80's Guilt #21: Paul Davis “Cool Night” (1982)

"Cool Night" peaked at #11 on Billboard. We get confused when hearing songs like this, compared to those that chart in 2011. Clear obvious songcraft is involved within the music of guys like Paul Davis, whereas today, if the same amount of craftsmanship is involved, do these writers and producers put effort into removing any evidence that actual time went into their songs? Take "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO for instance: Awesome chorus, and then that's pretty much the entire song. Had Paul Davis thought of that chorus, he probably would have included a clearly defined verse and pre-chorus with the option of adding key modulations, so that the various sections of the song can sound refreshing to the ear. Is refreshment dead? It seems we're currently at a point when huge songs contain one solid hook instead of several hooks. We wouldn't be surprised if bands like LMFAO are doing this on purpose, similar to how Rivers Cuomo is obviously capable of writing another Pinkerton if he really wanted to, but never will, because of "what sells" vs "what doesn't."

Yeah anyway... "Cool Night" is another hot grocery store jam. We wouldn't be surprised if Ariel Pink was a huge fan of this dude. We had no idea this is what Paul Davis looked like... We assumed he looked more like Don Henley or Phil Collins, and less like a white Rastafarian member of the Allman Brothers.