15 years later, and Amy’s voice is still reverberating through the streets of NYC…
Happy Monday to everyone out in earworm land! Wouldn’t you know it, it’s yet another very special Monday… today is the 15th anniversary of the day my Who Wants To Be A Millionaire taping went down! It’s just possible you may have heard the story before. So I tasked DJ Scratchy and her Sponkie assistants with digging up something from the Dusty Vinyl Archive that would be appropriate for this glorious occasion. While they totally blew that assignment, they did provide me with the perfect lost hit to commemorate a time in The Nest’s history when every Friday was must-see TV on my blog and two days suddenly turned into about six months. So in honor of My Millionaire Journey, here’s an appropriate song I linked to in one of The Journey’s intros along the way…
LeRoy Bell and Casey James were one of the main songwriting teams behind the 1970’s soul movement in Philadelphia. For a brief time towards the end of the decade, they got together and actually recorded some material of their own under the totally creative name of Bell & James.
Not to be confused with these guys…
Unfortunately, their recording career didn’t carry them very far. Three albums only produced them a handful of very minor hits. But there was one song of theirs that broke out and got noticed, even if it quickly got tossed into the dumpster of forgotten nostalgia for sounding too much like disco at a time when people were wanting the dancing genre to die a slow and very painful death. So, without further doodoo, here is Bell & James’ lone Top 40 hit, reaching #15 in January of 1979, “Livin’ It Up (Friday Night)”…
What a great end of the workweek groove that can even be appreciated by someone who routinely goes back to work on Friday nights. This song deserved to be much better remembered and replayed than it currently is on corporate radio…
As does their self-titled album cover where they pretend they’re in the Death Star trash compactor.
I’ll be back with another scratchy classic…. next Friday Monday!
This song does NOT deserve any more commercial radio play. I think I was lucky enough to miss this in 1979 (I was in high school), but I did dislike disco quite a bit so that might be why. I will say I did listen through the whole song here out of respect for you ES. Otherwise, this song would have been turned off in a second. Glad you like it.
There is no need to suffer for my taste. I’ll give fair warning if I use another disco song (And I’m sure I will at some point) and you can feel free to give your ears a rest for the day! I won’t be offended, though I’m not sure what my helper unicorns would think… 😉
I remember when Friday’s were the joyous start of a fun-filled weekend, not the start of 48 hours of trying to deal with three young children
One day the Cutter nest will be empty again, and you can go back to livin’ it up on Friday nights! I’ll bet some clubs have a senior discount…
Yes! I can be the old guy at the club! Everyone LOVES that guy!
You can get down, but you might need help getting back up…
I never heard it before… the start reminded me a little of the sound of the games I played on my atari LOL
The music on some of those real old games was quite weird. To work it into a disco song is sheer genius…
Wow. Never heard it. My ears hurt now.
This song is getting more negative reviews than even most of my obscure cover songs did! I’m starting to see why it got its dusty vinyl distinction (though I still love it)…
So much hate for B&J… How could anybody not love Crockett and Tubbs: Philadelphia?
I liked it well enough then and I still do. It gets one greek sailor cap up and a funky chicken for the Friday Night intonation alone….
So much for the City of Brotherly Love…
YAY!!!! You have saved this lost record from being smashed over Buster’s head…
You mean I actually saved Buster from some pain and discomfort? Dammit……
This is another one that didn’t make it to the air around the rock I lived under in the 70’s and 80’s. Sometimes I feel like I must have lived in a alternate universe!
I’m glad you added the link to the page on your Millionaire Journey. I’ve been meaning to catch up on that but hadn’t discovered the page yet.
This song seemed to have missed a lot of radio stations for getting up to #15, so don’t feel left out… assuming you aren’t relieved this didn’t become a part of your youth!
I guess you’ll now have to scratch “Find Evil Squirrel’s Millionaire Journey page” from your Nero My Hero challenge list….
Forgive me, oh Evil one for I too am wildly allergic to disco. I savor every word you write, but cannot stomach some of the muzak. I try, oh how I try …
That’s OK…. a lot of people were allergic to leisure suits and platform shoes. It’s not my best look either…
LOL! Oh those high notes! 😀
From Bell & James or Amy? 😉
Everything’s coming up “HIGH NOTE”
Well, isn’t that a funky beat. Ah, the 70’s. Best forgotten heh heh 🙂
I have a sore neck from doing the neck bop, please don’t ask me to explain what this is, just know that it looks ridiculous.
lol
If you’re looking for me I’ll be over there in the bottom of the wardrobe digging out some flares! That’s distress signals ones, not trousers