Chicago [1979] Chicago 13

Queen Samantha was a 1970s disco artist produced by the Parisian musician Harry Chalkitis. Gloria Brooks, a singer from Chicago, was the lead vocalist on many of Chalkitis' recordings. All of the songs were co-written by Chalkitis and his wife Myriam (except a charting cover version of "The Letter", originally by The Box Tops)…

Happily, it is not the responsibility of this review to address in detail the train wreck that was the 1979 film adaptation of the stage musical Hair. A complete misfire conceived by a screenwriter, Michael Weller, and a director, Czech expatriate Milos Forman, who did not seem to have the slightest familiarity with hippies, the '60s, America, or even Broadway, the movie was miscast with supposedly bankable young film stars of the day (Treat Williams, John Savage, Beverly d'Angelo), and the essentially plotless libretto of the stage version was replaced by a contrived Hollywood script in a textbook example of how not to do an adaptation.

Presenting radio with one of the best rock ballads ever, Cornerstone gave Chicago's Styx their big break with the number one single "Babe," which held that spot for two weeks in October of 1979. "Babe" is a smooth, keyboard-pampered love song that finally credited Dennis De Young's textured vocals. While this single helped the album climb all the way to the number two spot on the charts, the rest of the tracks from Cornerstone weren't nearly half as strong. "Why Me" made it to number 26, and both "Lights" and "Boat on the River" implement silky harmonies and welcoming choruses, yet failed to get off the ground. De Young's keyboards are effective without overly dominating the music, and the band's gritty rock & roll acerbity has been slightly sanded down to compliment the commercial market.

Presenting radio with one of the best rock ballads ever, Cornerstone gave Chicago's Styx their big break with the number one single "Babe," which held that spot for two weeks in October of 1979. "Babe" is a smooth, keyboard-pampered love song that finally credited Dennis De Young's textured vocals. While this single helped the album climb all the way to the number two spot on the charts, the rest of the tracks from Cornerstone weren't nearly half as strong. "Why Me" made it to number 26, and both "Lights" and "Boat on the River" implement silky harmonies and welcoming choruses, yet failed to get off the ground. De Young's keyboards are effective without overly dominating the music, and the band's gritty rock & roll acerbity has been slightly sanded down to compliment the commercial market.

Cut at the 1974 Montreux Jazz Festival with Stones' bassist Bill Wyman anchoring the rhythm section, the set captures some of the ribald musical repartee that customarily distinguished the pairing of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, though they certainly break no new ground as they roll through their signature songs.

Survivor is the eponymous debut album by American rock band Survivor, recorded in 1979 and released in February 1980. It is their only album with original drummer Gary Smith and bassist Dennis Keith Johnson. The album lightly impacted the charts, managing a placement of #169 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Spring of 1980. However, the opening track "Somewhere In America" was a regional hit in the Chicago area, and the song "Youngblood", with its dramatic guitar intro, proved to be something of a blueprint for the band's smash hit of two years later, "Eye of the Tiger". The single "Rebel Girl" was recorded about a year after the album sessions, though the Japanese release of the album on CD includes it as song number six. The model on the cover of the album is Kim Basinger.

Survivor is the eponymous debut album by American rock band Survivor, recorded in 1979 and released in February 1980. It is their only album with original drummer Gary Smith and bassist Dennis Keith Johnson. The album lightly impacted the charts, managing a placement of #169 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the Spring of 1980. However, the opening track "Somewhere In America" was a regional hit in the Chicago area, and the song "Youngblood", with its dramatic guitar intro, proved to be something of a blueprint for the band's smash hit of two years later, "Eye of the Tiger". The single "Rebel Girl" was recorded about a year after the album sessions, though the Japanese release of the album on CD includes it as song number six. The model on the cover of the album is Kim Basinger.