7 March 2021 - k-os - Crabbuckit

My American audience isn't going to know k-os very well.  k-os is a Canadian "alternative hip-hop artist", according to his Wikipedia page.  I wish he was known better south of the border, because his sound is soulful and innovative.

This song, which won Single of the Year at the 2005 Juno Awards (which, for those unaware, are kind of like the Canadian Grammys - and this was the first time a hip-hop song won that award), referred to the crab-in-the-bucket syndrome.  Basically, if you throw a bunch of crabs in a bucket, the mob will work to pull down anyone who tries to escape - a metaphor for someone trying to escape a particular socioeconomic situation.  

6 March 2021 - Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach

Martha and the Muffins are a rock band from Toronto - ARE.  Not WERE. Formed in the mid-1970s, they had a lot of hits in their native Canada, but only one real big hit outside their homeland.   That hit, of course, was "Echo Beach", a horn-filled electronic romp to a place far removed from the ennui of everyday life.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of their biggest international hit, Martha and the Muffins rerecorded the song, imagining it at a much slower tempo with a somber tone.  It's a far sadder song.... and still works as such.

5 March 2021 - Sarah McLachlan - Into The Fire

As a snooty music fan in the late 1980's and early 1990's, I discovered some music before it hit the mainstream. 

Sarah McLachlan was one such artist.  I discovered this song - her first alternative radio hit in the US (it was a bigger hit in her native Canada) and instantly loved it - her huge voice, and unusual lyrical content.  

And yes.  That's her naked and covered in mud in the video.  

Fast forward to the late 1990's.  McLachlan is now a huge hitmaker worldwide.... but as of this point, she still remembered her roots.  Here she is, performing the song in her 1999 concert film Mirrorball.  

Sadly, she stopped performing this song live in 1999.  Which is a shame.  It remains one of my favourites by her.

4 March 2021 - Bran Van 3000 - Everywhere

Bran Van 3000, from Montreal, Quebec, did have some success stateside.  Probably best known for "Drinking In L.A.", they actually have a rich, deep catalog.

Take this song, which is less hip-hop and more straight-ahead pop-rock.  A follow up to their aforementioned hit, it was a pretty big, sweet Canadian hit in its own right. Bear in mind, those two very different songs were from the SAME album - Glee, which is a truly underrated piece of art.  

3 March 2021 - Lights - Peace Sign / Lights feat. Cœur de Pirate - Peace Sign

I couldn't let this little synergy go unnoticed.  So I'm doing a 2nd post.  

"Peace Sign" was Track 8 on the Lights album Siberia, which was released in 2011.  It was not a single, but is still an excellent song.

Here is Lights performing the song live.  Excellent, energetic, and something of a dark song.  But clearly, an exciting highlight when performed live.    

Following along so far?

Literally the day after this song was written, the G20 riots in Lights's hometown of Toronto, and that had quite an impact on her.  So, as the story goes, she started corresponding and collaborating on a bilingual version of this song with an artist she was a fan of, for Siberia Acoustic, which was released in 2013. 

That artist, of courses, was Montréal artist Cœur de Pirate. 

And here is that finished product.  It's a lot less energetic, but the lyrics shine so much stronger.  

Lights tells the rest of the story live in 2013 - as of this recording, she had never MET Cœur de Pirate in person - and didn't know the French part of her own song.  Thankfully, the audience did and helped.  Say what you want about the politeness of those from Québec, but it's my opinion and experience that French Canadians are just as polite, helpful and wonderful as just about every other Canadian.  

3 March 2021 - Lights - Toes

Yes, Scott beat me to Lights.  By nine years.  

But here I am.

And that's the Canadian singer-songwriter's real first name (not by birth, but still).  Which is super convenient when it comes to having a stage name.   

This song was released in 2011 to mostly positive reviews, and, really, it's kind of got an infectious beat and some intelligent lyrics.   Which makes me wonder why I was so late to the party.    

The video was filmed in Lights's hometown of Toronto.  

Lights has been known to do an acoustic version of this song live - and in fact did an acoustic version of the entire Siberia album.  Here she is, performing it live in 2019.  The audience knows the words.  It's a slightly different feel, but still just as heartfelt.

2 March 2021 - Anne Murray - You Needed Me / Shania Twain & Anne Murray - You Needed Me.

Anne Murray hit #1 on the US pop charts for the her first and only time in 1978 with this song - ironically missing the top spot on the Country and Adult Contemporary charts on which she had much more success.  She also won the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal for this song, the first time a Canadian had done that.  

In 2007, Murray would rerecord the song as a duet with fellow Canadian Shania Twain.  It's essentially the same song - but just with two people singing it.  

By the way, I know you came here to hear Stewie Griffin sing this.

1 March 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - Undone

I told you she didn't sing EXCLUSIVELY in French.  

Canada is a bilingual country, after all.

This is from her 2015 album Roses, which features songs in French and English.  

In 2018, Béatrice Martin announced she planned to no longer make music under the name Cœur de Pirate, which I guess would mean I'd be able to stop trying to type œ on my English-language keyboard..... but 1) she would continue to make music, which is amazing.....

1 March 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - T'es belle

....2) Cette chanson, de fin 2020, est clairement sortie sous le nom Cœur de Pirate.  

C'est clairement étiqueté

Je ne me soucie pas particulièrement du nom que Béatrice Martin a choisi d'utiliser pour faire de la musique à l'avenir. Tant qu'elle continuera à faire de la musique révolutionnaire qui est intéressante, je vais rester heureuse.

Je ne suis pas canadien, donc je n'ai pas eu à apprendre le français à l'école. En fait, dans mon apprentissage des langues, c'est mon talon d'Achille. Permettez-moi de vous assurer que tout cela est une gracieuseté de Google Translate.  

1 March 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - Comme des enfants

It is refreshing to hear an artist so fresh and not-so-well-known outside their home country like Cœur de Pirate.  However, what is really unusual is that Béatrice Martin has actually had more hits in France than in her native Canada.

You see, she is a francophone from Montreal, and primarily sings in French.  Not exclusively, mind you - but mostly.  And yet, despite having the heart of a pirate (that's what her name translates to, people), the songs are just enchanting.  Without knowing French, you can hear the love and longing in her voice, in the music.  

This song, her debut single, won the 2010 Victoires de la Musique (French-language music) award for Original Song of the Year. 

It almost sounds more soulful live. Check out this performance from Massey Hall in Toronto from 2014.   The acoustics threaten to drown her out, but Cœur de Pirate's full voice wins in the end.

26 February 2021 - Domenico Modugno - Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu

Modern audiences know this song by another title.

"Volare".  And Bobby Rydell's English language version is better known today.

But Domenico Modugno wrote the song.   And, in 1958, it spent five weeks at #1 in the US, in THIS version, and was the biggest hit of 1958.. all while remaining faithful to its original Italiamn.  To compare, Rydell's version hit #4 in 1960 - this was the bigger hit.  

25 February 2021 - Nena - 99 Luftballons / 99 Red Balloons

Almost certainly the best-known German language song outside of German, this little warning of the apocalypse was a big hit in the 1980s.  Yes, people in the US were singing along to their death from nuclear attack. 

And who would blame them??  This song is damned catchy.

In a bit of an oddity, an English language version of the song - slightly changing the narrative to be even a little darker - was released  THIS VERSION DID NOT CHART, meaning the US audience preferred not to know what they were singing about, I guess.   

24 February 2021 - Marmello - Moonlight / Moment of Glory

Marmello were a K-Pop group with a twist - they played their own instruments.  They were a bona fide band.  Although they disbanded in 2019, we hope for a comeback, which isn't unprecedented in the K-Pop world - because they actually rocked kind of hard for a K-Pop group.   I mean, this ain't metal - it's pop-rock - but it's not usual to see.   

Less than three weeks after this single was released, the band reimagined the song, slightly changing the lyrics and title to be a rally song for the 2018 World Cup.  It rocks just a little harder.

23 February 2021 - Gloria Trevi - Que Me Duela

Let's get it out of the way.

Gloria Trevi spent almost five years in a Brazilian prison on charges of endangering a minor.  She was released due to lack of evidence.  She has maintained her innocence (and divorced her DNA-provably guilty husband as a result of this).  

My point on mentioning this up front is that she missed several years of her very successful music career, and when she was released from prison, she jumped right back in, feet first.  She went away a crooner, and came back an EDM hitmaker - and let's be clear.  In Mexico, she was welcomed back with open arms, with this and just about every other single she's released being a pretty big hit there.  

In Brazil, not so much.

What did NOT change was Trevi's in-your-face style and bold lyrics, which she exhibits here.

22 February 2021 - Superbus - Apprends-moi

For my English-language speaking audience, the title translates roughly to "Teach me".  That is about the limit of the amount of French I speak.  

Superbus is a French band, and this was a top 20 hit in that country in 2012.  However, the band got its start because their lead vocalist, Jennifer Ayache, came to America to perfect her English, after which she wanted to start a band.  I suppose the rationale was that English-language songs would sell better?  At any rate, this isn't an English-language song (although some of their stuff is) and it did pretty well.

This song, as is a lot of this band's music, is heavily influenced by 1980's music, with a synthesizer playing a strong role.  

19 February 2021 - Charly Bliss - DQ

This is the 900th post on Wicked Guilty Pleasures.  It wasn't supposed to be our 900th post.  

In fact, this was not a band I had heard OF before I posted #899 yesterday.  

I first heard Charly Bliss on February 18th, 2021.  They've been around for several years, but for some reason, I only stumbled upon them today.  They are now in heavy rotation.   This fun, perky, punky song that contains the line "I bounced so high I peed the trampoline" is perhaps my early favorite. 

The band has been compared to Weezer, and I hear it.  But they're somehow even quirkier than Weezer, and that's a good thing. 

You know that I am going to add a live version of this song, right?  From the 2017 Audiotree Music Festival in Kalamazoo, MI, you can see that the whole band is full of cohesive energy, with Eva Hendricks a solid frontwoman, and not just a vocalist.

Also, everything I hear about this band is that they are all very nice.  

For all these reasons, I rewrote post #900.  And I will revisit this band.  They are incredible.

18 February 2021 - The Smithereens - Miles From Nowhere

This isn't the first time I've posted about New Jersey Music Hall of Famers The Smithereens.  

It IS the first time I have posted my absolute favorite song of theirs.  Released in 1994 in support of their album A Date With The Smithereens, the Pat DiNizio-penned song is perfectly on brand for the band, if not a little more grungy.  This was because we were living in a post-Nirvana world in 1994, and since Butch Vig - the guy who produced Nevermind - was supposed to produce this album, it makes a lot of sense.   

However, a couple of weeks before recording was to start, Vig decided to drop the project, which prompted Capitol Records to drop the band.  RCA picked them up quickly, and with great producer Don Dixon - who had produced their first two albums - the album was back on. 

The song was far from a big hit, but it is a beautiful, angry, desperate breakup song.    

Even though DiNizio has passed away, the band lives on with guest vocalists.  Here they are in 2019 with special guest Marshall Crenshaw.

17 February 2021 - Sonic Youth - Kool Thing

"I don't think so" is a line right out of "Going Back To Cali", and this song was supposedly about LL Cool J's misogyny following an interview Kim Gordon did with him for SPIN Magazine.  Read it.  It's really cringeworthy.  

Clearly, Chuck D was OK coming along for the diss - although he seems to be friendly with LL Cool J.  

There are a lot of other LL references in this song, which was Sonic Youth's major label debut.  All in all, it's a short, digestible song that introduced the bombast of Sonic Youth to a wider audience, and it was their biggest success to date.  

16 February 2021 - LL Cool J - Going Back To Cali

No one was released slow songs in the rap genre in 1988.

No one else was James Todd Smith, either.  

This video was instantly in heavy rotation on MTV, and not just because of the Martha Quinn cameo at 3:08.  No, it was a cool song. Cowritten by LL Cool J and Rick Rubin, the song was inspired by Rick Rubin's hesitance to move to LA - because he thought the girls would be too sexually forward.  

This song did inspire a response, which will be here tomorrow.  

15 February 2021 - Commodores - Nightshift

In 1985, the Commodores were what those in the music industry may call "past prime."  Their charismatic leader, Lionel Richie, had left the band.  They hadn't had a hit in a few years.   It seemed like they were done.

And then came "Nighshift".  Initially, the band didn't want this song, which was a tribute to two legendary singers who had passed far too young in 1984 - Jackie Wilson and Marvin Gaye, to be a single.  Their label insisted, and it ended up being not only an R&B but also a pop hit - one of the biggest of their career.  It won the Grammy in 1986 for Best Vocal R&B Performance by a Duo/Group, an honor that was well-deserved.  

Suddenly, the Commodores were no longer seen as past prime.  This song cemented their own legendary status and proved that there was a market for smooth songs like this. 

Of course, you can hear the emotion tied to this song in its live performance.  On top of being legends, the band KNEW Marvin and Jackie.  When Walter Orange sings "he was a friend of mine", he means it.  Eagle-eyed listeners will hear Wilson and Gaye lyrics quoted in the appropriate verses.  

14 February 2021 - Alannah Myles - Love Is

I wanted to post something appropriate for today.  This second single by Canadian superstar Alannah Myles, the follow up to the huge "Black Velvet", seems to be a good choice. 

Except... funny story... It was actually her debut single in Canada. In the rest of the world, the other song came first. In her home country, this one did. And THIS song also got the Juno nomination for Single of the Year in 1990 (it lost to "Black Velvet"). 

Although often forgotten, this song was a top 40 hit. Alannah Myles is no one hit wonder!!!!!!  Anyway, enjoy the video that most of the world enjoyed in 1990.

This is one of those songs with two official videos. Here's the Canadian version. 

13 February 2021 - Cannibal Corpse - Hammer Smashed Face

As we started Buffalo Week, we thought we had a pretty good representation of Buffalo music.

We forgot one huge name, featured in the movie Ace Venture: Pet Detective.   So, we're including Cannibal Corpse, death metal pioneers from Buffalo, today. 

More than thirty years into their career, Cannibal Corpse is still making music, with a new album dropping in April.  However, we invite you today to enjoy a classic song by the band.  

12 February 2021 - Green Jellö - The Flight of the Scajaquada

This song deserves its own post and an explanation.

The Scajaquada Expressway is Route 198, a highway that runs through Buffalo, NY.  Buffalo, as you know, is known for its snow (although Rochester and Syracuse both regularly get more, but DO NOT GET ME STARTED).  Let's just say that The Scajaquada is not a place you want to be during a blizzard.  During the late 1980s, when this song was released, it wasn't a safe highway.   

There's all sorts of Buffalo references in this song.  All sorts of Buffalo-area schools that you would have heard on a late-1980s school closings announcement on the radio are referenced, as are several popular news personalities from that period.  

Oh, one more thing.  Thanks to another lawsuit, when the song was reissued as part of their 1993 album Cereal Killer, they had to spell it "Skajaquada", but I refuse.  That's not its name.  I also preserved the band's original name here.