1 February 2021 - Tom Cochrane - Life Is A Highway

Tom Cochrane was already a star in Canada when this song become an absolutely gigantic hit.  But it almost didn't happen.

Cochrane used to be the lead vocalist and songwriter for a band called Red Rider, and he wrote a song called "Love Is A Highway".  The band never recorded it, because he considered it unusable...

...but picked it back up a few years later for his 1991 solo release Mad Mad World, retitled and retooled.  It was a fun and happy song that became a huge worldwide hit.

When Mad Mad World was reissued for its 25th anniversary, Cochrane included the original demo on the album.  You can hear that it's a very different song, but also, you can hear where the big hit came from.  

Also, this was hard to find, so you're welcome.  

 

29 January 2021 - Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner

This is perhaps the oddest history of a song I have ever posted here.

I first heard the song in 1987, as the opening track on Solitude Standing, Suzanne Vega's 2nd album.  It was a crisp and clear acapella song... so clear that it was used to test the MP3 file format for clarity.  Yes, the answer to the trivia question "what was the first MP3" is "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega.  I immediately loved it.

This live version captures the album version quite perfectly.

Fast forward to 1990.  Two British producers that called themselves DNA remixed the song with a thumping bass track.  They didn't ask anyone if they could do this.  They just did it. They went ahead and released the track to dance clubs in Europe.  Her record label - A&M - caught wind of this and did something remarkable.  With the approval of Suzanne Vega (who actually liked what DNA did with her song), A&M bought and released the remixed song.  

It would become Vega's second biggest pop hit of her career (after "Luka") and arguably her most recognizable.