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Tag: David Foster

GAROTA DE IPANEMA

from PASSIONE

Written by Antonio Carlos Jobim & Vinicius De Moraes

 

“Garota De Ipanema,” aka “The Girl From Ipanema,” was a pivotal masterpiece in the history of popular music. “Garota De Ipanema” was written in 1962 by the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) while the Brazilian Portuguese lyrics were crafted by Brazilian poet Vinicius De Moraes (1913-1980). “Garota De Ipanema ,” with its irresistible Latin beat, smooth atmosphere and jazz-influenced chords, defined the bossa nova music genre to perfection. The first popular version was sung in 1964 by renown singer Astrud Gilberto (1940-2023) on the seminal album, Getz/Gilberto. That recording featured the legendary saxophonist Stan Getz and the great Brazilian singer/guitarist, Joao Gilberto. On “The Girl From Ipanema,” Astrud performed the English lyrics written by Norman Gimbel, while her then-husband, Gilberto, sang the original Brazilian Portuguese words. “Garota De Ipanema” went to #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in July of 1964. In 1965, the song won a Grammy for Record Of The Year.

MATCHMAKERS

from THE CAPTAIN’S JOURNEY

Written by Lee Ritenour

 

The Captain’s Journey, released in 1978, was Lee Ritenour’s sixth release coming right after the seminal Captain Fingers one year before. The legendary guitarist again assembled an amazing cast of musicians, singers and arrangers to deliver a fresh jazz/fusion masterpiece. David Foster was again on board for the project and arranged and played keyboards on a couple of tracks. One was a vocal rendition of Ritenour’s classic instrumental, “Morning Glory” featuring another Bill Champlin vocal after his fantastic job on the cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” on Captain Fingers. Foster arranged the song and played acoustic piano on it. A previous review of this song can be rediscovered in the archives.

THEME PARK

from OUTSIDE INSIDE

Written by The Tubes

 

April 4th, 1983, saw the release of The Tubes’ now-classic Outside Inside album. David Foster was back in the producer’s chair after his successful work on The Completion Backward Principle for The Tubes a couple years before. Outside Inside became The Tubes’ biggest album ever, reaching #18 on Billboard’s Top 200. The San Francisco-based rockers were given their only Top Ten hit, “She’s A Beauty,” on Billboard’s Hot 100. “She’s A Beauty” was #1 on the mainstream Rock chart. The group had two other minor hit singles from the album, the irresistible, funky number, “Tip Of My Tongue,” and The Tubes’ cover of the soul/R&B classic, “The Monkey Time.” All those great songs sport fantastic production by Foster and were delivered by The Tubes with the help of a number of guest musicians including the Jerry Hey Horns, Bobby Kimball, Bill Champlin and Steve Lukather. If interested, you can find past reviews of those goodies in the archive section of this website.

PROMISE ME THE MOON

from GOOD NEWS

Written by Danny Kortchmar

 

Good News was the second and final album released in 1977 by pop/rock group Attitudes for George Harrison’s Dark Horse label. The group consisted of session aces with Jim Keltner on drums, Danny Kortchmar on guitar, Paul Stallworth on bass and a young Canadian prodigy named David Foster on keyboards. Both of Attitudes’ releases remained well-kept secrets to this day. The songs were extremely interesting with their unique mix of pop, rock and funk delivered by first-class musicianship. Recently, both albums were finally released on cd and a comprehensive Best Of was also put on the market giving fans the opportunity to listen to their catchy music. Good News was produced by noted engineer and guitarist, Jay Lewis, together with Attitudes. The album presents quite a few highlights that included “Promise Me The Moon,” a Kortchmar original that was the pick for this week.

GOD KNOWS

from WHEN LOVE COMES CALLING

Written by Allee Willis, Franne Golde & Peter Noone

 

“God Knows” was a beautiful ballad co-written by the late, eminent lyricist, Allee Willis (1947-2019), with fellow songwriter, Franne Golde, and veteran UK singer/songwriter, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits fame. The trio composed the song around 1978 and it was soon scouped up by Debby Boone for her sophomore Midstream album. Boone was extremely successful in 1977 with her breakthrough #1 hit, “You Light Up My Life.”