My Love's Name

Ciao! This week I’ve chosen songs that all have the name of a woman in their title. So I’m calling this episode “My Love’s Name”. To start off let’s listen to “Aubrey” by Bread from 1972.

Next up is “Magdalena” by Demis Roussos from 1989. It is a song about a man who is on his way back home, and back to the woman that he loves.

Now let’s listen to the Allman Brothers with “Melissa” from 1972.

Our next song is by Antonello Venditti, an Italian singer-songwriter and pianist who became famous in the 1970s for the social themes of his songs. Here is one of his most beautiful love songs from 1978, entitled “Sara”.

Next we have The Police with “Roxanne” from 1978.

Here is “Lorelei”, one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite groups, Styx. Released on their 1975 album Equinox, it was released as a single in 1976. The song peaked at #27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and was the band's second top 40 hit single. Lorelei also hit number six on the Canadian charts, and was ranked as the 77th most popular hit of 1976 by Chicago radio superstation WLS.

Here is John Denver, one of the great American singer-songwriters from the 1970s with “Annie’s Song”, featuring Denver’s signature acoustic guitar.

Another famous guitarist and singer-songwriter is Biagio Antonacci, with “Iris” from 1998. In English the name would be pronounced “iris”. The chorus says “Iris, I feel like saying I love you, and you know I’ve never said it before”...“you never stop showing who you really are...there is so much LIFE in this life with you”.

Here is another song entitled “Iris”. It’s by the Goo Goo Dolls, and it’s also from 1998, but even though the title is “Iris” the name is never mentioned in the lyrics.

Next up is Toto with “Rosanna” from 1982. The album won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1983. "Rosanna" was also nominated for Song of the Year and reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks. It was also one of the band's most successful singles in the UK, peaking at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and remaining on the chart for eight weeks.

Now let’s listen to “Aja” by Steely Dan from 1977.

NOTE: (“Aja” is pronounced “Asia” like the continent)

Our next song, “Carrie”, is a power ballad by the Swedish rock and roll band Europe. Released in 1987, it was the third single from the album The Final Countdown, and it is their highest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #3. It also reached #36 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.