Music of the Day, 29 June 2025
heard it all before
Recent musings about my change in musical preferences seem to have unlocked some previously unknown vault in the radio station in my mind. Bits of older, heavier, and/or psychedelic music have been surfacing, apparently according to their own whims, because I’ve not been able to detect any pattern to it.
Many have sunk into the depths before I’ve been able to explore them, alas. I hope that they’ll return at some point, because I’d love to track them down if only to hear the full song again. A few days ago, the name of a band popped up and was gone before I could focus on it. This morning, it returned and brought a friend: a rollicking, heavy riff that I adored a few decades ago.
And I still adore it! “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” almost certainly came to mind because of another enduring preoccupation,1 but I can’t hold that against it. It’s an even better song than I remembered, partly because I’m not hearing it from a cheap radio, and partly because I get more of the jokes and allusions now. Some still sailed over my head until after I read the song’s Wiki page… but again, that’s fine because it gave me another reason to listen again.
Sugarloaf went through a number of changes over its years and has many connections to other great musicians. When the same-titled album as this song was recorded, the band was just song co-writer/singer/keyboardist Jerry Corbetta. He hired several session musicians and and a group of backup singers. To me, that makes the music even more magical, as everything comes together beautifully. I can’t get enough of the driving guitar and keys riff, and the vocal harmonies are evocative of Electric Light Orchestra. Yummmm!
job search (ugh)
Did someone mention ELO? 😉
"Green Eyed Lady" was their other big hit. But Corbetta's keyboard skills are really evident on a track mashing up Bach with The Band's "Chest Fever".