Sex Siren To Soccer Mom - The Gayle McCormick Story

Gayle McCormick was the dame what sang with Smith, the group what came close to fame with their version of The Weight on the Easy Rider soundtrack, on account ABC couldn't license The Band's original. Hoo-hah. Their name - Smith, pay some attention here - don't even appear on the front cover of the album, such wus the lowness of esteem in what dey wus held.

McCormick had a swell set of pipes, and when Smith broke up (to shockwaves of nationwide grief) Dunhill kept her on contract. Unfortunately for the skeevy sector of her audience, she morphed from willowy blonde hippie goddess [below, Ed.] to soccer mom in the process. And married and moved to Hawaii and all that dismal M.O.R. shit. Oh well.

The point of all this is that her career - and many others - depended on covering material that had already been hits for others. You'll know maybe half the songs on this album, and you'll understand why anyone who could sing would want to sing them. It was a huge and lucrative market, nurtured by radio play, TV appearances and gigging, that's totally disappeared. The rise of the singer-songwriter - Gayle was never going to get in the way of Joni - is partly to blame, but nothing lasts forever. It's impossible to imagine today's singers (don't ask me, pal, I ain't heard any) choosing from an extensive catalog of contemporary hits by professional songwriters. And making a good living out of singing them. Laughable, ain't it?

Included in today's serving of Music Biz Meatloaf is this here solo album, which is swell, incidentally, and those there Smith albums. You need none of this, but scarf 'em up to be on the safe side.

THIS JUST IN: Dr D helpfully points us to a couple of later Gayle albums in the comments, showing just what a cheap shot the clickbait title of this piece was. Thanks, DR D!