MARY MACGREGOR : ...IN YOUR EYES

  1. Memories
  2. Alone Too Long
  3. If You Ever Believed
  4. Satisfied
  5. In Your Eyes
  6. Hold Tight
  7. Just The Way You Are
  8. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
  9. Seashells On The Windows, Candles And A Magic Stone
  10. I've Never Been To Me

Label : Ariola

Release Date : 1978

Length : 32:11

Review (Amazon) : Mary MacGregor (born May 6, 1945 in St. Paul, Minnesota) first appeared on record in 1974 with America Again billed as Mary MacGregor & Hal Atkinson with The Good Life Singers b/w America The Beautiful, billed as Mary MacGregor & Edith Norberg with The Children Singers. The record was produced by David Karr for The First Bank System and was marketed (with the label showing "Willow") by The First Merchants State Bank Of St. Paul. By 1975 she was backing Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary, including uncredited on his LP Love Songs for Warner Bros. The following year she signed with the L.A.-based Ariola-America and late that year released the Yarrow-penned Torn Between Two Lovers as Ariola America 7638. By December 1976 it had neared its zenith of # 1 on both the Billboard Pop Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary (AC) charts, as well as # 3 Country. The flip was I Just Want To Love You. The album "Torn Between Two Lovers" (Ariola-America ST-50015) also came out late in 1976 (see the full contents in the Comments below) and from that emerged two more singles, each written by Yarrow: This Girl (Has Turned Into A Woman) - # 27 AC, # 36 Country and # 46 Hot 100 in May 1977 as Ariola-America 7662 b/w Good Together; and For A While - # 38 AC, # 86 Country and # 90 Hot 100 in August as Ariola-America 7667 b/w The Lady I Am. She clearly had appeal across the spectrum of popular music but the problem was, many stations (and juke box players) were still so in love with Torn Between Lovers well into 1977 (even if Mary herself was not enthralled with the premise, which related the tale of a married woman who has owned up to having an affair but is begging her husband to stick by her!) that her follow-up records were finding air-time difficult to come by. Another problem was the popularity of Disco which made it hard for many vocalists such as Mary to find room on the charts. So the best the delightful I've Never Been To Me could do was a # 29 AC in April 1978 as Ariola-America 7677 b/w In Your Eyes. Memories b/w Seashells On The Windows, Candles And A Magic Stone as Ariola-America 7708 then missed entirely, while The Wedding Song (There Is Love), penned by Paul Stookey, also of Peter, Paul & Mary, made it to # 23 AC but just # 81 Hot 100 in December 1978 as Ariola-America 7726 b/w Benjamin. It was also in 1978 that the LP you see covered here - "In Your Eyes" (Ariola-America SWE-50025) was published containing: 1. Memories; 2. Alone Too Long; 3. If You Ever Believed; 4. Satisfied; 5. In Your Eyes; 6. Hold Tight; 7. Just The Way You Are; 8. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight; 9. Seashells On The Windows, Candles And A Magic Stone; 10. I've Never Been To Me. After her third album in 1979 (see the Comments below) she re-located to Robert Stigwood's London-based RSO Records (Robert Stigwood Organization), which had distribution arrangements in the U.S. with Atlantic Records. Her first hit there was Good Friend from Bill Murray's 1979 comedy romp Meatballs which she took to # 11 AC and # 39 Hot 100 as RSO 938 b/w Rudy And Tripper, followed in May 1980 with Dancin' Like Lovers which topped out at # 31 AC and # 72 Hot 100 as RSO 1025 b/w I Can't Hold On. That same year she also had her only RSO album appear (see the Comments) while later performing one of her own compositions, What's The Use?, for which she won both the best song and best performance awards at the Tokyo World Popular Song Festival, cementing her popularity in Japan. That led to her writing and performing two pieces, Sayonara and Love Light, for the 1981 Anime film Adieu Galaxy Express 999. So far, other than one of her songs appearing here and there in multiple-artist CD compilations, there has only ever been one dedicated Mary MacGregor CD which simply reformatted her first LP, is long out of print and is now demanding ridiculous prices. Despite what is suggested above, I don't believe THIS album was ever reformatted for CD. What we need is a proper CD anthology encompassing all 7 charting sides and their B-sides.