Leif Garrett Discography

Leif Garrett Albums:

THE LEIF GARRETT COLLECTION - 1998

Includes: The hits "I was Made for Dancin'" and "Surfin' USA," as well as near hits like "Put Your Head On My Shoulder," "The Wanderer" and "Runaround Sue." Also: "Memorize Your Number," "I Was Looking For Someone To Love," "When I Think of You" and the disco remix version of "Feel the Need."

Thank you evil, "Svengali"-like Scotti Brothers! Leif on CD!! Whoop dee doo! Now I can once again put my friends through that particularly exquisite form of audio hell, "The Leif Garrett/Michael Lloyd Saccharine Torture." Not since the digital revolution finally consigned my vicious vinyl arsenal to the "Licorce Pizza" graveyard, have I had the aural weaponry necessary to make even the most Prozac-placated adult shake with the indignant fury of an empassioned adolescent being forced to listen to music that "sucks."

Oh we're all so much more civilized now. The response at first is usually quite restrained, amused even. "Oh God," they begin, "I remember when you used to play that shit morning, noon and night. I hated it."

We share a nostalgic titter together at the silly quibbling of youth and fall into smiling silence, with the only sound left being Leif's warbling man-boy voice as it struggles with even the least-complicated of vocal progressions and the narrowest of mid-range tenor peaks and valleys.

"You know," my still-pleasant but slight wary friend continues, "I can't really even hear his voice in there."

"Heavily overdubbed," I cheerfully agree. "They used to call it 'double-tracking' - you know, where they rerecord the lead track to make the voice sound fuller. We're probably into triple or quadruple tracking here." We share another laugh.

My friend now thinks we're having a quasi-intellectual discourse on kitschy 1970's pop culture. All the better to lure her into listening even more closely to music I perversely love and hate at the same time, to achieve my demented goal of not only forcing people to listen to Leif Garrett records, but to actually appreciate them!!

She remarks that it sounds suspiciously like the Partridge Family, another of my guilty 70's pleasures. I compliment her on her keen instincts and instruct her that famous studio background vocalist "Tom Bahler," along with some of the others, sang on both PF and LG records, as well as behind Shaun Cassidy and other powder-puff popsters of that certain decade.

At this point she begins to notice some things about the music that are actually likable. It is "pop" music after all, as in, that which was at least intended to be popular. Nostalgia tends to add a certain fondness to virtually anything. Even old rock-and-rollers who once yelled "disco sucks" now dance to "Y.M.C.A." and "Le Freak" at weddings and other public gatherings. So why not ol' Leif Garrett tunes?

So before she's even realized what's happening, she's ended up listening to not only the entire CD, but a tape of all my old LG records as well. And all because she didn't want to be rude ... SUCKER!!!!!!!!!

LEIF GARRETT-1977

SIDE ONE
1. "The Wanderer" - He gives this a pretty good try but, come on, "I'm the kinda guy who'll never settle down" at this age sounds more like a job for Ritalin than for all of the worldly babes he claims to have on stand-by in this umimaginative cover of a great Dion song.
2. "California Girls" - David Lee Roth can rest easy that his fun, over-the-top cover of this Beach Boy classic has no competition here. Although this by-the-numbers retread is reverent to the point of being pointless, the rinky-dink synth sounds are no match for the chunky, messy sound of those 60's organs. Fun bonus: Leif is singing in such a high register he sounds a bit like a California girl!
3. "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" - I'm sorry, but a big, silly Paul Anka cover without a big, silly ending is really extra pointless. Leif wimps out on the high end note and just quietly fades out.
4. "I Wanna Share A Dream" - "I wanna sing a song for you in harmony for two, the melody's playin' just for you and me, sing a song with you" -- Gross! I know teeny bopper guys are allowed to make light, fluffy pop but give me a break -- this is like a song for a large purple dinosaur.
5. "Johnny B. Goode" - This Johnny don't be too good!

SIDE TWO
1. "Runaround Sue" - The problem is that Leif doesn't really seem to get this damn thing, so why do it? His phrasing sounds heavily coached and way beyond his abilities. "Here's the moral of the story from a guy who knows"? Excuse me? He sounds like your kid brother at elementary open house on this one, not the legendary Lothario he was to become.
2. "That's All" - very simpy and syrupy. Is that all there is?
3. "Bad To Me" - Lennon and McCartney get the breathless 'n' earnest treatment here. Helter Skelter anyone?
4. "Special Kind Of Girl" It's light, I'll grant you -- like everything else on this album. But he sounds like he means it and that works well enough here!

"You can tell me anything
but don't say you're goin' away
I believe in miracles
I get on my kness and I pray

Give me a special kind of girl
who will love me and never let me go
I need her so
Give me a special kind of girl

Tell me you're just foolin'
You don't really mean that we're through
I believe in fairy tales
and wishes that really come true

Give me a special kind of girl
who will love me and never let me go
I need her so
Give me a special kind of girl

I've got dreams to live I've got love to give
I've got feelins to share
So stay with me don't set me free
I need you to always be there

Give me a special kind of girl
who will love me and never let me go
I need her so
Give me a special kind of girl"
(repeat)

5. "Surfin' USA" - I think this spirited, rockin' version of the Beach Boy classic is in some ways better than the original!! He actually sounds like a surfer, for one thing. And that California accent, never in such full glory as on this cut, gets me every time! ("we're waxing deown our surfboards, we can-uh wait fer Jeune")

FEEL THE NEED-1978

SIDE ONE
1. "I Was Made For Dancin'" - Everyone made fun of it but Leif hit the ground runnin' with this one. The "aw-aw-aw-awnight long" sounds a bit aw-aw-aw-awkward, but he manages to stay on top of the galloping beat otherwise. The good news for Leif was that this tight little jam was not only a massive pop radio hit but also a favorite at the disco (For the 70's impaired, that means "dance club.")
2. "Groovin'" - This oft-covered gem has done worse at the hands of much better musicians. Leif's version has light, bouncy feel, his voice has just enough grit to promise better things to come.
3. "Forget About You" - It starts out sounding like a cover of 'Sooner or Later' and quickly devolves into a mish-mash of every stupid pop cliche imaginable. Dreadful!
4. "Once A Fool" - This is what I feel like even writing about this mid-tempo derivative 70's nonsense. Yuck.
5. "Fun, Fun, Fun" - He did these little 60's "beach party" songs pretty well. This is one of his better covers.

SIDE TWO
1. "Shelia" - The disco bubblegum treatment works well for this Tommy Roe update.
2. "When I Think of You" - His wispy voice and unsure phrasing usually didn't work on the uptempo songs, but the ballads fare somewhat better. Of course, it couldn't be any cornier. On the other hand, it's no worse than "England" Dan and John Ford Whatever-his-name-was.

"When I think of you I think of sunny days in June, warm nights in tune with a song in your heart
When I think of you I think of dancin' in the street feelin every beat of a good summer fun
Summer's ended, went it left, you left too
now there's nothin to do but wait for the summer wait for the summer and you

When I think of you, I remember when we kissed the radio was playin our symphany too
When I think of you, I think of runnin' on the beach castles in the heat and the sand on our feet
When I think of you I, I think of sunny days in June, warm nights in tune with a song in your heart
When I think of you, I think of dancin' in the street feelin' every beat of a good summer fun
Summer's ended, went it left, you left too
not there's nothin to do but wait for the summer wait for the summer wait for the summer and you
I gotta wait for the summer, and you (repeat to end)

3. "This Time" - This time he's rockin'! I love this one, if only because I believe his little attitude about getting even with a hard-hearted ex.

"Here it comes again, you took my note left on the door,
That's the way it's been at least a thousand times before
You always say you're sorry for doing what you gotta do
Don't worry about me baby, I've got a surprise for you

This time, baby I'm gonna make it on my own I've got the strength to stand alone without you
And this time, if you change your mind don't come cryin' to me on the phone, I've got the strength to stand alone without you

You like to put me down see how far I'll go for you
You think I'll hang around no matter how much hurt you do
It gives you satisfaction to see me barely hangin' on
But I wanna see your reaction when you know that your good thing's gone

This time, baby I'm gonna make it on my own, I've got the strength to stand alone without you
Oh and this time, if you change your mind don't come cryin' to me on the phone, I've got the strength to stand alone, now that your good thing is gone, baby I'll carry on without you
and this time, baby without you!

Woah-oh this time, baby I'm gonna make it on my own I've baby this time, don't come cryin' to me on the phone, Baby this time, you know I'm gonna make it on my own, Yeah this time, you know I'm gonna make it, yeah"

4. "Livin' Without Your Love" - This ballad is very sweet, if painfully thin. Leif is talkin' about somethin' we all know too well. Let's face it: unrequited love may be bad, but is it worse than actually getting the goods once or twice and then being shut out?

"Time is such a lonely friend
and the time on my hands is showin'
Nothin' is worse than finally knowin' and livin' without your love
Walkin' through the lonely halls,
talkin' to the bedroom walls hearin' no sound, there's no one around, answerin' me

Holdin' up a heavy load
and it's tryin' to pull me under
Nothin' can match the pain or the wonder of living without your love
Oh, living without your love, reachin' out to hold a dream,
that's slippin' away to yesterday and leaves me alone.

Ties in the dark, can I hold you for a while?
Till you go away, till you go away, let me touch you one last time ...
oh oh

Time is such a lonely friend
and the time on my hands is showin'
Nothin' is worse than finally knowin' and livin' without your love
Oh, living without your love, reachin' out to hold a dream,
that's slippin' away to yesterday and leaves me alone.
Oh, living without your love, reachin' out to hold a dream,
that's slippin' away to yesterday and leaves me alone.

5. "Feel the Need" - Hard to take this cheesy little come-on seriously. You just want to laugh when you see him workin' it this hard. I mean, please, like he'd have to ask more than once to get his need felt. And that awful line: "Your love is better to me than cherry pie."

SAME GOES FOR YOU-1979
1. "Same Goes For You" - OH NO!! Leif rap/singing in the clipped neo-British style of "New Wave" pop. Think "Turnin' Japanese" meets "The Knack." What an embarrassment!!
2. "Memorize Your Number" - Leif is clearly browsing the late-70's potpourri of pop styles. Here he's much more successful as he crosses the stark guitar stings of "The Cars" with a bouncy disco/pop bottom.
3. "Kicks" - Now he's the lead singer of a typical "garage band" doing their favorite 60's influenced pop/rock ditty.
4. "Little Things You Do" - cute but still tryin' way too hard to fit into a bygone age.
5. "When I Think of You" - Yes, this is the same track as appeared on the previous album, layered a little more heavily with overdubs and echo effects, additional string-like sounds and 8 additional seconds of flourish on the fade-out - just enough minor changes to call it the "single" version and repackage it here. Still a sweet song, though.
6. "Singin' In the Rain" - Yes, it's that movie musical tune, jazzed up with guitar solos and a "new wave"pogo beat ... why? Just about everyone I knew then made enough fun of Leif as it was, why ask for it?

SIDE TWO
1. "Hungry For Your Love Tonight" - Derivative but rockin', definitely - in a Loverboy sort of way, which, I'm sure, was no accident in 1979.
2. "Guilty" - Another generic rocker, but without much conviction and a pretty lame chorus.
3. "I Was Looking For Someone To Love" - A sweet song in the Patridge Family vein - frankly, though, it makes you appreciate how good David Cassidy (and his brother, for that matter) were at this kind of sappy mid-tempo valentine. Actually, as someone just pointed out to me, this is a better song than I originally gave it credit for being. It shows the beginning of Leif's maturity, not to mention his deepening voice. "I was lookin for someone to love but you were just lookin'..." is a deceptively simple but very clever and subtle couplet. Who hasn't felt that someone they really liked was just biding time until they could trade up? Leif seems to be truly vulnerable here, and that is what sells it. Still sappy, though.
4. "Give In" - I think this is an example of what they used to call "New Wave/Disco" - a hybrid that never really happened except when Giorgio Moroder produced people like Blondie, Japan or Bowie. It's cute when Leif breathes in time to the relentless beat - it sounds like he's literally struggling to keep up with the galloping tempo. Sorry, but Michael Lloyd was no Giorgio and Leif was no Bowie.
5. "If I Were A Carpenter" - an excellent cover! Leif gives a surprisingly mature, restrained performance on this underrated classic.
6. "Moonlight Dancin'" - Oh just stop it! Goofy attempt to reconnect with his "aw-aw-aw-awnight long" disco success of the last album. It doesn't get much more lame than this!!

CAN'T  EXPLAIN-1980
You Had To Go And Change On Me - If the rest of this album is this good, then I have been missing out on Leif's best work. Anyone who has a copy, please let me know if you could lend me a copy long enough to review it.

MY MOVIE OF YOU-1981
Runaway Rita - This one isn't quite the gem people have told me it is. It's cute but pretty derivative of the kind of covers he did earlier in his career. This, too, is an album I'd like to hear, even if just once. Again, I am asking anyone who has a copy to email me. Thanks.

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