LOVE IN THE SHADOWS

NEIL SEDAKA
SONGWRITER: NEIL SEDAKA & PHILIP CORDY
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: STEPPIN’ OUT
LABEL: ROCKET RECORDS
GENRE: POP ROCK
YEAR: 1976
 
       Neil Sedaka(/sɛdækə/born March 13, 1939) is an American pop singer, pianist, composer and record producer. Since his music career began in 1957 as a short-lived founding member of the Tokens, he has sold millions of records as a performer and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and others, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard "Howie" Greenfield and Phil Cody.
          Steppin' Out is a 1976 album containing the works of Neil Sedaka. In America it was the third and final album of a trilogy of albums issued by The Rocket Record Company. (Rocket would issue a compilation album, Neil Sedaka's Greatest Hits, in 1977; but it contained no new material.) Outside America Steppin' Out was issued on the Polydor label. In 1998, the Varèse Sarabande label reissued Steppin' Out and included four bonus tracks.
         The title track, a #36 hit in the U.S., featured backing vocals by Sedaka's labelmate, Elton John.
                                          
In the shadows
You get to know your lover mostly by feel
Got to put your faith in things you can touch
If you dare to
'Cause the shadows can make you crazy
With the things they reveal
They show it all without revealing too much
Scare the hell out of you
'Cause me and my love
Live among the shadows
Where the old playground is an alley way
Now me and my love make love among the shadows
When the sun goes down in a dark hallway
Love in the shadows where the crowd never goes
Deep in the shadows where flowers won't grow
Me and my baby know love in the shadows
In the shadows
You got to work at love to get it to shine
You can't believe in everything that you see
Not this time around
'Cause the shadows can play
A half a million tricks on your mind
You try your best but you can never break free
It just kind of drags you down
'Cause me and my love
Live among the shadows
Where the old playground is an alley way
Now me and my love make love among the shadows
When the sun goes down in a dark hallway
Love in the shadows where the sun never shines
Deep in the shadows where most men go blind
Me and my baby find love in the shadows.

KEY TO MY LIFE

BOYZONE
SONGWRITERS: RONAN KEATING; MARTIN SEAN BRANNIGAN; RAY HEDGES; STEPHEN GATELY & MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER CHARLES
COUNTRY: IRELAND
ALBUM: SAID AND DONE
LABEL: UNIVERSAL MUSIC IRELAND
GENRE: POP MUSIC
YEAR: 1995
 
           Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manger Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's The Late Late Show. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating, and Shane Lynch. As of 2018, Boyzone have released seven studio albums and nine compilation albums.
         In 2012, the Official Charts Company revealed the biggest selling singles artists in British music chart history, with Boyzone currently placed at 29th and the second most successful boy band in Britain, behind Take That. According to the British Phonographic Industry(BPI), Boyzone has been certified for six million albums and over seven million singles in the UK, with 25 million records sold by 2013 worldwide.
          Boyzone have had six UK Nº 1 singles and nine Nº 1 singles in Ireland. Of the 24 singles they released in the UK, 21 entered the top 40 (including 18 in the top 10 and 12 in the top 2) in the UK charts and 22 singles (including 19 in the top 5) in the Irish charts. They have had five Nº 1 albums in the UK.
         The group split in 1999. Boyzone made a comeback in 2007, originally with the intention of just touring. Gately died on 10 October 2009 of natural causes while on holiday in the Spanish island of Majorca.
            Boyzone went on tour in late 2018 to celebrate their 25th anniversary. An album to celebrate the anniversary was released on 16 November 2018. On 28 April 2018, it was announced that the band would split for good after their anniversary celebrations, which ended in 2019.
          Said and Done is the debut album by Irish boy band Boyzone. The album was released on 21 August 1995 by Polydor Records and went straight to Nº 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The album sold 1.2 million copies in the first year of its release. As of December 1997, the album had sold 2.2 million copies worldwide.
You're the key to my life...
Rain on the window covers the trace
Of all the tears that I've had to waste
And now I'm missing you so
And I won't let you go away
Stain on the desktop where coffee cups lay
And memories of you forever will stay
And the scent of your perfume
And the smile on your face will remain...
And I never gave up hope when things got me down
But I just bit on my lip and my face began to frown
Cos that was just my pride and I've nothing else to hide
And now the way is clear and all I want to say is.
All of my life the doors have been closed now
And all of my dreams have been locked up inside
But you came along and captured my heart, girl
You're the key to my life
Yeah
Year after year, was blaming myself (blaming myself.)
For what I'd done, just thought of myself
I know that you'll understand (you'll understand...)
This was all my own fault, don't go away.
And I never gave up hope when things got me down
But I just bit on my lip
And my face began to frown
Cos that was just my pride and I've nothing left to hide
And now the way is clear and all I want to say is...
 
All of my life the doors have been closed now
And all of my dreams have been locked up inside
But you came along and captured my heart, girl
You're the key to my life
 
Girl you know that I feel for you
There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do
Stop the thunder and the pouring rain
You're the one that's going to stop the pain
Girl you know that I feel for you
There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do
Stop the thunder and the pouring rain
Listen to me can't you hear what I say...
 
All of my life the doors have been closed now
And all of my dreams have been locked up inside
But you came along and captured my heart, girl
You're the key to my life.

LOVE ME FOR A REASON

THE OSMONDS
SONGWRITERS: BRISTOL JOHNNY WILLIAM & BROWN WADE
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: LOVE ME FOR REASON
LABEL: UNIVERSAL RECORDS
GENRE: POP MUSIC
YEAR: 1974
 
           The Osmonds are an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid- 1970s. Currently consisting of a duo of original members Merrill Osmond and Jay Osmond, the group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group has comprised siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah and have been in the public eye since the 1960s.
                The Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay. They were later joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy, both of whom enjoyed success as solo artists. With the addition of Donny, the group became known as the Osmonds; performing both as teen idols and as a soft rock band, their peak lasted from 1971 to 1975. Their only sister Marie, who rarely sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful career in 1973, both as a solo artist and as Donny's duet partner. By 1976, the band was no longer producing hit singles; that year, they transitioned into television with Donny & Marie, a popular variety show that ran until 1979.
            A revival of the original Osmond Brothers lineup in the 1980s achieved moderate success in country music, and both Donny and Marie separately made comebacks in their respective fields in the late-1980s. The Osmonds have sold over 77 million records worldwide. The quartet continued to perform through their 50th anniversary in 2007, at which point Alan and later Wayne retired due to health issues; Jimmy was recruited after Alan's retirement, with the group performing as a trio until Jimmy suffered a stroke and retired in 2018. Alan's son David Osmond performed with the group in 2019. On October 14, 2019, the original Osmond Brothers quartet reunited for CBS' The Talk for their sister Marie's 60th birthday, billed as the last appearance for the lineup. The brothers performed "The Last Chapter," written as a farewell song and introduced in 2018. Donny & Marie ended an 11-year Las Vegas residency on November 16, 2019. Merrill and Jay continue to perform and tour, as does Donny as a solo artist.
              Love Me for a Reason is the sixth studio album by The Osmonds, released in 1974. The album peaked at Nº 47 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. Two singles were released from the album: the title track "Love Me for a Reason" (Nº 1 UK, Nº 10 US) and "Having a Party" (Nº 28 UK).
            After a string of three albums (Phase III, Crazy Horses and The Plan) in which the Osmonds performed mostly their own material and focused on rock music, Love Me for a Reason consisted mostly of the work of professional songwriters, most prominently H. B. Barnum, who arranged all of the songs on the album and co-wrote three. The title track in particular was aimed at the easy listening market, continuing a string of easy listening hits for the quintet (it peaked at Nº 2 on the Billboard easy listening chart). The retrenchment, reuniting with former producer Mike Curb, and focus on pop was an effort to regain some popularity the group had lost in 1973, driven by brief but intense competition from The DeFranco Family, Donny's voice changing, and the less commercially friendly content of The Plan. 
Girl when you hold me
How you control me
You bend and you fold me
Any way you please
 
It must be easy for you
To love the things that you do
But just a pastime for you
I could never be
 
And I never know, girl
If I should stay or go
Cos the games that you play
Keep driving me away...
Don't love me for fun, girl
Let me be the one, girl
Love Me For a Reason
Let the reason be love
Don't love me for fun, girl
Let me be the one, girl
Love Me For a Reason
Let the reason be love
 
Kisses and caresses
Are only minor tests, babe
Of love turned to stresses
Between a woman and a man
So if love everlasting
Isn't what you're asking
I'll have to pass, girl
I'm proud to take a stand
 
I can't continue guessing
Because it's only messing
With my pride, and my mind
So write down this time to time
 
Don't love me for fun, girl
Let me be the one, girl
Love Me For a Reason
Let the reason be love
Don't love me for fun, girl
Let me be the one, girl
Love Me For a Reason
Let the reason be love
 
I'm just a little old-fashioned
It takes more than a physical attraction
My initial reaction is
Honey give me a love
Not a fascimile of
 
Don't love me for fun, girl
Let me be the one, girl
Love Me For a Reason
Let the reason be love
Don't love me for fun, girl
Let me be the one, girl
Love Me For a Reason
Let the reason be love
(Repeat to fade).

SUMMER BREEZE

AL JARREAU & GEORGE BENSON
SONGWRITERS: JIMMY SEALS & DARRELL CROFTS
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: GIVIN’IT UP
LABEL: CONCORD RECORDS
GENRE: JAZZ
YEAR: 2006
 
           Alwin Lopez Jarreau(March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album Breakin' Away spent two years on the Billboard 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R&B sound. The album won Jarreau the 1982 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In all, he won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more during his career.
            Jarreau also sang the theme song of the 1980s television series Moonlighting, and was among the performers on the 1985 charity song "We Are the World."
             George Washington Benson(born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
           A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His álbum Breezin' was certified triple-platinum, hitting nº 1 on the Billboard album chart in 1976. His concerts were well attended through the 1980s, and he still has a large following. Benson has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
          Givin' It Up is a collaborative album by American musicians George Benson and Al Jarreau, released on October 24, 2006, by Concord Records. It contains songs previously recorded by both artists (Benson's "Breezin" and Jarreau's "Mornin") and original music. Other vocalists and musicians featured are Jill Scott, Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Abe Laboriel, Chris Botti, Marcus Miller, and Paul McCartney. This project also includes standards by Billie Holiday ("God Bless the Child") and Sam Cooke("Bring It On Home to Me"), pop songs by Seals and Crofts("Summer Breeze") and Daryl Hall("Everytime You Go Away") along with the jazz-swing "Four" by Miles Davis, and "Ordinary People" by John Legend.
            In 2007, Benson was awarded his ninth (or tenth) and Jarreau was awarded his sixth Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance on "God Bless the Child" with Scott. Benson also won his tenth (or ninth) Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance on "Mornin'", while "Breezin'" received a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
See the curtains hanging in the window
In the evening on a Friday night
A little light shining through the window
Let me know everything is alright, sing this song
 
Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind
Hear me sing, summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind
 
See the paper lying on the sidewalk
A little music from the house next door
So I walk on up to the doorstep
Through the screen and across the floor
 
Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind
Sing it, summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind, yeah
 
When I come home from a hard day's work
And you're waitin' there not a care in the world
 
See the smile a waitin' in the kitchen
Food cooking and the plates for two
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me
In the evenin' when the day is through
 
Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind
Summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind
 
Here we go, summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind
Come on, summer breeze makes me feel fine
Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind.