A Very Special Sunday Diva / Three From the Hip: Helen Reddy

A Very Special Sunday Diva / Three From the Hip: 

Helen Reddy

Okay, so typically, I write some artsy-fartsy phrases trying to capture the essence of what made a vocalist speak to me enough to be included in my personal big gay church. Well, here's a lady that belongs in a special wing of that church and, for lack of a better turn of phrase, I am simply going to call it One For The Working Girls. These ladies did it all... they topped charts, rallied causes, hosted shows, headlined in Vegas, sang on variety shows, appeared in movies... they worked hard. And for a time, they were at the top of their games.

But times change. And sometimes, these performers missed the boat, or fell behind the beat... which was enough to land their albums in the cut-out bins and find themselves designated to the smaller rooms in Vegas.  

Today, we salute one such lady...

Helen Reddy.

The day I was having coffee with my Mom and she happened to mention that Helen Reddy had passed away, I surprised myself... my eyes instantly welled up with tears. Just bing!  And it's such a silly, weird thing to have occurred.  But that is how I am wired.

Helen Reddy.

When I was young, I knew her from that one song she sang... "I am women, hear me roar..." and because every record collection at almost every house I ever babysat at had one or two of her albums... Love Song For Jeffrey being the most common culprit.  I didn't like her. I didn't like her voice. Too strident. Too clipped. 

And then Angie Baby happened. And I ran up to Ben Franklin's to buy it the very day I first heard it. It was such a cool sounding song and I totally related to the story in the song (stupid kid). Back then, I wanted to disappear into the radio. I sat in my room a lot. But, still... I was not a big fan.

A few years later, I forgot to return that little card for my RCA Record Club Selection of the Month and lo and behold, a few weeks after that I received a copy of Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady by Helen Reddy. 

Helen Reddy.

I thought: what the fuck am I going to do with this? It occurred to me that I could save it for hub cap day with my friends - we routinely took albums that sucked, placed them behind the hub caps on our cars and drove around until they shattered (yeah... small town, still a stupid kid). But I'd just paid FULL PRICE for this album, so that was not going to happen. Strange how it never occurred to me save it and pawn it off as a birthday present for my Mom or sisters. But, it didn't!

No, I was stuck with it. 

Well, at least the cover was pretty. All that peachy chiffon. 

That album rarely left my turntable for a good six months. I knew every song by heart and it began my big gay love affair with the world of MOR music (Middle Of the Road).  I have always intended to post about this, so... why not now?

Helen and her management (then-husband, Jeff Wald) had a gift for recognizing a great song when they heard one and this album is filled with them. To this day, I find myself singing songs from this album, particularly Don't Let it Mess Your Mind (Phil Cody/Neil Sedaka), Ten to Eight (David Castle), You Know Me (Kenny Ascher/Paul Williams), and Long Time Looking (Carole Bayer Sager/Peter Allen). Helen never sounded more relaxed, enveloped in arrangements that were perfect for the time and suited her idiosyncratic phrasing. 

I consider it to be a perfect slice of MOR. 

Now, I never purchased another Helen Reddy album. As a matter of fact, by the end of the seventies, with her appearances on variety shows, Disney's Pete's Dragon and The Love Boat - Helen fell out of step with what was really happening in the music business. By the time she woke up (to declining record sales) and jumped on the disco train - the damn thing had already run out of fuel. She tried stepping into the 1980's with 1983's Imagination album, but it, too, landed with a resounding thud, essentially ending her recording career.

But she did have a spectacular run of hit singles; 14 Top 40 hits, which include: six Top Ten singles and three #1's. 

It's weird. My relationship with her and that album. On the outside - outside my home - I was all smiles as a child. But when alone - which is what I always preferred to be, I could address and feed that other part of myself - the one I did my best to hide from the world. That side found comfort and solace in this one album and it was my dirty little musical secret. My friends never knew. They would have laughed. Or worse... they would have found out my real secret.

My little gay self found refuge and great solace in the grooves of that particular album. 

And I shall be forever grateful.

This from another of my favorite divas, Janis Ian:

"RIP Helen Reddy. From the time we were both nominated in the same category at the 1975 Grammys (when I won, she was among the first to stand and clap), to featuring me on her television show, to our appearance with Odetta at Madison Square Garden celebrating women and women's rights, she was unfailingly generous and kind. A great example of what an artist should be, and how an artist should behave."

Her fans are going to greatly miss her. 

As I do.

The gospel according to her?

Well here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? Look how far we've come!

--- ---

"I was very strongly influenced by women's magazines and I really believed that a woman could not be married and raise a family and have a successful career all at the same time."

"In the '50s, a lot of girls never saw beyond the wedding day."

"To this day I get mail from women who say, I went to law school because of your song. But I would hate to think out of the wide spectrum of things I have done in my career, that's all I would be remembered for."

I Am Women - Helen Reddy

Angie Baby - Helen Reddy

I Can't Say Good-bye To You - Helen Reddy

And, one parting shot:

"I thought Erica Jong's Fear of Flying was one of the biggest pieces of crap that I've ever read in my life."

1941-2020

Read a reconsideration/appreciation of her last major label album, 1983's Imagination, here.