Can-Con 45 Of The Day - February 28

Can-Con 45 Of The Day - February 28

Postby radiofan » Tue Feb 27, 2018 10:22 pm

Today's Can-Con 45 is from 1988 ... a solo hit from long time April Wine frontman Myles Goodwyn .. a cover of Lee Michaels' "Do You Know What I Mean" ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmZhoLmp6qQ

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Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Can-Con 45 Of The Day - February 28

Postby Richard Skelly » Wed Feb 28, 2018 1:00 am

I must have been very distracted in the late ‘80s. Until today, I didn’t realize that Myles Goodwyn had ever done a solo recording. Maybe I read his autobiography a little too fast last year. But I don’t recall Myles devoting much if any text to the project.

Not surprising, however, that he’d do a cover version. Covers were a stock in trade for early April Wine. First big US hit You Could Have Been A Lady was originally a UK single for Hot Chocolate. The Wine also prospered in Canada with a version of Elton John’s Bad Side Of The Moon.

Dropping a solo release also made sense for Goodwyn because April Wine was officially kaput for many years in the wake of a nasty parting by Myles from fellow guitarists Gary Moffet and Bryan Greenway, bassist Steve Lang (RIP) and drummer Jerry Mercer. During those fallow years, the pride of Waverley, Nova Scotia lived with his then-wife and kids in the Bahamas.
April Wine reunited in 1991 without Moffet. Lang, by then a financial adviser, also didn’t join and his Wine predecessor Jim Clench (RIP) came aboard.

Out of curiosity, I Googled/YouTubed some info on the self-titled Myles Goodwyn album. Metal queen Lee Aaron sang backup on Do You Know What I Mean. Ace session drummer Andy Newmark was the sole credited percussionist, but for only one song (Caviar). Unless some other drummer got stiffed on label credits, that suggests synth drums made up for the lack of humans.

One fun fact: There were two releases of the same album. Each had different cover art. Both had an original with the eyebrow-cocking title Frank Sinatra Can’t Sing. Another song called Sonya was renamed My Girl on the reissue. Here’s where I go out on a limb. Sonya, with that name never mentioned in the lyrics, got enough play to warrant another push with the title most listeners asked for—My Girl. That, in turn, prompted the reissue. I suspect Myles initially avoided the My Girl title to avoid confusion with The Temptations oft-covered classic. As well, Goodwyn’s buddies in Chilliwack had a considerable hit a few years earlier with My Girl (Gone Gone Gone).

Finally, the Goodwyn My Girl on YouTube comes with Spanish sub-titles. The songwriting credits list “Paris, Svajian” as the writer or writing team. Sounds pretty European. Perhaps Aquarius Records successfully licensed the song to one or more labels in Hispanic countries where it got sufficient airplay to warrant a future subtitled clip.
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