England Dan & John Ford Coley's "Love is the Answer"

Mike Blakesley

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I know this song is not on A&M Records (although ED&JFC did do a couple of albums for the label) but I just heard it on the radio and a "nagging question" I've had for years came into my mind. I wonder if anybody else has noticed this?

Toward the end of the song, the two singers alternate singing things like "When you're all alone," "When you're far from home," etc. each time followed by a chorus singing "Love one another." When they get to the line "And when you're down and out," I could swear that voice is Jim Seals (of Seals and Crofts) making a cameo appearance. Of course Jim is England Dan's brother.

Has anyone else noticed this and what do you think? The two guys sound a lot alike, so it could just be Dan sounding like Jim, but it sure sounds different from all the other vocals in the song... to me at least.

Here's a link if you want to give it a listen! The line in question comes up at 2:52.



It's one of my favorite songs by these guys, except for the saxophone in it, I wish they'd left that out. I like the Todd Rundgren & Utopia version a little better.
 
It's probably just Dan sounding like Jim. One of my favorite recent discoveries by these guys is "Simone" on the FABLES album for A&M. It was apparently a bigger hit in Japan than in the US.

 
I think I remember hearing "Simone" on the compilation album A&M put out by them after they "hit it big" on Big Tree Records.
 
I know this song is not on A&M Records (although ED&JFC did do a couple of albums for the label) but I just heard it on the radio and a "nagging question" I've had for years came into my mind. I wonder if anybody else has noticed this?

Toward the end of the song, the two singers alternate singing things like "When you're all alone," "When you're far from home," etc. each time followed by a chorus singing "Love one another." When they get to the line "And when you're down and out," I could swear that voice is Jim Seals (of Seals and Crofts) making a cameo appearance. Of course Jim is England Dan's brother.

Has anyone else noticed this and what do you think? The two guys sound a lot alike, so it could just be Dan sounding like Jim, but it sure sounds different from all the other vocals in the song... to me at least.

Here's a link if you want to give it a listen! The line in question comes up at 2:52.



It's one of my favorite songs by these guys, except for the saxophone in it, I wish they'd left that out. I like the Todd Rundgren & Utopia version a little better.

Yes, I noticed it. I would bet just about everything I own that that's Jim Seals.
 
In 1980, Coley returned to A&M with a new act (a trio) called Leslie, Kelly and John Ford Coley producing a self-titled album (but sadly no hits). While not a "bad" album, none of the songs were real attention grabbers. I'm sure it's somewhere in the AOTW thread somewhere! Leslie and Kelly were sisters Leslie and Kelly Bulkin.

--Mr. Bill
 
I know this song is not on A&M Records (although ED&JFC did do a couple of albums for the label) but I just heard it on the radio and a "nagging question" I've had for years came into my mind. I wonder if anybody else has noticed this?

Toward the end of the song, the two singers alternate singing things like "When you're all alone," "When you're far from home," etc. each time followed by a chorus singing "Love one another." When they get to the line "And when you're down and out," I could swear that voice is Jim Seals (of Seals and Crofts) making a cameo appearance. Of course Jim is England Dan's brother.

Has anyone else noticed this and what do you think? The two guys sound a lot alike, so it could just be Dan sounding like Jim, but it sure sounds different from all the other vocals in the song... to me at least.

Here's a link if you want to give it a listen! The line in question comes up at 2:52.



It's one of my favorite songs by these guys, except for the saxophone in it, I wish they'd left that out. I like the Todd Rundgren & Utopia version a little better.

That sounds like Coley to me. I never questioned that in all the times I've heard the tune. I'm assuming you mean "and when you're down and out." The line following is clearly Dan.

Ed
 
I really like the Todd Rundgren & Utopia version, which, to me, has a lot more energy, heart and soul in it than the ED&JFC version, which is quite often the case when the writer performs their own work. I don’t mind the other version, though.
 
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