Tonight’s song is the best offering on Tommy Hoehn’s 1978 lost classic, Losing You To Sleep. The Big Star fans out there will hear it and be reminded of Chris Bell’s solo material. In fact, a lot of these mid-70s Memphis power popsters sound kind of similar, but that’s ok because they all create a lovely vibe, rich in pleasing Beatlesy guitars and resonant percussion. My sister pointed out last night that Hoehn is a bit closer to rock than a lot of the stuff I’ve been sampling here of late, but I still hear pop as the main motivation. Hoehn’s music is driven by an obvious desire to create quick bursts of euphoria, and his heaviness never slides down into full-blown rock, which is an especially good thing in the case of Love You Tonight because the song’s peak moment of ecstasy would be obscured and lost if things got too heavy. I’m talking about what happens at roughly 2:03 when the line ‘say goodbye’ gains added emphasis as it’s followed by a joyful interplay between tambourines, guitar, and backing vocals. Hoehn’s beautiful singing flutters along above it all, guiding the melody to a dramatic fade out that makes me sad every time I hear it because I just don’t want the song to end. But then I remember that less is more with almost all great pop. Pop songs can’t give in to noodling and heaviness without negating themselves as pop. So be forewarned: Tonight’s selection will leave you wanting and needing more. I’m very confident of this. I’ve come to realize that the irony of the best pop songs is that they induce a hunger that can never be completely satisfied.
PS - This version of Love You Tonight, the only one I could find on Youtube, is not the version from Losing You To Sleep and is not quite as good, but I think you'll still be able to hear what a great song it is...
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