9 November 2020 - Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit

It's been a long time since we've used the Hall of Fame label.  

I decided that Nirvana deserved it.  

I don't usually open a Hall of Fame week with a band's biggest hit, but this one was so intensely genre-breaking I wanted it to go first.   I want to put it in 1991 context, though.

In 1991, when Nirvana made this video, which completely mocks music videos in general, they were big in Seattle, but not really anywhere else.  They had major label money, but they didn't spend a lot of money on this video, in relative terms.   And we know the day the video was made - August 17, 1991 - because they advertised for it.

Actual casting call for "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Turns out this little video, which Kurt called his attempt to "rip off the Pixies", struck a chord with the youth of America, including me.    Here's the song that started it all.   

7 November 2020 - Miley Cyrus - Party In The U.S.A.

We rarely post on Saturday.  But when a decade-old song reenters the Billboard charts..... well, we notice.  

And, according to Variety, that's exactly what's happened today   The song last was on the charts in 2009, when it peaked at #2.  We will be watching closely to see how high it goes this time.  

Now, it's important to note that we are not posting this song as a political statement (feel free to PM this page if you want to know how we voted.  We are not shy), but we DO recognize that a lot of people are happy about today's news, so we're happy to share music we enjoy.

And, because we love the song (written by a Brit, Jessie J, no less!) and we love live alternate versions, here you go.

28 October 2020 - Lena Katina - Never Forget / No Voy a Olvidarte

Frequent readers of Totally Covered already know who Lena Katina is.  Longtime readers of this blog know she's been here before.  

For the rest of you - Lena Katina was one half of a Russian duo named t.A.T.u., who played up a public lesbianism that wasn't real (evidenced by her bandmate's deeply homophobic statements about a decade later).  After t.A.T.u. went on hiatus to pursue solo careers in 2009, Lena took full advantage of the shot and made some really good pop music.  

I don't think it takes a genius to know that this song is about the death of t.A.T.u.  No, Yulia, her bandmate, isn't dead - but they didn't end on great terms (but did reform in 2014 for the Winter Olympics). The song, from 2011, was Lena's debut single and her biggest hit to date.  The video itself is a funeral for Lena and Yulia, as a symbolic and respectful end to t.A.T.u.   It became a worldwide hit.   

 

Of course, this being a member of t.A.T.u., there is an uncensored version of the video.

12 October 2020 - L7 - Pretend We're Dead

 In the early to mid 1990's, it was cool to be a hard rock band made entirely of females.  

Seriously.  This was a thing.  And, for some reason, it was a novelty.

L7 was no novelty act.  L7 was four very talented women who knew how to rock and rock hard.  That doesn't mean their music didn't have feeling.  Take this song, the band's biggest hit.  Donita Sparks (primary vocalist on the song) wrote this while going through a devastating breakup.  It was easier for her to pretend that the guy was dead - that helped her cope.  Thus, a song was born.

While they were no novelty act, L7 knew how to have fun live.  On this live television performance from 1992, you can tell they're enjoying themselves.

Also, Donita drops trou at about 2:49.  Oh yes.  I included a performance with nudity.  

By the way, I have a personal L7 live story.   I was in attendance at the 1995 Warped Tour in Northampton, MA.  I decided this time to do something I had never ever done at any show, and that's wander into the mosh pit for the last two bands - one of which was L7 (Sublime was the other).

I didn't expect the band to crowdsurf.  

They DID stay fully clothed for that experience, but I can honestly say that I've have L7 in my hands, indelicately.  This is not something I was going for - but when you have Donita Sparks surfing over your head, you don't want to be the one who dropped her.  

The Warped performance here is from the same tour, different show. 

15 September 2020 - Lush - Ladykillers

I've certainly posted about Lush in the past - but I posted about their shoegaze stuff.   

This is nearer to the end of their time together, in the mid-1990s, when they were starting to get poppy and score a radio hit or two.

3 September 2020 - Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks

 Let's be very clear.

This is a very dark song.

To be clear, when Mark Foster wrote and performed the song, he was trying to write from the perspective of a homicidal kid thinking about shooting up his school.  Written in an afternoon, Foster had been writing commercial jingles and plowed through writer's block to get this song done. 

And, for a song that was just a demo, with Mark Foster singing and performing every piece, it's pretty rich and strangely beautiful.  

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Of course, Foster DID put a band together, and they made the song even richer..... but he still does pick up a couple of instruments!

2 September 2020 - 10,000 Maniacs - Like The Weather

 We're almost a decade into this blog, and we've NEVER posted about 10,000 Maniacs on this blog.

Let's fix that today.

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. 

17 August 2020 - blackbear - hot girl bummer

We've been pulling out a lot of old music lately, so I wanted to dedicate this week to song of the past twelve months.  

This song, from late 2019, is the first hit by blackbear, aka Matthew Tyler Musto, a man who has made most of his money writing songs for other people.  He has been a recording artist for several years as well, and this was his first hit after seven years of releasing albums.

And it's a doozy.  From the repeated chorus with the chiming bell and guitar going in time with the melody, to the significant bass drops and creative use of Autotune, the song is infinitely memorable.

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That was the 2nd video, and it was clearly big budget.  blackbear had made a low budget one, too.

Now, normally, at this point, I'd be pulling out a live version of the song - and I can do that if you really want (let me know in the comments), but I wanted to do something a little different here.

This is a video from the YouTube page of dancer/model/modern celebrity Dytto - who has 3.63 million subscribers.   This fan video/dance performance is a homage to everything pop culture from Mean Girls, to Kim Possible, to The Purge to Riverdale.  I enjoyed it - possibly more than the official videos - and I hope you do as well.  

10 August 2020 - An "Into the Unknown" Special

I am fairly certain this post isn't starting the way you thought it would, but stay with me.  We will get to Adele Dazim before you know it.

It is a fairly recent tradition of Disney to record their recognizable songs from their feature films in the native languages where their movies are released.  "Let It Go", from Frozen, for example, was recorded in several languages.  

3 Aug 2020 - The Notorious B.I.G. ft. Pam Long - Hypnotize

I've got to be honest - I was always Team West Coast.  I never really understood why I had to choose a side, but I was a fan of the artists coming out of California more than New York, when it came to hip hop in the early to mid 1990's.  

Biggie's flow on this song is just impeccable, and I cannot deny it's a great tune.  I sometimes wonder what would have happened if he and Tupac would have collaborated, and it is incredibly tragic that both voices were snuffed out so young.  

31 July 2020 - First Aid Kit - Emmylou

The "Emmylou" in this song is famed county artist Emmylou Harris, who was a tremendous influence on First Aid Kit.  After you listen to the song, you are going to see how obvious that statement is.

So, I know what you are thinking - does Emmylou Harris know about this song?

She does.  She's a fan.

30 July 2020 - The Jesus And Mary Chain ft. Hope Sandoval - Sometimes Always

This 1994 collaboration between Hope Sandoval, best known as the vocalist for Mazzy Star outside this song, and The Jesus and Mary Chain ended up being their biggest US hit - and only song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 - and HER 2nd biggest one - after "Fade Into You".

The song is a little less... dark than other Jesus and Mary Chain fare, which is probably how it was so darned accessible to so many.  

28 July 2020 - Tori Amos - Crucify

I cannot believe that we are almost a decade and more than 800 posts into this blog before we get to Tori Amos.   It's a surprise, because she was an early figure in the 1990's surge of women who were singer-songwriters and finally getting major label contracts.

This song - a minor hit in 1992 that sparked an EP with some pretty epic B-sides - is my favorite of hers.  From her debut album - we aren't counting Y Kant Tori Read here - the song is powerful and full-on from the first note.  A very piano-driven song, it was wholly written by Amos herself. 



That EP did not contain the Little Earthquake album version of the song, though.   It contained this very mild remix of the song, which includes some additional lyrics that I think add to the power of the song.



In stark contrast, this is a live version of the song from the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1991, before the song was released - and it's not at all remixed - and is STILL powerful.  True talent - a woman and her piano - is on full display.



By the way, Tori Amos still performs.  Here she is from 2014 performing a similarly pure version of the song.... and it is still as brilliant as the first time.

17 July 2020 - The Bangles - In Your Room

It always comes back to The Bangles for me.

From the first song of theirs I heard (their cover of "Going Down To Liverpool") and throughout their career, I have always thought they were four excellent musicians who just happened to be female performing great music.

This was the first single off their third album Everything and it was the band's fourth top 5 hit.  Written by Susanna Hoffs, the primary vocalist for The Bangles, it is one of my personal favorites by the band.



For our live selection today, I wanted to choose a really recent performance, for two reasons.  First of all, the band hasn't lost a beat.  At all. 

The second is that bassist.  The classic Bangles lineup included Michael Steele on bass, but she was NOT the original bassist.  The original bassist was a woman named Annette Zilinskas, who left the band in 1983, just before their breakthrough All Over The Place album was released. 

35 years later, in 2018, Annette Zilinskas returned to the band.  And I just think that's awesome.

16 July 2020 - The Call - Let The Day Begin

Sometimes, I post great songs and tell you a lot about them.   There's a lot to say about this song.  You can read all about it on Totally Covered today.  Here, just listen to Michael Been sing this very inspiring song.

15 July 2020 - Baltimora - Tarzan Boy

When I was younger and this song was new, this was one of my favorites.  Released in early 1985, it took nearly a year to chart in the United States.... and it was Baltimora's only real hit here.

Interestingly, the man you see in the video is an Irish native named Jimmy McShane - who was kind of a member of Baltimora, as a front man.  However, he did not sing the song - Maurizio Bassi, the architect of this Italy-based project, was the vocalist, and he co-wrote the song along with Long Island, NY native Naimy Hackett. 

To be fair, McShane could sing - he did perform backing vocals on several other tracks - but not this one.

When it became clear that Baltimora was not going to recreate the success of "Tarzan Boy", Bassi disbanded the group.



I usually like to include live performances of the song, but, well, when you're using an actor to represent your band.... there aren't any.  Instead, here is the late Jimmy McShane (he passed away in 1995) dancing on American television.

8 July 2020 - Transvision Vamp - Kiss Their Sons

By this time, I think y'all know that I think Transvision Vamp was one of the most underrated bands of the late 80's and early 90's.  And, if you are reading this from the UK, you probably think I'm bonkers.  They were relatively consistent hitmakers there.

This song was not a hit.  Or even a single.

I personally have a favorite album by them - Velveteen.  I consistently list it among my five favorites of all time, and usually around #3.  I purchased that album the day it was released, and it is fantastic, end to end.  I remember every song on that album had its lyrics printed in the liner notes, except one.

"Kiss Their Sons" was that song.  And this song was a lot darker and angrier than anything else on the album - because it was angry and the band was angry - at journalists who were calling these punks with credibility and careers "sell-outs", with very specific anecdotes and a lot of very colourful language.  The song opened Side 2 of the album, for those old enough to remember those - and it opened it with a guitar screech and a hell of a bassline.  The lyric "If you went away and never came back, that wouldn't be too soon" is possibly one of my favorite opening lines of any song, ever.

It is my favorite song on my favorite album of theirs, and it is a go-to for me all these years later.



I include the only live performance of this song I could find - as part of a whole live show.  The anger really shines through live - and unless I'm mistaken, Wendy James is naming names!

7 July 2020 - Dweezil Zappa ft. Moon Unit Zappa - Let's Talk About it

Dweezil and Moon Unit were the elder children of Frank Zappa, and frequent MTV VJs.  They did a couple of singles together - this Dweezil-penned antiwar song being their best known collaboration, from 1986, when it received a lot of MTV airplay.  Look for the Frank Zappa cameo at around the 2:03 mark of the video, by the way - as well as a LOT of other celebrity cameos (I count no less than 6). 

I was a teenage boy.  I was watching for Moon Unit. 

By the way, Dweezil was 17 in this video, and reportedly wrote this song when he was 15. The WHOLE song - lyrics and music. 

Moon Unit, of course, is better known for her appearance on their father's single "Valley Girl", but this is an objectively better song. 

1 July 2020 - Robin Sparkles - Let's Go To The Mall

Yes, this is really Cobie Smulders singing this.  I figured, let's just put that right out there.

If you are a fan of the TV Show How I Met Your Mother, you know this song well.  It's possibly more iconic than the show itself - and it endures to this day, several years after the show left the air.

I mean, everybody loves going to the mall.  Let this song rock your body until Canada Day (which happens to be today).

Oh, if you had doubts about my claim that it actually was Cobie Smulders.... as part of all this COVID-19 fun we're all having, she recorded an updated and quarantine-appropriate version..... 

These's one more thing.

Go to www.twitter.com/redargyle and start reading down.  First word of each tweet is all you need.

26 June 2020 - Ariana Grande ft. Nicki Minaj - Side To Side

At this point in her career, Ariana Grande wanted to be taken seriously, as an adult artist.  And while she tries to mask the suggestive nature of the song with this video, with ladies moving... er, side to side on exercise bikes, it ain't about going to the gym.  (Nicki Minaj, for her part, is a bit more direct.)

What this song is, even with its somewhat naughty premise, is a grown-up, densely layered dancehall-pop song that is surprisingly strong.


But what if you strip the layers and the overproduction?  It's still a surprisingly strong song - Grande has a voice that, while still maturing at this point in her career, is evocative and still a little innocent.....sounding.

25 June 2020 - The Juliana Hatfield Three - My Sister

Those of you know have read this blog for awhile know that there's a story that goes along with Juliana Hatfield for me.

I won't tell that one again.  I will say that the show I reference in that story came BETWEEN the ones in which I saw Veruca Salt and Letters To Cleo.  So, I figured I'd post it today.

For its part, Juliana's first all-ages show really was the Violent Femmes and the del Fuegos.  She did not, however, have a sister (although she explains in all in her book, When I Grow Up) .



The Juliana Hatfield Three was a seemingly one-off project, but she got the band back together in 2015.