Melancholy personified or in this case musicfied. Casey Kasem’s AT40 ranked this song as the fifth most popular song of the 1970’s. Released in 1972 it spent several weeks at #1 on The Billboard Chart and was and is a staple of the “Soft” or “Light” Rock branding.
“Alone Again” was the centerpiece of the landmark copyright case Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc. which focused on the unauthorized use of a sample from “Alone Again (Naturally)” by rapper Biz Markie. The decision in the case effectively ended the “Golden Era” and “Wild, Wild, West” of sampling as well as the negative effect on the recording career of Biz Markie.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
