Nostalgic Song of the Day: Love is Like Oxygen

Song: “Love is Like Oxygen”
Artist: Sweet
Year: 1978
Where I heard it: XM Channel 7

SWEET was a United Kingdom-based “glam” rock band that formed in the late 1960s, broke up around 1981, re-formed in 1985 and  has performed in various incarnations since then. Both Lee Ann and I have XM Radio in our cars; one of my pre-set stations is XM 8, which is music from the 80s. Lee Ann has XM 7, from the 70s, pre-set. I was punching around her radio the other day while she was inside a fast-food place with the kids and heard this song for the first time in many years. Sweet had a number of top songs in the UK and in the States, including “Little Willy” and “Ballroom Blitz.” The band featured high-pitched vocal harmonies and background vocals and was known for outlandish stage costumes and being a leader in the “glitter” movement coming out of UK in the late 70s.

In the lyrics: Love is like oxygen | You get too much you get too high | Not enough and you’re gonna die | Love gets you high

Hockey Stuff: Plenty of Story Lines in Tonight’s Game

UPDATE: Canes get four power-play goals in 7-1 romp over Leafs 

Take your pick: there are plenty of great story lines for tonight’s Carolina Hurricanes/Toronto Maple Leafs matchup, set for 7 p.m. at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. It’s the only game in the NHL today.

- The Leafs’ Jason Blake, one of the off-season’s hottest free agents after scoring 40 goals for the New York Islanders, signed a five-year, $20 million contract with Toronto in July. On Monday, he announced he has a rare but treatable form of leukemia. Blake will treat the condition with pills and isn’t expected to miss playing time, but the diagnosis was still a shock. The home crowd no doubt will give him a rousing welcome tonight.

- Long-time Leafs captain Mats Sundin has 390 career goals and 915 career points – and tonight may pass Toronto legend Darryl Sittler’s marks for all-time points (Sittler had 916) and goals (both have 390) among Toronto players. Sittler, the only player in NHL history to score 10 points in a single game, is still immensely popular in Toronto and will be on hand tonight in case Sundin breaks one or both records.

- It’s a televised game. After the Canes’ home-opener was blacked-out, tonight’s game will be shown nationally on the Versus network.

- Both teams started the season 1-1-1 and need a win. Carolina has look particularly unspectacular in its three games, but they were played over a four-night stretch and the Canes were obviously tired in a listless 2-0 loss to the Capitals Saturday.

- Who’s healthy? Cory Stillman, injured in a fender-bender prior to the season’s opening night, should make his season debut tonight. Bret Hedican has been down with the flu, Mike Commodore (sore hip) didn’t play in Saturday’s loss and Andrew Ladd (ankle) is also ailing.

Around Town: Municipal Elections

The Herald’s 2007 Municipal Candidates Forum is a week away. This year, the Sanford BPW (Business & Professional Women) will co-sponsor the event, set for 6 p.m. at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center in Sanford.

On this year’s ballot (and invited this year’s forum) are these candidates in contested races:

Broadway Town Council

4- year seat (vote for 2): George Bates, Lynne Green, David Harrington, Clem Welch

2-year seat: Incumbent Woody Beal, John Eldridge

Sanford City Council (4-year seats)

Ward 2: Incumbent Dan Harrington, challenger Charles Taylor

Ward 5: Incumbent Linwood Mann, challengers Earl Barker, Ervin Fox

At-Large: Incumbent Mike Stone, challenger Lora Wright

If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask the candidates, send it to Editor Billy Liggett at: bliggett@sanfordherald.com