The story of Whenever I Call You Friend
 

I guess Kenny Loggins and Melissa Manchester used to see each other at award shows all the time, so they decided to get together and write a song. The song ended up being Whenever I Call You Friend. Melissa would later say that Kenny wanted to record it with Stevie because she was the hottest female artist at the time. Melissa would later do her own more subdued version, but it would not become popular.

Anyway, Kenny credited Stevie with the song as a Duet on the album, but when he released the single he didn't put her name on it. In effect, he didn't give her duet credit her for the single. So even though, Stevie sings half the song and the song was a top #5 smash, she never got any credit for it in the record books. It is one of the biggest oddities in chart history I think. Whenever I Call You Friend was Kenny's first solo hit; Stevie had the bigger name and helped get that song played. Disc Jockeys called her the harmony vocal. Huh? The song is definite duet, which is the way it is credited on his album Nightwatch. Definitely not fair and needs to be set right.

She obviously did not know about change a word get a third

It's not about money. It's about credit. How can you give someone credit on the the album but not the single. Ridiculous.

Couldn't have bothered her too much,she sang a bit of it on up all night with Maya Rudolph

And IMHO this was her BEST ever TV appearance -that unfortunately no one ever seems to remember :distress:
Ricoh

" that's why we have reminders " ;)



she is not in this but the song Sleeping Angel is used

Thanks Olive ! :xoxo: *Ricoh*

love how they did her hair in that last shot

ummm, ok, has nothing to do with the topic

I've read and heard comments that Stevie and Kenny have made separately regarding the recording sessions for "Whenever I Call You Friend". Stevie and Kenny met when HE was opening for Fleetwood Mac on the "Rumours" tour right after he had gone solo.

Kenny invited Stevie to sing on the song. The recording sessions reportedly became tense due to his EFFICIENCY and WORK ETHIC, and Stevie's lack thereof. Kenny's style was, GET INTO THE STUDIO, WORK HARD, put your nose to the grind and get the session done. Stevie had become accustomed to FM's laissez-faire style.

Kenny once said Stevie would show up for the session hours late. "Oh, Stevie, you don't feel like singing today, ok guys, let's cancel the session." In turn, she called him a "slave driver". Obviously, the friction produced a great vocal performance and a top 5 hit.

Yeah but it wasn't a Top 5 hit for her.

I have this album on vinyl. In the credits, it lists her as "harmony vocal."

When Stevie and Lindsey joined FB, I understand that they were signed to WB as members of the Mac, but not for their individual careers, as might be expected. This likely left them free to do a lot of guest appearances in the late 1970s without needing label permission (Walter Egan, John Stewart, Todd Rundgren, Warren Zevon).

I've thought that Stevie definitely deserved full duet credit on "Whenever I Call You 'Friend'." And she surely could have demanded it. But maybe she wasn't at the stage of her solo career where there was somebody was managing her individual interests. To her, maybe it was just one more guest spot. Since she didn't write the song, she may not have considered it enough of her own to launch her solo brand.

There are other famous examples of this type of uncredited duet where there is no mention of the other artist on the single label as an artist (though in some cases they are credited for co-writing or production):

* "U Got the Look" (Prince w/Sheena Easton)
* "Wrap Her Up" (Elton John w/ George Michael)
* "Tonight" (David Bowie w/Tina Turner) - I've read she was at the height of her popularity when this came out and there was concern this minor hit could detract from her better solo singles
* "Money for Nothing" (Dire Straits w/ Sting) - today this would easily earned a "featuring" credit; Sting is all over it
* "Eaten Alive" (Diana Ross w/ Michael Jackson) - Michael drowns out Diana through most of the song
* "A Love Bizarre" (Sheila E. w/ Prince) - Prince's guest vocals gave this song most of its personality

There are surely other cases. But few as puzzling as "Whenever I Call You 'Friend'"

I like the song, but it is kind of cheesy. Maybe Stevie was right to maintain a little mystery in this case. It's made for interesting music trivia.

This reminds me of Rockwell's Somebody's Watching Me. Truly, it wasn't a duet. Michael really was in the background, but his background vocal stole the song.

Of course, I guess the same could be said of Stevie on Magnet and Steel.

Michele

Also, Stevie isn't credited on the "Streets Of Fire" version of Sorcerer, even though she sings solo in several parts and, by the end of the song before it fades, basically takes over. LOL!

I absolutely adore this version of Sorcerer, and wish Stevie sang lead vocals.

She doesn't have the chops to sing it like Marilyn Martin.

Probably not, but Stevie has far more passion and a certain special quality which Marilyn lacks.

But what makes the MM version is Stevie's vocal, especially that awesome "Lady from the Mouuuuuuuuuntttaaaaaaaiiiiin" howl and the way she basically takes the whole song over at the end. :nod:

I just paged back and saw your comment after posting mine.... she does definitely take that song over by the end!

No MM vocal makes that song great. She sings the ****tttt out of that song.

I actually prefer the Laurie Sargent version of "Sorcerer", which is the version that's ACTUALLY IN the film. I like the acoustic guitar and kick drum intro. It's bad ass! It's much more mystical and atmospheric than both the MM soundtrack version and Stevie's TISL version. I really wish the full song would have been released. Sadly, I don't think it ever will be.

Sorry to keep off topic.

She just gave such a fat, juicy, sultry vocal on that one... definitely one of my fav vocals of her career. :nod:

Regarding Stevie being "uncredited" for Whenever I Call You Friend, maybe she wanted it that way? :shrug: Perhaps she didn't want to overshadow Kenny since she was the 'established' artist, and simply wanted to aid his career. At that time she was making money hand over fist and was arguably the hottest woman in music. I highly doubt she'd care about receiving full "credit" for a duet from an unknown singer/songwriter. After all, look at who she was duetting with in the 70s: Kenny Loggins, Walter Egan, John Stewart... all of these guys were relative unknowns in comparison to Fleetwood Mac at that point. Kenny and Walter were upstarts releasing their first albums; John was established thanks to his time in the Kingston Trio, but somewhat obscure solo. Singing with the likes of Don Henley and Tom Petty didn't arrive until the next decade.

Um, Kenny was far from being unknown during that time period. For the previous seven years, he was a huge part (and one half) of Loggins & Messina and had four top 20 albums (two of which were top 10) and three very popular top 20 radio singles.

During Fleetwood Mac's white album tour, they actually OPENED for Loggins & Messina.

Also, "Nightwatch" with WICYF was Loggins' SECOND solo album.

Fleetwood Mac's popularity pretty much eclipsed EVERYONE ELSE'S after "Rumours" was released but still, I would hardly call Kenny an "unknown" or an "upstart" by the time "Nightwatch" was released. If anything, he was more of a household name and she was still the "obscure girl singer" from Fleetwood Mac. I'd argue that most casual music fans didn't truly remember her name until "Bella Donna" was released a couple of years later.

Just my opinion. :D:xoxo:

I don't think the recording artists have much to do with what's written on the record sleeve. That stuff is usually handled by the record company. I think if you have clout you can wrestle creative control out of their hands and pick the artwork and stuff like that but I think someone else does the writing on the labels. I'm sure the decision was purely the record company's decision.

I'm sure you are totally naive. She was a star.

Some singers are more technically proficient, but others have a certain charisma that transcends....that's Stevie. Not MM.

We'll agree to disagree on this one.

I feel that it's probably more on an equal footing between artist and record label. Or maybe 49% artist and 51% label. I can't imagine that a record company wouldn't involve the artist. I mean look at the Bella Donna and Wild Heart album covers. Not spectacular covers, but clearly they have that ethereal Stevie thing happening. That's more her than the record company. But the whole relationship is a marriage, so I'm sure there's compromise on both sides. You might have an argument for the current artists having less to do with their covers, though. And I'm sure packaging and fonts are probably more record label in-house designers than the artist.

Wasn't it partly her record company ,so she could do and have a say


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode...rds_%281980%29

^Haha that's right! Right out of the gate she wanted control over her albums. I would imagine that came from being only 1/5 of the influencing party over the Fleetwood Mac stuff. I can't possibly imagine how anyone could think Stevie has "little" to do with album art, even if you look at later albums like Trouble in Shangri La and In Your Dreams. They are so distinctly Stevie. So either she has a huge play in that, or the record companies feel they "know how to market her."

There was an interview with Stevie during the Rock A Little tour (national radio broadcast) where she talked about this song. Stevie said she loved Kenny but he was so strict in the studio and said "the whip would come down."

Its not unusual to not give another artist credit. Stevie never gave Prince credit on Stand Back. And no, I don't believe her story that Prince told her not to do it. But even if that was true, you still would give someone credit for playing critical parts of your first single from a new album.
However, to not give someone credit for singing a duet is pretty odd. Stevie does not just sing back up, she sings full verses.
As someone correctly pointed out, the Mac opened for Loggins and Messina in 1975 so that is when they got to know eachother well.

Some of these comparisons on this thread are just stupid - Prince didn't sing half of Stand Bank. He played the synthesizer. Ridiculous comparison. Whenever. I Call You Friend is a true duet.

Before you call my post ridiculous and stupid.....you should read it because I make the same point as you i.e. the song is a duet where Stevie sings verses and major parts.
I was NOT comparing songs but stating that its common for some artists to not give credit for contributing. Prince was just an example. He does not sing but still played a major part of the song. For freaking sake....his song was even inspiration for Stand Back!!!!!!! Without Prince there would be no Stand Back period. I think he deserved some credit on the song on the album.

Some could argue (musicians mostly) that when an artist says when they heard a song from another artist (Little Red Corvette) and pulls over to write a song as inspiration, has her band try to copy the influence of the song, and then calls the original artist to play on it is much more pivotal than someone singing a few lines in a song. ;)

Stevie did not write Whenever I call you friend
Stevie did not inspire Whenever I call you friend
Stevie did not produce Whenever I call you friend
Stevie did not play on Whenever I call you friend

Prince's song was inspiration for the lyrics and creation of Stand Back
Prince's song was an example of how Stevie wanted Stand Back to sound
Prince plays synthesizer on Stand Back
Prince was also key in arranging the song in the final cut

#WheneverICallYouFriend https://t.co/t8jtt0dUkz (c)1978

— Kenny Loggins (@kennyloggins) March 29, 2016

Since this is obviously the most important thing in your life why don't you ask him...
He has Twitter and Facebook...
Also Kenny Loggins...Face lift or not...

Today my radio station is re-broadcasting American Top 40 from May 16, 1981. When they got to the No. 2 song, "Just the Two of Us" by Grover Washington Jr, Casey Kasem mentioned that Bill Withers is the uncredited vocalist. Then he gave several other examples of vocalists not being credited on hit singles, including Stevie on WICYF.

While in most cases, I would be inclined to agree, in this particular one, I believe it's true. Prince was always persnickety about his credits - using his own name, various pseudonyms (e.g. Prince didn't write Sheena Easton's Sugar Walls - Alexander Nevermind did), or choosing to be uncredited for playing 20 minutes in the studio on Stand Back. Artists are inspired by music they hear ALL the time. If the rule was that we needed to list Prince as co-writer for Stand Back then virtually every song out there would need to adjust their credits really.

I agree about the credit issue. I don't think it was that important to her since she was already getting so much recognition for Rumours. Bonding with handsome men was more important. :laugh:

Kenny Loggins sings the hits at the Norris Theatre

Singer/songwriter Kenny Loggins first wrote the hit single “Danny's Song” to celebrate the birth of a nephew. Now, nearly 50 years later, Loggins is revisiting the classic tune, this time as a grandfather.

“I wrote a verse from the standpoint of being a grandfather—I've got a 2-year-old granddaughter," said the 69-year-old singer. "I'm using that as a cornerstone to the new children's project I'm working on.”

Loggins performs a new version of “Danny's Song” as well as his other classics at the Norris Theatre on the Palos Verdes Peninsula Saturday, Oct. 7.

“Danny's Song” wasn't a hit for Loggins and Messina, the multi-platinum selling duo that launched his career, but it was a top 10 single for Anne Murray in 1972. Following the success of Loggins and Messina, disbanded in 1976, Loggins was ready to launch his solo career when he approached collaborator Michael McDonald of Doobie Brothers fame.

Loggins sang a new song for McDonald, but, McDonald just didn't think much of the melody, he said.

“It kind of knocked my wind out for a little while, but then I had another writing date set up with Melissa Manchester a few days later,” Loggins recalled. “So I pulled (the song) back out and showed it to Melissa and she was like, 'Are you kidding me? Of course, we finished it up together.'”

That rejected melody became “Whenever I Call You 'Friend,'" a duo with Stevie Nicks. It was Loggins' first solo hit on the 1978 album “Nightwatch,” reaching No. 5 on the Billboard charts.

Loggins first met Nicks when he opened for Fleetwood Mac on one of their tours.

“She said, 'If you ever need a chick singer, give me a call,'” Loggins said. “I was like absolutely. Who would not want Stevie Nicks to sing with them on their record? I credit her with helping make my solo career take off.”

'King of the Soundtracks'

While on his last tour with Jim Messina, Loggins collaborated with Barbra Streisand and film producer Jon Peters on the music for “A Star is Born.” He sang beginnings of songs to them for his first solo album, “Celebrate Me Home.” One song that Streisand “loved” was “I Believe in Love,” which eventually made it on the film's soundtrack.

While they were collaborating in Malibu, Peters asked if Loggins had ever thought about acting.

“I said, 'I'm not particularly motivated to do that,'” recalled Loggins. “He said, 'You would be perfect for the lead in 'A Star is Born.' I said, 'Well, I appreciate that, I don't think so.' I passed.”

The role eventually went to Kris Kristofferson, but his relationship with Peters became a fruitful one. A few years later, the producer was working on a comedy called “Caddyshack” when Loggins was contacted to write some music. The soundtrack includes four songs by Loggins including “I'm Alright.”

“I got lucky; the movie was hilarious and I wanted to write everything for it,” Loggins said.

That was followed by the theme song for “Footloose,” which garnered an Oscar nomination, and “Danger Zone” for “Top Gun.” Loggins also sang “For the First Time,” featured in the 1996 film “One Fine Day,” that was nominated for an Academy Award.

Loggins said he is looking forward to the “Top Gun” sequel set to be released in 2019. He met Tom Cruise for the first time in October 2016 while filming an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

“After all of these years everybody thought that I'd known him, but we never met,” Loggins said. “I asked him, 'Are you guys considering using “Danger Zone” and he said 'absolutely.' That doesn't necessarily mean it will happen because a lot happens between now and the cutting room, but I would love to be part of that in some way.”

Pooh's world

Loggins' largest selling album, selling 2 million units, is “Return to Pooh Corner.” The musician he said will continue writing for children including his next album, which has no release date. Last year, he released his first children's book, “Footloose,” a story of zoo animals who like to dance when the moon gets full. He said pop music is “not a hamster wheel I'm eager to get back on.”

But fans can catch his classic songs on this current tour that reaches Palos Verdes Oct. 7.

“I love what I do. I don't love the traveling necessarily, but I love performing,” he said. “I've got a great band together. I've got some good stories and the trick is remembering them and fitting them into the show. I was sitting with a friend the other day and had a couple glasses wine and we were reminiscing about the old days and she said, 'You should be writing this stuff down and make it a part of your show.' I think she's right. It's time to start collecting those old stories.”



http://tbrnews.com/entertainment/ken...01a79c1c8.html