I'm not thrilled with most of the new Katy Perry music. She's trying too hard.
But this song is a refreshing throwback to her earlier stuff. It's like, she spent all those years on American Idol listening to other people cover her first two albums and decided that she wanted to recapture that magic.
Mine is an unpopular opinion. The song did OK in Europe but bombed in the US.
It's a new song, so she's not performed it live much yet, but I can tell you that her fans alredy know the words.
I swore up and down that I had already published this song.
I'm glad I hadn't yet, because it is the CURRENT #3 song in the contry as I write this. Released in April, it's October, and still riding high on the charts.
The lead single from Carptenter's SIXTH solo album - Six. She's released six albums - Short n' Sweet - it is her FIRST song to hit the top ten in the US. It also won the MTV Video Music Award for song of the year, but that seems secondary.
It's a very confident song that has garnered a lot of praise for its catchiness. Which, well, that's true. It's catchy.
What do you get when you put Charli XCX and Billie Eilish in the same room to write a song?
A pretty big worldwide hit. The very hot and sexy song peaked at #12 in the US - Charli's fourth trip to the top 20, people. This is her biggest hit since "Boom Clap".
Technically, this is a remixed version of a Charli XCX song of the same name from her album, and this is real, Brat and it's the same but there's three more songs so it's not. Yes, it's an extended version of her very popular Brat album, but this is one of the three more songs.
Anyway, the original is good but this remix is way better. And this is the version that charted.
And yeah, they did perform it together at Charli's birthday party.
As I was driving yesterday, this song, for some reason, popped into my head.
I had to look up the band because I had forgotten about the existence of Daisy Chainsaw, who existed between 1989 and 1994. I don't know how I did - KatieJane Garside was such a unique force of nature that when she disappeared from the music scene in 1993, people thought she had been committed.
She had not. She just went into seclusion for a few years.
We get it, though. Her stage presence was something otherworldly and quite manic.
The Vengaboys are from the Netherlands. Dutch bands don't usually have worldwide hits, but in 1998 and 1999, it did. It was a top 10 hit in most of Europe, and a top 30 hit in the US.
There's nothing particularly special about the song. It's a typical dance song, with a great beat - 136 bpm, for those who pay attention to such things. You could probably work out to it, or ride a rollercoaster to this tune.
Wait....
Why did I mention rollercoasters?
Because in 2004, the song had a bit of a resurgence in the US, when Six Flags used it in a pretty popular set of commercials.
They were.... weird.
There absolutely was more than one, yes. Why do you ask?
Of course, if you don't like the song, The Vengaboys later released a "silent" version of the video, without the music, but with some sound effects and speaking parts. It's..... weird. But it's satisfying.
But you aren't here because you don't like the song.
You're here because you want to know if they are still togehter and if they actually perform the song live.
They are. And they do. And THE CROWD KNOWS THE WORDS.
So. we are bookending this week of covers and revisiting with another repost, from Month 3 of the blog.
The other major change we're making is why we're doing this repost. Well, that, and because it's a great song that we didn't get its full due in 2023, and we're going to correct that.
This next change, though, isn't coming yet - we don't know how to do it. We may end up with another blog. But we know that wicked guilty pleasures go way beyond music. With Paris Hilton, you have her music, plus her reality television show The Simple Life, that cinematic masterpiece The Hottie and The Nottie, and so much more. You've also got her YouTube documentary, which shows a completely different side of her (and GO WATCH THAT NOW)
We're going to start exploring that. We just don't know what it's going to look like yet.
But now, revisit this great and sweet song.
If you watched This Is Paris, you know that she is actually a sought-after DJ now. Seriously. She's also a champion of LGBTQ+ rights, and she performed this song during one of her DJ gigs at LA Pride in 2022.
It's great that she's embracing this part of her career, because it was more solid that we thought it would be.
And if you need proof, here she is performing with two Grammy nominees (Sia has NEVER won a Grammy, oddly) with famously huge voices, Miley Cyrus and Sia.
Oh, and yeah, she's here with Kim Petras at NYC Pride 2023.
Måneskin made their big debut on the Italian version of the comeptition show X Factor in 2017.
They came in second to Lorenzo Licitra, who 95% of you have never heard of.
They did so well largely because of this Four Seasons cover, which I would not turf over to Totally Covered because a lot of people don't know that it's a cover.
Gosh, this week did not go the way I expected.
When I wanted to post this song, I ended up posting their Eurovision winning song, which is inarguably a better song. But this song is also amazing, and it needed to be highlighted. It was, in fact, the success of "Zitti e Buoni" that led directly to the 2021 attention on this song, and it ended up being a worldwide hit...
....which is why they were nominated for an American Music Award four years after the song's release.
This song is maybe the most compelling reason why we're starting to post covers here. You see, yesterday, I talked about my favorite album of 2023 - and my favorite song on that album.
My favorite SONG of 2023 was this one. And I wrote about it in December of 2023 on Totally Covered. It never felt like it belonged there, at all. Mashups are weird - the band took two songs and shoved them together and made something that was strangely better than the two were apart. I did such a good job writing that, and so few of you read it, that the rest of this post is quoting HEAVILY what I said in December.
And, when I opned the post with, "I'm not going to lie. Today's feature was SUPPOSED to be the other blog", it was a Rolling Quartz original song that just was not as good as this one.
As you know, as part of my wiring process, I look for live performances of a featured song. And, I found one. I was looking for a second and I found a full performace by the band.... which I decided to watch.
This mashup cover of "Pink Venom" by BLACKPINK (I wrote the "Pink Venom" post two days after this one, because I needed the contaxt, but this is SO much better!) and "MIC Drop" by BTS was featured in that performance. It blew me away.
So, I started looking for the cover individually.... and I found it.... not realizing that it was not just a live thing, but something the band ACTUALLY did, with AleXa coming in to share vocals with Jayoung. AleXa is a Korean-based performer from Oklahoma, and is best known as the winner of the NBC competition series American Song Contest.
Of course, AleXa has her own career and can't tour with Rolling Quartz all the time, despite being unofficially called the band's 6th member. Jayoung, however, is perfectly capable of shouldering the vocals herself.
And no, this is not the same live performance I used before. This is one where Jayoung is not doing an AleXa impersonation during her part.
By the way, this was the full performance, and it is spectacular - "Pink Drop" starts around 9:20.
I didn't say I wouldn't post the original. It is an amazing song and was a worldwide hit in 1979. It was a top 20 hit in the US, and number one in many countries, including his native France and his father's native Spain (it was #2 in his mother's native Italy).
The song was just fun, and it changed his life - he found success in Europe, if not the US.
And yes, he's still around, and he still performs the song with just as much aplomb.
The changes to Totally Covered and Wicked Guilty Pleasures have been a long time coming. I had thought about merging the two for about two years now. It's a lot of work to maintain TWO daily blogs, and I had neglected Totally Covered.
Then, March 2024 happened. You know, I do the whole #MapleLeafMarch thing every year, and in the lead up to that, I try to discover new Canadian music. One thing I discovered was that Elisapie - an artist I was not previously familiar with but I sure as hell am now - had in 2023 recorded an album of covers, translated into Inuktitut - which is a language spoken by some First Nations people who happen to live in the far north. The album was, in fact, called Inuktitut - and, as will be a recurring theme this week, I own it on vinyl now - and it is my favorite album of 2023.
I went on to postfivecoversbyElisapie between the end of February and the beginning of April of this year - on Totally Covered. You need to go check those out, because they are amazing.
I posted nothing about her on this blog, and that bothered me a lot. A lot of times in the past, when I discovered a song was a cover, I would often post the original here, and the cover on Totally Covered. In these cases, it just didn't feel right to do that. I really wanted those songs over HERE.
So, this is a song I held back - mostly because it didn't have an official video, but it is also my favorite song from my favorite album of 2023. I want you to hear it and see it - so that's why it's here. This version is absolutely sublime.
Because I think more can be said. And, since I have recently purchased Eyelid Movies on vinyl, I felt it was time to revisit the pride of Saratoga Springs and tell you where I've been since this time, and what's going on with this blog. So, this week, I will talk about the future of Wicked Guilty Pleasures and Totally Covered, and also revisit some of my favorite posts from the past.
Don't worry. There is a future. We're not going away. At all. By any stretch. I literally already have posts written that you won't see until 2029. So, there's a clue.
Before I do that, though, let's talk about the coolness of this song. Because it is seriously cool. And in the 14 years since its initial release, it has not gotten less cool. But since we wrote our initial post, Phantogram have become something of an industry darling. The members have been in high-profile relationships (and Sarah Barthel somehow made it onto NBC's Olympic coverage because of that).
And the band has changed. This is the band performing the song in 2014. I feel like they were still breaking out of their shell then. Sarah is behind the keyboards.
By 2019, she's on the bass. And, as synth-heavy as the song is, you can hear the bass now.
In 2023, she's interacting with the crowd.
Much like Sarah Barthel, we're growing and changing. NO, we did not go blonde. We ARE looking for opportunities to get bigger and better. To that end, we want your comments. We are going to grow this blog to a real source for music, and not just a guy regurgitating his thoughts on old songs. OK, this week, it's gonna be old songs.
Going forward, this blog is going to be the focus. You'll not see Totally Covered go away - it's way too much fun - but you're going to start to see covers over here. There's too many good ones, and I think too many were getting turfed over to the other blog - and people read this one.
You know, I sometimes sit on drafts for a very long time, especially when they are unexpected.
And the unexpected pieces of this, the fourth single and title song from her second album, are as follows:
1) Suzanne Vega, usually a solo songwriter, co-wrote this song with her backing band, who feature prominently in the video.
2) This song was her 2nd trip to the Billboard Hot 100 (her first being "Luka", of course). The third single from Solitude Standing - you know, the one that preceded this one - "Tom's Diner" - in it's DNA remixed version, would go on to become her third.
I bought Solitude Standing in 1987, on cassette - it came in a longbox, which was a type of packaging to prevent theft - and this song, which personifies solitude as a woman, was quickly one of my favorites.
Somehow, when performed live, the song becomes a little angrier, sharper - more focused. The cool, laid-back version jumps to life when there's a crowd.
Vega recorded a sparser version of the song in 2011 - she did a series of four albums called Close-Up - each labeled by volume. This version is a live version of the one recorded on Close-Up Vol. 3.
The Close-Up albums are really cool and interesting, by the way, and if you are a Suzanne Vega fan, you should seek them out.
What? We're ending our hiatus on an obscure Spanish-language song?
Yes. Yes we are.
You see, Maná has been around since the early 1980s (in 1981 as Sombrero Verde, adopting their later name in 1986) - and yet, this 2011 song, literally thirty years into their career as a band, was a breakthrough single for them in their home country of Mexico. They had other singles, and a couple of other hits - and a ton of US Latin Chart hits - but this one - this launched them into the upper stratosphere of hitmaking.
But, this is a band that has won many awards, including four Grammys and eight Latin Grammys.
It's a mournful and still an upbeat song. And it doesn't matter that you don't speak Spanish. Enjoy the emotion.
Of course they did a pandemic live version, 9 years after its release. And of course it sounded just like the original. Maná has been nothing if not consistent!
Here's Canada's own Charlotte Cardin, with her 2020 hit that established her as a credible artist and a Canadian hitmaker - the first single from her album Phoenix. The Montreal-born singer-songwriter, has been making waves in the music industry with her unique blend of pop, jazz, and electronic elements. Her track "Passive Aggressive" offers a raw and honest look at the complexities of modern relationships.
The song deftly tackles a common yet often unaddressed issue in relationships. The song's lyrics paint a vivid picture of the frustration and confusion that arise when direct communication breaks down. Cardin's portrayal of passive-aggressive behavior is both relatable and uncomfortable, forcing listeners to confront their own experiences with this destructive communication style.
Charlotte Cardin's background as a French-Canadian artist adds an intriguing layer to her music. Growing up in bilingual Montreal likely influenced her ability to convey complex emotions through her songwriting. The city's rich musical heritage, blending North American and European influences, can be heard in the sophisticated pop sensibilities of "Passive Aggressive."
The production of "Passive Aggressive" is a masterclass in creating atmosphere through sound. The track opens with a sparse, almost eerie piano line that sets a tense mood from the outset. As the song progresses, layers of electronic elements and percussive beats are added, mirroring the building frustration in the lyrics.
Cardin's vocals are treated with a light touch of reverb, giving them an intimate yet slightly distant quality that perfectly captures the emotional state of someone dealing with passive-aggressive behavior. The chorus explodes with a fuller sound, representing the release of pent-up emotions.
One of the most interesting production choices is the use of distorted, chopped vocal samples in the background. These create a sense of internal dialogue or conflicting thoughts, adding depth to the song's exploration of communication issues.
You didn't expect such an in-depth analysis from this blog, did you? Well, expect it now.
Wikipedia would have you believe that Mother Mother are a Canadian indie rock band from British Columbia.
Mostly because they are. But they're more than that.
They're one of the holdovers from #MapleLeafMarch 2023 that I could not even get to in 2024 OR 2025 because they were so full. I mean, I did post "Hayloft" eariler this year, which pushed this song back FURTHER, but I've had this draft for years.
This song, from the 2012 album The Sticks, was released as a single in 2013. This particular tune was a top 20 alternative hit in Canada in 2013 - and I'm a little surprised it didn't go bigger. Bigger was in their future and their past.
They are a band with some depth, for sure. Here they are, performing the song in a stripped-down manner in Calgary in 2012.
Look, you're not supposed to take Carole Pope too seriously. She's a comidienne, who makes humourous music.
So, you can laugh at all the stereotypes that she wrote into this song. From her 2014 album, Music for Lesbians, and co-written by TIm Welch (who plays a lot of the instruments) and Peaches, the song is quite the journey.
But she's also a punk pioneer, being a founder of Rough Trade and other early punk acts. She's a classic, through and through, and she's still making music. She was also one of the first openly lesbian musicians - so when she goes to a forest, she is literally a lesbian in a forest - but also, she was unafraid, even from her early days.
So, even though this song was a bit of a laugh, it's also a testament to Carole Pope's life.
Like everyone else during the pandemic, Carole did a live version of this video over Zoom, and yes, Peaches shows up here, in typical Peaches fashion.
This bright song is from her 2nd solo album, Blonde. And it's fun. And it was a big hit (in Belgium and France - where her music sells very well).
This live performance of the song from 2015 - in front of a largely English-speaking crowd - was well-recieved, and equally bright as the recording. She started the performance very nervous (a lot of the material from that day was new and untested, and French), but this song was already well known and a favorite.
I don't know why I love this song by Wham! I always did - it always brings a smile to my face. Is it a great song? NOPE. Is it consistent with the rest of the Wham! catalogue? NOPE!
It is, however, one of the last singles by Wham! before their 1986 breakup, hitting #1 in the UK and #3 in the States - and various chart topping worldwide. It's a bright, fun single, an homage to Motown of sorts - the horns! the harmonies - written entirely by George Michael.
It strikes me as more of a George Michael solo song and less of a Wham! song, I suppose, although Andrew Ridgeley is clearly front and center in this video.
Indeed, George Michael did go solo soon after this single's release - this was the last song they played as Wham! at Wembley Stadium, at their farewell show in 1986. Terrible video exists and here it is.
However, in 1991, in Rio, at a a George Michael show, that is CLEARLY Andrew Ridgeley performing with him. We're glad the split was not acrimonious - it was, in fact, quite amicable - and in fact, the two men remained great friends for life.
This song was the lead single from Culture Club's 2nd album, Colour by Numbers, and it was a top 10 hit worldwide, including the US (#10) and UK (#2). Was it their biggest single? No. "Karma Chameleon" was. But it was such a big and enduring hit that it was in the top 10 at the SAME TIME as "Karma Chameleon", which was released later.
I think history has forgotten just how huge Boy George and Co. were in the mid 1980s. We were all embracing this gender-androgynous vocalist without issue. I hope this post remedies a little of that.
Anyway, this was my favorite Culture Club song, off the first cassette tape I ever bought with my own money. It was a good purchase. Written by the band, the song features uncredited backing vocals by the huge voice of Helen Terry - and she appeared on several other tracks as well - who appears in the video (and several others by the band).
Helen Terry also performed with the band live, which is amazing, and their 1983 performance of this song is incredible.
This more recent performance, from the late 2010s, does not feature Helen Terry, and features a less androgynous Boy George - and also interpolates Wham's "I'm Your Man".
They have been releasing music for six years - their first performance at age 15 involved a bar and a chicken liver they rubbed on themself. They rose to prominence with their extreme makeup styles (and they do have a makeup line, by the way). They come from music royalty of sorts, as borh their mother and their father are from well known British punk bands.
They are a very interesting person. They idenify as non-binary, use they/them pronouns, and specifically refer to themself as "generless".
We are cool with that. Because they seem happy.
This song and video are kind of a fever dream. That's about the best we got here. But it's interesting pop electronica, and we think you should listen.
They also perform to sold-out crowds and we think they're really singing and not lip-syncing.
She's definitely unique. A sex-postiive musician (and yes, this is her signature song) and performance artist, she was once roommates with Feist - and yes, they have collaborated, a lot. She reinterpreted Jesus Christ Superstar as a one-woman show (and it's beautiful).
Peaches Christ, Superstar, do you think you're what they say you are?
She's also from Toronto, which is in Canada, and the 2nd t is silent. Go ahead, fight me on this. She started her career as a drama teacher at conservative Hebrew schools in Toronto - she also attended Jewish school as a child, for which she was bullied.
No one is bullying Peaches now.
Let's talk about this song, her best known and, yes, you've probably heard it - in The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu, the movie Lost In Translation, or maybe as Liz Lemon's ringtone on 30 Rock.
This song was released in September of 2000, and appears on her 2000 album Teaches of Peaches. Its original recording was not done in a studio. So, this 2022 recording from Full Frontal with Samantha Bee is just as credible as the one on record. No, we're not sure what the hell she's wearing.
Well, crap. That was age-restricted. It's worth the click to get to YouTube, though. Let's see if this 2009 performance of the song is any better.
The Juno Awards happened back in March. For those not familiar and who don't read this damn blog, that's basically the Canadian Grammys, for Canadian artists (with one award exception).
Nelly Furtado was the host of the 2024 Junos. She also hosted the 2007 ceremony.
And, with more than 45 million records sold, she is one of the most successful Canadian artists in history.
Her debut album - Whoa, Nelly! - was a huge hit - generating two top 10 singles in the US. Her first, "I'm Like A Bird", is well-known, and hit #9 on the US charts in 2001. Its follow-up, this song, written by Furtado, hit #5 and was a bigger hit in the States.
Neither song was as big a chart hit in Canada (the former did hit the top 20, and both got a fair amount of airplay), but she would continue to record hit after hit on both sides of the border, and also in other countries.
This is a song for which two official videos exist, and yes, we have them both. Same song, sparser video.
Nelly has been known as something of a musical shapeshifter, bridging pop, rock, folk, hip hop and even Latin music. In 2006, she was in her hip hop period, and this live version of the song surfaced.
It's actually pretty much the same song.
Furtado, whose parents were Portuguese immigrants to Canada, performed the song for a very small audience - the cast of Big Brother Brasil. Yes, she speaks Portuguese.
When she recorded the song in 2012 for Walmart Soundcheck... well, it was harder and slower. Still, very cool version of the song, even if it was comissioned by Walmart.
Guys, this is our last post until next week. Please stay safe this weekend.
