In the many years of recorded music, there is bound to be "repeats". I'm not necessarily talking about songs that sound the same, although that is inevitable, (and resulting in the occasional lawsuit). I am more talking about song titles, and even acts with the same name. This blog is about one of those situations where the song title and the artist is the same as that from thirty years prior, but it's a different song, and maybe a different band.
Common song titles are not rare at all; after all, there is just so many to go around. "Hold On", for example has been the title of many, many different songs, a great portion of them that making the Billboard Hot 100. Artists such as Santana, Wilson Phillips, Ian Gomm, Triumph, Jamie Walters, Colbie Caillat, Alabama Shakes, Wild Cherry, Justin Bieber, and En Vogue are just a tip of the iceberg as far as songs named "Hold On" go.
There are even acts that have the same name. During the pop music era there have been more than one Temptations (a New York based group had a hit called "Barbara" a few years before the more familiar Motown quintet made its mark); The Charlatans (A late-sixties San Francisco-based band preceded the British alternative band of the early nineties); Bush (A Canadian rock band circa 1970 well before the British Gavin Rossdale-led band of the 1990's); Sweet Sensation (A Brit soul band had a top 20 hit in 1975 with "Sad Sweet Dreamer), and a U.S. freestyle-dance group popular in the late 1980's); and Face to Face (A female led Boston band in the 1980's) and an LA-based rock group in the 90's), are just some of the similarly-named acts over the years.
Actually, if you look at the trade magazines' record reviews in the 1960's, you will see many more familiar names that predate the later, more popular groups. In fact, once, around 1969, there was an ad for a band called The Knack, on Capitol Records....a full decade BEFORE the "My Sharona" group that we all know, was a hit...on Capitol, no less. Haunting....like the story I am about to tell.
It starts in the autumn of 1985. I still had my eye on the top 40, but instead of listening to New York City stations, I actually listened to two that were closer to me: Trenton's WPST and Allentown's Q100 (WQQQ at the time). Not only did they have a bigger playlist than the New York stations; they also played more local (to those cities) acts that didn't have national hits. Bands like Smash Palace, Tommy Cronwell & the Young Rumblers, John Eddie and Robert Hazard (later known for writing Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun") were often played.
 |
| Synch, a northeastern PA band had a top ten hit in 1989 with "Where Are You Now", with lead vocals by Jimmy Harnen |
A song played a lot on Q-100 in the fall of 1985 was "Where Are You Now?", by a Wilkes-Barre based band called Synch. Synch was a five-man group led by lead vocalist Lou Butwin, guitarist Dave Abraham, Chuck Yarmey on keyboards, James A. Donelly on bass, and Jimmy Harnen on drums. Although Butwin normally sang lead, "Where Are You Now?" featured Harnen as the lead; he also co-wrote the song. The tender power ballad of lost love hit home with me (and, apparently with other listeners as it was on the stations nightly "top 5 at 9" countdown of requests); and as a result, it made my top 100 list of 1985, coming in at #85. By early 1986, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at #77. The band was signed to Columbia Records, but after a few follow-ups that didn't chart, the label dropped the band. Still, "Where Are You Now?" remained popular in northwest Pennsylvania, still getting requests. Even in markets as far as Richmond Virgina, the song was still popular there as well.
However, as no new songs were able to catch on, the band broke up, and Harnen signed a solo deal with new label WTG Records.
1989 was a notable year in pop music for a couple of reasons. Many acts that hadn't had hits in years made "comebacks" into the top ten. Donna Summer, The Doobie Brothers, Donny Osmond, Alice Cooper and The Bee Gees all had their first hits in six years or more. And then there was the other trend: the so-called "Shoulda-woulda hits", where songs that perhaps charted in the past were resurrected and became chart hits again, and even became bona-fide hits, years after their release.
A song called "Into the Night" by Benny Mardones hit #11 back in 1980, but a Buffalo radio station started playing the song again. As a result, it came back on the Hot 100, hitting the top 20 a second time, nine years later. Perhaps more significantly, a 1983 song by a Canadian band called Sheriff, called "When I'm With You" (a ballad similar to "Where Are You Now?") got up to #61 that year, in spite of it being popular on WPST on that station's request countdown, and this time, upon re-release, got all the way up to #1 in 1989 in spite of the band having long broken up by then.
Lightning struck a third time, with "Where Are You Now?" Perhaps because of the success of the other two songs, the song got a resurgence in airplay. WTG re-released the song, but since only Harnen was signed to the label, and the original band had broken up, the song was credited to "Jimmy Harnen with Synch". Sure enough, the song finally became a hit, landing at the #10 position in 1989. It was pivotal to Harnen launching a solo career with his first album Can't Fight the Midnight. But, like his former band, he couldn't successfully follow-up the song, even with noted musicians assisting such as Randy Jackson (later of American Idol), Steve Lukather (Toto) and Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), and he retired from the performing side of the music business.
Harnen became the promotional director for DreamWorks records, and by 2006, he became senior vice president for Capitol Records. Recently he is now head of Republic Nashville Records, whose roster includes Florida-Georgia Line, and others. Sounds like Jimmy Harnen is doing alright for himself these days.
And now, the bizarre part. As many of you know, I make year-end lists of my favorite songs of the years gone by; I've been doing this since 1976, but recently I had created such lists retroactively back to 1964. An ongoing project of mine is to create playlists based on these song lists on my iTunes and iPod. So far, I had finished 1964 through 1984, 1992 to 1996, 2001, and since I have done this blog, 2010 to 2021. I've either purchased the songs through Amazon or iTunes, or used CD's, cassettes and vinyl to digitize them to my computer. Although my collection is extensive, I've usually took the easy way out and paid a dollar for the songs via download, but the few that aren't available, I went back to my record collection.
I had been working on 1985, and I was up to my #85 song, "Where Are You Now?" As it was credited to Jimmy Harnen, that is what I keyed in my search, but I couldn't find anything by him. But I did find it by Synch...or so I thought. Figuring that was it (although wondering why it was credited to that band when it was pretty much Harnen), I downloaded it and blindly added it to my 1985 top 100 playlist.
A day later I completed my top 100 of 1985, and as it was a nice day, decided to head outside on my deck to soak up some rays, while playing the 1985 list on my iPod. from #100 on downward. Notable songs like Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" (#96); Stevie Wonder's "Part-Time Lover" (#92) and David Lee Roth's remake of "California Girls" (#87) were playing. The #86 song, Don Henley's "Not Enough Love in the World" came up, but I had to go inside briefly to get something, however I kept the music playing. When I got back outside, a song that I had never heard before was playing. What the heck was it? The iPod said this was Synch's "Where Are You Now?" but that wasn't the song I thought was playing. What gives? I went back to iTunes where I downloaded the song to check out the information. Well, ity turns out that it was from an album called Bring Back the Truth, and it was released in......2018!
That's right, it's a relatively new song, and apparently the band is well. They (or at least a band with the same name) released an EP that same year, IMPACT and a standalone single in 2019, "Cash". So, is this a new band that just happened to do a song that has the same title as a similarly named band over thirty years before? Did the original band (minus Harnen) get back to together similar to Jersey groups like The Doughboys, or Smash Palace (who, incidentally, had the song just above it in my countdown---"Living On the Borderline" at #84). And if so, why a different song with the same title as their one hit? Maybe it was to deceive us, and get downloads, thinking it was the originally 80's hit.
I tried Googling Synch but all I got was the original eighties group; it had no YouTube video nor Wikipedia page, or Facebook group for that matter. Was this just a very local group similar to that of, say Oneiric that's very grassroots? Searching on Amazon got "Where Are You Now?" by Synch, dated January 1, 1986, suggesting the original, but upon clicking on it, the 2018 edition came up similar to iTunes.
As for the new "Where Are You Now?" I actually love it! Maybe even better than the original one. It, like the original, is a tender ballad, with a bit more ambience to it. While it may or may not fit in with the other 80's music, it probably could also be compatible with recent music. I had also considered adding it to my current blog playlist, but, without a video or any more information, I am unable to. And finally, I had listened to "Cash", the 2019 single, and it was completely different....definitely in the hip-hop lane....so, are there many acts with the Synch name (similar to when I discovered Oneiric last year)?. It's also the name of a Marvel superhero character and since Marvel is very popular now, so, apparently is the name). It's definitely confusing, and the whole thing seemed like one bizarre paradox: A band with the same name performing a new song with the same name as what the originally-named group put out. Briefly listening to the rest of Bring Back the Truth, while it had a hint of David Bowie in the vocals, the presentation wasn't too far off from the 1980's "Where Are You Now". To hear a part of the new "Where Are You Now?", check amazon.com and search for it, or the iTunes store to hear it for yourself.
As far as the original, I dug through my old cassettes and I found it, so no worries. But I'm keeping the new one! Maybe it will make my playlist. Stay tuned.
I guess episodes like this make music listening still interesting after all these years.
SNS 100: Long Island's Laura Pergolizzi, better known as LP, lands her first number one on my playlist with the tender "Angels", as it displaces Portugal.The Man's "What, Me Worry?", after one week at the top. Close by, however, and poised to take the top spot as early as next week are Mitski's "The Only Heartbreaker" and The Black Keys' "Wild Child", which is going for the duo's seventh blog topper. David F. Porfirio's "Dreamscape" moves 11-6 becoming the Queens artist's fifth top 10 and joins Einstein's Dad's "Here to Home" as two instrumentals in the top 10. Other big movers include Train's "AM Gold"(12-8), Deb Browning and Six Piece Suits' 'Take Me By the Hand" (13-11); Florence + the Machine's "My Love" (15-12), Joy Again's "Looking Out for You" (17-13, after stuck at the #17 position for three weeks); Hegazy's 'Maybe If We Try" (19-16) and Parquet Courts' "Watching Strangers Smile" with the Impact Award (23-17).
The Mover of the Week goes to Curtis Harding's "I Won't Let You Down" in a 53-23 move. But the SNS jinx is in effect since it's off the WEQX playlist. However, it won't be off mine anytime soon!
NEWIES: Eight new songs added this week, led by "Fire" by The Palms. (Speaking of songs with same titles, how many songs named "Fire" can you name?). The band topped my playlist in 2017 with "Push Off"; followed it with the #2 "Levitate" and the #3 "Don't Waste My Time" before slipping to #44 with "Human Condition" in late 2018. This is the duo's first release since then. The sound is intact in this mid-tempo song with great pop sensibilities. With repeated listens, it could put them right back up to the top.
Bakar, from Britain also has had a blog number one to his credit, that being "1st Time" just a little over a year ago in a six-week run at the top, which has not been equaled since. He returns with "Free", which continues his rather psychedelic soul with an awesome organ intro. The slow start gets into gear with a harmonic and beat-worthy rap-like vocal, the organ continuing in the background. Bakar is one of my favorite artists and without a doubt should return to the upper regions of my playlist.
I often get beabadoobee confused with Babeheaven because of sort of similar names, but the sounds couldn't be more different. First of all, beabadoobee is one person, that being the Filipino-British singer-songwriter Beatrice Kristi Laus, based in London. This is a perfect alt-rock song with great vocals, and fuzzy guitar midway. Very catchy song.
Next is Einstein's Dad's follow-up to the recent blog #1 "Here to Home" with "Back to You (Tribute to George Harrison)". Like the prior song, this is an instrumental featuring Mario Licata, Steven Shouse and Richard Bradley (apparently, Tom Corea is absent on this one). As the subtitle suggests, this is a tribute to perhaps the most underrated ex-Beatle. Beginning with an intro echoing his "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun" (and repeated later in the song), the song continues with a similar guitar sound that marked both Harrison's time with the Fab Four as well as his solo career. This is from E.D.'s sixth album (in one year!!) Don't Stop Now. Well done.
As you know, I am a fan of Carolina beach music, and I wanted to add at least one new one this week. The common problem I have with doing that, is that many of those listed on beach music charts aren't available for download. I went through a bunch of possibilities before I landed on Lesa Hudson's "Sunny Days". And I lucked out big time. Not only is the song available for download, but there is an awesome video. The song is so upbeat and positive; it might be beach music's answer to "Walking on Sunshine". Ms. Hudson looks so happy in the video, and it rubs off on the rest of us. I don't really know too much about the singer but as the song rises on my playlist, I will find out more.
Next is the latest from My Morning Jacket, "In Color". This is a slow, bluesy ballad that is a departure from recent efforts that picks up and rocks a bit towards the middle but settles down again at the end..very bone-chilling. Their last few songs didn't do well here but this one should put them back on top; their best since 2020's #7 "Feel You". Grows on you.
When I was searching for another Nick Waterhouse song, I came upon "Memories" released last month, but upon listening to it, it was pretty much a piano instrumental in a New Age style. The Synch paradox again? Well, looking at Waterhouse's 2021 album, Promenade Blue, some tracks actually approached that. But, for my third entry off the album, I went with the leadoff song, "Place Names", more in the style that I am used to, in his retro early 60's motif. Waterhouse should make it 11-for-11 in blog top 20's with this one.
Bishop Briggs hit #1 blog in 2017 as featured vocalist on Cold War Kids' 'So Tied Up" but has just missed a couple times solo. She returns with "High Water". A steady beat and very strong and heartfelt vocals stir this soulful song that should do the trick for Bishop.
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist
April 17, 2022 (week ending April 23)
|
This Week |
Last
Week |
ARTIST-Title |
Weeks
on List |
|
1 |
3 |
NUMBER ONE:  "Angels" Album: Churches |
12 |
|
2 |
1 |
8 |
|
|
3 |
4 |
7 |
|
|
4 |
6 |
6 |
|
|
5 |
2 |
12 |
|
|
6 |
11 |
7 |
|
|
7 |
5 |
9 |
|
|
8 |
12 |
5 |
|
|
9 |
7 |
12 |
|
|
10 |
8 |
9 |
|
|
11 |
13 |
5 |
|
|
12 |
15 |
5 |
|
|
13 |
17 |
7 |
|
|
14 |
16 |
7 |
|
|
15 |
19 |
5 |
|
|
16 |
9 |
11 |
|
|
17 |
10 |
11 |
|
|
18 |
14 |
10 |
|
|
19 |
24 |
TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:  (Single Only) |
6 |
|
20 |
18 |
11 |
|
|
21 |
23 |
7 |
|
|
22 |
22 |
14 |
|
|
23 |
53 |
MOVER OF THE WEEK:  Album: If Words Were Flowers |
2 |
|
24 |
21 |
18 |
|
|
25 |
20 |
19 |
|
|
26 |
28 |
5 |
|
|
27 |
31 |
4 |
|
|
28 |
30 |
6 |
|
|
29 |
25 |
10 |
|
|
30 |
26 |
8 |
|
|
31 |
39 |
3 |
|
|
32 |
32 |
8 |
|
|
33 |
38 |
6 |
|
|
34 |
27 |
12 |
|
|
35 |
57 |
2 |
|
|
36 |
35 |
6 |
|
|
37 |
51 |
3 |
|
|
38 |
29 |
10 |
|
|
39 |
44 |
4 |
|
|
40 |
62 |
2 |
|
|
41 |
43 |
15 |
|
|
42 |
41 |
32 |
|
|
43 |
47 |
6 |
|
|
44 |
64 |
2 |
|
|
45 |
34 |
26 |
|
|
46 |
36 |
22 |
|
|
47 |
33 |
16 |
|
|
48 |
52 |
9 |
|
|
49 |
61 |
3 |
|
|
50 |
54 |
6 |
|
|
51 |
59 |
4 |
|
|
52 |
37 |
18 |
|
|
53 |
46 |
24 |
|
|
54 |
63 |
3 |
|
|
55 |
40 |
9 |
|
|
56 |
42 |
11 |
|
|
57 |
49 |
11 |
|
|
58 |
68 |
4 |
|
|
59 |
69 |
4 |
|
|
60 |
45 |
19 |
|
|
61 |
67 |
4 |
|
|
62 |
--- |
TOP DEBUT:  "Fire" (Single Only) |
1 |
|
63 |
74 |
3 |
|
|
64 |
50 |
8 |
|
|
65 |
48 |
8 |
|
|
66 |
60 |
5 |
|
|
67 |
76 |
3 |
|
|
68 |
81 |
3 |
|
|
69 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
70 |
56 |
7 |
|
|
71 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
72 |
79 |
3 |
|
|
73 |
82 |
2 |
|
|
74 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
75 |
87 |
2 |
|
|
76 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
77 |
85 |
2 |
|
|
78 |
86 |
2 |
|
|
79 |
65 |
20 |
|
|
80 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
81 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
82 |
55 |
12 |
|
|
83 |
78 |
4 |
|
|
84 |
66 |
10 |
|
|
85 |
--- |
1 |
|
|
86 |
58 |
19 |
|
|
87 |
73 |
27 |
|
|
88 |
71 |
8 |
|
|
89 |
77 |
10 |
|
|
90 |
70 |
18 |
|
|
91 |
72 |
9 |
|
|
92 |
75 |
6 |
|
|
93 |
80 |
18 |
|
|
94 |
84 |
5 |
|
|
95 |
83 |
20 |
|
|
96 |
88 |
27 |
|
|
97 |
89 |
18 |
|
|
98 |
90 |
24 |
|
|
99 |
91 |
19 |
|
|
100 |
92 |
10 |
|
|
Songs with the greatest increase in
favorite points over the prior week. ●
Songs with
25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲ Songs with 50 or more plays.
