Forgotten Gems

Five killer songs that have long been forgotten or have been underplayed. These are tunes I loved from the  moment I heard them and feel like they are as valid today as they ever were.

Dreams - Barry Goudreau (1980)

Movin' On - Missouri (1977)

Don't You Know What Love Is? - Touch (1980)

Black Betty - Ram Jam (1977)

Hearts on Fire - Randy Meisner (1980)

Interesting all of these songs are 1977 or 1980. Must have been good years for music.

Touch

Remember the band Touch? Not the 1960s band. I'm talking about the rock band from New York, formed in 1978. They made two records (Touch and Touch II) then disappeared. The first record was 1980 and the second came in 1982. I loved the first album. Tracks like Don't You Know What Love Is, Black Star, and When the Spirit Moves You are off the charts and demonstrate why I consider this band (and the first album in particular) a forgotten classic. Even the second album, which doesn't quite live up to the first, is pretty damn good. Both albums still hold up musically today.

By the time I got around to buying the first Touch album it was already out of print. I scoured used record stores and ended up going to a record convention to find it. I was able to buy it for a mere thirty bucks. I rushed home and slapped that baby on my record player and wore it out. Touch: The Complete Works was released on CD in 1998. It's out of print now, but if you look around, you can still find it. Great music, killer band.