Tuesday Tunes 288: Cold

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This week’s prompt for Song Lyric Sunday was cold, for which I gave you this. But this got me thinking, as I ran the theme five years ago in the relative infancy of Tuesday Tunes, and given the current extreme weather in the USA and what is forecast for parts of the UK this week I thought I’d bring back some of the tunes I played last time. And I’m adding in a bonus sixth one, which is kind of related. Most of these have nothing to do with climactic conditions, though cold seems to be a popular word for a song title, but is often used to describe someone’s heart rather than the temperature outside. So…

Let’s get started with the one I opened with before, shall we:

See what I mean? Nothing to do with climate, but it’s one I’ve always liked. Foreigner were formed in New York in 1976, and were three parts each American and British. This was a track on their debut album, entitled Foreigner (what else?), released in March 1977. The album peaked at #4 in the US but didn’t chart here. This was the second single taken from it, and it reached #6 in the US and #24 here. Memory can play tricks on you, can’t it – I’d always thought that did better here, but on the whole the band performed less well in our charts despite their British connections.

I’ve remarked before that I’m a big fan of The Chicks, and have played their version of this next one before. But I came across this other version and thought I’d go with it this time:

Cold Day In July was written by Richard Leigh, the man also responsible for Crystal Gayle’s Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, but let’s not hold that against him. Suzy Bogguss’ version was the closing track on her fourth album, Voices In The Wind, which was released in October 1992 and peaked at #116 in the US, and at #31 on their Country Albums chart, earning a Gold Disc in the process. It is probably heresy to say this, but I think I prefer Suzy’s vocals to Natalie Maines! The Chicks’ version was on Fly, their second album on a mainstream record label, following some previous low key releases. The album was released in August 1999 and was a US #1, #6 in Canada and got as far as #38 here. It comprised 13 tracks, of which 8 were released as singles, including this one, but the single only reached #65 in the US, though, and didn’t chart here. But it’s nice to hear another version for a change.

My next cold choice was never released as a single, and I can’t find a live performance of it, either, so I’m afraid it’s audio-only time, but I have at least managed to find an unofficial one which is available everywhere, unlike the official ones, which are widely blocked:

Rod Stewart released Stone Cold Sober on his sixth album, Atlantic Crossing, which came out in August 1975. The album was, as you would expect, a #1 here (his fourth #1 in a row) but only got to #9 in the US: it is notable for being the one that contained what many will probably know as his biggest hit (here in the UK, anyway), Sailing, which closed the album. For me, this was the time when Rod was still (just) at his best, before he morphed into being a cabaret singer (my view – you are entitled to disagree!).

While I’m going for the big names I might as well play another:

The Rolling Stones, with She’s So Cold. That wasn’t a particularly big hit as a single – #33 in the UK and #26 in the US, when it was released in 1980, but I love that video and the typical Jagger pouting and posing. The album it came from – Emotional Rescue (June 1980) – was #1 both sides of the Atlantic, and sold more than 2m in the US. If I’m honest, I don’t think it was one of their best albums, but that is probably being a little harsh considering how many great albums they have made.

Today’s fifth song is another that I have played before. Another big name, and another of my favourites:

That was, of course, Tom Petty in a live performance of Out In The Cold. I’m not sure when that was, though the uploader says it was from Tom’s Take The Highway Tour, which was in 1991. Watching that makes me realise how much I wish I’d been able to see Tom play live, as there is so much energy in that performance. The video makes up for the loss, a little. This was a track on Tom’s July 1991 album Into The Great Wide Open, which accompanied me on many car commuting journeys – this song, in particular, was a great one for driving to, even if it was only on the North Circular Road in London! The album reached #13 in the US but did better here, getting to #3. This track was released as a single: it didn’t chart in either country, though it did make #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, which is based on airplay rather than sales. That has long been one of my favourites of his albums, though he never made a poor one!

That would be my set for the day but I promised you a bonus song. This one is very obscure, so unless you’ve seen it here when I played it before for a different theme you may not know it. It stretches cold into freeze, but who’s counting?

Fishbaugh, Fishbaugh & Zorn with Hint of a Freeze. I said they were obscure and to back that up the video has amassed just under 1700 views in eight years! They made two albums, only one of which was released, and this is one of the tracks from it. The FF And Z album came out in 1971: I bought it after hearing this song on the radio, and played it to death. Unfortunately, it also appears to have represented the death of the band, as their record company dropped them before the second album could be released. Apparently this song was also a single but fared no better than the album. The two Fishbaughs were a married couple, Gary and Paula, and Zorn was Pete Zorn: Gary and Pete met whilst both were playing with the New Christy Minstrels. Pete was a multi-instrumentalist who enjoyed a long career as part of Richard Thompson’s backing band, as well as being a member of the Albion Band and Steeleye Span – the latter until his death in 2016. I saw him play with Steeleye and he was clearly very talented. That meant that he was much in demand, having also played with Gerry Rafferty, Show Of Hands, Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson, to name just a few. In view of the band’s short-lived career and almost instant obscurity I’ll admit to being a little surprised to have found this on YouTube, but I’m glad I could share it with you – I always thought those lovely harmony vocals deserved a wider audience.

That’s definitely the lot for today, so I’ll take my leave before I wear out my welcome. I hope you enjoyed these, and if you are in one of the places suffering snowy and icy conditions I hope you are surviving the ordeal. Take care 😊

44 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 288: Cold”

  2. S-s-since I am f-f-freezing tonight, with the temp now below 0° F, the title of this post naturally caught my eye and I came over hoping to … um … warm up? I’m stunned … I have never heard a single one of these songs!!! Where have I been all my life? Sorry to say that none of them reached out and grabbed me, but that might be just because I’m so c-c-cold tonight! Anyway, thanks for introducing me to some new ‘toons, my friend!

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  3. Yay for Rod Stewart 🙂 And if you had played Crystal Gayle’s song that you mentioned, it would have made your post even better! 😂

    Can you play warm songs next week to help our temps go up? LOL! At least the snow is pretty and I am thankful for heat! 😊

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    • Glad you liked Rod, from the days when he was still good. The chances of me playing that Crystal Gayle one are about as good as the likelihood of a heatwave by next week where you are.

      I’m pleased you can find something to enjoy with the snow. Other parts of the UK have been badly hit with storms but we’ve had very little of anything here.

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      • Ok, so we can make a deal. If we get a heatwave, you will play the song. 😂

        I am glad you didn’t get hit hard by storms. We made out a lot better than forecasted . The snow turned to sleet and stopped early so only have around 7-8 inches.
        The snow brightens up the dreary gray days of winter. If only it would stay off the roads and driveways. LOL!

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      • Good that you didn’t lose power. That has happened to many here.

        When I was married clearing snow from the drive was a real chore. Now I live in a flat and any work is done for us. I couldn’t cope with it now, anyway!

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  4. I love playing along with you to see if any of the things that first pop into my head are among your picks. As you can probably guess, the two more obscure titles were not ones I knew. I was pleasantly surprised to see Cold as Ice since Foreigner was one of my favorite bands back in the day. The second one I thought of is a song called “Stone Cold by a group called “Stone Cold” by the band Rainbow.

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  8. Yes, four familiar and all four nice to hear again and the fifth a pleasant surprise. It’s been commented on that there’s an obvious Byrds influence but the FF and Z stand on their own. One I’ve added to my library. Foreigner are still a staple over here. I agree about Rod, he went from relatable ragamuffin starlet to Rock star in spandex and slowly slid into American smooth Standard crooning. Tom Petty live also deserves the big warm hand the band gets. And Mick- just out there taking the mic again.

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    • I’m pleased you liked the familiar ones and have added FF&Z to your own library. Their record company didn’t really give them a chance.

      And I agree with your assessment of the others 👍

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  10. A good batch of familiar songs with the exception of the last, which I rather liked. This song by FF&Z sounds like a mix of The Byrds and Grateful Dead …. not a bad combo at all.

    After accumulating 2 1/2 feet, the snow here stopped sometime overnight, Sunday into Monday. It’s sunny now but that’s deceptive as it is 16ºF here in my part of NY. We’ll be in a deep freeze for well into next week; this coming Friday looks to be the coldest with temps from 5-15ºF. I’m not a fan, especially when I have to go out! Hope the weather is better where you are. Stay warm and cozy! 😎

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    • I’m pleased you liked them, and especially FF&Z. Their sound echoed many of that era, which is probably why they had a hard time being accepted.

      Your weather sounds awful! I hope you’re managing to survive it, without any power outages! I should be ok – the worst here is expected in the west and north of the country and I live in the southeast. Fingers crossed!

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      • We’re good, Clive. No power outages so we’re nice and warm inside. Later in the week we have a couple of appointments and will have to brave the frigid temps. Aren’t we lucky to have a new-fangled car we can warm up before getting onto it?! Enjoy the rest of your day, my friend. 😊

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  13. Some good song choices again, Clive nice to see Rod here(again) in quick succession. I think he has looked after his voice better than many artists he swims every day for his lungs and had to adjust his voice because of his throat problems of course vocally I prefer his earlier work but still like to listen to his new work…Stay warm Clive xx

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