After a failed 1977 solo album, Steve Winwood licked his wounds for over three years and then released “Arc Of A Diver,” which surprised everyone by containing a radio smash, “While You See A Chance.”

Traffic petered out with 1974’s “When The Eagle Flies,” an unjustly forgotten record with the great opener “Something New” and the exquisite “Walking In The Wind,” and then Winwood segued to Stomu Yamashta’s group “Go,” recorded one phenomenal track, “Winner/Loser,” and that brings us up to the aforementioned ’77 solo debut, which contained such winners as “Hold On,” “Time Is Running Out,” “Vacant Chair” and the album’s highlight, “Luck’s In,” but without a hit single, Steve was on his way to obscurity, who knew a huge comeback was in the offing, never mind superstar status in 1986, with “Back In The High Life”…

“While You See A Chance” was all over the airwaves, which caused old and new fans to rush to the record store to purchase “Arc Of A Diver,” and what they ended up with was the record of a one man band akin to McCartney’s debut and Todd Rundgren’s early work that was playable throughout.

But the gem was on the second side.

Yes, by this time, you needed a hit to get recognition. The early seventies album paradigm had already died, to be undermined even further in the MTV eighties. But even at this late date, all the way up to the Napster era, if you had a hit single people were interested in buying the album to see what you were all about, what you were up to. And at this point in 1980, the concept of being ripped off by the artist and the label with one good single per disc was anathema, almost unheard of.

So you started with side one, the hit was right up front.

And then you flipped “Arc Of A Diver” over and were confronted with the slow, exotic “Spanish Dancer,” with its raindrop sounds, and six minutes later, when that spacious number ended you were jolted alive by the synth sounds of NIGHT TRAIN!

That’s the amazing thing about “Night Train,” it’s got the chugging feeling of a train on the tracks. Ever been on a long distance nighttime train trip, the Trans-Europe Express? This is not America, with its substandard track and slowdowns, no, overseas the railroad is a viable alternative, oftentimes the transportation mode of choice. You sit in your compartment and watch the landscape go by, lulled into a contemplative mood wherein you mentally run through your past and posit your future.

“Night Train” is pure album track, it’s eons before Winwood starts to sing. But what comes before the vocal is so enticing that you’re positively hooked.

Out of the night, burning with light

Yes, a streaming line of illumination piercing the landscape, with the power of many horses, pulling the inhabitants into a new future.

And that’s what the track sounds like, new, with all the synths percolating throughout, accents popping in the background, catching our attention and then disappearing, to be later replaced by another. It’s a veritable Coney Island in the listener’s mind.

And it keeps chugging along. It’s a sweeter variation on the Kraftwerk theme, a homey English feeling as opposed to German industrialization. And as its almost eight minutes transpire you’re brought along for the ride. At first you’re just listening, but when you don’t realize it, Steve hangs off the side of the car, grabs your arm and pulls you inside. You’re sitting by the window, bobbing your head to his guitar work as the countryside goes by, there’s nowhere you’d rather be.

Paris to Spain, countries in pain

You’re an observer, you’re safe in the cocoon of the music, of the train. Meanwhile, Steve’s positively wailing on his six string, there’s a left field synth and underneath it all the synths keep chugging along, just like the train. And then at seven minutes in, the synth starts to solo, the guitar comes out to jam, and suddenly the entire train starts to fade in the distance, while you weren’t looking, while you were just enjoying yourself, you were deposited in another land and the train is pulling away without you and there’s nothing you’d rather do than get back on board, which is why you get up from the couch and lift the needle to play the track again…and again…and again. It’s your secret sauce, a hypnotic number only members of a large cult are aware of. Like the best music “Night Train” has the feeling it was made just for you, which is its magic, it’s PERSONAL!

P.S. Despite predating MTV by eighteen months, a promotional film was made for “Night Train” that got airplay in the early days of the music television service, before the American record labels realized that MTV airplay was a rocket ship to riches and started cranking out clips. It’s horribly cheesy in that early video style, but because of its amateur simplicity, it’s endearing:

Steve Winwood – Night Train

P.P.S. I’ve included three versions of “Night Train.” The original, from “Arc Of A Diver,” the 2010 version from “Revolutions: The Very Best Of Steve Winwood” and the instrumental take from 2012’s expanded version of “Arc Of A Diver.” They all have their charms…LUXURIATE!

Rhinofy-Night Train

Isn’t It Enough-Spotify

Isn’t It Enough-YouTube

Sometimes you only have to hear a song once.

We were making movies, back when that was exotic, back before you could buy a cam for a thousand bucks and everybody started making a documentary. As a result, there was not a door that would not open, everybody wants their song in a flick.

So we ended up on the second floor of a building on Sunset Boulevard meeting with Lionel Conway of Island publishing. And after b.s.’ing for about thirty minutes, he said he wanted to play us something…

Sometimes I’d like to quit you and find somebody who
Don’t know me quite as well

We’ve all been through this. When life gets too tough. When the newness of love is gone. We ponder…what would it be like with somebody else?

Yeah, like a gypsy, she would be my jewel
Spend my days in a lovin’ spell

Classic rock and roll imagery, I can’t think of gypsies without thinking of “Love Potion No. 9,” MADAME RUE!

But baby I fit you, like a worn out glove
You know I ain’t goin’ nowhere

That’s what’s funny about couples. Live together long enough and you start looking alike, the one who doesn’t wear jeans suddenly does, and Nikes too, even the hairstyles, two people blend into one, they just can’t help it. That’s what you don’t realize about jumping the track, that you’re starting all over, and it’s so HARD! There are so many false starts, meanwhile, sand keeps running through the hourglass.

There ain’t nothin’ we can’t rise above
We still got a lifetime to share

Optimism. Without it a relationship dies. It’s just a matter of time until someone punts. And the funny thing is it doesn’t always take two, one is enough, one person can make a difference…sometimes.

Isn’t it enough that I still love you
Isn’t it enough to make you stay
Don’t make me suffer, baby
Don’t throw it all away

That must’ve been ’83 we had that meeting on Sunset. But “The Boyfriend,” the album from which “Isn’t It Enough” is the opening track, didn’t come out until ’86.

We were housesitting on Bristol, behind a wall, ensconced in the upper class lifestyle we dreamed of but were only experiencing for a month. We were in the master bedroom, with the Proton TV suspended from the wall, and one night on MTV, we were addicted back then, they played this video.

Oh, eventually Patty Smyth & Scandal had a semi-hit with “Isn’t It Enough,” but it was absent the buzzsaw guitar and the exuberance. That’s the thing about rock and roll, it can’t be studied, it has to sound like you’re about to come. You know that feeling, when nothing can hold you back, you can see the destination, and your only goal is to get there.

That’s what we were doing on a regular basis.

But after we got married she moved out.

And that’s when “Isn’t It Enough” took on new meaning.

Now I know you’re tired
And feelin’ all alone
I know what you’re goin’ through
I’ll satisfy your fire
But I’m not made of stone
Tell me what more can I do

That’s what you do when they leave, TRY! It’s like being George Costanza, you’re suddenly doing the opposite of what you did when you were together. Listening instead of talking. Changing your look. You do everything to win them back. But it never works. If they’re ever gonna return, it’s gonna be their decision, and they rarely do.

Now can you look in my eyes
And tell me there’s nothin’ there

That’s what we’re looking for, a chance. But we blew it when we weren’t even paying attention. They were making their decision to go when we believed everything was hunky-dory.

“You know I’ve compromised enough to show I care”

And then we stop. We’re just short of begging. And this is never attractive. It’s after this we regain our dignity, when we finally accept it’s over. Not that we’re totally convinced.

Yeah, sometimes I’d like to quit you
And find somebody who don’t know me quite the same
But it took so long just to get this far
I’ll be damned if I’ll do it again

He’s invested. And that’s what relationships are, an investment, which pay dividends. They’re also sharks, like Woody Allen said, if they don’t keep moving they die. So pay attention, keep swimming.

But it’s not really about the lyrics, they’re just the icing on the cake. It’s the aforementioned buzzsaw guitar. And the way the drums punch in between. And the other guitar dancing around. It’s a cornucopia of sound.

With a heartfelt vocal delivery.

And even a bridge.

And the rest of “The Boyfriend” is almost as good.

Which landed Danny Wilde a deal with Geffen which paid no dividends. After which he retreated to his garage with his old buddy Phil Solem and became the Rembrandts.

And even though the “Friends” theme will have a long lifespan, most people have already forgotten “Isn’t It Enough.” But not me.

Because I love its pure sound. And honesty. And the fact that this is a guy who’s willing to put it all on the line to convince her to stay.

This is rock and roll.

In other words, is she Kanye’s Yoko Ono?

At first I was offended by the baseball stadium proposal. But once the video leaked online I understood the genius of it, it was all a fake promotional stunt, made to burnish the Kardashian brand.

But is it working for Kanye?

Kim is a phony airhead who denies having plastic surgery despite having lips as big as watermelon rinds.

Uh-oh, she’s white, right? I can say this, right?

That’s what Kanye West does best. Bite back.

But anybody who doesn’t know hate is the way of the Web is living in the last decade. Hate is a badge of honor, it illustrates you’ve made it. Ignore it or be brought down by it.

Kanye had kredibility.

But now he’s jumped the shark.

We were on his team. Edgy genius whose mother tragically dies before her time.

But then he kept telling us how great he was, tweeted inane insanities (most of which have been forgotten, showing the lifespan of a tweet), told us he wrote the lyrics for “Yeezus” in a stolen moment and then decided he was a fashion king.

Last time I checked fashion didn’t have the soul of music. Everybody wants to be a musician, because a musician stands for something, life incarnate. Fashion is inherently adornment, something secondary. Then again, when music is so vapid, is it a huge stretch that fashion is now primary?

But my point is Kanye’s got no expertise in fashion. He’s like Michael Jordan playing baseball, maybe good, but not good enough. It’s like Kim’s mentor Paris Hilton deciding to become a deejay. No one’s gonna stand for that. They won’t let her in the club. She hasn’t paid any dues, she looks like a dilettante.

And Kanye dating Kim Kardashian is an even bigger head-scratcher than Lindsey Vonn dating Tiger Woods after deploring him. But don’t equate athletes with musicians. Athletes are about the body, musicians are about the mind.

So if you’re sitting on the sidelines, you’re wondering what got into Kanye. I don’t know a guy alive who’d like to pork Kim Kardashian. It’s like surimi, otherwise known as imitation crab, Paris Hilton did this first, she invented the paradigm, Paris blazed the way for the untalented being famous for nothing, Kim’s just following in her footsteps, the only difference being Kim’s got a better momager.

I give Kris Jenner credit. She made something out of nothing. She’s laughing all the way to the bank. And like every television phenomenon, it’s time-stamped, it’ll be over at some point, but can’t it be soon?

But the Kardashian Klan appeals to the downtrodden Americans who dream of being rich but can never be so. They can identify. None of the tribe is that good-looking, except for one of the teenagers, who keeps drinking and driving and getting into trouble and shouldn’t she be in school?

Fame at a young age kills.

Because fame is empty.

Once upon a time Kanye was about his music.

Now he’s just about his fame. And when you chase mass appeal, you eventually become a laughingstock. Kanye is John Davidson with an edge. Someone we keep seeing we wish would disappear.

He used to be a fighter. Now he’s a winner complaining he’s getting no respect.

Come on Kanye, you’re laughing all the way to the bank. Now you want our sympathy?

You give your kid an inane moniker that everybody is laughing at, you put out an album no one wants to hear, you keep complaining you’re not taken seriously, but you know why, KIM K!

Lamar Odom is a two-dimensional basketball player. You were supposed to be our hope, our dream, our leader, but instead you fell for the hype and can’t fathom that we’re all disappointed in you, which we are.

Stop the shenanigans!

You don’t have to get married. You’re just gonna get divorced anyway. How do I know? No one who goes on the road has a first marriage that sticks, or to put it another way, show me a beautiful woman and I’ll show you a man who’s tired of screwing her.

At least the Kardashians know the press is a tool, a scummy subset in search of titillation for the brain dead. Photogs and reporters are voracious, sharks who eat 24/7 and are in constant search of food, you can’t win feeding this beast unless you’ve got no talent and didn’t deserve to be famous to begin with, like the Kardashians.

Which is unlike Kanye. Who made it on talent.

But we’ve got enough talented people. Blow yourself up, we don’t care, the world moves on, there are tons more waiting to take your place.

We didn’t need George Michael. What makes you believe we need YOU?

While I was in Amsterdam, the days got shorter in L.A.

I know it’s the way of the world, the shortest day of the year is only two months away, but it’s still a surprise, it still catches me off guard, especially in SoCal, when you leave the house for dinner and it’s dark and nippy you feel like there’s been a death in the world, that something’s been lost that can’t be regained.

Actually, we’ve been in the midst of a heat wave, with temperatures that would be summer anyplace else. But not today. Today it started off foggy, the sun peeked out for a bit, but now it’s gray, and driving home just now my mind hearkened back to Octobers past. And “Fountain Of Sorrow” started to play in my brain.

Funny how memories come back so vividly, even though they haven’t passed through your brain in decades. I mentally pictured that Sunday afternoon all those years back when I accompanied my sister to a party with her social work buddies.

Funny thing about older siblings. You always look up to them, their friends are always just a bit more cool. As were they. On this gray day in the foothills of Hollywood. It was just after “Late For The Sky” came out, the track they played on the radio was “Fountain Of Sorrow.”

Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer
I was taken by a photograph of you
There were one or two I know that you would have liked a little more
But they didn’t show your spirit quite as true

A. Nobody likes most photographs of themselves.

B. Perfection is overrated. The pictures we adore are those that are somehow three-dimensional, where what’s inside the people photographed is evidenced. It’s not about beauty, but life.

“Fountain Of Sorrow” has got an upbeat groove, it’s not slow and heavy, unlike the opening, eponymous track of “Late For The Sky.” But there’s so much serious truth involved.

But when you see through love’s illusions, there lies the danger
And your perfect lover just looks like a perfect fool
So you go running off in search of a perfect stranger
While the loneliness seems to spring from your life
Like a fountain from a pool

That’s what we’re all trying to avoid. The loneliness. And when we climb the ladder of integration we forget about the abyss, we can only see up, not down, so we want to go higher, and we end up falling all the way back down.

Happens to everybody, especially when they’re young. This person’s pretty good, if only I could change this or that, but you can’t really change people, so you start dreaming of somebody better and you find someone who floats your boat, shows that gleam in their eye, and you jump ship, only to find what’s beneath the waterline is far from endearing, but at this point you can’t go back, you can never go back, because the person you’ve abandoned can never recover from what you did to them, they can never trust you again, and love is all about trust.

Now for you and me it may not be that hard to reach our dreams
But that magic feeling never seems to last

That line has always bugged me. I’ve never found life easy, never found that things work out. It’s been a perpetual struggle. But as for that magic feeling not lasting…ain’t that the truth. You reach the pinnacle, but the euphoria ultimately evaporates. No one can be famous 24/7, no one can be on top of the charts all year, the initial rush of love fades. It’s the nature of existence. We’ve always got to keep moving, because the stagnant position ultimately feels worse and worse.

And while the future’s there for anyone to change, still you know it seems
It’d be easier sometimes to change the past

That’s what the youth don’t know. How hard it is to accomplish your dreams, contrary to what Jackson says above. It’s hard enough to start in Little League, never mind become a movie director or win an election. The world is your oyster and then it’s not, I’ve always been worried opportunity is going to disappear, which is why I never had kids, didn’t want to get married, owe no money, I want no obligations, I want to be able to turn on a dime and grab hold of the rope that leads me somewhere better, the so-called opportunity of a lifetime. And the truth is you make your own opportunities, but most get entrenched in obligations, go down the path of security and then it becomes impossible to make your way back. Oh, you can abandon everything and you’ll end up with freedom, but truly you’ll be starting over, at the bottom, and it won’t be long until you want your old life back, because none of us really want to go back, we might have lines in our faces and squandered chances, but high school really wasn’t that good and it makes no difference if your skin is baby smooth if you’re inexperienced and unwise.

I’m just one or two years and a couple of changes behind you
In my lessons at love’s pain and heartache school

My favorite line in the song, one of my favorite lyrics ever. I quote it all the time. You realize someone’s more experienced, you’re at the beginning, they’re in the middle or at the end. You’re behind them. Not that this is always bad, but life is about feeling inadequate until you finally realize we all are…insecure, searching for answers, wondering how we fit in.

As for love… I think I’m gonna die with so many questions unanswered. You always think life is in front of you, that you can make adjustments, until you wake up one day and you realize there’s less time left in the top half of the hourglass than the bottom, and you’d better be wide awake or what’s still left will pass you by.

You’ve had to hide sometimes, but now you’re all right
And it’s good to see your smiling face tonight

I smile now. There were years when I didn’t. Most of the nineties, a positively lost decade that I’ll never get back.

And the older you get the less you remember. When you’re young your whole life lies in relief, you don’t have to throw anything out to make room, but as you age you realize life is a continuum, no different whether you lived in 1813 or 2013. Life, love and happiness, that’s what everybody’s searching for.

And when I hear that downbeat and fall into that groove I feel I belong, to the great continuum of rock and roll, it’s what keeps us baby boomers together. It’s not the same for kids. Oh, there’s still music, but it’s not as meaningful. But we grew up with few other distractions. The best and the brightest played. And boosted by the youthquake of the sixties it was not about money so much as fulfillment, questions rather than answers. And that’s the conundrum facing the aged. They like what they’ve achieved, but they still have their dreams, which are too often out of reach everywhere but in their minds.

So they put on the old records and are awash in who they once were, wondering how this many years later they can still feel lonely, sometimes only the music can make them feel complete.

If you feel too free and you need something to remind you
There’s this loneliness springing up from your life
Like a fountain from a pool

Fountain Of Sorrow-Spotify

Fountain Of Sorrow-YouTube