Up until now, I would have said that Jay and the Americans have been one of the pleasant surprises since starting this blog nearly two years ago. While I have no plans to ever listen to either "Come a Little Bit Closer" or "Cara Mia" again, they are by no means bad songs and it wouldn't have taken all that much for either of them to have been promoted into the 'Genuinely Excellent' range. Joining them there — had they done so, obviously — is "Let's Lock the Door (and Throw Away the Key)" which I have to say I'm still taken by. Was I overly generous with my score? No, I stand by it and, in fact, I'd even place it in the high end of the second highest tier along with the likes of "Runaway", "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and "Born to Be Wild".
With all that out of the way, let's get to the fourth and final Jay and the Americans RPM number one, a cover of The Drifters' "This Magic Moment" which is uncharacteristically dreadful. The four years since their trio of Canadian chart toppers had been rough for the quintet. Vocal harmony groups gradually began to fade from the picture with even powerhouses The Beach Boys and Four Seasons being left behind by psychedelic and album orientated rock. They then doubled down, releasing a series of forgettable singles, including covers of Roy Orbison's "Crying" and the Rogers and Hammerstein classic "Some Enchanted Evening". While this approach was clearly doomed commercially, I admire them for sticking to what they knew. (Nothing's worse than a former crooner who starts tripping on acid rock) Returns diminished but they did manage to hold on to a loyal fanbase.
Yet, by 1969 things had changed somewhat in their favour. While pre-dating them by several years, Jay and the Americans seemed to fit in with the new crop of bubblegum acts that had grown out of the move on the part of more "serious" groups away from singles and towards albums. (They weren't the only teen pop act to enjoy a revival under bubblegum: Tommy Roe will be coming up very soon with a throwaway pop smash of his own) Where "Crying" and "Some Enchanted Evening" were met with indifference, their version of "This Magic Moment" suddenly had an audience willing to buy their store brand blue-eyed soul.
Where the original by The Drifters combines audacious strings, a warm mood, a lonely guitar, and Ben E. King's expressive vocals, Jay and the Americans apparently decided to turf all of these in favour of very little. It is almost impressive the way they sucked the life out of what was once a great song. They say that a cover version ought to top the original but, failing that, it should at least try something new. To their credit, there is something new here: unfortunately, it's a newfound sense of aimlessness, of a group clinging to what they once had by being as lifeless as possible. The original is a magic moment unto itself; this is an amateur magician telegraphing the trick he just learned on YouTube to a disinterested audience (yes, I am describing myself here).
And so ends the tale Jay and the Americans as a top chart act in Canada. Way to go out on a low note, fellas.
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