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Post by Charlie O. on Oct 3, 2021 1:23:01 GMT
This is the first time I've heard "Don't Give Up On Us" since it was a hit. It seemed slushy and mushy to me when I was 11. It still does. I was struck anew, though, by how pleasant his voice was. At the time, I saw him as just another TV actor who got talked into making a record (Shaun Cassidy followed in his brother's footsteps around the same time, and John Travolta had had a mushy hit the previous summer off the back of Welcome Back, Kotter). I have no shame in saying i love a bunch of his early hits. Classics: The Early Years is wonderful. All eighteen twenty original songs that Diamond recorded in his year-and-a-half with Bang Records are at least pretty good, and most of them are terrific. (Forget his covers, though. And the Monkees did "Believer" better, if not "Love To Love".) The six studio albums and two live albums he recorded for Uni/MCA over the next four years are a lot patchier, but they all have their gems. When you get into the subsequent Columbia era, though, he's basically dead to me.
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toomanyhatz
god
I've met him/her. He/she's great!!
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Post by toomanyhatz on Oct 3, 2021 3:07:22 GMT
Pretty much with Charlie on this one. Let's hear David Soul's Bang period and then we'll talk.
Neil was great in the 60s and good through most of the 70s. I even enjoy some things after.
At the time of that one song, they were probably fairly comparable. But I'm betting even then, Neil had higher highs and less lows.
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toomanyhatz
god
I've met him/her. He/she's great!!
Posts: 3,241
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Post by toomanyhatz on Oct 3, 2021 3:07:55 GMT
Neil Diamond > Billy Joel. Anyone wanna fight about it?
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Post by Half Machine Lipschitz on Oct 3, 2021 5:03:49 GMT
Working again now...how great is this track? I've only recently discovered it. I dig its Hazelwood-esque action for the first minute and a half, but then he starts getting all full-throated and it's a turn-off.
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Post by quaco on Oct 3, 2021 7:47:00 GMT
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Post by oleandermedian on Oct 3, 2021 13:08:47 GMT
Neil Diamond – my mum’s heart-throb (one of them). I have a soft spot for him. Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show! He was better while he kept his chest hair in his shirt, though. Gianni Morandi’s version of Solitary Man is miles better than the original. Which serves Diamond right for doing so many dodgy covers himself – Both Sides Now, Suzanne, If You Go Away etc. I much prefer Silver Lady to Don’t Give Up on Us (a song to his record company). And for me it has one of those "minuscule moments" which I might as well put here instead of the other thread - 1:27-1:35.
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Post by Sneelock on Oct 3, 2021 21:40:07 GMT
Believe it or not, “Hot August Night” was HUGE. He was actually a sex symbol. That’s gotta blow the ol’ objectivity one way or another.
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god
disambiguating goat herder
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Oct 3, 2021 22:07:45 GMT
Neil Diamond > Billy Joel. Anyone wanna fight about it? Diamond wins as a songwriter for others, but they are probably pretty neck and neck for their own 70s classics, and Joel definitely had a less treacly 80s. Diamond at 50 million US sold, and Joel at 85 million US sold tells some tale of people/certain population buying, needing, using music through the 70s through 00s.
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Post by sloopjohnc on Oct 3, 2021 22:11:58 GMT
I always found it funny, even as a kid, that David Soul didn't have any in his singing, soul that is.
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god
disambiguating goat herder
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Post by ~ / % ? * on Oct 3, 2021 22:21:04 GMT
I always confused him with the knucklehead from Dukes of Hazard that also sang.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2021 22:26:50 GMT
I always confused him with the knucklehead from Dukes of Hazard that also sang. Weirdly enough Neil Diamond looked a bit like the other brother with the dark hair!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2021 22:36:30 GMT
CHRIST!!!
Looking forward to the imminent arrival of googs and yves cultural prominance input.
Hang on I'll e-mail KEN BRUCE .
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Post by quaco on Oct 3, 2021 22:45:49 GMT
I much prefer Silver Lady to Don’t Give Up on Us (a song to his record company). And for me it has one of those "minuscule moments" which I might as well put here instead of the other thread - 1:27-1:35.
Video featuring Lynne Marta. Just saw her in a Cannon episode the other day. David Soul was in a couple of Cannon episodes too (pre- Starsky & Hutch).
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Post by Sneelock on Oct 3, 2021 23:17:22 GMT
Life existed before Starskey & Hutch?
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Post by Mr. FOLLARD on Oct 3, 2021 23:29:46 GMT
CHRIST!!! Looking forward to the imminent arrival of googs and yves cultural prominance input. Hang on I'll e-mail KEN BRUCE . Since you went away this has become the new norm, Jimmy! You can either start 382 threads to redress the balance, or live with it
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