As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Friday, February 19, 2016

#106 How Long – Ace (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo_GMMLULXw
 
Have voice will travel.
 
This may not be the actual motto of Paul Carrack, who’s probably my favorite English rock/blue-eyed soul singer, but it should be. Carrack has had relatively modest success as a solo act, although “Don’t Shed A Tear” did reach #9 in 1988. He’s much better known for his work in various groups, such as Squeeze (“Tempted”) and particularly Mike + The Mechanics (“Silent Running”, “The Living Years”).
 
“How Long” was Carrack’s first hit, when he was the lead singer and keyboard player for the band Ace. He also wrote the song, which according to him was actually about another band trying to “poach” Ace’s bass player. (They were unsuccessful, which may or may not have been because of the song.) Carrack’s resumé as a songwriter isn’t as extensive as his work as a performer, but he was the primary songwriter for Ace, wrote many of the songs he performed as a solo act, and co-wrote the Eagles’ “Love Will Keep Us Alive”.

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