AOR : THE REALEST PULLS IN THE GAME

[fishmongerfunk]

someone else here said this and i has resonated.... these days, i find no raer in the wild and all these newbies seem to be clogging shit up at the record stores i used to frequent.... all this is to say, i have been digging into cheapie AOR records (that have no cache with the younger crowd) and it's been great. then again, i think i have finally turned into my father.

we have been rocking the following records a lot lately:









What have you folks been listening to in the AOR dept. these days?

 

[LaserWolf]

I grew up with this stuff.

Was never really a fan of most.

Have not gone back and rediscovered much.

Right now mid career Fleetwood Mac is available on the cheap. Bare Trees is nice, Mystery to me is Listenable, Kiln House is nice but slightly more in demand (and there is a rare variation).

I'm a fan of Laura Nyro. The one with Labelle and Eli and the 13th Confession. Later one with a white cover. One with Sexy Mama.

Myself I have been enjoying country and bluegrass. There is nothing cheaper or less sought after. Lots of good music. If I had the space and time I would be buying up all the private press country stuff.

 

[mini]

 

[phatmoneysack]

I am buying a lot of this as well, along-side some blue-eyed jazz fusion.

 

[LazarusOblong]

I might listen to that Supertramp record with a gun to my head. But I'd be ashamed of myself afterwards. It's Oingo Boingo-level shitty. It should be a felony to put that record next to a Randy Newman record.

 

[kala]

ewwwwwww

sorry


spoiled rotten

flush with everything from all 4 corners of the earth year after year


i feel bad for the OP

 

[fishmongerfunk]

kala: sometimes a guy needs to take a break from free jazz vision quests, heady psych excursions and third rate high school band and crate diggeur records with terrible brakes, yo! and just appreciate some finely crafted, clever, hooky and well-produced music. this shit, for the most part, has stood the test of time way better than a lot of the punk that was a reaction to or a rejection of this sound.

GINO, maybe the king of AOR is killingit here this morn:







question: were there any black AOR artists?

 

[LaserWolf]

There is a soul equivalent of AOR.

Gaye, Mayfield, Hathaway, Gil Scott-Heron, guys making crafted albums. Any song could be a hit.

Garland Jeffries would count as Black AOR.

 

[LaserWolf]

Aaron Nevile AOR in the 90s.

 

[deezlee]

My uncool friend wants to know what AOR stands for. I totally know but he said he wants you to tell him.

 

[skel]

deezlee said:My uncool friend wants to know what AOR stands for. I totally know but he said he wants you to tell him.

Another 'orrible record

B/w always loved pulling Alessi albums out of the car boots and R&Ts;

 

[pickwick33]

I don't remember EVER hearing Gino Vanelli on some album-rock station.

Adult contemporary, yes. Top 40, sure. Black stations showed him some love as well.

However, Gino was far too MOR for the AOR.

 

[pickwick33]

LaserWolf said:There is a soul equivalent of AOR.

Gaye, Mayfield, Hathaway, Gil Scott-Heron, guys making crafted albums. Any song could be a hit.

Besides the occasional black rocker (Hendrix, Garland Jeffreys, etc.), most AOR stations in the 70s would have the occasional "progressive soul" act on the playlist. Stevie Wonder is an obvious example, but War and Billy Preston were others.

I once met a guy who was a DJ on WRIF, an album-rock station in Detroit. He said that they were playing Bill Withers' first album when it dropped in '71. Which makes sense - if you're into, say, James Taylor or Carole King, then Bill Withers or Roberta Flack should be right in the same groove.

 

[phatmoneysack]

pickwick33 said:LaserWolf said:There is a soul equivalent of AOR.


Gaye, Mayfield, Hathaway, Gil Scott-Heron, guys making crafted albums. Any song could be a hit.

Besides the occasional black rocker (Hendrix, Garland Jeffreys, etc.), most AOR stations in the 70s would have the occasional "progressive soul" act on the playlist. Stevie Wonder is an obvious example, but War and Billy Preston were others.

I once met a guy who was a DJ on WRIF, an album-rock station in Detroit. He said that they were playing Bill Withers' first album when it dropped in '71. Which makes sense - if you're into, say, James Taylor or Carole King, then Bill Withers or Roberta Flack should be right in the same groove.

It appears the exchange may have gone the other way as well, with black soul, funk and jazz artists showing some love for AOR by doing covers of their material.

And with that segue, I can shamelessly plug my recent mix of Yacht Rock & AOR covers, many performed by black artists.

Intro
Millie Jackson - This is It [1980] (Loggins/McDonald)
Charme - Georgy Porgy [1982] (Paich)
Joe Thomas - Low Down [1978] (Scaggs/Paich)
Nina Simone - Rich Girl [1978] (Hall/Oates)
Orchestres Daniel Janin, Jean-Luc Ferré Et Leurs Chanteurs - Love Will Keep Us Together [1975] (Greenfield/Sedaka)
The Michael Johnson Singers - Just a Little Talk [1984] (Loggins/McDonald)
Lou Rawls - She’s Gone [1974] (Hall/Oates)
Maarit - Yhteen Kuulutaan [1978] (McDonald/Simon)
Pointer Sisters - Hypnotized [1978] (Welch)
Good To Go - Baby Come Back [1987] (Crowley/Beckett)
New Jersey Mass Choir - Yah Mo B There [1985] (Ingram/McDonald/Temperton/Jones)
Shirley Ross - If You Leave Me Now [1984] (Cetera)
Ron - Hai Capito O No? [1983] (Hall/Oates)
Nashville Rhythm Section - I Can’t Go For That [1981] (Hall/Oates)
Mike Mandel - Peg [1978] (Becker/Fagen)
Scherrie Payne - I’m Not In Love [1982] (Stewart/Gouldman)
Frank Dana - Do It Again [1983] (Becker/Fagen)
Montana Sextet - Ride Like The Wind (Original Version) [1992] (Cross)
Saxon - Ride Like The Wind [1988] (Cross)
Outro

 

[pickwick33]

^^^That's not AOR, that's Adult Contemporary.

 

[LaserWolf]

Seems like i was forced to listen to AOR stations that played some of the same soft rock as I would hear on AC. Like Gino Vinella.

 

[Electrode]

I like Gordon Lightfoot. I remember laughing at the lyrics "washing the bullshit down" when I was a kid.

 

[phatmoneysack]

pickwick33 said:^^^That's not AOR, that's Adult Contemporary.

the segue was tenuous, I admit.

 

[RAJ]

I have an aresenal of favorite AOR tracks and albums... Here's a few I've been bumping latetly.



Adrian Gurvitz - Borrowed Beauty



Airplay - After The Love Is Gone



Bill Champlin - Gotta get back to Love



Bobby Caldwell - Sunny Hills



David Roberts - Wrong Side Of The Tracks

 

[white_tea]

This seems like as good of a place as any to say that I recently learned, through the "Personal Life" section of his Wikipedia page, that Kenny Loggins married his colon doctor.

Saturday was the annual CHIRP Record Fair in Chicago. I did get there very late, after 1 p.m., but it was pretty slim pickins' overall. I did find a pretty clean copy of Just As I Am.