27
Jun
Can I tell you just how much I love Pandora? It is an absolute lifesaver during the dead hours at work, when I need some sort of musical background to get through some of the more hypnotically repetitive tasks. It’s also helping me reconnect with old musical memories, and even teaching me a few things about myself.
I often tell people I was musically moribund until middle school, when I discovered alternative rock for the first time and broke away from my parents’ music. But iPod and sampling-aided critical reappraisal has made our parents’ music cool again, so I’m going to admit right here: I love Michael McDonald.
Yep, that Michael McDonald, the silver-haired, blue-eyed soul man who made a name for himself as a Doobie Brother before taking his smooth California soft rock stylings solo. Not just Michael McDonald, but every MOR hit I heard on the easy listening stations. Granted, it was the hysterical internet comedy series “Yacht Rock” that brought it all back, but I don’t really think I ever stopped enjoying that music. Between my abiding, unabashed adoration of Hall & Oates, my yen for Anita Baker’s smooth jazz hits, and my love of Al Jarreau’s pop-inflected ’80s work, I wonder how I managed to keep any friends back then.
I’ve been listening to my Michael McDonald station all morning, and I’ve enjoyed every song. Haven’t skipped yet. Key to this oxymoronic mix of smooth jazz, soft rock and R&B is McDonald himself and his husky, buttery croon. His songwriting was impeccable, as was the always-assured production on his greatest hits. So this week, I’m going to come back strong and devote the Song of the Day to Michael McDonald! That’s right, a full week of Michael McDonald.
Despite my love of his own songcraft, one of my favorite McDonald songs isn’t written by him—in fact, it’s actually a Patti LaBelle track written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. McDonald, as it’s well known, was also one of the most prolific guest vocalists of the ’70s and ’80s, and the decision to use him as the counterpoint to one of R&B’s grandest of dames was simply genius. LaBelle and McDonald duel each other on this ballad of broken hearts, working together to bring tortured life to this examination of separation.
The best compliment I can give it is that it really feels like an honest portrait of a longtime relationship buckling without hope of repair. At the time, Bacharach and Sager themselves were no longer married, but still collaborating. The song was written for Dionne Warwick originally, but her version ended up cut from her Friends album. Patti got a hold of it and decided to do it as a duet, with Michael McDonald her first choice as partner. The rest, well, you know.
To this day, “On My Own” is one of my favorite songs. Here it is for all of you, and happy Michael McDonald week!
