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John Ford Coley to bring 70s hits to CMAC
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John Ford Coley to bring 70s hits to CMAC

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — These days, when John Ford Coley — one half of the 1970s soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley — takes the stage, he spends a lot of time laughing and telling stories, in addition to performing songs that have been heard millions of times over the past six decades.

Her song “I’d Really Like to See You Tonight” may have been played many times in 1976 alone, when the smash hit was a staple of pop radio stations across the country.

Coley will be on the CMAC bill on August 9 and could serve as an incredible Time Life collection of soft rock and adult contemporary hits from the 1970s. The Little River Band, which headlines, has “Lonesome Loser,” “Reminiscing” and “Lady,” among others. Firefall is not far behind, with “Just Remember I Love You” and “Strange Way.”

Englishmen Dan and John Ford Coley are up there, especially when you consider some of their other hits like “Nights Are Forever Without You” and “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again.”

“I don’t think any of us ever thought we’d still be doing this,” Coley said in his Texas drawl from his home in Nashville, Tennessee. “It’s a very ephemeral business. You’re up today, you’re down tomorrow. There’s a period where it ends. None of us thought we’d be doing this again, but then, to cross paths with some of these guys, it’s like going back to the old days.”

And their old days deserve a story or two and a song or two today.

“Anybody can stand up and play song after song, but people, when they come out, want a piece of you,” said Coley, who also acted for a time, was a music producer and wrote “Backstage Pass.” “We’re going to reminisce and have a lot of laughs.”

John Ford Coley on the melody

The 1970s was the era of the singer-songwriter, and James Taylor, Carly Simon, Neil Diamond and many others come to mind. And if one worked, why not two together? The Everly Brothers of the late 1950s and early 1960s proved that the formula works in the right combination, and Simon and Garfunkel, Loggins and Messina, Hall and Oates and England Dan and John Ford Coley carried the torch.

Many of his big hits from the ’70s offered listeners perfect vocals and harmonies, and something else that Coley says is missing from many of today’s hit songs: melodies.

“There was a lot of good melodic music and the songs hold up,” Coley said. “There are hardly any melodies these days. The average person who just wants to sing can’t. In those songs, the melodies were very strong. They focused on the song, not the artist. You could sing those songs.”

John Ford Coley on England Dan and John Ford Coley

“England” Dan Seals was nicknamed after his brother, Jim Seals, of another great 1970s pop duo, Seals and Crofts (“Summer Breeze”). England, because the young Seals liked to sing Beatles songs.

Coley became “Ford,” after director John Ford, which flowed a little better than Coley’s middle name, Edward.

Thus was born England Dan and John Ford Coley, and a career, and Coley counts his blessings to this day.

“It’s been a big help for me because if you say John Ford Coley, people say, ‘Like in England, Dan?’ They just know the name,” Coley said. “That’s been really good for me playing live and stuff.”

John Ford Coley on the yacht Rock

The music of England Dan and John Ford Coley could be said to belong to this new genre of soft rock that includes music by many artists from the 1970s.

Coley loves it.

Coley first learned about yacht rock several years ago when he was doing an interview on a West Coast radio station, and the hosts mentioned that they played their music “really loud” when they took the boat out on the weekends.

“I started laughing. You play my music too loud? That’s funny,” Coley said. “I can just imagine ‘I’d Really Love to See You Tonight’ blasting through the speakers.”

John Ford Coley on misheard lyrics

Speaking of England Dan and John Ford Coley’s huge hit, the song has an often and famously misheard lyric called mondegreen.

Actually, as Coley pointed out, there are two in the song.

What almost everyone hears in the first example—“…I’m not talking about bedding”—is supposed to be “…I’m not talking about moving.”

The next one—“But a warm wind is blowing, the stars are outside”—is supposed to be—“But a warm wind is blowing, blowing the stars around.”

Who knows why people hear what they hear.

“I know I have a thick accent,” Coley said, laughing. “In my case, I firmly believe that was the only reason the song became popular, because no one could understand the lyrics.”

John Coley on playing hits

Coley still plays the songs that got him here, not that he listens to the old songs, but the good ones. When a song by the duo comes on the radio, he changes the station.

“I love playing the songs, but I don’t like listening to them,” Coley said. “When they come on the radio, I turn them off because they never change.”

Coley may play them a little faster or slower at times, or he may change a story or a joke when delivering them, but he said he has a responsibility to perform those songs precisely because they don’t change.

“You have to do it the same way because you’ve been kind of relegated to oblivion,” Coley said. “It’s something you have to come to terms with. When people come to see us play, they don’t come to hear new songs, they come to hear the things they remembered from their childhood. I’ve accepted that, I don’t have a problem with it.”

John Ford Coley on storytelling

Coley loves to tell stories, especially if they involve touring and performing with top artists from the 1970s, including Jim Messina, of Loggins and Messina fame. The two recently performed in Buffalo.

Coley also loves to hear a good story, even after a concert when he’s ready to go home and the fans aren’t.

This is why.

Coley was performing with Susan Cowsill of The Cowsills when Coley, a professional’s professional, choked, prompting Cowsill to later ask him what was wrong.

It turns out Coley was having flashbacks to the early days, when he and Dan Seals would drive all night to gigs and sing songs together along the way. The duet with Cowsill was one of those songs.

“Now, when someone tells me a story about what they did while listening to my songs, I understand it in a completely different way,” Coley said. “Those songs have memories and associations with various things. You never know what kind of impact you’re going to have on someone, without them knowing it.”

John Ford Coley on a trick question

People have asked Coley if he and England Dan are planning a reunion tour.

“I always tell them there will come a time, it won’t be soon, I hope,” Coley said with a laugh. “I’m in no hurry.”

Seals, the other half of the duo, died in 2009.

Coley, 75, said he is still going strong and hopes to continue playing for the foreseeable future.

“God and I are going to have a serious conversation about when I can finally get out of this place,” Coley said. “Man, wait a minute, I’m just now starting to have fun again. What do you mean I have to leave?”

John Ford Coley at CMAC

John Ford Coley, Little River Band, Firefall and Robbie Davis Band will perform Aug. 9 at the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center, 3355 Marvin Sands Drive. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and performances begin at 7 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://www.cmacevents.com/event/littleriverband/.

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