I really miss old time classic pop/country crossover hits. They don't make songs like that anymore.
Take "Seven Year Ache". Written by Rosanne Cash and produced by her then-husband Rodney Crowell, this song by Johnny Cash's daughter was a HUGE country hit and a moderate pop hit in 1981.
It wasn't her last country hit - it's considered to be her breakthrough - but it's her most recognizable today.
She's never stopped recording the song, either. Here she is performing the song last year, in a quiet acoustic version at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
This performance from 1987, however, is more electric and matches the feeling of the original.
Do you remember the time when the "Sledgehammer" video came out and everyone thought it was SOOOOOOOOOO groundbreaking because, well, claymation and stop-motion?
And it was. It won NINE MTV Video Music Awards, the most any video has ever won. It won the Brit Award for Best Video of the Year. It was NOMINATED for a Soul Train Music award in 1987..... the only non-R&B artist nominated in the category and the only non-jazz white artist nominated in ANY category that year. He lost that one to Janet Jackson....
The video is great and Gabriel suffered for it - by having clouds repeatedly painted on his face and having to stay very still a LOT.
But this isn't a blog about videos. It's about music. And this was a pop-rock song in the British soul style, written by Gabriel, that would become his biggest hit in North America (and tie for his biggest hit in the UK). Gabriel leans into the soul influence on this song and on the whole So album, merging an 80's synth sound with 70's-style horns.
OK, but the video is undeniably great.
Gabriel embarked on a long tour in support of So, and it ended in October 1987 in Athens, Greece.
His performance is absolutely a whole-body performance.
Today is the 40th anniversary of the release of So.
So, why not celebrate with a lively performance from.... 2023.
Gabriel still gives a whole-body performance but with less hair.
On Friday, you could say "Bulgaria has never won the Eurovision Song Contest".
On Saturday, you could no longer make that claim.
DARA gave a hell of an exciting performance in the finale of the infamous competition. But despite North American audiences not knowing her, she's been around awhile - going far in the Bulgarian version of The Voice in 2015. She's had a string of hits in Bulgaria since.
This song, co-written by the artist, is inspired by the act of kukeri, which is a Bulgarian ritual, performed by men, intended to ward off evil spirits.
But really, it's just a fun song. Give it a go.
By the way, in order to win, you have to perform the song several times.
You have to compete in-country first - and emerge victorious.
In this day and age, you need a music video, too. And Dara has that.
So, it's tough for me to justify posting much Canadian content outside of March.
And you don't get much more Canadian than Hamilton, Ontario's own Arkells. They have a lot of hometown pride - and they released a new album, Between Us, last month.
But for one of their singles, Arkells teamed up with John Gourley, better known as Portugal. The Man. He's from Alaska, AMERICA! So, checkmate. SUCK IT!
But seriously, it's a cool collaboration.
The night after their album was released, Arkells travelled to the States to perform the song.
OK, they drove like an hour to Buffalo. Seriously, Hamilton is closer to Buffalo than Rochester is. AND they have IKEA!
The crowd in Buffalo knew the Canadian national anthem by heart loved the new music, and with good reason - the band sang the hell out of it.
I have had this song sitting in my drafts for almost a decade.
In 1991, this was America's introduction to the Chicago rock gods. This was their very first single, and it blew me away from first listen. This song defined their fuzzy sound and marked their first use of the signature Big Muff pedal sound that dominated their Gish and Siamese Dream albums.
I still love this song. Billy Corgan bringing it quiet and mellow for 30 seconds at about the 1:50 mark and coming back to the bombast even stronger.... only to return to the quiet style for the last verse.... and get even more bombastic for the finish!
This song is a journey.
Back when Smashing Pumpkins had their original lineup and Billy Corgan had his original hair, this song was a staple of their shows - like this one in 1993 at a Siamese Dream release party. The band was tight!
Most of the band is back together here in 2019 (D'Arcy ain't coming back, ever), and they still sound tight, if not a little older and less bombastic.
But really, my favorite ever performance of this song is this one from a Tower Records in 1993. The band was performing acoustic for a group of fans camping out to buy Siamese Dream at midnight, and despite his reputation, Billy was absolutely charming with that little girl.
This new single, co-written by Finn Keene, A.G. Cook (the producers) and Charlotte Aitchson (because yes, I am using her gubmint name and not some kiss Charli kiss thing she came up with when she was 14), is probably not technically rock music, but it is the most guitar driven thing she's ever done.
And it is a polarizing departure for Charli. But also, like I said when "Vroom Vroom" came out in one of my least favorite posts on this blog, because I really still don't like "Vroom Vroom", it's still Charli. And, this time, I really like this. It's kind of an electronic/rock fusion, and I am here for it.
A couple of weeks ago, Irish hip-hop trio KNEECAP released their second album, FENIAN. The title of the album - and today's song - is both a term to refer to Irish revolutionaries and, not coincidentally, a slur referring to Irish Catholics.
KNEECAP - in all their Irish Catholic brashness - have taken their word back.
And not only are they brash, they released the best hip-hop album of the last year on May 1st, and arguably the best album of the year so far in any genre. It is melodic AND in your face. STRONGLY recommended.
They've already performed this and other songs from the album live, as in this April 30th performance in advance of the album's launch.
Happy 27th birthday to Sabrina Carpenter! Have we been posting her too much lately? Maybe. But she's one of the hottest stars right now and she's making great music, honestly.
But her overnight success was far from overnight. In fact, her first pop hit - making the top 30 in the United States - came off her 2nd album, EVOLution, released 10 years ago. This song, written by Muni Long and Steve Mac, was a top 30 hit in early 2017.
The video was done in one shot. No edits. She was 16.
Sabrina does not like this song anymore. She is 27 now. But she sure did perform it a lot in 2017.
My sister, Dawn, wrote to me yesterday to let me know that Bonnie Tyler had been placed into a medically induced coma (after surgery to repair a perforated intestine), in case I wanted to draft something.
Because, you know, Special Editions.
Well, I have to post this either way now. I'm holding out for not having to uncork a second one before too long.
This song was recorded in mid-1977, after Tyler has undergone surgery (in 1976) to remove nodules from her vocal cords. That surgery left the Welsh singer with a remarkably husky voice - which is better than not being able to sing, which she thought was going to happen.
That husky voice would end up being her first US top 5 hit (she'd have another later).
In 2004, Tyler rerecorded a bilingual version of the song with Kareen Antonn, a French singer. I think it works well as a duet - and Europe agreed, as it as a hit there once again.
The great thing about her voice is that is still sustains a half century later. This performance is from a month and a half ago. As an added bonus, the audience knows every word.
With the first single from this year's locket, Madison Beer has given this to us. It's sultry - oozing with sex - and brings a sharp disco beat - and it has become a pretty sizable hit on the dance charts in the US and elsewhere.
Is Madison Beer a modern day Donna Summer? Maybe. Is this a great dance/pop song? Absolutely.
It's that sexiness that probably got Madison Beer booked to perform this song at the 2025 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
This live performance from 2023 really makes us happy. You see, we write a lot of posts early, and we are WRITING this post in 2023, just a couple of weeks after this was recorded.
"Fall" being one of our favorite songs from Crawdaddy, this delights us further. Plus, they're having so much fun!!!!
Also, hey, future! Did Elon Musk bring us the flying car yet? (edit: 2026: this did not age well. AT ALL)
On July 4th, 2019, Season 3 of the Netflix hit show Stanger Things dropped. That is when so many people were introduced to a new character named Robin Buckley, who inspired a LOT of 2019 Halloween costumes.
You all had one friend who dressed like this that year. ADMIT IT!
That character was played by actress (and daughter of Uma Thurman) Maya Hawke.
Now, when you all saw the name of the artist, a lot of you didn't need me to tell you that this was Robin. I learned the name of the artist, and I wondered if she was related to Ethan Hawke (she is - that's her dad). Because, you see, I've seen maybe five minutes of Stranger Things.
This isn't an actor's blog. It's a music blog. So, where am I going with this?
On August 16th, 2019 - just a month later - Maya Hawke started her music career with two songs that she co-wrote with Jesse Harris. She was a young singer-songwriter, but was already showing a maturity in her storytelling.
Despite her continued busy acting schedule, Hawke does perform live, as she did in 2020 - and her voice was just breathtaking.
Her new album, MAITREYA CORSO, was released last week, so she's also still making music - and the album is excellent.
The absolute best thing about this blog is learning about new music that I would not have otherwise heard.
Lately, that journey has taken me to Australia an awful lot. Take this band, who formed in Melbourne in 2024 and just released their second EP, NEW AGE, this February. Combining post-punk and showgaze elements, they bring a fresh energy to their music.
Sounds like this don't come out of nowhere. This very tight five piece was performing this song last September - and you can see and hear the raw energy, and the wall of three guitars creating a rich, layered rock sound.
I listened to this album - Graceland Way - on the day it came out - last Friday, April 24th - without knowing a single thing about Mikaela Davis. The cover did tell me something about the album, though.
Can we guess the genre?
What I did NOT guess was that Davis was a classically trained harpist, which is really cool. And she actually plays it - on the album and on stage.
What I did NOT guess is that Davis's record label is Kill Rock Stars, famous home to the riot grrl revolution of the 1990s.
What I REALLY did NOT guess is that Davis is performing at the Lilac Festival in Rochester, NY on May 13th - a Wednesday night, so I likely won't be there, but that does not mean I'm not going to try - because, and this is the kicker, she's actually FROM Rochester, NY.
Without knowing ANY of that, I listened to what is an excellent album. This is the second single from that album - featuring Tim Heidecker (of the comedy duo Tim & Eric) and Grammy winning artist Madison Cunningham - and it is a sweet, bright, throwback of a country song... complete with harp.
