Theme Thursday - Game

I have some games hanging around here.

Monopoly!

My games shelf

The games folder on my hard drive

Music time! I'm about to show my age again and become an old fogey, but all the songs that occurred to me that had some relationship to "games" come from way back in my youth. The first is truly unforgettable - "It's All in the Game", the late, great Tommy Edwards' mega 1958 hit. For some reason this song sticks out for me as the sound of Baltimore, always a big African-American music city, in my childhood.

The next song that popped into my head was "Games People Play" by Joe South, which was a big hit 10 years later in 1968. This one always fascinated me; I like Joe's voice and that great intro on the Danelectro Guitar Sitar, and I've always liked his mix of Country twang with psychedelic/hippie sensibility. It's truly a '60s classic!

Believe it or not, there were three songs titled "Games People Play" in late 20th Century pop music; there was Joe South's 1968 hit, there was a song by the Alan Parson's Project in 1982 (which I don't particularly like, so you won't hear it here!), and then there was the song by The Spinners in 1975. These guys were the masters of the suave, hip '70s Soul sound, and this song is the epitome of that sound. They're graced on this tune with the fine female vocals of Barbara Ingram.

And that's my take on this week's Thursday theme. Don't forget to check out the rest of the Theme Thursday entries.

Photos & text © 2010 by A. Roy Hilbinger