“I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” (England Dan & John Ford Coley)

How about another classic mellow soft rock song of the day, in the form of “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” by England Dan & John Ford Coley. Released in May of 1976, it peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Easy Listening chart.

“I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” was one of those mellow, piano-driven adult contemporary tunes that were all too common during the 1970s. Yesterday’s Classic Song of the Day, Michael Johnson’s “This Night Won’t Last Forever,” was another. There were lots of them back then, for some reason.

This one was written by Parker McGee. a Nashville-based singer-songwriter. You can tell that this song, if recorded just a bit differently, could have been a big country hit. McGee also penned “Nights Are Forever Without You” for Misters Dan and Coley, as well as “Goodbye Old Buddies” for similarly sounding Seals and Crofts. The man also had a minor mellow hit of his own in 1976 with “I Just Can’t Say No to You,” which went to #42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

“I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” is famous for its oft-misunderstood line, “I’m not talking ’bout moving in,” at the beginning of the chorus. I’m not sure what I thought it said, but that rhythmically misplaced “moving in” really threw me. Thank heavens for lyrics posted years later on the Internet so I could finally figure out what they were talking about.

What they were talking about was a guy calling up an old lover and pretty much inviting himself over for the night. He’s not talking about moving in, after all, he just wants a little something-something for old time’s sake. There’s a warm wind blowing the stars around, you see, and he really does miss her smile. You get the drift.

The “they” I keep mentioning are England Dan & John Ford Coley. England Dan was Dan “England Dan” Seals and John Ford Coley was John “John Ford” Coley. They were high school buds in Texas and started performing in local bars and such, eventually signing with A&M Records. They left A&M in 1972 and signed with Atlantic Records’ subsidiary Big Tree Records, where they had their biggest successes with tunes like “Nights Are Forever Without You” (#10 in 1976), “It’s Sad to Belong” (#21 in 1977), “We’ll Never Have to Say Goodbye Again” (#9 in 1978), and “Love is the Answer” (#10 in 1979). They split up in 1980.

Dan Seals was the younger brother of Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts, who got his nickname because of the English accent he affected at some gigs. After splitting with Mr. Coley, the younger Mr. Seals went solo as a country singer with significant success, scoring a string of nine #1 country hits (“Meet Me in Montana,” “Bop,” “Everything That Glitters,” “You Still Move Me,” “I Will Be There,” “Three Time Loser,” “One Friend,” “Addicted,” “Big Wheels in the Moonlight”) in the 1980s. He passed away of lymphoma in 2009, aged 61.

Mr. Coley kept performing and recording for a number of years. He eventually became a producer for Eddie Money and other acts. He’s still alive today, aged 74.