#45
Stoney End (1971)
High Score: 9.5 @Disco Blister
Low Score: 5 @Riiiiiiiii
Average Score: 7.605
With 6 entrants in this competish it's amazing that Dame Babs is only now losing her first one. And what a tune it is.
By 1970 Barbra Streisand was the biggest female entertainer in the world. She'd won 4 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes, an Emmy and a Best Actress Oscar for her first ever starring role (Which we'll come to later) but the times they were a changing and it became apparent that her particular mix of Great American Songbook favourities, Broadway standards and comedy shtick was not going to continue to fly in the era of rock and soul and singer songwriters. It was determined that Babs needed to give herself a more contemporary image. It was time to drop the MOR albums for the parents and aim to make pop that the kids would buy.
Her first attempt in 1969 hadn't gone well. The album What About Today featured songs by the likes of Lennon/McCartney, Paul Simon and Jimmy Webb but her Broadway origins can't be disguised and she flounders with the contemporary material (So say the critics. I own this album (Obvs) but haven't played it in forever. Meant to do so before I wrote this but ran out of time. I'll revise that tomorrow and report back). It flopped only reaching #31 becoming her first ever album not to be certified either Gold or Platinum.
Her next attempt was far more successful. Stoney End released in 1971 was a collection of songs written by some of the coolest new talents in the industry and importantly produced by the young hip Richard Perry who went on to be one of the most successful producers of all time (I mean he gave us THIS). From Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Gordon Lightfoot and especially Laura Nyro who wrote the title track and 2 other featured songs the whole package was a triumph. It went to #10 and sold over a million copies.
The song had had quite a long history before finally becoming a hit. Originally recorded by Nyro herself in 1967, the impossibly gorgeous actress Peggy Lipton (Rashida Jones' mum) and young future Legendary Diva Linda Ronstadt with her band The Stone Poneys but it took Babs to take it into the charts.
The single reached #10 becoming only her 2nd Top 10 hit ever and redefining Streisand as contemporary popstar.
She went on to rule the next decade with five #1's three of which are featured are here but how much longer will they stay in???
Stoney End (1971)
High Score: 9.5 @Disco Blister
Low Score: 5 @Riiiiiiiii
Average Score: 7.605
With 6 entrants in this competish it's amazing that Dame Babs is only now losing her first one. And what a tune it is.
By 1970 Barbra Streisand was the biggest female entertainer in the world. She'd won 4 Grammys, 2 Golden Globes, an Emmy and a Best Actress Oscar for her first ever starring role (Which we'll come to later) but the times they were a changing and it became apparent that her particular mix of Great American Songbook favourities, Broadway standards and comedy shtick was not going to continue to fly in the era of rock and soul and singer songwriters. It was determined that Babs needed to give herself a more contemporary image. It was time to drop the MOR albums for the parents and aim to make pop that the kids would buy.
Her first attempt in 1969 hadn't gone well. The album What About Today featured songs by the likes of Lennon/McCartney, Paul Simon and Jimmy Webb but her Broadway origins can't be disguised and she flounders with the contemporary material (So say the critics. I own this album (Obvs) but haven't played it in forever. Meant to do so before I wrote this but ran out of time. I'll revise that tomorrow and report back). It flopped only reaching #31 becoming her first ever album not to be certified either Gold or Platinum.
Her next attempt was far more successful. Stoney End released in 1971 was a collection of songs written by some of the coolest new talents in the industry and importantly produced by the young hip Richard Perry who went on to be one of the most successful producers of all time (I mean he gave us THIS). From Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, Gordon Lightfoot and especially Laura Nyro who wrote the title track and 2 other featured songs the whole package was a triumph. It went to #10 and sold over a million copies.
The song had had quite a long history before finally becoming a hit. Originally recorded by Nyro herself in 1967, the impossibly gorgeous actress Peggy Lipton (Rashida Jones' mum) and young future Legendary Diva Linda Ronstadt with her band The Stone Poneys but it took Babs to take it into the charts.
The single reached #10 becoming only her 2nd Top 10 hit ever and redefining Streisand as contemporary popstar.
She went on to rule the next decade with five #1's three of which are featured are here but how much longer will they stay in???
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