Monday January 31 “Never My Love” The Association
Valentine Day is on the horizon and as you consider expressions of love for that significant other you may be thinking candies, flowers, dinner, a special Valentine’s face mask or maybe a mixed tape that will help put those feelings into the words that maybe don’t come in those romantic moments,
Well I’m going to hopefully provide some inspiration for you for that mixed tape.
Don’t let the title of today’s song fool you with that ‘never’ word in the title, "Never My Love" is a perfect love song, as it is about unrelenting devotion: "What makes you think love will end? When you know that my whole life depends on you "
And today’s tune was a huge hit. "Never My Love" was the second-most played song on American radio and television in the 20th century, trailing only "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers. “Never My Love” was written by the Addrisi brothers, Don and Dick who were part of their family's acrobatic act, the Flying Addrisis. A perfect background for pop songwriters you’re probably thinking.
The Association, for their five top ten hits and millions of records sold, never seemed to make the breakthrough into the hip FM mainstream consciousness that their contemporaries did, perhaps hampered by their remarkable success in achieving AM radio airplay. At that moment in music history an accomplishment like that put them into a group of artists that for some unwritten criteria were classified as ‘sell-outs’.
An amalgam of talented musicians with the ability to create smooth vocal harmonies on their records, the Association was also a band that could faithfully recreate those recordings in live shows and yet they were still viewed to be in the same genre as groups like The Carpenters, that is maybe not so cool. Let me qualify here that Karen Carpenter and The Association both created wonderful music.
Over the years The Association has had more than 40 members pass through the band with many going on to work with other groups like Jerry Yester who would replace John Sebastian in the Lovin Spoonful or Andy Chapin who would join Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon band or Jay Gruska who became part of Three Dog Night.
Stay safe and well…and enjoy a live version of this truly enchanting love song.