1974’s Lane Changer: Michael Fennelly’s Hidden Pop-Rock Classic

EPYSODE 83: Lane Changer by Michael Fennelly.

Guest: Michael Fennelly.

Additional commentary by Uncle Herff.

This week it's our final stop on our "Fennelly Fest" as we turn our attention to Lane Changer, the underappreciated solo LP from Michael Fennelly. Moving beyond the lush studio experimentation of The Millennium and the punchy pop-rock of Crabby Appleton, Fennelly steps into a more personal, grounded sound blending West Coast sensibilities with the polish of early AOR.

With sharp songwriting and a reflective tone, Lane Changer captures an artist navigating both creative evolution and an ever-shifting music industry. Fennelly shares firsthand insight into the making of the record, the influences behind its sound, and why a record this strong slipped quietly out of view.

Want an added bonus? Michael allowed us to use one of his unreleased tracks for the epysode!

A hidden gem of the mid-’70s, this album is the sound of an artist finding his footing just as the road ahead begins to change.

I hope you dig Lane Changer as much as I do.

- Farmer John

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===THE MUSIC===

Songs used in this Epysode, in order of appearance. Here's a link to a Spotify playlist for all the tracks featured.

*denotes track is not available on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1jTUuz4j7BZ13qss0BjYtS?si=a73afce1d9b7470a

THE MILLENNIUM “It Won’t Always Be The Same”

CRABBY APPLETON “Go Back”

THE FACES “Wicked Messenger”

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Lane Changer"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Touch My Soul"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Won't You Please Do That"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Over My Dead Body"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Dark Night"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Easy To Love"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Shine A Light"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Bad Times"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Flyer"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Watch Yerself"

MICHAEL FENNELLY "Give Me Your Money"

*MICHAEL FENNELLY “Turn To Me”

*MICHAEL FENNELLY “Stranger’s Bed”

*MICHAEL FENNELLY “Terror Of Love” (previously unreleased)

*MICHAEL FENNELLY “Old Rock ‘n’ Rollers” (previously unreleased)

MICHAEL FENNELLY “Go Back” (acoustic demo)

MICHAEL FENNELLY “I Don’t Think That I’ll See That Time Again” (acoustic demo)

MICHAEL FENNELLY “The Other Side” (acoustic demo)

??MYSTERY ARTIST?? Tune in next week to find out...

*NEWPORT ELECTRIC "Now It's All This" (to be released fall 2026)

*MICHAEL FENNELLY “Tomorrow We Love” (previously unreleased)

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