RIP Chuck Mangione

[micropolitan guy]

Tom Scott, the Brecker Brothers, Chuck ... there was a lot of good instrumental music back in that era that received mainstream radio play.

Mangione's talent speaks for itself. Randy Brecker's trumpet on "Meeting Across the River" is classic. Tom Scott's 'New York Connection" is outstanding.

 

[brn623cl]

"Children of Sanchez" opening the CBS coverage of the Daytona 500

 

[Bubbler]

As many have said, "Feels So Good" was inescapable in the late 70s. My Dad really loved soft jazz. It was sort of the soundtrack of our Sunday mornings. In hindsight, much of it was probably bad, Spyra Gyra and that kind of ****, but "Feels So Good" does just that.

So much so that I've always thought it sounded like a Sunday morning blow job. Why Sunday morning? Usually a chill day. Got half the weekend left. It just hits different.

I told my wife that when the song came on a few years ago. Incredulous, as she somehow still is after my semi-serious absurdist declarations, I think deep down she agreed ... though, you know, not the point of acting on it.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

That's it. I'm starting a band and naming it Sunday Morning Blow Job.

 

[User 149557]

The Mega Low Mart will never be the same.

 

[DanOregon]

I hear his music and I picture myself on a yacht, wearing white linen and the wind blowing through my hair as the sun is setting on the Pacific.

 

[Huggy]

SCTV's Bill Needle has some tough questions for Rupert Holmes and Chuck:

 

[da man]

As many have said, "Feels So Good" was inescapable in the late 70s. My Dad really loved soft jazz. It was sort of the soundtrack of our Sunday mornings. In hindsight, much of it was probably bad, Spyra Gyra and that kind of ****, but "Feels So Good" does just that.

So much so that I've always thought it sounded like a Sunday morning blow job. Why Sunday morning? Usually a chill day. Got half the weekend left. It just hits different.

I told my wife that when the song came on a few years ago. Incredulous, as she somehow still is after my semi-serious absurdist declarations, I think deep down she agreed ... though, you know, not the point of acting on it.

Spyro Gyra is great. Jay Beckenstein is another of my musical heroes.

Is it obvious I played sax in my high school and college jazz bands?

 

[FileNotFound]

That's it. I'm starting a band and naming it Sunday Morning Blow Job.

And this is why I keep coming back to this board for 20-some years.

 

[maumann]

I just thought about "Easy" by the Commodores and suddenly have a completely different view of that song now.

 

[HanSenSE]

I just thought about "Easy" by the Commodores and suddenly have a completely different view of that song now.

Another chance to remind everyone March 14 is one of our three recognized holidays along with Bonilla Day and thr Edmund Fitzgerald.

 

[dixiehack]

Attended a couple of DCI events in the early '80s and now with your mention I'm in a rabbit hole with the Phantom Regiment, Vangard, Madison Scouts and looking at DCI in Indy and St. Elmo's /crossthread/.

My daughter goes to her first DCI show tonight with her new marching band fam. Hoping it rocks her face off.

 

[maumann]

Obviously, Concord is home of the Blue Devils and the home show back in the late 70s-early 80s always included SCV and usually the Velvet Knights and Manadrins. I saw Bridgemen "In The Stone" and Spirit of Atlanta "Let It Be Me" in all of their glory as well. Everyone believes their era is the best but that timeframe was pretty amazing for DCI.

I wasn't a band geek but the amount of talent on the field, coupled with spending an entire summer perfecting one routine while sleeping on gym floors and buses, made me appreciate the sacrifice those kids made.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Attended a couple of DCI events in the early '80s and now with your mention I'm in a rabbit hole with the Phantom Regiment, Vangard, Madison Scouts and looking at DCI in Indy and St. Elmo's /crossthread/.

If you want an alternative, look at Bands of America Grand Nationals, also in Indianapolis, in November. The competing high school bands are as technically and musically sound as the drum corps, especially when you get to finals competition.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

It's such a weird coincidence that Mangione died the same day as Hulk Hogan.

Now I'm imagining Hogan making an entrance to Feels So Good and just chuckling at the absurdity of it all.

 

[SixToe]

Obviously, Concord is home of the Blue Devils and the home show back in the late 70s-early 80s always included SCV and usually the Velvet Knights and Manadrins. I saw Bridgemen "In The Stone" and Spirit of Atlanta "Let It Be Me" in all of their glory as well. Everyone believes their era is the best but that timeframe was pretty amazing for DCI.

I wasn't a band geek but the amount of talent on the field, coupled with spending an entire summer perfecting one routine while sleeping on gym floors and buses, made me appreciate the sacrifice those kids made.

I was in band for about five years before dropping to play sportsballs. Our director created a middle school program right as I got to middle school and was pretty cool. He had been in the Million Dollar Band and wasn't keen on bull****. Some days we would listen to albums and discuss what we were hearing, or he would tell us about specific things: a crescendo, or timing, or when they stopped they f'king STOPPED. There was no lag or extra toot or drum beat. Bam, stop!

He took us to the DCI events within driving range, which was mind-blowing. The intros, setups and then HOLY **** FULL BLAST SOUND, precision, details, all the things. When he took over the high school program and had the marching plus concert bands, we had a mindset of DCI-style. His bands won a lot of awards for marching and concert, along with individuals.

The lessons from band and sportsball still have impact decades later.

 

[micropolitan guy]

IIRC, Spyro Gyra was started by some guys at Buffalo State. So Mangione, who was from Rochester, and Spyro Gyra were regulars at jams at the Buffalo Musicians Club.

Mangione's brother was also a very talented musician in Rochester jazz clubs.

 

[micropolitan guy]

That's it. I'm starting a band and naming it Sunday Morning Blow Job.

Their first song, entitled "Sunday Morning Going Down."

 

[da man]

IIRC, Spyro Gyra was started by some guys at Buffalo State. So Mangione, who was from Rochester, and Spyro Gyra were regulars at jams at the Buffalo Musicians Club.

Mangione's brother was also a very talented musician in Rochester jazz clubs.

I thought Beckenstein went to U of Buffalo. Is that the same as Buffalo State?

One of the reasons I idolized him is he was a New York-born Jewish sax player (like me) who made it big (unlike me).

 

[TrooperBari]

Obviously, Concord is home of the Blue Devils and the home show back in the late 70s-early 80s always included SCV and usually the Velvet Knights and Manadrins. I saw Bridgemen "In The Stone" and Spirit of Atlanta "Let It Be Me" in all of their glory as well. Everyone believes their era is the best but that timeframe was pretty amazing for DCI.

VK? That's a name I haven't heard in a good long while. I always liked those guys, even if we were allegedly rivals. Their spin-off in the 2000s, Impulse, was fun while it lasted, too.

I'm not well-versed enough on the eras before I marched to say which was the best, but I will go to my grave maintaining that the 1984 Cadets had the best horn book of all time.