If You Leave Me Now

Dear James,

It feels like months since our last 1970s MOR post, so here's Chicago with one of the few classics from the year of our births. And just look at the world we were born into, where Roger Taylor lookalikes with big hair, pained expressions when they do falsetto and 12-string guitars could be top of the pops. Chicago are second only to the Beach Boys for most singles and albums released in the USA, although given the standard of some Beach Boys albums this isn't saying much.

Chicago guitarist Terry Kath's famous last words were "Don't worry, it's not loaded", just before he shot himself in the head. I can't tell if he's in this video, as Peter Cetera hogs the camera and plays the guitar solo, even though he was the bass guitarist. Typical bass guitarist.

Remarkably, Chicago started out as a jazz-influenced, guitar feedback style band and their debut album was a double, like what Frank Zappa did. This is their debut single, Questions 67 and 68.

Dear Daniel,

Having done my fair share of hanging around vinyl-only second-hand stores, I've often seen the Chicago Transit Authority record and thought there's got to be something on it of worth. The logic is kinda: this song and Hard Habit to Break show some sort of wierd songwriting talent and suggest they're a slight-bit fractious too, so maybe their early stuff is quite bizarre and exciting.

With that in mind, I was quite eager to follow the link in your last paragraph (well, I was excited about the guitar feedback bit). What a let-down. It's the same as all the stuff my mum played in the car, only worse. The best part of the video is not the video, but the youtube info bit where chicagokid1969 reveals, "It's kinda psychedelic and also a little annoying."

Also, I remember Peter "et" Cetera from the Karate Kids III power ballad video soundtrack tie-in thing, the Glory of Love. I never realised his hair was quite so... so... so... beautiful.

Dear James,

The hair's all right. I really enjoyed Questions 67 and 68, but that shows what effect marijuana has on the musical mind. Our mothers must have been so out of it. Maybe we should get them to post a post each, yeah?