Today, we feature Eagle-Eye Cherry, one hit wonder half-brother of a one-hit wonder (Neneh Cherry) (at least from a US standpoint - he did have more hits in Europe). This is his one US hit.
This video for this song was filmed in Stockholm, Sweden - Eagle-Eye Cherry is 1/2 Swedish, so this was his home country. The song itself, released in 1997 but not a North American hit until 1999, is a soulful journey through the impending loss of love - and relishing the moments you have, tonight.
So, on this Valentine's Day, please, enjoy your night, no matter how you spend it. Don't worry about tomorrow.
Growing up, I was a big fan of music videos. Thankfully, I didn't just digest these videos from MTV (although this particular one got a little airplay there). I watched a lot of BET, which, back then, was openly calling itself Black Entertainment Television. They had a lot of shows that played R&B and hip hop videos.
Thus, I discovered what was a minor pop hit - but a huge R&B hit that didn't cross over hard.
Rebbie is the oldest of the Jackson siblings. She has not had as many hits as her brothers or even her sister Janet, and she doesn't have the psychic network of LaToya - but she had "Centipede", her 1984 hit and best known song - a top 30 pop hit that reached the top 5 on the R&B charts. Written and produced by her kid brother Michael - yes, that's him on background vocals, along with Izora Rhodes and Martha Wash (who are better known as the Weather Girls).
For Rebbie, family came first - the album of the same name and this single were not released until her children were old enough and she had spent time with them while they were young. Despite that focus on family, she didn't initially want to use her maiden name (Jackson) as an artist - but relented because, well, it's her name and it carries power. If you look at the album and single for this song, you'll notice "Rebbie" is big and "Jackson" is small.
I don't make these things up.
Anyway, it was BET that introduced me to this song, and I am grateful. I hope you enjoy it.
This 1991 song isn't likely Fishbone's best known song - "Ma and Pa" comes to mind - but it is their biggest hit to date.
The song is pretty blatant lyrically - the narrator hates his life and everything around him. The song is probably straight-up about depression. The high-speed ska-funk-punk-rock fusion masks the sad nature of the song,
I did say it was their biggest hit to date. They're still together and they still perform.
Little known fact: Bad Brains started off life as a jazz fusion band.
Sure. I hear it.
The title of this song, the title song from their 1986 album, is actually a reggae reference - "I and I" is a phrase used in reggae to signify one's relationship with God. Although Bad Brains was - is - clearly a punk band that I first learned about on the pages of Thrasher magazine in my days as skate punk in the 1980's (yes, I still have my board), their influences include reggae, jazz, and funk.
Anyway, if this is the first time you're hearing Bad Brains, enjoy.
In 1985, Tina Turner was well into her musical comeback, already having the record for oldest person to ever score a #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 ("What's Love Got To Do With It"). Other opportunities were falling into her lap.
One of those was to star in a movie - Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - the sequel to Mad Max and The Road Warrior (if you aren't reading this from the United States or Canada, that second movie was Mad Max 2, and I apologize for the confusion). The film did modestly at the box office, but sparked a #2 hit that would be one of Turner's biggest hits.
The song, a power ballad, referenced the movie and the post-apocalyptic future of 1997 directly. (That's right. This futuristic look in the video is what 1985 filmmakers thought 1997 would look like). It would be a bigger hit than the movie, and received a lot more critical acclaim, too, including several award nominations.
Throughout her career, Turner has continued to perform this song..... and dress up when she does. Here she is in 2009, pushing 70, still belting this song hard and huge as she always did.
So let's just go with what is arguably his most ambiguous song in his catalog.
7? Seven of WHAT? Seven names of God? Seven deadly sins? Is he just into numerology? Either way, it's clearly heavy on the religious undertones. Also, in the video, he kills past versions of himself - even Purple Rain-era Prince, people. Also, his wife dances with a sword on her head, which is pretty badass.
The song has middle Eastern and funk influences, with a heavy drum and bass. This unusual song made it to #7 on the pop charts, mostly because of Prince's intellect and savoir-faire.
(Yes, of course we chose to post this today. Makes sense, right?)
I pretty much hated pop music in my teens and twenties…well
with very few exceptions.
In 2009 I turned the corner so to speak and fell head over
heels for the one and only Kelly Clarkson and her song “My Life Would Suck
Without You.” I actually hid the fact that I owned All I Ever Wanted for
longer than I would care to admit. It was a matter of punk rock pride. Like I,
a huge Archers of Loaf and Quicksand fan, would dig the first American Idol???
(For the record, I have never watched that show…even if I
have friends who have done well on it…I don’t watch The Voice…anymore either…but
an old friend did well last season).
So that takes us to the somewhat present. XM Radio’s Hits 1
is always on in my wife’s car. I dig it. Especially when Albanian-American
artist Ava Max comes on. Her tunes are so reminiscent of Clarkson’s “rockers”
but not as wholesome. “Kings & Queens” and “Sweet But Psycho” are her two
big songs off her first album, but there’s something about “So am I.” It has
that Clarkson vibe but throw in the empowerment of Pink and Katy Perry (two artists
we here have paid tribute to in the past) and we’re talking gold.
I know we all think of "gangsta rap" as super angry and negative.... but Ice Cube, one of the godfathers of the genre, shows us that it doesn't have to be.
This single peaked at #15 on the POP charts. The POP charts, man. It's his biggest hit to date...... which, given that he's also the godfather of Daddy Day Care, is likely to hold.
The song was a reflection of Mr. Jackson's life in 1992 - it was pretty good. He was well known, on top of the world, and not slinging constant disses back and forth with N.W.A. anymore. Funny thing is, some people have tried to pin-point the exact "Good Day" in the song. Note: there wasn't ONE. It was a compilation of a lot of good days.
Why this New York City band used British spelling is no mystery to me - guitarist and principal songwriter Vernon Reid was from London.
This 1988 single - a top 30 hit - was a biting rebuke of those who were caught up in fashion and lifestyle. The best part? Produced by Mick Jagger - from a little British band himself - who was instrumental in getting the band signed to a record deal.... a fact the band found bittersweet. In the 1980s, there weren't all-black rock bands getting major label deals, but the fact that Mick Jagger happened to see them live and "endorsed" them got Living Colour signed.
Still, I'm grateful. This unique, funky band got real MTV airplay and attention thanks to a chance meeting with a rock and roll legend.
Let's get to this song. The verses are clearly reggae-influenced, with an "island" feel. The chorus, however, ramps up the heavy and rocks hard.
The band briefly broke up in the 1990's, but got back together. Here they are in 2019, performing this song. Personally, I don't think Corey Glover has lost a bit of his vocal power.
Most of my readers are from the United States. So, you've likely never heard of French/Malian singer Aya Nakamura. In Europe, though - she's huge, without a doubt. Nakamura isn't her real last name (she lifted that from a character on the TV show Heroes, which I can't recommend enough unless you want to watch it past the first season.....). Her fame grew out of, shockingly, her YouTube channel.
This is the lead single off her latest album, DNK, released on January 27th. Written by Nakamura herself, it is a pretty standard R&B song both musically and thematically. It just happens to be in French. So, I encourage you to give it a listen, and I hope you like it as much as the last French-language artist I pushed down your throats.
We went down a cover rabbit hole yesterday, but in doing so, we discovered a rockin' band.
Rolling Quartz formed in 2019 when Rose Quartz and Rolling Girlz, two different bands, merged into one, creating an indie rock band that demands your attention.
That's right. I said "demands." They're that good. Jayoung's huge vocals drive the band, all of whom are both technically strong and bring personality to their performances.
This, their debut single, was released in December 2020.
The band formed just before the global pandemic, and released their first single DURING the pandemic, so they had to adapt to a new normal in performance, but they also came back to live performances hard as soon as they could.
It's not often we get to feature Eurovision-winning bands. I'm happy to say that Italian band Måneskin fits that bill.
This song, written by the band, was Italian representative and winner of Eurovision 2021. The song also won the Sanremo Music Festival the same year. Notice how hard the song rocks. It is an angry rebuke of an older generation who does not value the input of those younger than they - the title roughly translates to "Quiet and Good" i.e. shut up and be good kids.
The song actually started off as a ballad. Strange to imagine that, so we'll just give you the song that won Eurovision. Viva l'italia!
Yes, of course we're including their Eurovision performance. C'mon now.
Daryl Hall and John Oates may be the greatest duo of the 1980s. At least, my friend Mark thought so.
In 1984, this song went to #1 on the Billboard charts. It would be the duo's last trip to the top of the charts - although they still had a few hits left in them. Oates wrote the chorus off a synthesizer riff, and the duo wrote the verses the next day.
It's also one of my personal favorite songs by the duo. Which is the real reason why we're talking today.
We're almost a month into 2023, and we're still writing 2022 on our checks.
Just kidding. We haven't written a check in years.
But that's how we're getting you back to 1998, when bluesy guitarist Everlast broke onto the scene with his only solo hit (he previously had a hit with his group House of Pain) - a song that uses each verse to tell a story of someone who is figuratively drowning in their life (and literally drowning in the video).
By the way, "his only solo hit" is by no means a measure of the success Everlast has had, as he has continued to create music that resonates, and has been nominated for several awards. Here he is, performing his best known song just a couple of years ago. His voice is raspier, which lends itself well to the bluesy tone of the song.
You had to know we'd get here eventually. Today is the day.
Drew Garrett and Lauren Willey didn't have a lot of confidence in their singing abilities. This is why they went with talk-singing on their viral hit that many have called "Worse than "Friday"".
These two young songwriters (that's right, they wrote this) also didn't actually think they're hot. This song, from 2012, was the first of just a few singles by the singer-songwriting duo - all in a similar style, and all clear parody.
But we know the real question: where are they now?
We did a #WickedGP deep dive to find out what the ladies were up to since their viral fame. Drew Garrett is a holistic health coach with her own business. Lauren Willey's Instagram bio clearly states that she is a "lifelong hoop earring advocate & beauty PR w/ @behrmanpr". Both appear to be living successful, happy lives outside the music industry.
According to Billboard, it was "Heat Waves" by Oxford band Glass Animals. Which is quite an achievement, since it was released in 2021 as a single (and ended up #16 on THAT year end chart) and took 59 weeks to get there. It spent more than a YEAR on the pop chart before it hit #1, and spent a month there. And that's just what it did in the US! In Australia, it spent 85 weeks in their top 10, the longest run by far of any single.
It's not like Glass Animals is some big hitmaker overnight success of a band. They've been around since 2010, and this was their first big hit.
So what made this song a hit?
Well, weird Minecraft fan fiction that highlighted the song didn't hurt, but I'd like to think it's the simple lyrics and captivating electronic beat. Anyone can sing along to this song. Even me! Hell, I'm singing along right now.
It also may be the fact that they are a different band, with an accessible look. They aren't overstyled. They're a real band, writing real music. And they perform it live, too.
"You know, people will actually read about Christina Aguilera. Why not continue down that road?"
"Sure. But I should go non-obvious and not the literal second single from Stripped, right?"
"What? What is that single"
""Beautiful". I literally mentioned it yesterday."
"Oh yeah. You did. But I kinda think you have to. It's her biggest hit and her best known song."
"Ugh, fine. Can I at least talk about new facts people might not know, like that it was written and produced by Linda Perry, who most people know from 4 Non Blondes?"
"It's not like I can stop you."
"How about the fact that this video won a GLAAD award for the positive and normalized portrayal of the LGBTQ+ community, who have adopted it as kind of an anthem?"
"You really can't not mention that. Better mention the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance as well as its nomination for Song of the Year. You love mentioning awards."
"How about the lack of assless chaps?"
"....."
"What else do I need to say about this song?"
"Did you mention the second video?"
"The what, now?"
"Yeah, Christina made a 2nd video for this song in 2022, with a focus on body acceptance and the issues of social media in regards to that."
"I did NOT know that existed."
"Yeah, she even put some mental health resources right on the front page of her website. They're still there right now, as we write this."
"Yeah, I see that. Looks like this was a 20th anniversary rerelease as well."
"I mean, yeah, but do you see the greater good she's trying to do here?"
"Well, what about the other version of the song/"
"What other version?"
""You Are What You Are (Beautiful)". She rerecorded it in a different style for her greatest hits album."
The birth of Xtina happened in 2002, as Ms. Aguilera was looking to blast the virginal image that her record label was trying to push.
If the song didn't accomplish that, the video sure as hell did. A dirrty, gritty affair, featuring mud wrestling, furries, and a relatively scantily clad Xtina ended up being an immediate hit and propelled the song to #5 on the pop charts.
The songwriting team included Redman, whose 2001 song "Let's Get Dirty" was a strong inspiration for this single, which Aguilera fought to be the first single from her Stripped album (over eventual megahit "Beautiful").
To go a little bit into how the sausage is made, I like to add a live performance in a lot of these posts. In the case of this song, there are a lot of performances from 2002 and 2003 in which it is not clear whether or not Christina is singing or just lip-syncing (I believe she is singing but using a helper track). Sure, there are a lot of assless chaps, but I like to give you, the reader, a different perspective of the song.
Then I found this full-band performance. No doubt she's singing the hell out of this song here.
It was really only a matter of time before Nicki Minaj sampled Rick James, right?
Released in August 2022, this song was an instant hit - and by instant, I mean huge Spotify debut, #1 Billboard Hot 100 debut, a spot on her Greatest Hits album (she's been around long enough to have one of those!).
The bigger deal is that it was only her third #1 - and her first in a couple of years.
The All-American Rejects scored their biggest hit to date - #4 on the Hot 100 in addition to topping the US Rock charts - with this angry, angry song. Of course, the band had someone in mind - some real asshole, in their words - but they're not saying - or telling the subject.
Anyway, it's a great straight-ahead rock song that was a refreshing take in 2008.
The Arrows wrote and performed this song in 1975. This creepy, creepy song about picking up an underage girl ended up getting them a recurring TV gig on their own eponymous show. Ah, the 70s. It was on that TV show that Joan Jett saw the band perform the song - and her recordings became history.
The song is a classic because of what Joan Jett did, and despite the creepy, creepy subject matter, I have come to appreciate this version.
Kim Petras has been releasing compelling alt-synth pop music for years that has been really really good. This post is about one that didn't get a real release, though.
This song was supposed to be the big single from her third album, which would have been her major label debut, Problématique, That album, for unknown reasons, never got released and was scrapped by the Republic Records, supposedly due to the fact that many songs, including this one, were leaked ahead of time (some speculate there are other reasons related to Dr. Luke, who we have mentioned before in not-complimentary terms).
Anyway, Petras says it's OK to listen to the leaks, and she has released this song as a single - and it ended up being something of a club hit - so if she's OK with it, we are, too.
My mother's nickname was Dolly. (Not a joke - a lot of people thought it was her real name)
So, naturally, I grew up listening to a lot of Dolly Parton. That includes this song. I used to not really like it. I found it boring. As I grew older, I see the beauty of it.
The song was written for Porter Wagoner, on whose show Dolly Parton (not my mom) got her start. She had been on his show for five years and was leaving for a solo career - and this song was her resignation letter.
You thought it was a romantic breakup song, didn't you? It wasn't.
Anyway, the song topped the country charts twice. The first time was in 1974, and this was what the song sounded like then.
In 1982, Dolly Parton (not my mom) did a movie with Burt Reynolds called The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and she rerecorded and rereleased this song - and it topped the country charts AGAIN.
She would, of course, release the song AGAIN, as a duet with Vince Gill, in 1995. This version didn't top the country charts - it only reached #15.
Disappointing.
This version started off as THIS live performance, and was picked up by country music radio, which pressured Dolly's label to release it as a single - and it became a hit again.
As big a hit as this song was, it was an even bigger hit for another artist who shall remain nameless.
