Who Did It Better? A Long And Lasting Love

Who Did It Better?

A Long And Lasting Love

This week we take a look at yet another song written by hit-meisters Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin and also learn the rather sad story of the one-time gay icon who first recorded it.

 A Long And Lasting Love was written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin; a songwriting duo who has appeared a number of times as part of this series (and will continue to, for Masser is responsible for oh-so many songs!)

It was first recorded by Jane Olivor for her fourth album, 1980's The Best Side of Goodbye. The album would include three Masser co-writes, two with Goffin and one with Linda Creed. While it was her highest charting album thus far, The Best Side of Good-bye would serve as her final studio album for Columbia Records and the beginning of what was supposed to be only a six month break. However, Olivor's stage fright, anxiety over her rapid success, and numerous unfavorable experiences with the music industry in addition to her husband's illness and death would cause the singer to take a 10-year career hiatus. In 1989 she would be treated for depression, putting her back on the road to recovery and a return to public life.

The following year, Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright recorded the song on their 1981 album, Billy Preston & Syreeta. Preston and Wright had worked together previously, when they recorded the soundtrack for the film Fast Break the back in 1979. It featured their hit single With You I'm Born Again.

Country legend Crystal Gayle. recorded A Long And Lasting Love as part of her 1985 album, Nobody Wants To Be Alone. Released in August of 1985 as the second single from the album, the song reached #5 on both Billboard's Hot Country chart and Canada's country chart. 

In 1988, Glen Medeiros recorded the song for his second album, Not Me. Released as the album's lead single, it snagged the #68 spot on Billboard's Hot 100. In addition it went to #14 in the Netherlands, #26 in Ireland, #41 in the UK and #113 in Australia.

And that's the whole story.

Now? On to the competition!

The Song: A Long And Lasting Love

The Competitors: Olivor vs. Preston & Wright vs. Gayle vs. Medeiros

A Long And Lasting Love - Jane Olivor

A Long And Lasting Love - Billy Preston and Syreeta Wright

A Long And Lasting Love - Crystal Gayle

Long & Lasting Love - Glenn Medeiros

Jane Olivor

I owned all four of Jane Olivor's first four albums. So did every library in the United States. She was adored, embraced and revered by the gay community and the theatre crowd. And Columbia Records seriously did everything they could to help her find a wider audience. The following she did manage to muster consisted of the kind of music lovers who attend concerts by cabaret singers performing in orchestral halls.

Very pretty piano intro.

I'm telling you upfront - this song? Not one of my favorites. It is maudlin, weepy, to the point of irritation. So, why am I taking a look at it? Because someone liked it enough to record it and someone else liked it enough to buy it. But for those of you who don't like ballads to begin with (Miss Maddie) this is going to be a bit of a chore to get through.

That intro is mixed perfectly. The piano is mixed a bit hot, but everything else is kept well in check. By the way - 22 seconds! Of intro! Yeah... that's not getting played on the radio. 

A key change right from the get go. And sadly, despite Olivor joining the mix, the piano is still the focus. In what world? Granted, Olivor is in hush-hush mode - the lady - and this may be true of all the ladies singing this one - sings in a 'precious' manner, as if cupping a tiny china cup in her hands and cooing at it, so fragile, it will break if mishandled. To a degree Syreeta Wright and Crystal Gayle are just as guilty of this, but Olivor wears the tiarra. 

The backing vocals on that title line... oh, dear. And, I rather loathe the cloying electric guitar lick as we begin verse/chorus #2. Also, for as articulate and precise a singer, I can't understand a word she's singing - and don't get me wrong - back when I was taking vocal lessons, Jane Olivor was the standard; all students were pushed to achieve what comes so naturally to her. 

We get a bit of a build up for the C-section and in come a platoon of strings as Olivor's voice is multi-layered on top of one another to achieve the same shrill effect. 

The instrumental that follows serves up a dollop of pudding in the form of a guitar solo. It is and was of its time, but to my ears today? Blech.

Honestly, at the 1:46 mark? I am done with this. There simply is not enough to the song to keep my interest. 

Yet another key change. This puts Oliver in a lower range which - yay - she sounds human. But sadly, the producer doesn't trust that she can carry this alone, so he treats her vocals and has some weird sort of shadow vocal following her about. And, of course, that stupid backing vocal on the title line... sigh. 

More tired guitar licks. The percussion is kicked in fully. They want to create a drive to this thing... but why? Again, there's simply not enough of a song her to justify all this effort. "Someone to be there for the rest of my life..." - Olivor's best moment thus far. The lady can sing. That voice is one in a million. 

The production is so over-the-top now, it competes with Olivor's vocals far too much. No wonder she's pushing it. Again... at the 2:40 mark... let's call it a day?

Nope... we have to try and sell that upbeat C-section one more time. And if it was shrill the first time? Well, they found a new setting, sort of like when the boys in Spinal Tap set their amps to '11'. 

Ever get the urge to punch holes in the wall? How many key changes are in this thing?

For (what I hope is) the final verse/chorus, we find Olivor switching back into 'precious moments' mode. She has to compete with all the swirls around her, but she still manages to quiver and quake in all the right moments... especially that ending. 

Oh... my.... word. 

And we still have three more versions to slog through!

Billy Preston & Syreeta

So, I have not listened to it in ages, but... Billy Preston & Syreeta's With You I'm Born Again is an amazing moment of MOR magic. It's dramatic and moving and sung with the utmost care by both singers. The song is a marvel of composition. But that is the me that sang it at tons of weddings talking. This side of things? I wonder what I would think. 

Okay. Let's do this. 

They go a bit ghosty-music box as Syreeta hovers in specter-like in the background.

How does she sing like that? There's so much air and she plays within that air with a sound so solid. I got a chill. That was lovely. I could do without that damn echo thing on the title line - that bell tone keyboard sounds so dated now. But, otherwise? Great beginning. 

As Preston takes over, the producers use the bass to introduce him and it works well with Preston's voice and those gritty strings. Preston plays with dynamics in a big way throughout and very effectively so. He also pulls back on notes so he doesn't over-sing. 

As we move to the C-section... up go the strings and in comes the curly-fried guitar. A bit rote, but of the time. Surprisingly, Preston remains in his lower range which creates far too much of a gap between the two singers. That's a lot of space... I would have preferred that they curl up together for this with much less separation. The gusto arrangement doesn't help matters. I do like that they play with the syncopation a bit, but it comes off less R&B and more big Broadway style. Though they do bridge that vocal gap by the end. They are definitely more on the same page as it wraps up.

Syreeta has a lovely voice. She's Stevie Wonder's ex, you know. And she recorded a number of albums, but her work with Preston is the only thing that really clicked with the public. There's so much play in her vocals... she has so many sounds at her disposal. She executes this quite well, making great choices. 

Preston sure had an interesting career, as well. From his days with the Beatles to his early pop/R&B solo hits to this. I had a vocal coach tell me once that we should sing as if speaking and Preston has mastered that trick very well. There's something incredibly earthy and comforting to be found in those first two lines of this fourth verse/chorus. I would love for him to sing that right into my ear. I can almost feel his lips... sigh. 

Oh... yes... ummm. Back to the song.

That instrumental fill reminds me of a section in Melissa Manchester's Talking To Myself.

I like their vocals on the second C-section so much better than the first. They are punching it up Broadway-style, but it works. Though the arrangement is a bit too much - the icing on the cake which pushes us over to diabetes is the introduction of that backing chorus of ooh's. Sugar coma. 

And, of course, that curly-fired guitar slips in their like an STD ruining a good time.

This version feels much more succinct than Olivor's, even though they are almost identical in length. I think it was the combination of the two voices playing off one another - it kept things interesting. 

Hmmm.

I did not mind this as much. In fact, I almost like it. 

Crystal Gayle

I always forget how much I admire and like Crystal Gayle. Her vocal technique is truly unique. There's probably a jazz singer who does something similar, but no one in country or pop music has ever sounded quite like she does. My favorite moment of hers is her work with Tom Waits on the soundtrack for Francis Ford Coppola's ill-fated One From The Heart. I tracked it down on CD and I have to say, it sure holds up after all this time. 

There is something 'precious' in the way she sings, but it's also full-bodied and as comforting as a warm bath. 

The album this comes from marks the beginning of a career decline for her. She's still in fine form, but public tastes were changing, moving in a direction which did not suit her style of singing. 

This is about as cosmopolitan as country ever got. In fact, this is not country at all. 

Nice intro. Very lush strings. Maybe it's the way she pulls back on her notes, but she has tons to play with vocally and her sound comes out right beneath her eyes, right above her cheek bones. It's lovely. 

I also admire the little ache she can push in there on a phrase. Her style is very catch and release, catch and release. I suppose it could come off a bit cloying, but I also think she's an incredibly sincere singer. She and Syreeta have a lot in common vocally.

Oh! Big surprise on that C-section. They do not ramp up. They do not try and 'pop' it up. She remains in lush, MOR mode and I think the song may be better for it. Not that the arrangement isn't way over-the-top. Those backing vocals? Ugh.

This is about as shrill as I've ever heard Gayle get, though, she's smart enough to keep backing off of notes, pulling the rug out from under them so that they sting but don't annoy. And when she moves into confessional mode on 'sealed with a kiss'? All is forgiven. 

The arrangement reminds me of the interplay between piano and strings which was used so effectively on the soundtrack for the film Terms Of Endearment. That said, while the arrangement is treacle-city (wait until you see the video!), I don't mind it too much so far. Gayle is more than capable of holding her own and it is her vocals which remain the focus of the piece. 

But then we get to vocal chorus #4... and she starts over-reaching quite a bit - singing like, well... a vampire? (I vant to drink your blood!) It's a bit much. Listen to ' someone to be there for...' No. Don't sing like that.

Hmm. We seem to be going for the back row of the arena here. This rather slight song can't really handle all this musical drama. By that second C-section this has overplayed it's hand. 

Wisely, they don't remain so for long. Gayle and the arrangement bring it all back down to earth quite quickly - but the damage is done. 

Still... she sounds lovely on that final bit. 

I get it... her achy-breaky style isn't everyone's cup of tea. Maybe you find it annoying, but because I can't get a handle on how she actually produces that sound so consistently? And because it's such a unique sound - I am remain rathe fascinated by her. 

Even if this particular song is like climbing a mountain of vanilla pudding. 

Glenn Medeiros

Medeiros had a huge hit with Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You. That happened when he was a teen. He's not that much older when he takes on this song and... I have to question the wisdom of one so young tackling this particular song. It seems laughable. And to prove my point? Please watch the video. In fact, please watch both the videos - for they are the reason VH-1 died a horrible death. If you thought Hallmark movies or the CW network had a corner on the market of sappy porn - well, get a load of those two vids.

That intro? Someone has been listening to a lot of David Foster records. 

That's a tiny, thin voice. Huh. Oh, he's got a quiver to his voice. That means he's 'sensitive'. 

Oh, but then, the cynical me parks himself. The second half of that first verse/chorus? He whips out a very lovely pop sound. 

I still want him to dig in a bit more at the start of verse/chorus #2. But his (relatively) full-bodied pop sound is ear-catching. 

Wait. What is that? He threw out the c-section! I feel like Jack Skellington! What is this? What is this? Weird. He's grafted a whole different song on to this one and... well, it doesn't suck, but - it doesn't make any musical sense. Ha! As if the original C- section did?

I was very critical of Medeiros' singing previously. He sounds very good here. Oh, that slight instrumental break, very Shire/Gimbel. I like. Over-the-top, of course, but, hey... we wouldn't want our schmaltz any other way. 

I really hate that grafted on nonsense... 'once in a lifetime'. Blech. Too bad. I actually like what he's done with the bulk of the original song. Maybe he just couldn't stomach that C-section. And who could blame him? But it does eighty-six him as a choice for this competition. Sorry, Glenn. 

It's too bad this kid never worked with Barry Manilow. Listen to him on that substituted C-section and tell me that's not Manilow magic at work there. Or Peter Allen magic, at the very least. 

Oh... my... word. 

So glad this is over.

The Verdict

This is a terrible song which should not be sung by anyone. 

It commits many sins - a repetitious, pandering, treacly mess from note one, but the worse sin it commits? It is boring. I hope to never hear it ever again as long as I live. 

Why is it a terrible song? It tells no story. Oh, it hands out tissue-worthy clichés about love right and left - in fact, that's all it does - but there is no story here. No narrative. That's why I don't want to hear that same verse/chorus more than twice, no matter what key you put it in, for the damn song takes the listener nowhere.

I don't like Olivor's version at all. That arrangement sucks donkey balls. And it is so boring. She's a great singer and deserved better than this song. Also, the mix is all wrong throughout. Bah.

I love the interplay between Preston and Syreeta. And I may give this to them. The C-section sounds like something from a Broadway musical, but the rest works really well. Syreeta is a very underrated singer. 

Gayle sound great until she overreaches in the third inning. Let's ignore that. Her handling of the C-section was much more graceful than Olivor's or Preston and Syreeta's. There is something overly cloying about the way she sings, but I chalk that up to style. 

Medeiros may have won this... had he stuck with the original C-section. No, the C-section of this song sucks Mitch McConnell's balls, but it's better than grafting on the chorus of an entirely different song which makes no musical sense. I mean it's like a track composed of two choruses? Who does that? Nobody. Why? Because it doesn't work. Medeiros sounds great and I didn't mind the arrangement - but that 'once in a lifetime' crap... blech. And, oh, the kid is what? Eighteen! Yeah. He knows what he's talking about. Right!

I'm giving this to Gayle. She charmed me. Preston & Syreeta did, too, but Gayle handled the C-section much better. So, even with some misgivings and the fact that the song is terrible, and the arrangement has me reaching for some insulin, Gayle wins this one. 

Now? Go watch those videos. I dare you!

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And that's enough of me.

Okay, your turn. You know what to do: leave your thoughts and choice in the comments section. 

That's all for now.

Until next time...

Thanks for reading... and listening!

A Long And Lasting Love - Crystal Gayle

Long & Lasting Love - Glenn Medeiros