off the download market.  So now you can have two.  I really wish they’d put this one in chronological order – most of the Essentials sets are – but that’s a personal preference.  This one doesn’t seem to be available on disk, but $14.99 for a two-disk download is a reasonable purchase, and it’s a good compromise for those who want more than the one-disk sets but don’t want to splurge 30 dollars for Portrait.  The way to tell the difference between the two identically titled sets if you’re going to download one:  the one disk-set is $9.99 for 14 songs whereas the two-disk set is $14.99 for 28 songs, and Fogelberg is beard-free on the one-disk set but bearded on the second disk.

Totally irrelevant side note:  after Fogelberg shaved his beard, if he was a twin son with anybody named Tim, it was Tim Matheson. 

“Eric Stratton, rush chairman.  Damn glad to meet you.”

Superhits 1980-1984, Part 3

 Time to catch up on this.

“Don’t Make Me Over,” Jennifer Warnes, #67, 1/19/80

Faithful remake of the 1962 Dionne Warwick, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  The song was originally written after Warwick, who had gotten tired of singing demos for Bacharach and David and then watching them make recordings of the songs with others, angrily told the two “don't make me over, man . . . (you have to) accept me for what I am.”  David took Warwick’s outburst and made it part of the lyrics, and the song made #21.  (She probably felt better about the two than she did about her record company, Scepter, which misspelled her actual last name, Warrick, on the label, forcing a stage name change.)  In 1989, Sybil would have the biggest hit with the song, reaching #20.

“Shooting Star,” Dollar, #74, 1/19/80

The first of 14 chart hits in their native United Kingdom, but their one and only U.S. chart entry.  Dollar was the duo of David Van Day and Thereza Bazar, who had previously been part of the British group Guys ‘n Dolls.  Striking off on their own in 1977 (after having formed a romantic relationship), they would hit the British top 10 four times between 1979 and 1982 with “Love’s Gotta Hold on Me,” “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” “Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour),” and “Give Me Back My Heart.”  However, they split both professionally and personally in 1983, although they’ve reunited to make a few more recordings and appearances on and off since then.  Don’t look for them to get back together anytime soon; Van Day’s appearance on the British version of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! seems to have made the break with Bazar permanent (“I really hope he swallows a worm in there and chokes on it”).

“Takin’ It Back,” Breathless, #92, 1/19/80

The one and only hit for the six-man band from Cleveland, Ohio.  Led by guitarist and singer Johan Koslen (previously of The Michael Stanley Band), this was a pretty good rocker.  Unfortunately, this was pretty much all we heard from them; they broke up after their second album.  Koslen formed a couple other bands and performed solo during the 1980s and reunited temporarily with Michael Stanley in 1993, while keyboard player Mark Avsec and drummer Kevin Valentine became members of Donnie Iris’ band, The Cruisers.  Produced by Don Gehman, who would also produce many of John Mellencamp’s 1980s records, as well as Life’s Rich Pageant by R.E.M.

“Coward of the County,” Kenny Rogers, #3, 1/26/80

Story song by Rogers, along the lines of “The Gambler.”  Written by Roger Bowling and Billy Ed Wheeler, the story concerns a young man, Tommy, who has promised his late father, who died in prison, that he wouldn’t follow in his footsteps and be a brawler.  When three local brothers attack his girlfriend, however, he faces them down and beats the tar out of them.  Rogers and the songwriters have made it clear that “the Gatlin brothers” in the story have no relation nor reflect badly on the real-life country band of the same name.

“I Wanna Be Your Lover,” Prince, #11, 1/26/80

First Top 40 hit for Prince (“Soft and Wet” barely scraped into Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1978), and it’s a good one.  The falsetto gets a little annoying at times (it took me a few years to realize the high vocals were the exception, not the rule), but it was another super-catchy R&B hit, and the lyrics were safe enough for AM radio.  (Prince wouldn’t have any further top 40 hits until 1983’s “Little Red Corvette” for precisely that reason, with that song making the grade because it was more innuendo-laden and less direct.)  This was a pretty good period for Top 40 radio, and this song was a major reason why… even if I didn’t appreciate it at the time.  However, this video, at 16 and a half minutes, may be a little much.

“Wait for Me,” Daryl Hall & John Oates, #18, 1/26/80

On the other hand, this was Hall & Oates’ seventh top 40 hit, and their only chart hit from the album X-Static.  A midtempo showcase for Hall’s vocals, this shows up on a lot of the duo’s compilations (the version on Rock ‘n Soul, Part 1 is a live version that hasn’t been released anywhere else).  Actually, at this point it looked like Hall & Oates’ career was slowing down – X-Static would be one of only two albums they released between 1975 and 1990 that didn’t go at least gold (the other would be 1977’s Livetime, which they later told biographer Nick Tosches had “nothing to do with anything”).  However, their followup album, 1980’s Voices, would yield four chart hits and turn their career around.

“Third Time Lucky,” Foghat, #23, 1/26/80

Fifth and final top 40 hit for the boogie band originally from London, all on Bearsville Records (Foghat and Todd Rundgren were the label’s mainstays; after the band temporarily broke up in 1984 and Rundgren signed a contract with Warner Brothers, the label folded).  The title refers to the lead singer’s luck with love; his first two times he didn’t know what he was doing and got burned, but he was lucky the third time.  Believe it or not, these guys still tour:  drummer Roger Earl has been there since the beginning, while bass player Craig MacGregor has had four tours of duty (including the glory years of 1976-1981); guitarists and singers Dave Peverett and Rod Price are now deceased and their places have been taken by Charlie Huhn and Bryan Bassett.  Check out the tour schedule and plans for the new album at www.foghat.net.

“Glide,” Pleasure, #55, 1/26/80

One-hit wonder band from Portland, Oregon; Pleasure was created when two soul/funk bands there merged, Franchise and The Soul Masters.  Wayne Henderson, trombone player for The Crusaders, got the band signed to Fantasy Records in 1975; they would record six albums there and one for RCA before calling it quits in 1982.  This song made #10 on the R&B charts, easily their biggest hit on both the soul and pop charts. 

Leif Garrett, “Memorize Your Number,” #60, 1/26/80

Hard to believe this guy, whose vocal abilities were limited, was on his eighth of ten chart hits.  He got his record contract during the teen heartthrob portion of his acting career, having appeared on projects as varied as Walking Tall, The Odd Couple TV series (he played Felix Unger’s son Leonard), and Three for the Road.  He might have had better luck as a singer if Atlantic Records had stuck with a single plan – his first album was primarily remakes of rock classics, his second album was mostly disco, and the third album featured pop rockers like this.  Garrett was already headed down darker paths (he had been the driver in a 1979 car crash that left a close friend of his, a passenger in the vehicle, a paraplegic), so it’s probably not a surprise his music career would start petering out over the next couple of years.

Journey, “Too Late,” #70, 1/26/80

Third single from the band’s 1979 album Evolution, which was their first album with Steve Smith on drums (previous albums had Aynsley Dunbar drumming, but he had left to join Jefferson Starship).  It’s a typical Steve Perry-led power ballad, but the band was far from being the cash cow they would become (“Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’” had just become their first top 40 hit a few months before).  This is yet another band still hitting the boards – many of their performances this summer will feature other classic rock artists, such as Santana, The Doobie Brothers, or Dave Mason.

Lobo, “Holdin’ On for Dear Love,” #75, 1/26/80

Here’s another guy who had a lot more chart hits than I would have thought.  Lobo (full name Roland Kent LaVoie) hit the Billboard charts 15 times during his career.  His two biggest hits were “I’d Love You to Want Me” (#2, 1972) and “Me and You and a Dog Named Boo” (#5, 1971).  By 1980, the hits had slowed down, but there were still coming (1979’s “Where Were You When I Was Falling in Love” hit #23).  This one was Lobo’s last American hit, but he’s still touring in Asia, where he remains popular.

If You're Only Going to Buy One Greatest Hits Set From... Earth, Wind & Fire

Yeah, yeah, I’m overdue.  But this is a tough one for me, because of Maurice White’s death.  I really like Earth, Wind and Fire – I have five studio albums and two greatest hits sets by the band, which is more than I own by either the Eagles or Jefferson Airplane/Starship.  From 1975 to 1979, they were the premier funk/r&b band.  After that, they got lumped in with disco (unfair) and people got sick of them pretty quickly (somewhat fair – Maurice White was awfully prolific during that time period, and might have been better served by taking a break).  Still, the band tours today (they hadn’t performed live with Maurice White for over a decade, due to his Parkinson’s issues), and they still draw pretty well.

There are a pile of EWF hits sets to choose from, and none of them are perfect.  This one is the closest, and the best dollar value.

Greatest Hits

Easy enough to remember the title, right?  17 songs, most of which are truly great hits (two non-singles are included – “Reasons,” for obvious, uh, reasons, and “Gratitude,” for less obvious ones, at least to me), and only one top 20 pop hit is missed (1982’s “Fall in Love With Me”).  The disk is $6.99 right now on Amazon, and the MP3 download is an unbelievable $5.00 (that may be a special promo price so that Amazon can rake in a few more bucks now that Maurice White is dead – I think I’ve seen higher prices at other times, and iTunes has it at $9.99). 

Here are the others available (links are to the Wikipedia entries when available):

Another Time (1974) is a compilation of the band’s first two albums on Warner Brothers records (all of their big hits were on Columbia), and it’s almost a different band.  This was never released on CD to my knowledge, and since those first two albums are available on CD and MP3, there really isn’t much need to search this out (aside from one song, “Handwriting on the Wall,” which is otherwise unavailable).

The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol. 1 (1978) is the one almost everybody has on vinyl, if only to play “September” at parties (it was never made available on any studio albums).  This is a crackling good set (although it didn’t occur to me until now how presumptuous it was to call it Volume 1) with no misses whatsoever.  However, since it’s usually the same price as Greatest Hits, and is missing a lot of the songs from that album (the only song here that Greatest Hits doesn’t have is the never-a-hit “Love Music,” plus a few megamixes from the 2000 CD rerelease), it’s now pretty skippable.

The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol. 2 (1988) isn’t nearly as necessary as the first volume, although it includes three great hits in “Boogie Wonderland,” “After the Love Has Gone,” and “Let’s Groove.”  However, it also fails to include “Fall in Love With Me” (is there something Maurice didn’t like about that song?), and scrapes up a bunch of midchart mid-70s hits while foregoing “System of Survival,” a great near-miss from 1987 that should have gotten more airplay.

The Eternal Dance (1993) is a three-disk box set that has every big hit and all but a few of the smaller ones (“Fall in Love With Me” and “System of Survival” are both here), plus a smattering of album cuts, live versions, and alternate takes.  I think it’s still in print, as Amazon has the physical box at $33.99 (although I suspect if Amazon sells out, Sony won’t be making more copies).  Here’s the odd thing:  Amazon doesn’t have it for download, but iTunes does – at $19.99.  The booklet is nice, but it ain’t worth 14 dollars. 

Elements of Love: The Ballads (1996) is another odious “all love songs” hits set.  If you want only the love songs, buy a longer hits set and program your MP3 player accordingly.

The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire (2002) shows that while Columbia/Sony does a great job on this series 95 percent of the time, sometimes they fall asleep at the switch.  Chronologically it’s all over the place, and while “Fall in Love With Me” finally made it to a hits set, “System of Survival” is still nowhere to be found (unless you can dig up a copy of the limited edition three-disk set, which is now out of print).  Further, six out of the nine songs from 1979’s I Am are here, including three tracks that weren’t even released as singles (at least here in the States) – while “Star,” also from that album and a song that did chart on the Hot 100, doesn’t make the cut.  $11.88 for the CD and $14.99 for the download on either Amazon or iTunes – but I’d grab The Eternal Dance off iTunes first.

Love Songs (2004) – wait, they had to release two of these fucking things?

Playlist: The Very Best of Earth, Wind and Fire (2008) is on CD only, and it’s probably worth it as a truck-stop purchase.  It has its share of headscratchers (who thought “Be Ever Wonderful” was more important to include than “Got to Get You Into My Life”?), but it’s $5.99 on Amazon, and as far as cheap hits set series go, the Playlist sets from Sony are far better than those awful 20^th Century Masters things from UMG.

No pop greatest hits sets from the individual members.  Maurice White released one solo LP in 1985 with a remake of “Stand By Me,” which was quickly forgotten the following year when Ben E. King’s original became a hit all over again.  Philip Bailey (he’s the one with the high tenor/falsetto; he sings both those parts and Maurice White’s in concert now) doesn’t have any pop anthologies (mostly because other than 1985’s hit “Easy Lover” with Phil Collins, he didn’t have many solo pop hits), but he did release a number of gospel albums concurrent with his pop career in the 1980s.  The one-disk The Best of Philip Bailey: A Gospel Collection, released in 1991, is available for download on both iTunes and Amazon.  He’s done a couple of jazz albums as well.

Just in case you’re debating between one disk and two, here’s the difference between Greatest Hits and Essential EWF.

Song Title	Year of Release	Billboard Peak	Greatest Hits	Essential EWF
Fan the Fire	1970	-
Love Is Life	1971	93
Evil	1972	50		Yes
Keep Your Head to the Sky	1972	52		Yes
Mighty Mighty	1974	29	Yes	Yes
Kalimba Story	1974	55	Yes	Yes
Open Our Eyes	1974	-		Yes
Drum Song	1974	-		Yes
Devotion	1974	33		Yes
Hot Dawgit (with Ramsey Lewis)	1974	50
Shining Star	1975	1	Yes	Yes
Sun Goddess (with Ramsey Lewis)	1975	44
That's the Way of the World	1975	12	Yes	Yes
Reasons	1975	-	Yes	Yes
Yearnin' Learnin'	1975	-		Yes
All About Love	1975	-		Yes
Sing a Song	1975	5	Yes	Yes
Gratitude	1976	-	Yes
Can't Hide Love	1976	39	Yes	Yes
Getaway	1976	12	Yes	Yes
Saturday Nite	1976	21	Yes	Yes
Ponta de Areia (Brazilian Rhyme)/Be Ever Wonderful	1977	-		Yes
Serpentine Fire	1977	13	Yes	Yes
I'll Write a Song for You	1977	-		Yes
Fantasy	1978	32	Yes	Yes
Got to Get You Into My Life	1978	9	Yes	Yes
September	1978	8	Yes	Yes
Boogie Wonderland (with The Emotions)	1979	6	Yes	Yes
After the Love Has Gone	1979	2	Yes	Yes
In the Stone	1979	58		Yes
Star	1979	64
Can't Let Go	1979	-		Yes
Wait	1979	-		Yes
You and I	1979	-		Yes
Let Me Talk	1980	44		Yes
You	1980	48		Yes
And Love Goes On	1981	59		Yes
Let's Groove	1981	3	Yes	Yes
Wanna Be With You	1982	51
Fall in Love With Me	1983	17		Yes
Side By Side	1983	76		Yes
Magnetic	1983	57
System of Survival	1987	60
Thinking of You	1987	67
Sunday Morning	1993	53