Seer and Sayer with Kristy and Chuck Robinett  

Valentines' Day Love Songs
With Valentine's Day coming up this Saturday, (the 14th, fellas... DON'T screw it up!) it was brought up to me on our last show as to what 'love songs' would I suggest for the gentlemen out there for 'romancing' on V-Day. The list of most popular love songs that my lovely wife came up with from the Internet were extremely 'lame' in my own humble opinion. I could only somewhat agree with a couple that were on her list: 'Let's Stay Together' by Al Green and 'Your Song' by Sir Elton John. There were two songs that I could semi-agree with and they were ones by Nat King Cole and the group, Air Supply. ....

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Now with Nat King Cole, I can understand the appeal and the sentiment towards him. Waaaaaay back in the day, he was one of the artists that you'd throw on your turntable to help get your partner 'in the mood'. The only thing is, if you had a date over and you started playing Nat, your date would probably either wonder if you're a LOT older than you said that you were or that you were just plain 'odd'. As for Air Supply, yes, they recorded quite a few sappy, almost sickening-sweet love songs. The main problem there is that they're STILL Air Supply! In my world, they weren't all too popular back in their heyday and they still aren't now! Some females just might like them and might be big fans. That's okay, but if you actually ARE going to go that route with Air Supply, remember that you didn't get the idea from me. With that, you are definitely on your own!....


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One thing that should be clarified is this: There are more than one typical kind of love song. I mean, think about it, there's a song written for every occasion with regards to love. The following are four examples that I've come up with. See if you agree... There's the love song that you play when you want to let your partner know how you feel about them, meaning that you're madly in love with them and would like to spend the rest of eternity with them. There's the love song that says that you're sorry that you 'messed up,' 'cheated' or just plain 'made a mistake' and that you love them and will never, ever let it happen again. Then there's the love song that tells, in great detail, all about your broken heart and how you can't live without them (those types are especially popular in country music.) Finally there's the 'break up' love song which states that, yes, they've left and you will still always love them, but you're better off without them. ....


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But this is Valentine's Day, so we'll stick with the first type of love song that plainly states, "I love you." Now your parents listened to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin or Johnny Mathis to let each other know how they felt. But that was then and even though those 'old chestnuts' are still classic and may still do the trick, they're just not quite modern enough for most of today's listeners. Personally, I grew up listening to The Carpenters as they had a ton of romantic ballads, but even that might not get you anywhere in today's modern world. Most of the great love songs of the past were layered with either a brass horn section or an awful lot of violins. Neither of those is typical in today's current top hits, unless you're listening to Michael Buble or Josh Groban and although both of those gentlemen are extremely talented, listening to either of them might not get your partner 'in the mood,' per say. Funny thing is, there were an awful lot of really, really good love songs recorded by some rock groups, back in the day, that actually had some real credibility. You had some great ballads by REO Speedwagon, Whitesnake, Foreigner and the like. Who could forget Cheap Trick's only Number One hit, 'The Flame'? You team that up with REO's 'I Can't Fight This Feeling' or 'Keep On Loving You' and then throw in Journey's 'Don't' Stop Believin'' or 'Open Arms' and you were definitely 'in'.......


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Ironically, there aren't a whole lot of current groups making those kinds of 'power ballads' these days. Of course, I don't personally listen all that much current radio these days as I have satellite radio, just to get away from today's top hits! Now throw me some old '70's songs or some classic rock and I'm good to go! For the record though, satellite radio has their own specific love song channel, so you fellas can score some bonus points with the ladies with that, if you so choose. If not, then I suggest that you go with some of the old 'standby's' like Barry White, Al Green or, the 'master', Luther Vandross. The following would be some of my own 'top picks' in the way of love songs to add to your CD collection: 'Here and Now,' 'If Only For One Night' and the always classic, 'House Is Not a Home,' all by Luther Vandross. Two other great additions would be 'I Want To Know What Love Is' and 'Waiting For A Girl Like You,' both by Foreigner. Other songs that I would suggest to include would be the following:....


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'Have I Told You Lately, by Rod Stewart....


'In Your Eyes,' by Peter Gabriel....


'Everytime I Think Of You,' by The Babys....


'Wonderful Tonight,' by Eric Clapton....


'Baby I Love Your Way,' by Peter Frampton....


'Is This Love,' by Whitesnake....


'Just The Way You Are,' by Billy Joel....


'Reasons,' by Earth, Wind & Fire....


'One More Night,' by Phil Collins....


'Wishing You Were Here,' by Chicago....


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In fact, most anything by the group, Chicago, would be good. I think it's those brass horns in their music. It drives the ladies crazy--....


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Well, I hope that some of these personal suggestions help. If used correctly, some of these songs can 'set the mood' and let your significant other know how you really feel about them this Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, this website does not let us include any copyrighted songs on it, so if you can't remember what some of these songs sounded like, you can check some of them out on our Official MySpace page, which is: SeerandSayer@myspace.com....


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In honor of Valentine's Day, maybe next week we can list some of the other types of love songs, just in case some of you make the mistake of getting your lover a cookbook or a toaster oven for a gift for Valentine's Day. Anyway, good luck to all of you and Kristy and I both hope that everyone has a terrific Valentine's Day! Thanks for listening!....