"Days Gone By" by Poco

Song#:  1878
Date:  04/28/1984
Debut:  90
Peak:  80
Weeks:  5
Genre:  Soft Rock, Country Rock



Pop Bits:  Following their self-titled debut album in 1970, Poco released a stream of good selling LPs that culminated in their 1978 gold-selling LP Legend, which featured a pair of Top 20 hits that crossed over to AC and Country. After that, the band's fortunes began to slide and navigating the new decade proved difficult. It all kind of came to a head with 1984's Inamorata. This first single couldn't make it out of the basement at Pop and failed to reach any other chart. It disappeared quickly as did the album. The results led their label, Atlantic, to drop the band. Afterward, the band experienced personnel changes while continuing to do a few tour dates. That might have been the end of the line for the band, but with the help of another pop star, they would rebound in 1989 with a hit single and album.

ReduxReview:  This song is just on the verge of being really good. As-is, I like it. The opening is solid and I like how it leads to the kick-in before the bridge/chorus. However, I think the chorus needed to be stronger in order for it to be more memorable. The title finally gets repeated in the outro, but by then it's a little too late. Still, it's a good song and one of their better latter career singles.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Half of the songs on Inamorata were written by band member Paul Cotton. Cotton joined Poco in 1970 when Jim Messina departed. Prior to that, Cotton was in the Chicago-based country/blues rock band Illinois Speed Press. That band got a chance at the big time when Columbia signed them in 1969. Their self-titled debut album was issued at the same time as three other Chicago-based bands that were on Columbia. The label had decided to do combination promos with the bands saying that they represented the Chicago sound. The albums had varying success with Illinois Speed Press' album getting to #144 on the chart. However, the debut album of one of the bands became a major hit. Chicago Transit Authority would be a multi-platinum album that spawned two Top 10 hits. Of course the band would shorten their name to just Chicago with their next LP.

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