25 August 2020 - Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé- Telephone

This video tells a story that doesn't entirely match the song.  I mean, it's set in a prison - and the song clearly isn't.

And that's OK.   It also doesn't hurt the song.  

What it is is a great song, with a great dance beat, celebrating the great dance song, co-written by Gaga and Beyoncé - and they wrote a song on which they could BOTH showcase their unique voices.  It ended up being Gaga's 6th consecutive #1 song - a feat matched by no other artist in history.  

I mention that Lady Gaga cowrote this song, and I have said numerous times that this woman has a lot of natural musical talent - enough that she uses vocal tricks to her advantage without taking away her timbre.  Which brings me to this live version - from 2017.

Clearly, Stefani really just wants to dance!  But it is the singing in which she excels on this night - and it is huge and CLEARLY pure.

 

Now, Beyoncé has also done this song live.  For some reason, they've never performed it together - but I hope that changes at some point in the future.

I wanted to close this post with this unique version of the song....  it is all on piano.

21 August 2020 - Miley Cyrus - Midnight Sky

It's always good to hear from Miley Cyrus, isn't it? And this is her first single of the year - so it is assumed she made this video during the pandemic.



This song, released literally last week, is clearly about her breakup with Liam Hemsworth - and it's a deeply personal song, in only a way that Miley could be deeply personal. But this is Wicked Guilty Pleasures, not Wicked Guilty Therapy Sessions, so it's got to be enjoyable, and it is. 

Musically, it's straight ahead bass-driven pop with significant synth.  It's a great 80's throwback with a modern feel - and it's fun.  And that's enough.