http://www.d-moos.com Canada’s National Internet Radio Station will feature songs from Dream by Susan Jacks which are mentioned in this blog post during the week of January 19 to 23, with introductions by yours truly.
I’m pleased to re-introduce you to the 1975 sophomore album by Canadian singer Susan Jacks called Dream.
But why this specific album, you ask?
It’s sad to report in retrospect that Dream was completely unavailable for 30 years! It was pulled out of stores shortly after its release.
But Susan won back the rights to release it! It’s a victory for the pop singer for a change!!
Reading between the lines, it appears that industry politics have kept Dream out of the public ear. I don’t understand situations like this; it must be more about personal or corporate power because it’s clearly not about the music, the singer, or the fans, and one can only imagine all of the music that’s simply locked away because a record label exec said it should be so. The Canadian record label that released Dream, Casino Records, went out of business went out of business in 1978, but the album’s rights somehow ended up being owned by a major label.
Susan Jacks is of course best known for her time first as the lead singer of The Poppy Family, famous for the worldwide 1969/70 hit “Which Way You Going, Billy?” and others such as “That’s Where I Went Wrong” and “Where Evil Grows”, which hold a special place in my own childhood (I still have an original 45 of the latter). Susan then had a solo career that followed, which generated domestic hits from 1973 to the early 80’s. Susan has the unique distinction of being the first female vocalist of a Canadian band to acquire a gold record for “Which Way You Going, Billy?”.
Her own hits “I Thought Of You Again” and “You Don’t Know What Love Is” both received significant radio play across Canada in 1972-73. Some of her other notable songs are “Anna Marie” (the first single from Dream) in 1976 and “All The Tea In China” in 1980, before embarking on a Country music career in Nashville in 1984 for a few years. She has been nominated four times for Canada’s Juno Awards, twice in the pop category and twice as a Country artist.
I’ll bring you back to some of the songs from Dream, which is produced by the respected musician Claire Lawrence and well worth hearing as its earnest blend of pop, country and rock easily stands the test of time. I used to hear the lovely story of “Anna Marie”, the Top 20 Canadian hit from Dream, all the time on CKOC 1150AM Hamilton, Ontario back in early 1976, and still know all the words. The second single, the title song “Dream” is splendid storytelling not unlike Linda Ronstadt songs of the time. “Sometimes It’s Hard To Know” is softer country flavoured pop which wouldn’t be out of place on an Emmylou Harris album of the 70’s. “Dirty Blues” is a more fun, rocking, bar-stomping romp that you might not expect from Susan and it breaks up the pace of the album nicely. On D-Moos.com Canada’s National Internet Radio Station here’s Susan Jacks with “Dirty Blues”. “Love Has No Pride” is another song on the album that taps into Susan’s flair for Country music – play it alongside a 70’s Dolly Parton song and you’ll hear why. The longest and most ambitious song on Dream is the deeper, darker and more progressive-sounding closing song “Into The Night” and once again showcases Susan’s versatility.
So, Dream by Susan Jacks now has a highly unique place in pop music history. Well done to Susan and all who fought so hard to make Dream available for us.
Singers can fight for the right to their music!
You can purchase Dream on CD from Susan’s website right here and follow Susan on Facebook. D-Moos is happy to reacquaint you with its songs, which move into the regular rotation of over 20,000 that you can hear 24/7.
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