my power pop addiction, no. 4 (76)

I love the story of how Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour first met in 1967 at a screening of A Hard Day's Night in Tulsa. That's just exactly how I would have wanted them to meet... There must be some kind of magic power pop potion in Oklahoma's water supply because Bill Pitcock IV and the guys from 20/20 are from the Sooner State as well. And the interesting thing about all these folks is that they transplanted themselves to Los Angeles to pursue careers in music and made the California sound their own... The Phil Seymour story is pretty tragic from what I've been able to piece together. There seems to have been some struggles with alcohol, and then he died of lymphoma at the tender age of 41. He was so damn talented, and the new wavey striped shirt thing was really cool, but all the youtube clips I've watched of him - including the one I've posted tonight - suggest to me that he was not comfortable on camera or even on stage. In a way it's too bad because his self-titled first solo album is just one infectiously catchy tune after another, and who knows how popular he could have been if he had had a little more stage charisma. On the other hand, I completely identify with people who are not so well adjusted, and Seymour becomes even more appealing to me when I imagine him as a guy who came alive in the studio, away from the numbers... Precious to Me reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. Don't let the lip synching in the clip fool you, Seymour is doing all the harmonies with that great Everly Brothersish voice of his. ...God bless you, Phil Seymour. Your music makes me feel like I'm gliding on air...